Edited by author 06-01-2002 09:17 PM
Other analysis has suggested immunity might persist in some form for many decades after vaccination -- Google "smallpox immunity persist decades" for some example articles, which predate this latest study.
Also, before there was a vaccine, there was "variolation" -- where you intentionally introduced smallpox into a person by a cut, which gave a milder infection they were likely to survive, conferring longer-term immunity. There's a fascinating account of the importance of this practice during the American Revolutionary War in a
New Republic review of the book Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82.
In the event of a smallpox outbreak that outruns new vaccine supplies, I'd expect a return to the practice of variolation... and I wouldn't be surprised if those of us ~30 and up who long ago had a vaccination might be slightly better able to handle either variolation or even airborne infection than those never exposed...
