Read Novel Full Chapter 938 - 55: Building a Resort Villa
Chapter 938: Chapter 55: Building a Resort Villa
Outside Renhe Hall, Doctor Tong and his team were calling for the villagers to bring their children for cowpox vaccination.
The villagers heard that cowpox vaccination could prevent smallpox, but they didn’t believe it. Smallpox was a terminal illness, and once contracted, it almost certainly led to death, with very few survivors. Moreover, since ancient times, smallpox couldn’t be cured, so how could it possibly be prevented?
Seeing the villagers’ disbelief, Doctor Tong and his team explained the effects of cowpox vaccination in great detail, and how the process worked. Of course, they also shared the experimental results they had obtained from previous cowpox vaccinations.
The villagers listened and were somewhat convinced yet still doubtful.
Doctor Tong and his team further explained that receiving the cowpox vaccination would only make the body weak temporarily, but would not lead to death. However, if one does not get vaccinated, contracting smallpox in the future would certainly lead to death. Additionally, cowpox vaccination was invented by Prince Han. Prince Han wanted the villagers to receive cowpox vaccinations for free, as he wished to prevent them from dying of smallpox in the future.
Swamp Prefecture saw many deaths due to smallpox each year, as did other prefectures. Perhaps due to Lingnan’s climate and geographical location, the incidence of smallpox was extremely high, several times that of inland regions.
When smallpox occasionally appeared in inland regions, most cases were transmitted from Lingnan.
If children received cowpox vaccinations from a young age, they would probably not contract smallpox throughout their lives and would be difficult to infect.
Prince Han declared that cowpox vaccination required no Copper Coin from the villagers. During the vaccination period, all food and drink were provided at Renhe Hall, and no money was charged.
Upon hearing Doctor Tong and his team’s words, some villagers were moved. These villagers had family members who died of smallpox in recent years, with the youngest only one year old. To prevent future smallpox infections, they were willing to let their children receive cowpox vaccinations, as it posed no downside to them.
Of course, not every child could receive a cowpox vaccination. Before vaccination, Doctor Tong and his team carefully examined the children’s pulses to ensure that the child was healthy and could withstand the vaccination. If a child’s health was not good, they were temporarily not eligible for vaccination, as a weak body could lead to death from cowpox vaccination.
Ten children signed up for cowpox vaccination, but only two could receive it. The other eight children were too unhealthy to be vaccinated.
Seeing Doctor Tong and his team’s responsibility, the villagers gained a bit more trust in them. Subsequently, more children signed up, but very few were eligible for cowpox vaccination.
Many children appeared to be healthy on the surface, just a bit thin and their faces sallow, but in reality, their bodies were frail. According to Zhao Yao, this was due to malnutrition.
It’s not just the children; even the adults were rarely healthy.
After years of inadequate nutrition, drinking unhealthy salty water, enduring the hot climate of Swamp Prefecture, and the threats of miasma, poisonous insects, snakes, and ants, combined with perpetual and arduous labor, anyone still alive or free of illness was considered lucky. Thus, every villager in Swamp Prefecture was suffering from illness, varying only in severity. This is also why the lifespan of Lingnan residents is short.
If the elderly in Swamp Prefecture lived to sixty, it was indeed considered a long life, particularly so. Very few reached seventy, and there were absolutely no cases of eighty years old. Generally, the lifespan was around forty or fifty. For them, living to fifty was seen as longevity, and they credited their ancestors’ blessings.
Since last year, the villagers have barely been able to eat adequately and have access to good salt, but it couldn’t possibly restore their health so quickly. It would still take some time for their bodies to recover. Even so-called recovery meant just reaching the level of a normally healthy person.
After carefully examining the children’s pulses, Doctor Tong and his team took the children to the basement of Renhe Hall for cowpox vaccination. Each child had a separate room, with designated staff providing care, ensuring safety.
Because there weren’t many children receiving cowpox vaccination, Doctor Tong and his team soon completed their duties. Afterward, no other children were enrolled in the program. The main reason was their elders were still observing. They would allow their children to receive cowpox vaccination only after witnessing the previously vaccinated children emerge healthy from Renhe Hall.
Doctor Tong went to the Han Prince Mansion to report the day’s cowpox vaccination outcome to Zhao Yao.
After listening to the report, Zhao Yao sighed heavily with a solemn expression: "I never expected so few children could undergo cowpox vaccination successfully."
"I didn’t expect it either," Doctor Tong said, his mood equally heavy. Although children in the capital were generally healthy, lively and energetic, the children of Swamp Prefecture... Fortunately, His Highness came to Swamp Prefecture; otherwise, the children here would never have a chance to eat their fill.