It all started with an unremarkable trip to grandma’s house in 1970. But two days into the visit, something went terribly wrong. The 9-month-old grandson fell ill. First, a fever. Then, a nasty rash.

Throughout the course of human history, one infectious disease (Figure 1) may account for more deaths than any other, perhaps all others combined. Smallpox mortality falls between 20% and 50%. Until ...

A new look at one of the most successful vaccination campaigns in history, which rapidly eradicated smallpox in Copenhagen in the early 1800s, has uncovered possible lessons for boosting vaccine ...

The lack of laser-focus on isolation meant that many avoidable gaps remained in the way isolation was practiced. First, insufficient surveillance. Dr Charles Chapin noted in a 1912 textbook: ...