Bedside Rounds

The story of smallpox blankets offered as gifts to indigenous peoples as a weapon of war is ubiquitous -- but is it based in truth? And did our increased medical understanding of smallpox lead to its use as a biological weapon?  In this episode, we confront these questions and explore the history of biological warfare, smallpox, and medicine. Listen to all this, a new #AdamAnswers, and more in this episode of Bedside Rounds, a tiny podcast about fascinating stories in clinical medicine. Sources: Barras V and Groub G, “History of biological warfare and bioterrorism,” Clin Microbiol Infect 2014. Carus W, “The history of biological weapons use: what we know and what we don’t,” Health Security, Vol 13, No4, 2015. Fenner F et al, “Smallpox and its Eradication,” World Health Organization, 1988, Chapters 5 and 6. Mayor A, “The Nessus Shirt in the New World: Smallpox Blankets in History and Legend,” J Am Folklore, Vol. 108, No. 427 (Winter, 1995), 54-77. Mear C, “The origin of the smallpox outbreak in Sydney in 1789