In Shakespeare's day, wishing a pox on someone was a terrible curse.
在莎士比亚时代，希望别人得天花是非常恶毒的诅咒。
Ten percent of the population in 17th century London died gruesomely of smallpox, a virus spread easily by airborne particles or contaminated clothing.
在17世纪的伦敦，有一成的人死于天花,这种病毒可通过空气和被感染的衣物进行传播。
Infection began with fever, aches, sneezing, and nausea.
感染后会逐渐出现发烧、疼痛、打喷嚏和恶心的症状。
Soon a rash of red dots appeared, often covering the skin with dripping scabs.
不久就会出现红色斑丘疹，通常为覆盖在皮肤上的滴痂。
Though some recovered, people could become blind, deaf, or severely scarred from smallpox.
尽管有人病愈，但是他们也会因此失聪、失明或留下严重的伤疤。
None of the physicians' attempts to treat smallpox with sheep manure or a golden needle helped at all.
当时，所有的内科医生尝试用羊粪或金针治疗天花，但是毫无作用。
But European peasants and traditional healers in Africa and Asia had discovered that exposure to a very small dose of the virus offered some protection.
不过，欧洲农民和非洲及亚洲的传统医师发现，摄入极少量天花病毒能让人体具备一定的免疫功能。
Traditional healers inoculated scratches in the skin with a small amount of pus infected with smallpox.
传统医师通过给健康人士注射天花患者的少量脓液进行预防接种。
译文为秀哈英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载!
