Details - Public Health Image Library(PHIL)

ID#:

3293

Caption:

Photographed in 1969, this image depicts a child who had severe periorbital swelling, accompanied by what are referred to as, kissing lesions, on her lower and upper right eyelids, after having received a smallpox vaccination, and accidently touching her right eye, after touching the vaccination site. In this way, vaccinia virus, a live virus, was transferred to her eye. The most common sites involved in accidental auto-inoculation are the face, eyelid, nose, mouth, genitalia, and rectum. Most lesions heal without specific therapy. See PHIL 3296, for a view of this child’s condition 36 hours after beginning vaccinia immune globulin (VIG) therapy.