What method, encouraged by Lady Montagu, was used to prevent smallpox before vaccination?

• A. Inoculation
• B. Vaccination
• C. Quarantine
• D. Herbal remedies

Answer: (A)

The method is inoculation, also known as variolation. It involved taking material from a smallpox case and introducing it into a healthy person, usually by a small scratch on the arm. This caused a mild infection that trained the immune system to resist future smallpox, offering protection with a lower risk than catching the disease naturally. Lady Montagu popularised this approach in Britain after seeing it in the Ottoman Empire and having her own children inoculated, which helped persuade others to try it. It wasn't without risk—some people could still develop serious smallpox or transmit it to others—but it laid the groundwork for immunity before the later, safer vaccination using cowpox. Quarantine and herbal remedies don’t produce immunity, making inoculation the best fit for the question.