Definition of "vaccinia" []

• See cowpox. (noun)
• The usually mild, cutaneous and sometimes systemic reaction in individuals who have been inoculated with smallpox vaccine. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "(The smallpox vaccine is based on a live virus called vaccinia, which is closely related to the smallpox virus and protects against it, but normally does not cause disease itself.)"
• "And in the past, when bandages weren't as effective, and the cleaning of hospital linens not as stringent as they are today, the transmission of vaccinia from the vaccine to others wasn't rampant:"
• ""The vaccine is not smallpox virus, but it's a closely related virus called vaccinia," she added."