[Bill Rice]

"Smallpox kills one third of infected people."

I read a post earlier where someone mentioned that this 1 in 3 ratio is based on the lifestyle and immune systems of 50 or 60 years ago. Back when they did the study, country folks had already been exposed to to cow pox and many other maladies, and had better immune systems. Most antibiotics were fairly new, and diseases weren't antibiotic resistant yet. Everyone wasn't using anti-bacterial soaps and eating meat that had been fed antibiotics.

The ratio could be higher.

[Malesherbes]

Smallpox is a virus, not bacteria - so I'm not sure that anti-bacterial agents would do any good. But I agree with the main thrust of your comment, e.g. earlier generations'exposure to cow-pox.

[BearPaw1]

Smallpox is a virus, antibiotics will not help, except for secondary infection.