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Smallpox history research paper
Smallpox history research paper
Smallpox history research paper
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The annihilation of American Indigenous Population had an impact in early 17th century. The main reason behind this disaster was Smallpox. A deadly virus named Variola virus, causes smallpox. According to World Health Organization (WHO), Smallpox is a contagious disease caused by Variola virus. It was, and still is one of the world's most feared diseases. Smallpox is one of the deadliest diseases of this world. This disease is spread very fast by air. There are high chances that, any person near smallpox affected person, will get smallpox. This diseases DNA is so complex that, still now there is no treatment or cure for smallpox. At the beginning of new age, many people die because they neither had treatment nor a strong immunity system. Not only smallpox but also various widespread epidemic diseases and infections almost wiped out American indigenous population, the origin and spread is known to people, but its definite causes are controversial.
The origins of smallpox in new world began through Colombian exchange. Originally Smallpox was first found in Egypt. According to Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America (PNAS), “Observations of smallpox-typical skin rashes on Egyptian mummies dating from 1100 to 1580 B.C.” (Moss, “On the Origin”). Smallpox was first experienced in Egyptian mummies in approximately in 1100B.C. Originated from Egypt, consequently spread in a numerous places. This disease is a viral infection that enters in through someone’s nose or throat. It is very contagious, and once the infection gets into the body, the virus will move to the lungs. As a result the person will die. It is a deadly disease which aims to kill fast. Basically after 1492 when Columbus came to Americ...
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...n Indian Heritage Foundation or Indians, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
.Mayo Clinic Staff. "Smallpox." Definition. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
McNeill, J.R. "5.1 The Columbian Exchange." The Columbian Exchange. North Carolina Digital History, 2008. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
Moss, Bernard. "On the Origin of Smallpox: Correlating Variola Phylogenics with Historical Smallpox Records." On the Origin of Smallpox: Correlating Variola Phylogenics with Historical Smallpox Records. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 15 Aug. 2007. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
"Smallpox." WHO. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
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Stearns, Peter N., Michael Adas, Stuart B. Schwartz, and Marc Jason Gilbert. World Civilizations: The Global Experience. 6th. Vol. Combined. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2011. Print.
18) Powell, Alvin. "The Beginning of the End of Smallpox."news.harvard.edu. N.p.. Web. 13 Mar 2014. .
In closing, the variola virus affected a great amount in that era including, military strategy, trade, and native populations. Elizabeth A. Fenn’s book Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82 sheds light on a significant aspect of that era that had not been given proper credence beforehand. She also illuminated the effect of smallpox when it came to race and social status. With regard to race, smallpox decimated much of the non European populations partly because of their lack of an innate immunity to that virus and Europeans lack of regard for those of a different race. Fenn’s argument on social status showed how the poorer strata’s of society suffered more severely from the variola virus because of their lack of finances to get inoculated; thus, the poor often suffered a worse strain of the virus which often lead to death.
Krebsbach, Suzanne. “The Great Charlestown Smallpox Epidemic of 1760.” The South Carolina Historical Magazine 97, no. 1 (1996): 30-37. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27570134.
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In order to understand the history of smallpox one first has to understand how diseases like it evolve. Much like other species, diseases that survive in the long run are the microbes that most effectively reproduce and are able to find suitable places to live. For a microbe to effectively reproduce, it must "be defined mathematically as the number of new infected per each original patient." This number will largely depend on how long each victim is able to spread the virus to other victims (Diamond, 198).
It was spread by physical contact with human skin and mostly affected children and adults. This disease was so outrageous that led to a vast number of deaths in New England colonies. Also, smallpox virus transmitted through airborne from the oral, nasal mucus of the infected person. But mostly was spread from close contact or contaminated material of the infected person. It was spread very slowly and less broadly than other viral illness which took long time to identify the infection in first two weeks. Infection of smallpox started to grow between 7 to 10 days when the scabs form onto bruise. The signs and symptoms of this disease were with high fever, widespread rashes, redness, muscle pain, headache, common cold, vomiting, nausea and many more. Consequently, the virus was found in the bone marrow along with bloodstream in huge numbers. There were different types in between the smallpox disease with other classification. By preserving the virus, Boylston personally inoculated 247 people in 1721 and 1722 to prevent transmission. However, from there only six people died, and Boylston was the first American surgeon to inoculate his patients personally. The author portrays the background data Boylston used to examine the inoculation practice on different age and gender of persons to cure his patients were from previous experiments. The inoculation method provided higher rank of immunity in preventing smallpox infection. The prevention for smallpox was through inducing antibodies by vaccine which lasts longer for a person taken
The smallpox disease is caused by the Variola virus, a virus of the Orthopox family, which also includes cowpox, monkeypox, and other related diseases (Tucker 5). Two variants
Bulliet, Richard W. Earth and Its Peoples: a Global History. 5th ed. Vol. 1. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.
Native Americans never came in contact with diseases that developed in the Old World because they were separated from Asia, Africa, and Europe when ocean levels rose following the end of the last Ice Age. Diseases like smallpox, measles, pneumonia, influenza, and malaria were unknown to the Native Americans until the Europeans brought these diseases over time to them. This triggered the largest population decline in all recorded history. Fifty percent of the Native American population had died of disease within twenty years. Soon after, Native Americans began to question their religion and doubted the ability of shamen to heal. This was the first step towards the destruction of Native cultures. The Native Americans had never experienced anything like these deadly diseases before and they came to believe that Europeans had the power to kill or give life.
Vaccines are one of modern medicine 's game-changing breakthroughs, but they have been around for hundreds of years earlier in primitive forms. Dating back to medieval times, the first precursor to modern vaccination occurred in China around the tenth century. (2) Known as variolation or inoculation, the method was used to prevent smallpox that plagued Europe and Asia. (2) Chinese doctors found that when healthy people were exposed to smallpox scab tissue, they were less likely to get infected or got a milder, less dangerous case. (2) The most common form of inoculation in China was to crush smallpox scabs into powder and then breathe it through the nose.(2) Because smallpox was such a destructive disease, in the late 1700 's, George Washington ordered mandatory inoculation for troops who hadn 't survived smallpox before. (2) Also in the late 1700 's, Edward Jenner
Tucker, Jonathan B.. Scourge: The Once and Future Threat of Smallpox. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2001
Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization. 8th ed. Vol. 1. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.
Beck, Roger B., Linda Black, Larry S. Krieger, Phillip C. Naylor, and Dahia I. Shabaka. World History: Patterns of Interaction. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2009.
McKay, J/P/, Hill, B.D., Buckler, J., Ebrey, P.B., Beck, R.B., Crowston, C.H., & Wiesner-Hanks, M.E. (2008). A History of World Societies, Volume A: From Antiquity to 1500. New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martin's