Smallpox: Different Types and their Symptoms
Smallpox as a devastating disease for thousands of years – it killed 300 million people just during the 20th century. There are two forms of the virus: Variola major (the deadlier) and Variola minor. Richard Preston in The Demon in the Freezer describes its effects on the body saying, “The virus had stripped the skin off the body, both inside and out, and the pain… seemed almost beyond the capacity of human nature to endure” (Sherman, pg 197). The two strains of smallpox discussed in this paper give insight to the symptoms of the now eradicated smallpox. Fulminating smallpox was insanely hard to detect, because the patient usually died before symptoms of smallpox could even appear. Malignant confluent smallpox had a much longer course of infection – it could last for a little over two weeks before claiming the patient’s life. Although these two forms were rare, every type of smallpox (if survived) would leave disfiguring scars on the face, known as pockmarks. Edward Jenner used the fact that milkmaids had fair complexions free from pockmarks to his advantage, and came up with his famed vaccine. Overall, much can be learned from smallpox, the only major human disease to have been eradicated.
A scourge that could topple entire empires within weeks, an enemy that was blind to race, gender, age, or class, smallpox left its mark on those that were able to survive. Smallpox, or the variola virus could easily wipe out entire cities (Irwin W. Sherman, pg 191-192) and was a plague that was nearly impossible to cure, yet it is now the only virus that has been successfully eradicated- the World Health Organization proclaimed it to be eradicated in 1979 (World Health Organization, pa...
... middle of paper ...
...it plagued mankind for 3,000 years (Sherman, pg 204). It changed human history while it thrived, as it did with its death. Smallpox is proof that medicine has the power to rid the world of the many diseases that plague the world today.
Works Cited
"Erythema." The American HeritageÆ Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth
Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 22 Jul. 2007.
Dixon, C. W. Smallpox. London: J. & a. Churchill Ltd, 1962. 5-22.
Dorth, Jenny. "Variola Minor." Stanford. 11 Oct. 1996. Stanford University. 27
July 2007 .
Sherman, Irwin W. The Power of Plagues. Washington, D.C.: ASM P, 2006. 191
192.
"Smallpox." World Health Organization. 15 June 2007. World Health
Organization. 27 July 2007
.
“Future nations will know by history only that the loathsome smallpox has existed and by you extirpated”. This quote comes from Thomas Jefferson to Edward Jenner, he founder of the smallpox vaccine. It would only be 100 years later that Jefferson would see his dream fulfilled, but not without struggle. In House on Fire, author William H. Foege shares his first hand view of the lengths that society needed to go through to rid the world of the disease that had plagued it for so long. The story of the fight against smallpox extends long before our efforts for global eradication and is a representation of how society deals with widespread disease. House on
Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth century a disease dominated the world killing one in three people who caught it, smallpox. The few that survived the disease were left with very disfigured bodies and weak immune systems. In modern days this disease seems very unusual and hard to catch; it is all because of one man, Edward Jenner.
The World Health Organization announced that smallpox had been eradicated from the planet on May 8, 1980. This was prompted by a three year absence of a smallpox infection; the last occurring case was reported in Somalia in 1977. Since then, worldwide stock of smallpox vaccines has been reduced enormously simply because of speculation that there is no need for it anymore and administering the vaccine is impertinent. After the disappearance of smallpox as an afflicting disease, it now exists in labs in only two locations, the United States and Russia, where it is studied for research purposes only. Smallpox is a virus that has two major forms, Variola major and Variola minor, and each form has similar and differentiating symptoms with regards to the other type (Alibek, 1999).
...ver the years to numerous people in regards to smallpox and the American Revolution. Fenn, was able I believe to shed light on a subject which has had little attention brought to it. Even when we read about the Revolution from other perspectives smallpox is only briefly mentioned as major outcome to the war. I feel the author has brought to the fore front something that needs to be scrutinized even more. Smallpox played a important roll in our history affecting thousands as it moved across North America. We as historians should be aware that the impact smallpox had on the colonies and Revolutionary War was just as much a part of our history as the “shot heard around the world”.
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).
Smallpox has been believed to be a prominent killer for thousands of years. Before 900 AD smallpox and measles were easily interchangeable to many physicians. These two diseases possessed similar symptoms, such as fevers and rashes, making it very difficult to distinguish between them. It was not until the Persian physician, Rhazes Ar-Raz Abmiz, that measles and smallpox were able to be clinically distinguished in 900 AD. Much later in 1751, Thomas Sydenham found further differentiating characteristics between the two diseases(Aufderheide, 202). Through the years, with its many outbreaks in varying areas across the planet, smallpox claimed millions of victims. Many rulers and soldiers were killed by this incredibly infectious disease. To prevent and hopefully stop the increasing numbers of deaths due to smallpox, many physicians slaved away to invent and find a cure for this disease. The first effective method of prevention was called variolation. Variolation was later modified and improved with vaccinations(Hopkins, 15). Today wild smallpox is no longer a risk. The last natural case of smallpox was reported in Somalia in 1977. While the last reported death due to smallpox was reported to be a year later in the UK(McNeil, 165). Smallpox is not completely out of the picture. After the 2001 attacks with anthrax, a strong paranoia of smallpox being used as another possible mean of bioterrorism has arisen(Oldstone, 32).
Henderson, Donald A., et al. “Smallpox as a Biological Weapon: Medical and Public Health Management.” Journal of the American Medical Association 281.22 (June 1999). 24 July 2008 .
diseases in the world, and it was declared eradicated in 1980 (Smallpox). This and all the other
During one of his earlier apprenticeships, Jenner noticed milkmaids with a disease called cowpox. Cowpox is a close relative to smallpox and is only mild in humans. Pustules appear on the hands and a basic cold is also brought on. At Jenner’s young age he was able to link these two viruses together and come up with a theory for immunization. In 1796, while still attending medical school, Jenner decided to test this theory between smallpox and cowpox. He used a dairymaid, who was a patient of his named Sarah Nelms, who had contracted cowpox and had ripe pustules on her hands. Jenner realized this was his opportunity to test someone who had not contracted smallpox yet. He picked an eight-year old boy named James Phipps to use as his test subject. He scraped open a spot of James' arm and rubbed in a dissected piece of Sarah Nelms pustule into the open wound. A couple days later James became ill with cowpox but was well again within a week. This test proved that cowpox could be spread between humans as well as cows. Jenner's next test would be if the cowpox virus gave James immunity against smallpox. On July 1st of 1796, Edward Jenner obtained an infected smallpox pustule and scratched the virus filled pus into James' arm. This technique of placing a virus into a patient is called variolation. James Phipps did not develop smallpox within the
The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston is an intriguing book that discusses the anthrax terrorist attacks after 9/11 and how smallpox might become a future bioterrorist threat to the world. The book provides a brief history of the smallpox disease including details of an outbreak in Germany in 1970. The disease was eradicated in 1979 due to the World Health Organization’s aggressive vaccine program. After the virus was no longer a treat the World Health Organization discontinued recommending the smallpox vaccination. In conjunction, inventory of the vaccine was decreased to save money. The virus was locked up in two labs, one in the United States and one in Russia. However, some feel the smallpox virus exists elsewhere. Dr. Peter Jahrling and a team of scientists at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Maryland became concerned terrorists had access to the smallpox virus and planed to alter the strain to become more resistant. These doctors conducted smallpox experiments to discover more effective vaccines in case the virus were released. Preparedness for a major epidemic is discussed as well as the ease with which smallpox can be bioengineered.
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.
For approximately three-thousand years, smallpox has ravaged and plagued the four corners of the globe. In fact, in the 17 th and 18 th centuries, it was claimed to be the most infectious disease in the West, with an astounding 90% mortality rate in America. It wasn't until 1796, with English surgeon Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccination, that the world saw relief from this devastating virus. However, even with this inoculation in use, the world continued to witness death from both the virus and the vaccine. In the year 1966, it was estimated that 10-15 million infected citizens world wide had passed away from smallpox that year alone ( “History” 12). As a result of these devastating numbers, in the following year, 1967, the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) created a program to eradicate the smallpox virus. Ten years later, in 1977, the estimated 10-15 million cases had dwindled down to one; a man in Somalia. Three years later, W.H.O. officially announced that smallpox had been eradicated, leaving the only remaining virus cultures stored and guarded in laboratories in Russia and the United States. Inoculations ceased, smallpox epidemics were non-existent, and the virus was no longer a concern. In order to ensure complete eradication of this deadly virus, the W.H.O. insisted that the remaining smallpox cultures be destroyed by 1999 ( “Smallpox Eradication” 2). However, despite the W.H.O.'s recommendation, the remaining cultures continue to be contained and protected to this day, five years after the suggested date of elimination.
Smallpox is a disease from the variola virus. Smallpox has caused an estimated number of 300 million deaths in the 1900s alone. Smallpox is said to have been around since the ancient Egyptian times. The disease was eradicated in the late 20th century and two samples are still kept, one in U.S.A and one in Russia. Smallpox creates bumps and blisters all over the body and has been one of the most fatal epidemics the world has seen.
Pandemics and epidemics are diseases that affect many people all over the world. They cause millions of deaths and leave many people sick. Most epidemics are contagious and spread very quickly. One kind of epidemic is the variola virus. Variola virus is most known by the name smallpox. it got it’s nickname from the small blisters that appear on the face and arms. Smallpox is believed to have originated in Egypt or Northeastern Africa about 10,000 years ago. It soon reached Asia during the middle ages and reached Europe in 700 A.D.In 18th Century Europe it killed about 400,000 people a year. In the 20th Century alone, it has killed about 300 million. This disease has also led to the downfall of the Aztec Empire and killed many royal figures from France, Russia and other countries.