Imagine a quick spreading rash throughout the entire body, leaving not a single space behind; every opening and crevice in your body, including your mouth and eyes covered in painful bumps accompanied by high fever and severe body aches. Flat red spots transforming into fluid-filled lesions and soon oozing out yellow pus, evidently emitting a pungent odor to anyone who dared get close. The live virus present in the darkening crusty scabs that would soon fall off only to leave behind a deep pitted scarred filled complexion on anyone who was fortunate enough to survive. These scars would be forever remembered as the hallmark for the smallpox epidemic which tormented the world for over 3,000 years. (Riedel “Deadly Diseases”). The earliest case of smallpox according to a journal published in the US National Library of Medicine titled, “Edward Jenner and the History of Smallpox and Vaccination” was recorded as early as 1122 BC. (Riedel “Smallpox the Origin of a Disease”). Mankind’s triumph over this horrible disease was initiated by an English doctor named Edward Jenner. Through observations and experimentation, Jenner would create a procedure now known as vaccination. (Riedel “Edward Jenner”). During the next two centuries, vaccinations would be used worldwide to stop the spread of small pox. After the successful worldwide vaccination campaign led by the World Health Organization, small pox was eradicated worldwide in 1980. As a result of the eradication of smallpox according
It's killed more than prostate cancer and breast cancer fatality rates together. Smallpox was the first disease to be eliminated from the world through public-health efforts and vaccination. Smallpox still poses a threat because existing laboratory strains may be used as biological weapons. Approximately one-third of people with smallpox died from the disease. Survivors were scarred for life. If the eye was infected, blindness often resulted.There are new experimental medications that might be effective in smallpox, but these have not been tested in human cases since the disease has been eradicated.The smallpox vaccine contains a live virus called vaccinia. It is administered by dipping a pronged piece of metal into the vaccine and then pricking the skin.
Over many of years the world has faced problems concerning health. Many scientists and health experts have worked together to better our nation 's health care. English Physician and Scientist Edward Jenner, a small country doctor, who is well known around the world for his innovative contribution to immunization and the ultimate eradication of smallpox. (2005, Baylor University Medical Center.) It is believed that smallpox appeared around 10,000 B.C. Smallpox was introduced to Europe sometime between the fifth and seventh centuries and was frequently epidemic during the Middle Ages. Edward Jenner was born on May 17, 1749, in Berkeley, Gloucestershire. During his early school years, Edward developed a strong interest in science and nature that continued throughout his life. Jenner’s interest in natural history and animal biology sharpened his medical understanding of the role of human-animal trans-species boundaries in disease transmission. He experienced the proverbial “Eureka”-like moment sometime during the 1770s. At age 13 he was apprenticed to a country surgeon and apothecary in Sodbury, near Bistol. The record shows that it was there Jenner heard a dairymaid say, " I shall never have smallpox for I have had cowpox. I shall never have an ugly pockmarked face." While Jenner 's interest in the effects of cowpox began during his apprenticeshire with George Harwickle, it wasn 't until 1796 before he made the first step in a long process of smallpox would be exposed. Jenner
Smallpox, also know as variola virus, is extremely contagious and lethal. In modern day it has been eradicated and we no longer vaccinate the human population. Symptoms begin 12-14 days after infection; after 1-2 days spots turn into blisters and then pustules and after 8-9 days these pustules become crusted. If the person survives, large disfiguring scars remain (Merck, 2003).
Smallpox is a viral infection caused by Variola major. This infection is currently one of the most dreaded diseases, and is believed to be more dangerous than the enemy’s sword. The exposure is usually an infection of the respiratory tract. After exposure, early symptoms are: headaches, back aches, fever, vomiting, discomfort, and feeling out of sorts. These symptoms go away usually in two days, and the patient feels better. Then about two days later, the patient has a flustered face, and lesions on the mouth, throat, and nasal membranes. At 5 days past exposure, red rashes and bumps appear on the skin, bleeding through skin, and mucous membranes. If the patients bleeds through their eyes, gums, or nose, the patient will not live much longer, but that is not usually the case. The bumps may touch each other or they may be separate from each other. If the bumps do not touch, the patients has a good chance of surviving. But if the bumps do touch, the patient has a forty percent chance of surviving. Dehydration is common in patients because it may be painful or difficult to drink. Around day ten, the bumps will become soft, and blisters will form. The fluid in the bumps is absorbed because of dehydration. A smell often comes from cracked bumps, and a second bacterial infection may occur due to the openings in the body. Two weeks after initial symptoms, the bumps and blisters are replaced by scabs. One week later the fever disappears, the patient returns to a normal life, and the
The first case of smallpox was found on the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses V in the 3rd Century BCE. After Egypt, in the 4th Century, variola is thought to have spread to China, where people prayed to the god Yo Hoa Long to try to prevent themselves getting sick, of course, this was to no prevail. After spreading to China, because of the increasing trade with Japan and Korea, smallpox spread even further. This deadly pathogen spread quickly, as somebody only needed to be breathed on, and they could be infected. During the 7th century, smallpox was widespread throughout India and was quickly spreading towards northern Africa, Spain, and Portugal because of the expansion of Arabic people. 300 years later, in the 10th century, variola crept into Asia Minor and modern-day Portugal. During the Crusades in the 11th century, smallpox spread further throughout Europe and infect many more unsuspecting people. Smallpox spreads to northern England, which was previously not affected by this deadly disease. When Smallpox spread to Northern England, it caused multiple outbreaks that traveled as far north as Iceland. Smallpox at this point had already killed people from Egypt all the way to Northern Europe and was not stopping there. In the 15th-16th Century, smallpox was spread through Portuguese traders into Africa. European colonization and the African slave trade spread Variola
The earliest indicator of smallpox in history is the extensive lesions on three Egyptian mummies. There are also recorded cases from the Hitties (1346 BC), Syracuse (595 BC), Athens (490 BC), China (48AD), Korean Peninsula (583 AD), and Japan (585 AD), however, they are not definite cases because these ancient physicians were unable to distinguish smallpox rashes from other skin rashes. Nevertheless, this distinction was made in 910 AD by physician Al-Razi. As Islam spread across North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, smallpox followed. By 1000 AD, smallpox epidemics were widely recorded from Japan to Spain. In the 16th century, smallpox outbreaks hit large cities such as London and Geneva, and exploration across oceans facilitated the spread of smallpox as well to the Americas, Australia, and South Africa. In the Americas, natives were seen as lesser and put to work in mines and on plantations where the combination of poor working conditions and European disease thinned out their population. This encouraged the importation of slaves from Africa as replacements and eventual establishment of slave trade to the New World. Smallpox outbreaks killed many natives, starting in Hispaniola and spreading to Cuba, the Yucatan, and other parts of Mexico. The spread was almost systematic, and due to the nature of smallpox, affected isolated, indigenous populations. Even after Edward Jenner created a successful vaccine for smallpox, it remained a serious threat, as many people, especially in rural areas were not
Millions of deaths were caused by smallpox through the 20th century. Catching smallpox was easy as catching a cold. A piece of cloth, blood, etc could all be fatal. In 1796 physician Edward Jenner discovered the first working vaccine to cure smallpox. Jenner placed cowpox into a boys arm. He later introduced the smallpox virus to the boy and he didn't fall ill with the disease.
Armed with opposable thumbs and high-functioning frontal lobes, humans have historically battled disease, including the “the speckled monster”; smallpox. Known as a highly contagious virus, smallpox has been around since 10,000 B.C., and its plagues are responsible for causing millions of deaths. There was no knowledge of how to treat or prevent this disease from spreading until the idea of taking samples of dead smallpox cells and injecting them into a human was proven to build immunity. Over time, the treatment was perfected and has changed medical history by introducing the idea of the vaccine. Smallpox vaccinations eventually became mandated, and in 1979, smallpox was declared to be the first disease to ever be completely eradicated from
Humans eradicated smallpox. Through worldwide vaccination efforts, there has not been a single wild case of smallpox, the disease that killed nearly half those it infected, since 1978. This magnificent public health feat is being replicated worldwide for more than 20 pathogens, in the process protecting humans from a host of debilitating and deadly diseases. However, we cannot rest on our laurels. We still face numerous infectious diseases with effects just as devastating as smallpox. To combat these diseases, we must put new vaccine development and improvement at the forefront of our medical research.
Existing evidence have shown that the Chinese employed smallpox inoculation as early as the 1000 CE and then participated by the Africans and the Turkish as well. Which then spread all around Europe and to America. Edward Jenner, the first to come up with a vaccine in the late 1700 ‘s used cowpox material to create immunity to smallpox and had quickly spread all around. The method of Edward was practiced for 200 years and underwent medical and technological changes over that period of time. Many of you may have not none this but Edward jenner was able to save
Smallpox is a highly contagious and fatal disease; there is no treatment available to smallpox, and the only way to avoid this infection is through primary prevention measures of vaccination. Smallpox has two clinical forms, variola major (most common) and variola minor (least common) with a fatality rate of 30% and 1% respectively. Variola major has four types of smallpox, ordinary (accounts for 90% of the cases), modified (occurs in vaccinated individuals), hemorrhagic (severe and rare), and flat or malignant (rare and fatal). Smallpox has been declared eradicated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1980, and vaccination of the general public has stopped shortly after; nevertheless, it is an agent of bioterrorism that is available in laboratory stockpiles worldwide (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004).
The variole virus emerged in human populations thousands of years ago. It spreads from one person to another through the inhalation of airborne respiratory droplets that came from a smallpox-infected person. It can also be transmitted through direct contact with contaminated objects that the infected person has used such as bedding or clothing. (Behbehani, 1983) However, smallpox requires a direct and prolonged up-close contact with the person before it can actually contaminate the person’s body. The disease can also be transmitted by touching the rash and scabs of the infected person. (Ngan,
Smallpox was the main imperative illness to be killed; it was the accomplishment of the Smallpox Eradication Program that enlivened this gathering. A few natural reasons supported the annihilation of smallpox, the most essential of which were likely that intermittent infectivity did not happen, that there was no creature repository, and that a viable stable antibody was accessible. The significance of smallpox as a malady that explorers may import into nations free of smallpox gave an intense boost to its worldwide destruction. This paper highlights a portion of the issues connected with the annihilation of smallpox in two nations where destruction was troublesome, India and Ethiopia, and the measures received to defeat the issues. The paper
Smallpox is contagious but it is also a deadly disease that affect humans over 100 years. It can be on your body to 10 to 14 days after you’re infected. In 1980 they found out it was smallpox. The symptoms was a fever, not hearing, can’t walk and even a headache and back pain. Then, a couple days later red spots will appear on your face, your hands and forearms or even on your bottom.
According to my research, in 1796 Dr. Edward Jenner developed a vaccine for smallpox disease however during this time only cows were infected. This vaccine came from the cowpox virus. In 1809, the state of Massachusetts became the first to mandate the smallpox vaccinations then in 1879 a group of Anti-Vaccination of America was formed and their belief is that no one should be forced to vaccination. They believed that the vaccine was spreading the disease instead of preventing it. In 1986