Artifact 4

In my opinion after learning about diseases and epidemics I believe smallpox is the most devastating disease ever known to humanity. This is because the complexity of the virus variola this is known to be the most complex virus of them all. This virus also has no known cure at all making it nearly impossible to ever get rid of the virus once infected. This virus sole purpose is to kill the infected. Once the infected receives the disease it can spread over the entire body in a matter of a few days to a week. Although there is no known cure for this virus a vaccine is used and is extremely effective to prevent the disease from ever happening. If one was faced with living during the smallpox epidemic you would be living in a daily fear. This is because the virus was spreading at a great rate and killing off people faster than ever seen before. If one was Indian they would be especially afraid because up to 90 percent received this and about 70 percent were killed. Family members would stay close until one receives this disease then everything becomes different making families split up.

The options for treatment in Europe during the 17^th century was slim to none. But the treatments known then were all to have been extremely uncomfortable and or painful. The first treatment know was bleeding the patient. This practice is basically to bleed out the patient until the point of feeding this was extremely painful. Another treatment was to pop each of the sores on the 7^th day with a golden needle. As well as, heat therapy which is closing yourself and a fire in a room with no ventilation or open windows and basically sweating it out. This practice was extremely hard on the patients because the high levels of fevers they all had. Lastly, red therapy which is wearing all red, red food walls in the rooms red, just about everything that could be red is painted red. This was supposed to take the sores away since they were also red. When vaccinations were created this was introducing a small part of the virus to the body so they body can become immune to the virus. This vaccine was distributed by doctors and was becoming more of a thing when people were finding out how effective and beneficial this truly was for people and especially for future people.

People living in England in the 18^th century and the early 20^th century people were exposed to both pro-vaccinations and anti-vaccinations. Both parties had good arguments regarding the virus. The anti-vaccinations objections included inoculator loss fees which could be extremely expensive at the time. As well as an immoral concept that smallpox decreases the poor population. Another reason would be the people were interfering with gods plan. Lastly the duration of the vaccine was not known and the immunization was taken from animals. The pro-vaccination people argued that the proof was in the numbers the people being vaccinated were living much more than the people not being vaccinated. Smallpox was eradicated globally by the nations coming together to try and end this epidemic. There were very strict isolation policies. The quarantines of all people contacted with the disease. Lastly selective vaccination programs. The difficulties that were encountered with this is that all the people did not know if they had it they may have just been carrying the virus but not infected by it.

Today in society vaccines against infectious agents are a choice of the parents whether their child receives vaccinations. Although it is a choice of parents there still is tension because some people view this as doing this not only for the health of your child but for the benefit of the entire nation or globally because how truly fast an epidemic can occur or reoccur.  But others can argue that you are putting the virus into them and they have the potential to get the virus. There are many differences between a vaccine and a prescription drug. A vaccine is a part of the virus injected to the patient making them immune to the disease in the future. But a prescription drug is helping with a virus or something along the lines to get rid of it once you already are infected with whatever it may be.