Gregory Parham
BI-245X
07/08/19
Dr. Hinks
Smallpox
Smallpox is an eradicated virus that can be contagious, disfiguring, and deadly. Smallpox has an incubation period of 7 to 17 days, where the patient looks and feel healthy, but once the incubation stage is over, onset of flu-like symptoms arises. The symptoms with smallpox consist of chills, vomiting, fever, and rashes on the skin. Smallpox is caused by infection with the variola virus and can be transmitted: directly from person to person, indirectly from an infected person, and contaminated items.
Originally, smallpox came from Egypt dated back to 1100 to 1580 BCE. There have been many treatments, remedies, vaccines to prevent or control the disease of smallpox since then. The futile remedies include bloodletting, leeches, fasting, laxatives, purgatives, diuretics, and hot and cold therapy. Variolation was the first method used to immunize an individual against smallpox and they would use dried smallpox scabs and blow them into the nose of the individual who then contracted a mild form for the disease. Once recovered, the individual would be immune to smallpox. The Chinese implemented the method of nasal insufflation, which is blowing powered smallpox material, usually scabs, up the nostrils.
Amazingly, a man named Edward Jenner was inoculated at the age of 8, studied to become a surgeon and found a vaccine for smallpox in 1796. Jenner collected milkmaids who had cowpox and were resistant to smallpox inoculation. His whole idea was fixed on inoculate a person who never had smallpox with cowpox, let person recover from cowpox, inoculate the person with smallpox, and then if no response, cowpox had conferred immunity to smallpox. The Vatican stated that Jenner’s vaccine was “precious discovery which is a new motive for human gratitude”. Edward Jenner contribution shows that he proved that people inoculated with cowpox were immune to smallpox and protective fluid could be passed from person to person.
Compulsory vaccines have its pros and cons with it. The pros consisted of armies’ mortality rates lowered and the vaccines were free. The cons included making the vaccines mandatory, which lead to a lot of protest. Parents allowed conscientious objection and wanted to have a voice on whether they wanted a vaccine or not.
Lastly, smallpox had existed for more than 3,000 years and was one of the world’s most feared disease, but in 1980, the World Health Organization eradicated smallpox. The last known natural case was in Somalia in 1976. The vaccine is used now for surveillance and containment. The method of surveillance and containment isolated people and vaccinated people around the isolation. In case of emergency dealing with smallpox, the U.S. government has enough vaccine to vaccinate every person in the United States.
References
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