A smallpox victim.
Find information on thousands of medical conditions and prescription drugs.

Smallpox

Smallpox (also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera) is a highly contagious disease unique to humans. It is caused by two virus variants called Variola major and Variola minor. V. major is the more deadly form, with a typical mortality of 20-40 percent of those infected. The other type, V. minor, only kills 1% of its victims. Many survivors are left blind in one or both eyes from corneal ulcerations, and persistent skin scarring - pockmarks - is nearly universal. more...

Home
Diseases
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
Sabinas brittle hair...
Saccharopinuria
Sacral agenesis
Saethre-Chotzen syndrome
Salla disease
Salmonellosis
Sandhoff disease
Sanfilippo syndrome
Sarcoidosis
Say Meyer syndrome
Scabies
Scabiophobia
Scarlet fever
Schamberg disease...
Schistosomiasis
Schizencephaly
Schizophrenia
Schmitt Gillenwater Kelly...
Sciatica
Scimitar syndrome
Sciophobia
Scleroderma
Scrapie
Scurvy
Selachophobia
Selective mutism
Seminoma
Sensorineural hearing loss
Seplophobia
Sepsis
Septo-optic dysplasia
Serum sickness
Severe acute respiratory...
Severe combined...
Sezary syndrome
Sheehan syndrome
Shigellosis
Shingles
Shock
Short bowel syndrome
Short QT syndrome
Shprintzen syndrome
Shulman-Upshaw syndrome
Shwachman syndrome
Shwachman-Diamond syndrome
Shy-Drager syndrome
Sialidosis
Sickle-cell disease
Sickle-cell disease
Sickle-cell disease
Siderosis
Silicosis
Silver-Russell dwarfism
Sipple syndrome
Sirenomelia
Sjogren's syndrome
Sly syndrome
Smallpox
Smith-Magenis Syndrome
Sociophobia
Soft tissue sarcoma
Somniphobia
Sotos syndrome
Spasmodic dysphonia
Spasmodic torticollis
Spherocytosis
Sphingolipidosis
Spinal cord injury
Spinal muscular atrophy
Spinal shock
Spinal stenosis
Spinocerebellar ataxia
Splenic-flexure syndrome
Splenomegaly
Spondylitis
Spondyloepiphyseal...
Spondylometaphyseal...
Sporotrichosis
Squamous cell carcinoma
St. Anthony's fire
Stein-Leventhal syndrome
Stevens-Johnson syndrome
Stickler syndrome
Stiff man syndrome
Still's disease
Stomach cancer
Stomatitis
Strabismus
Strep throat
Strongyloidiasis
Strumpell-lorrain disease
Sturge-Weber syndrome
Subacute sclerosing...
Sudden infant death syndrome
Sugarman syndrome
Sweet syndrome
Swimmer's ear
Swyer syndrome
Sydenham's chorea
Syncope
Syndactyly
Syndrome X
Synovial osteochondromatosis
Synovial sarcoma
Synovitis
Syphilis
Syringomas
Syringomyelia
Systemic carnitine...
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Systemic mastocytosis
Systemic sclerosis
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Medicines

Smallpox was responsible for an estimated 300-500 million deaths in the 20th century. As recently as 1967, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 15 million people contracted the disease and that two million died in that year.

After successful vaccination campaigns, the WHO in 1979 declared the eradication of smallpox, though cultures of the virus are kept by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States and at the Institute of Virus Preparations in Siberia, Russia. Smallpox vaccination was discontinued in most countries in the 1970s as the risks of vaccination include death (~1 per million), among other serious side effects. Nonetheless, after the 2001 anthrax attacks took place in the United States, concerns about smallpox have resurfaced as a possible agent for bioterrorism. As a result, there has been increased concern about the availability of vaccine stocks. Moreover, President George W. Bush has ordered all American military personnel to be vaccinated against smallpox and has implemented a voluntary program for vaccinating emergency medical personnel.

Famous victims of this disease include Ramesses V (see Koplow, p. 11, plus notes), Shunzhi Emperor of China (official history), Mary II of England, Louis XV of France, and Peter II of Russia. Henry VIII's fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, survived the disease but was scarred by it, as was Henry VIII's daughter, Elizabeth I of England in 1562, and Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Joseph Stalin, who was badly scarred by the disease early in life, would often have photographs retouched to make his pockmarks less apparent.

After first contacts with Europeans and Africans, the death of a large part of the native population of the New World was caused by Old World diseases. Smallpox was the chief culprit. On at least one occasion, germ warfare was attempted by the British Army under Jeffrey Amherst when two smallpox-infected blankets were deliberately given to representatives of the besieging Delaware Indians during Pontiac's Rebellion in 1763. That Amherst intended to spread the disease to the natives is not doubted by historians; whether or not the attempt succeeded is a matter of debate.

Smallpox is described in the Ayurveda books. Treatment included inoculation with year-old smallpox matter. The inoculators would travel all across India pricking the skin of the arm with a small metal instrument using "variolous matter" taken from pustules produced by the previous year's inoculations. The effectiveness of this system was confirmed by the British doctor J.Z. Holwell in an account to the College of Physicians in London in 1767.

Edward Jenner developed a smallpox vaccine by using cowpox fluid (hence the name vaccination, from the Latin vacca, cow); his first inoculation occurred on May 14, 1796. After independent confirmation, this practice of vaccination against smallpox spread quickly in Europe. The first smallpox vaccination in North America occurred on June 2, 1800. National laws requiring vaccination began appearing as early as 1805. The last case of wild smallpox occurred on October 26, 1977. One last victim was claimed by the disease in the UK in September 1978, when Janet Parker, a photographer in the University of Birmingham Medical School, contracted the disease and died. A research project on smallpox was being conducted in the building at the time, though the exact route by which Ms. Parker became infected was never fully elucidated.

Read more at Wikipedia.org


[List your site here Free!]


Recognizing and treating exposure to anthrax, smallpox, nerve gas, radiation, and other likely agents of terrorist attack
From SciTech Book News, 9/1/05

Recognizing and treating exposure to anthrax, smallpox, nerve gas, radiation, and other likely agents of terrorist attack.

Bolinger, Matt.

Paladin Press

2004

103 pages

$15.00

Paperback

RC88

Bolinger, an epidemiologist, presents basic information on likely nuclear, biological, and chemical agents of terror. He describes 29 such agents, the symptoms they produce, treatment options, and ways to prevent exposure. There is also a chapter on vital signs. Chapter self-tests and a final exam are included. There is no subject index.

([c] 2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR)

COPYRIGHT 2005 Book News, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group

Return to Smallpox
Home Contact Resources Exchange Links ebay