Smallpox Synthesis Essay

The history of vaccinations begin with Edward Jenner, the country doctor from Gloucestershire who found, growing on cows, a nearly harmless virus the protected people from smallpox. Jenner’s vaccine was safer, more reliable, and more durable than variolation, and it is still the only vaccine to have eliminated its reason for being-in 1980, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the disease extinct. For nearly a century and a half, smallpox was the only vaccine routinely administered, and it saved millions of lives . But the controversy that marked the return of the vaccine, amid bioterrorism hysteria in 2002, was only the latest twist in the remarkable, mysterious life of vaccines.

Despite the disappearance of the plague, smallpox still ran rampant throughout the world. The terrible disease continued to kill millions of Europeans every year. An inoculation created in the early 1700s was a somewhat successful solution and thousands of Europeans underwent the operation to engraft their skin with smallpox (Doc 2). However, new, more efficient solution came in the form of Edward Jenner, who created the first smallpox vaccine by collecting cowpox from an infected person and inserting it into another individual’s arm (Doc 6). Edward Jenner’s new vaccine was virtually harmless and was the most efficient vaccination to date. The smallpox vaccine eradicated the disease in Europe and eventually, the entire world. Smallpox was the last great disease that Europeans faced and its elimination allowed Europe’s population to grow and

Vaccines have been used to prevent diseases for centuries, and have saved countless lives of children and adults. The smallpox vaccine was invented as early as 1796, and since then the use of vaccines has continued to protect us from countless life threatening diseases such as polio, measles, and pertussis. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2010) assures that vaccines are extensively tested by scientist to make sure they are effective and safe, and must receive the approval of the Food and Drug Administration before being used. “Perhaps the greatest success story in public health is the reduction of infectious diseases due to the use of vaccines” (CDC, 2010). Routine immunization has eliminated smallpox from the globe and

Edward Jenner invented a vaccine by using a naturally-acquired and mild cowpox to prevent smallpox. More than one thousand people were vaccinated in England alone within three years. The print media played an important role in spreading the word about these vaccinations and smallpox was finally eradicated in 1980 (Bouldin, 2010).

However, Jenner’s invention became a common practice only a few years after he released it to the public, and according to The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia, “By 1890 smallpox had virtually been eradicated from Britain.” (“Jenner, Edward (1749-1823)”) From the information about the first vaccination, we can see that vaccinations have been proven to eliminate deadly diseases, whether they receive opposition or not. Without immunizations, we would be overcome with diseases, such as smallpox, polio, and measles.

Jenner’s discovery of the link between cowpox and smallpox was significant to the development of a vaccine for smallpox. However, it can be argued that Jenner and his discovery were not enough on their own to bring medical progress. The factors Scientific thinking, Government Communication and Changing attitudes played a major and important role to bring medical progress.

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

Smallpox is caused by the variola virus an extremely contagious disease. That can be spread through any type of contact with the virus. The virus is a member of the genus Orthopoxvirus, in the Poxviridae family. Smallpox has been considered eradicated in the United States since 1972. Virologists have speculated that it evolved from an African rodent poxvirus 10 millennia ago. The name is derived from the Latin word for "spotted" and refers to the raised bumps on the face and body of the patient. (Medscape.com) Smallpox has been to blame for the extinction and almost extinction of many cultures. The disease has been used as biological warfare since the beginning or war. At times,

Throughout history, many diseases have come and gone, leaving waves in the water of human progress. And though illnesses have been numerous, only two diseases have truly affected entire civilizations, ravaging the culture and lifestyle of the peoples, and escalating to epidemical heights. The two scourges are bubonic plague, which influenced Europe during the 1300’s, and smallpox, which impacted Mesoamerica and the Native Americans from the 1500’s to the 1900’s. To understand how these sicknesses were so altering to their related societies, one must understand the disease.

Smallpox, a disease caused by variola virus, is considered one of the biggest killers in terms of diseases in human history. Its eradication culminated a decade-long World Health Organization effort which began despite serious doubt and skepticism and succeeded to bypass a plethora of obstacles occasioned by floods, famine, civil war and bureaucratic inertia.

Variola major and minor is the cause for smallpox disease. 30% of infected people were killed because of the virus. [20]

Preliminary, it is necessary to admit that there is no effective medication for pox disease. Those people who suffer from the disease may get only special treatment procedures; however, it will not give them a chance to be cured completely.

According to Dan Epstein of the World Health Organization (WHO), a pandemic is “a global epidemic- an epidemic that spreads to more than one continent (WHO.int)”. It often begins an animal infection that spreads to humans and proceeds to infect a larger population worldwide. Often, the infectious disease emerges suddenly and spreads rapidly, making it difficult to develop a vaccine in enough time to prevent high morbidly and mortality rates (Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2009). Despite their slow production and high cost of development, vaccines have been called the “greatest success story in public health” (WHO.int). Edward Jenner first introduced the smallpox vaccine in the later 19th century and the vaccine successfully eliminated smallpox

Smallpox was eradicated in 1980 by the Center for Disease and control. It is now contained in five labs in the United States and Russia, however there are other labs in the world with smallpox. Smallpox is created from the virus Variola which inoculates itself through the skin and into the dermis or more commonly from prolonged, direct face to face contact. Smallpox incubates for as long as two weeks at which time it is multiplying in the lymph nodes and bone marrow. The virus is also able to enter the blood stream and travel through without being harmed by macrophages. The variola virus also causes monkeypox and cowpox however none of these are as bad or as fatal as smallpox.