The Epidemic Of Smallpox And Vaccines

During the Revolutionary War, one of the main fears were not the enemies bullets, but fear of disease. One of the major viruses that people had to fear was smallpox. The continental army had more to fear than the British in the fact that British had been immunized, and the continental army had not. This was only the beginning of the problems from the smallpox epidemic that broke out in America.

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

The start of the vaccine was the year 1855 when the smallpox vaccines were mandatory for the school children. The state of Massachusetts passed the first U.S. law, mandating vaccination for the school children. This practice continues still today. Now in this modern age that the newborn baby receives 49 vaccines by the age of 6. Indeed, vaccines have saved a number of lives until today. This is one of the best action taken place for humanity. Moreover, the majority population doesn’t recognize in general that vaccines have toxins in them. For this reason, a certain population gets side effects through receiving vaccines. According to CDC data, there are about 30,000 cases of adverse reactions per year in 2015. The stories of those individuals injured by vaccines are incredibly moving. Accordingly, we need to take a look closer to this issue of our society.

This article was unique to read because it was actually selected excerpts from the Cumberland House journals of 1781 and 1782. Each excerpt described what kind of person was being affected such as age and gender and then described where the smallpox rash was first noticed. Smallpox was first brought to Mexico by the Spaniards in 1520, later reached Massachusetts and extended west a century later. On each occasion, it occurred in an epidemic form with an extremely high mortality rate. This article describes the first recorded smallpox epidemic on the western plains. The excerpts were handwritten diaries of daily events. The chroniclers were William Tomison and Matthew Cocking. Tomison’s account of the smallpox epidemic just 20 years before Jenner

Illnesses and diseases continue to develop and spread constantly throughout the world. These harmful viruses have always had a huge impact on humanity. Viruses caused many deaths and outbreaks in the past and present because viruses can be passed on easily. Luckily today there is a way to prevent the spread of these viruses, which is vaccines. Vaccines are used to provide immunity against diseases. Once vaccines were introduced there were a lot of speculations and assumptions. There are many people who are for and against vaccines, but today there are many health professional, experts, doctors, and parents who believe that vaccination is a lifesaver. Vaccination is a controversial topic for many parents and guardians of children. Vaccines

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

Children with Acute lymphoblastic leukemia have to get treatment then after they have been cleared they have to get two-three years of maintenance therapy (Holsinger,2012). During this time they will have a compromised immune system. They can still get vaccines but because of the therapy they are receiving the vaccines are not as effective (Holsinger, 2012). If they were to contract a disease like measles it would be much worse for them because of their immune system. If other people vaccinate it stop the outbreaks and lets the people who cannot be vaccinated be a little less concerned about infectious diseases. Also some people are allergic to the ingredients in the vaccines they cannot get them. It is very rare to be allergic but it does happen (Shapiro, 2015) . Some people are allergic to they but only get a small reaction that is not life threatening they could still be vaccinated. Newborn babies are too young for some vaccinations and they can get sick from people who are not vaccinated. (Pemberton, 2015). There is herd immunity which if about 95% of the population is vaccinated it prevents an outbreak since the people are vaccinated they get the disease but their immune system fights it off and then it can no longer spread to other people (Pemberton, 2015). Some people choose not to vaccinate because of allergies but a lot of people who choose not to vaccinate are doing it because

Vaccine is a powerful medicine that helps with fatal symptoms like chicken pox and smallpox are very dangerous to many young kids. On the other hand, these are some reasons why people should take the following medicine: children wouldn't be able to attend school, they would be breaking the law, and it could protect them from getting the disease. If I were them, I would be cognizant of my child going to school without vaccine in his or her system.

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”).

Immunizations were created to keep children and adults healthy and safe. Edward Jenner administered the world’s first vaccination known as the smallpox vaccine, which had killed millions of people over the centuries (). Jenner administered the vaccine on an eight year old boy who he exposed to the fluid of a cowpox blisters, the boy developed a blister which eventually went away. Jenner then exposed the boy to the smallpox disease and the boy did not get sick, this led to the smallpox vaccine and the drastic decline in the smallpox disease. Fast-forward three centuries later and the small pox diseases is eradicated do to people receiving the vaccine. Immunizations are extremely important to the world’s overall health. Babies and children are most vulnerable to disease because they are son young and their organs and bodies are growing at a rapid rate. It is important for children to be immunized against vaccine preventable diseases such as: rubella, diphtheria, and pertussis (whooping cough), and a host of other diseases. High vaccination coverage has significantly reduced vaccine-preventable disease morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially among children (Baggs et. al., 2011). While some people focus on the cons of vaccinations, there are many pros to children receiving vaccinations.

Small Pox is an infectious disease that causes a fever and rash. The term “pox” comes from the Latin word for spotted. It also refers to the raised bumps that appear on the face and body of an infected person. Small Pox is cause by the Variola virus that appeared many years ago. There are two rudimentary patterns of small pox: Variola minor and Variola major, which is the worst and most common of the two. The earliest known death was Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses. Could it be a coincidence that the disease also originated from Eygpt? Edward Jenner was the “man” in 1796. He was experimenting and proved that small pox was closely related to cow pox. He would then make a key breakthrough in his discovery by concluding that it would protect against smallpox.

Smallpox epidemics had struck the tribes of the Upper Missouri at least twice before the terrible epidemic of 1837. The earlier epidemics of 1781 and 1801 took the lives of thousands of Mandans, Hidatsas, and Arikaras and forced them to move north to re-build their villages near the mouth of the Knife River. However, not long after the earthlodge villages became established on the Knife, they experienced the worst smallpox epidemic

When a vaccine is given, the human body produces antibodies against the foreign substance, thus creating a defense mechanism for immunity to occur. A vaccine is defined as “any preparation used as a preventive inoculation to confer immunity against a specific disease, usually employing an innocuous form of the disease agent, as killed or weakened bacteria or viruses, to stimulate antibody production” (dictionary.com). The epidemic of smallpox is one of the most groundbreaking moments in medical history, It created the usage of vaccination to be extremely normal. Smallpox had managed to kill millions of people, which was a large part of the population at the time. Edward Jenner came up with a vaccine that could treat the outbreak of

In agreement with vaccines.gov, they state “Vaccination is very safe and effective. Vaccines are only given to children after a long and careful review by scientists, doctors, and healthcare professionals. Vaccines will involve some discomfort and may cause pain, redness, or tenderness at the site of injection but this is minimal compared to the pain, discomfort, and trauma of the diseases these vaccines prevent. Serious side effects following vaccination, such as severe allergic reaction, are very rare. The disease-prevention benefits of getting vaccines are much greater than the possible side effects for almost all children. “ According to this evidence, I can infer that scientist does care if this vaccination is safe. It is also very rare to get any side effects because the scientist does a phenomenal job making the vaccines safe and sound. Certainly, it’s true vaccines might hurt when you get them. But would you want to take that risk of getting very really queasy and feel like you want to die? Uncertainty, no one would want to take that risk. You might say vaccination raises the threat that a patient might contract the disease, rather than develop antibodies, with possibly dire consequences. The key word here is "risk." No one questions that there is an infinitesimal chance that a smallpox vaccination could lead a patient to contract the disease

Probably, one of the most highly applauded actions of the World Health Organization has been the elimination of smallpox in 1967. The World Health Organization started its abolition program when the smallpox was affecting over fifteen million people yearly, with around two million dying. (Greenspan, 2015) Many of the remaining victims with smallpox were left with blindness or severe disfiguration. Smallpox was targeted as the first major virus to be eliminated by the organization because of its feasibility and financial viability. By 1980 the World Health Organization certified smallpox as being eliminated. It is estimated that without the efforts of the WHO around 40 million deaths would have resulted from the smallpox virus by 2002. (Greenspan,