Smallpox Disease
By Will Hoeft
Basics
Smallpox is a contagious disease that is often deadly. The humankind has been affected by the smallpox for thousands of years. Now they have a vaccine for the disease.
Transmission
Smallpox can be spread in many different ways. Breathing while obtaining smallpox will release spores in the air that linger until inhaled. More and more people get it but they couldn't stop spread because they didn't know about spread of disease.
Where it started
Smallpox started in Western Africa. Later, it spread into Europe and Asia. Soon, the whole world had an area with smallpox.
How it was eliminated
Dr. Benjamin gave the first vaccination in 1802. The vaccine was a small amount of a disease related to smallpox. The vaccine was so the patient's immune system could get used to fighting the disease.
What happens when you get it
Anyone who caught smallpox would be kept in complete isolation. If they died, the body was exposed of. If they survived, they were kept in isolation for a few days to make sure the sickness was gone.
Aftermath
Most smallpox patients survive. When they survive, there is severe scarring on your body wherever you had smallpox. You get the scars because of the bumps on your skin. The bumps on your skin rupture after time, leaving scars.
Symptoms
It it difficult to tell if you have smallpox early on. After a few days, the patient will notice a few small bumps on the patient's skin. Around the 12th day, the patient will experience more symptoms. The patient will get a headache, a fever, fatigue, and vomit. The bumps on your skin will increase. The bumps are called lesions.
Vaccine
There is no real cure for the smallpox, however, there is a vaccine. The vaccine affects some and not others. The vaccine is new, so they are unsure of many things such as how long it lasts. You can be saved if given the vaccine within four days of obtaining the disease.
Bibliography
Davies, Tim. Original Smallpox Warning Sign. Digital image. Flickr. 2 Feb. 2009. Web. 15 Dec. 2014.
"Mayo Clinic - Mayo Clinic." Mayo Clinic - Mayo Clinic. Web. 02 Dec. 2014.
"Smallpox Basics." CDC Smallpox. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
"Smallpox." Definition. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
"Smallpox." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Jan. 2014. Web. 02 Dec. 2014.
Urbanek, Roland. Map of Africa. Digital image. Flickr. 18 June 2010. Web. 16 Dec. 2014.
Pan American Health Organization. Edward Jenner. Digital image. Flickr. 28 May 2010. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.
Pan American Health Organization. SMALLPOX VACCINES. Digital image. Flickr. 28 May 2010. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.