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Eradicating Smallpox
The name “small pox” is derived from a Latin word meaning spotted in reference to the small pus-filled blisters that emerge on the body of an infected person. The disease is caused by a virus that is a member of the orthopoxvirus family called the variola virus (Stimson, & Hodes, 1956). The disease is said to have its origins in either India or Egypt from over three centuries ago. The disease had taken four forms, which were variola major, variola minor, hemorrhagic and malignant. Variola major and variola minor were the main forms with the two showing identical lesions. However, in variola minor the disease followed a weaker course that had a small case-fatality rate as compared to the variola major. In the hemorrhagic form, the rashes were accompanied by hemorrhage into the mucous covering and the skin while malignant small pox was portrayed by lesions that did not grow but remained soft and flat.
Small can be transmitted from one person to another through direct contact with the person or coming into contact with the infected person’s saliva incase the person is coughing. It can also be transmitted through direct contact with the fluid from the infected person’s blisters or any other infected fluids in that case. The final means through which the disease can be transmitted is by coming into direct contact with blankets or clothes used or touched by an infected person. Symptoms of the disease begin to develop from seven to seventeen days after the infection. The initial symptoms are an increase in body fever, headaches and backaches. Within three days after the start of the symptoms, rashes start to appear mostly on the face legs and arms. The rashes are initially red marks that later are filled with pus and an outer layer develops that falls off after about four weeks.
Small pox led to many changes in the world. First, the world has become more unsafe due to the fear of terrorists using the saved samples to create biological weapons thus inflicting more fear among the population. Secondly, before the invention of the small pox vaccine the mortality rate was very high especially among the young children thus leading to the reduction in population at that time. In the earlier times, it even killed many renowned leaders like Queen Mary II of England and King Louis XV of France among many others and this sometimes resulted to conflicts among members of the royal families due to the struggle for power. For most of the survivors, their bodies were left with permanent scars mostly on the face. The other major effect caused by small pox was blindness with one third of the reported cases of blindness in the 18th century being due to small pox. The disease however brought some positive impact because some scientists like Edward Jenner who in 1796 did experiments that ultimately led to the development of the first small pox vaccine came to be famous.
Incase of a small pox infection, a vaccine should be administered on the infected person up to for days after the exposure. This is the period before the rash begins to appear and by vaccinating this early, the infected person is provided with protective immunity and this can prevent the infection from spreading (Purdy, 1888). However, there are no drugs or vaccines used to treat a person once he has contracted the disease although; there are some drugs that can be used to the cold and flu symptoms together with other illnesses that can develop with the spread of the infection. On the other hand, a new drug has been created that can be used under an investigational new drug protocol and it is known as cidofovir. The other form of treatment is isolation of the infected persons in case of a limited outbreak, in a hospital room equipped with High Efficiency Particulate (HEPA) filters. The only other way of controlling the disease is through prevention that is done by vaccination.
Small pox brings with it many effects that have a negative effect on the countries health and economy. First, due to the high mortality rate it brought in the beginning, the population decreased with the loss of important personnel whose ideas and techniques were required in building the country’s economy. The death of members of the royal families led to conflicts and wars due to the struggle for power and this largely affected the countries economy. Small pox was also brought about blindness mostly in the 18th century and this led to the loss of work force that could have helped in many areas thus the declination of the countries economy. It affected the country’s health in that due to the means by which it could be transmitted, the environment was risky for everybody because one could easily meet an infected person without knowing.
Define eradication, extinction, elimination, and control.
In reference to diseases, eradication is the extinction of all spread of disease infections by the execution of the virus transmitting the disease through examination and containing the virus. In the essence of small pox, we can say that global eradication has been achieved because it not a threat any more. Elimination is somehow different in that it covers lesser grounds than eradication. It is the obliteration of something, in this case an infectious disease from an area or region. An example can be seen when Edward Jenner introduced a practice through his experiments that led to the elimination of small pox. Elimination mostly covers an area or region while eradication is mostly about the entire world. Extinction is whereby there are no reported cases of diseases, animals or plants; although it does not imply that, the thing is permanently gone (Aitken, 1868). An example is small pox, which has not been reported for over 25 years, the period set for declaring a disease extinct. The term ‘control’ in diseases means preventing or reducing the spreading of a disease. One of the organizations responsible for the control of such diseases is the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Describe the characteristics of smallpox that made it an appropriate candidate for eradication.
One of the main characteristics that made small pox a suitable candidate was its contagiousness that made it to be transmitted directly for one person to the other. This was very risky because it was very easy for one to contract the disease without knowing so the chances of one getting affected while just walking outside were very high. In addition, the disease could also be easily transmitted because an infected person could not show symptoms until an incubation period of around four days thus they could easily infect other people even without knowing they had it (Koplow, 2003). The other reason why it was prioritized was because it was killing many people therefore it had become an epidemic. This was because it was easily transmittable but had no cure thus led to the death of any body who became affected especially young children. Its undistinguishable rash also helped in that it made it relatively easy to identify with the survivors gaining lifetime immunity. Lastly, it was reasoned that good vaccination coverage would interrupt its spread entirely in that its natural sequence gave the health workers enough time to isolate the victims, trace those who could have been infected by the victims and vaccinate the local population.
Should a measles eradication program be initiated? Why or why not?
Yes! A Measles Eradication Program should be initiated. This is because it would greatly reduce the mortality rate that is increased by the annual one million deaths caused by measles. Hence, by initiating the program, more lives would be saved resulting into minimum or no deaths associated with measles. Another incentive for the creation of a measles eradication program is to save costs brought about by both prevention and treatment of measles. This costs amount to about 1.5 billion dollars, which is a lot of money and can be used for other significant projects if the disease is eradicated (Mark & Henrik, 2009). In addition, measles is an easily transmittable disease thus eradicating it would prevent its spread and save more lives. It would be also easy to start such a program because of the availability of accurate analytical tests. Consequently, because of the above reasons I would strongly recommend the initiation of a Measles Eradication Program.
If polio is eradicated, should we destroy all poliovirus samples? Why or why not?
Yes! Polio is a dangerous and fatal disease that affects small children mostly those below the age of five. The main reason for destroying all poliovirus samples is that if they are not all destroyed, one person may come across them and get affected. This may happen in the sense that as long one child contracts the disease, all the other children in other places are in danger of being infected too. Results of a research done on the victims of polio shows that one in every 200 infections leads to an irreversible paralysis thus we can conclude that polio is a very dangerous disease that leads to paralysis therefore everything connected to it should be completely destroyed.
In 1965, why didn’t the World Health Organization immediately undertake a full-scale eradication program after endorsement by the World Health Assembly?
In the year 1965, in spite of the endorsement of a full-scale eradication program by the World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization did not immediately undertake it. This was because a group of people in the US Communicable Disease Center that later came to be known as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, doubted the sustainability of such an effort due to the previous considerable high cost they had incurred in developing the measles vaccine. They argued that the cost of the measles vaccine, which at that time was more than one dollar per dose, was unaffordable to many developing countries. This group was led by Dr, D. A. Henderson who later came to lead the World Health Organization’s small pox program. This led to the proposal of an alternative small pox eradication plan.
References
Aitken, W. (1868). The Science and Practice of Medicine. Cambridge: Harvard University
Koplow, D.A. (2003). Smallpox: The Right to Eradicate a Global Scourge. California: University of California Press
Mark, M., & Henrik, B. (2009). Measles in Europe: an epidemiological assessment. Copenhagen: Statens Serum Institute
Purdy, W. (1888). Smallpox: a practical treatise on the smallpox epidemic. New York: John Heywood.
Stimson, P. M., & Hodes, H. L. (1956). A Manual of the Common Contagious Disease. Michigan: University of Michigan.
Eradicating Smallpox
The name “small pox” is derived from a Latin word meaning spotted in reference to the small pus-filled blisters that emerge on the body of an infected person. The disease is caused by a virus that is a member of the orthopoxvirus family called the variola virus (Stimson, & Hodes, 1956). The disease is said to have its origins in either India or Egypt from over three centuries ago. The disease had taken four forms, which were variola major, variola minor, hemorrhagic and malignant. Variola major and variola minor were the main forms with the two showing identical lesions. However, in variola minor the disease followed a weaker course that had a small case-fatality rate as compared to the variola major. In the hemorrhagic form, the rashes were accompanied by hemorrhage into the mucous covering and the skin while malignant small pox was portrayed by lesions that did not grow but remained soft and flat.
Small can be transmitted from one person to another through direct contact with the person or coming into contact with the infected person’s saliva incase the person is coughing. It can also be transmitted through direct contact with the fluid from the infected person’s blisters or any other infected fluids in that case. The final means through which the disease can be transmitted is by coming into direct contact with blankets or clothes used or touched by an infected person. Symptoms of the disease begin to develop from seven to seventeen days after the infection. The initial symptoms are an increase in body fever, headaches and backaches. Within three days after the start of the symptoms, rashes start to appear mostly on the face legs and arms. The rashes are initially red marks that later are filled with pus and an outer layer develops that falls off after about four weeks.
Small pox led to many changes in the world. First, the world has become more unsafe due to the fear of terrorists using the saved samples to create biological weapons thus inflicting more fear among the population. Secondly, before the invention of the small pox vaccine the mortality rate was very high especially among the young children thus leading to the reduction in population at that time. In the earlier times, it even killed many renowned leaders like Queen Mary II of England and King Louis XV of France among many others and this sometimes resulted to conflicts among members of the royal families due to the struggle for power. For most of the survivors, their bodies were left with permanent scars mostly on the face. The other major effect caused by small pox was blindness with one third of the reported cases of blindness in the 18th century being due to small pox. The disease however brought some positive impact because some scientists like Edward Jenner who in 1796 did experiments that ultimately led to the development of the first small pox vaccine came to be famous.
Incase of a small pox infection, a vaccine should be administered on the infected person up to for days after the exposure. This is the period before the rash begins to appear and by vaccinating this early, the infected person is provided with protective immunity and this can prevent the infection from spreading (Purdy, 1888). However, there are no drugs or vaccines used to treat a person once he has contracted the disease although; there are some drugs that can be used to the cold and flu symptoms together with other illnesses that can develop with the spread of the infection. On the other hand, a new drug has been created that can be used under an investigational new drug protocol and it is known as cidofovir. The other form of treatment is isolation of the infected persons in case of a limited outbreak, in a hospital room equipped with High Efficiency Particulate (HEPA) filters. The only other way of controlling the disease is through prevention that is done by vaccination.
Small pox brings with it many effects that have a negative effect on the countries health and economy. First, due to the high mortality rate it brought in the beginning, the population decreased with the loss of important personnel whose ideas and techniques were required in building the country’s economy. The death of members of the royal families led to conflicts and wars due to the struggle for power and this largely affected the countries economy. Small pox was also brought about blindness mostly in the 18th century and this led to the loss of work force that could have helped in many areas thus the declination of the countries economy. It affected the country’s health in that due to the means by which it could be transmitted, the environment was risky for everybody because one could easily meet an infected person without knowing.
Define eradication, extinction, elimination, and control.
In reference to diseases, eradication is the extinction of all spread of disease infections by the execution of the virus transmitting the disease through examination and containing the virus. In the essence of small pox, we can say that global eradication has been achieved because it not a threat any more. Elimination is somehow different in that it covers lesser grounds than eradication. It is the obliteration of something, in this case an infectious disease from an area or region. An example can be seen when Edward Jenner introduced a practice through his experiments that led to the elimination of small pox. Elimination mostly covers an area or region while eradication is mostly about the entire world. Extinction is whereby there are no reported cases of diseases, animals or plants; although it does not imply that, the thing is permanently gone (Aitken, 1868). An example is small pox, which has not been reported for over 25 years, the period set for declaring a disease extinct. The term ‘control’ in diseases means preventing or reducing the spreading of a disease. One of the organizations responsible for the control of such diseases is the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Describe the characteristics of smallpox that made it an appropriate candidate for eradication.
One of the main characteristics that made small pox a suitable candidate was its contagiousness that made it to be transmitted directly for one person to the other. This was very risky because it was very easy for one to contract the disease without knowing so the chances of one getting affected while just walking outside were very high. In addition, the disease could also be easily transmitted because an infected person could not show symptoms until an incubation period of around four days thus they could easily infect other people even without knowing they had it (Koplow, 2003). The other reason why it was prioritized was because it was killing many people therefore it had become an epidemic. This was because it was easily transmittable but had no cure thus led to the death of any body who became affected especially young children. Its undistinguishable rash also helped in that it made it relatively easy to identify with the survivors gaining lifetime immunity. Lastly, it was reasoned that good vaccination coverage would interrupt its spread entirely in that its natural sequence gave the health workers enough time to isolate the victims, trace those who could have been infected by the victims and vaccinate the local population.
Should a measles eradication program be initiated? Why or why not?
Yes! A Measles Eradication Program should be initiated. This is because it would greatly reduce the mortality rate that is increased by the annual one million deaths caused by measles. Hence, by initiating the program, more lives would be saved resulting into minimum or no deaths associated with measles. Another incentive for the creation of a measles eradication program is to save costs brought about by both prevention and treatment of measles. This costs amount to about 1.5 billion dollars, which is a lot of money and can be used for other significant projects if the disease is eradicated (Mark & Henrik, 2009). In addition, measles is an easily transmittable disease thus eradicating it would prevent its spread and save more lives. It would be also easy to start such a program because of the availability of accurate analytical tests. Consequently, because of the above reasons I would strongly recommend the initiation of a Measles Eradication Program.
If polio is eradicated, should we destroy all poliovirus samples? Why or why not?
Yes! Polio is a dangerous and fatal disease that affects small children mostly those below the age of five. The main reason for destroying all poliovirus samples is that if they are not all destroyed, one person may come across them and get affected. This may happen in the sense that as long one child contracts the disease, all the other children in other places are in danger of being infected too. Results of a research done on the victims of polio shows that one in every 200 infections leads to an irreversible paralysis thus we can conclude that polio is a very dangerous disease that leads to paralysis therefore everything connected to it should be completely destroyed.
In 1965, why didn’t the World Health Organization immediately undertake a full-scale eradication program after endorsement by the World Health Assembly?
In the year 1965, in spite of the endorsement of a full-scale eradication program by the World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization did not immediately undertake it. This was because a group of people in the US Communicable Disease Center that later came to be known as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, doubted the sustainability of such an effort due to the previous considerable high cost they had incurred in developing the measles vaccine. They argued that the cost of the measles vaccine, which at that time was more than one dollar per dose, was unaffordable to many developing countries. This group was led by Dr, D. A. Henderson who later came to lead the World Health Organization’s small pox program. This led to the proposal of an alternative small pox eradication plan.
References
Aitken, W. (1868). The Science and Practice of Medicine. Cambridge: Harvard University
Koplow, D.A. (2003). Smallpox: The Right to Eradicate a Global Scourge. California: University of California Press
Mark, M., & Henrik, B. (2009). Measles in Europe: an epidemiological assessment. Copenhagen: Statens Serum Institute
Purdy, W. (1888). Smallpox: a practical treatise on the smallpox epidemic. New York: John Heywood.
Stimson, P. M., & Hodes, H. L. (1956). A Manual of the Common Contagious Disease. Michigan: University of Michigan.
