Small Pox History Essay -- Biology Medical Biomedical Disease

Small Pox History Smallpox has been believed to be a prominent killer for thousands of years. Before 900 AD smallpox and measles were easily interchangeable to many physicians. These two diseases possessed similar symptoms, such as fevers and rashes, making it very difficult to distinguish between them. It was not until the Persian physician, Rhazes Ar-Raz Abmiz, that measles and smallpox were able to be clinically distinguished in 900 AD. Much later in 1751, Thomas Sydenham found further differentiating characteristics between the two diseases(Aufderheide, 202). Through the years, with its many outbreaks in varying areas across the planet, smallpox claimed millions of victims. Many rulers and soldiers were killed by this incredibly infectious disease. To prevent and hopefully stop the increasing numbers of deaths due to smallpox, many physicians slaved away to invent and find a cure for this disease. The first effective method of prevention was called variolation. Variolation was later modified and i mproved with vaccinations(Hopkins, 15). Today wild smallpox is no longer a risk. The last natural case of smallpox was reported in Somalia in 1977. While the last reported death due to smallpox was reported to be a year later in the UK(McNeil, 165). Smallpox is not completely out of the picture. After the 2001 attacks with anthrax, a strong paranoia of smallpox being used as another possible mean of bioterrorism has arisen(Oldstone, 32). Smallpox was once a major killer. In the 20th century more than 400 million deaths by smallpox were recorded. In 1967, the World Health Organization reported that 15 million people became infected that one year(Hopkins, 16). After many soldiers, the disease claimed rulers, and regular civilians, ... ...an attack against the US. Today the vaccinia virus is used for vaccinations because it more closely resembles smallpox than cowpox does(McNeil, 165). Even though natural smallpox is no longer an everyday threat as it was in the past, we cannot ignore its potential as a lethal weapon against any country. Works Cited Aufderheide AC, Rodriguez-Martin C. Smallpox. The Cambridge encyclopedia of human paleopathology Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Christie AB. Smallpox. Infectious diseases: epidemiology and clinical practice New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1987. Hopkins DR. the greatest killer: smallpox in history. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002. McNeil WH. Plagues and peoples: a natural history of infectious diseases. New York: Anchor Press,1976. Oldstone MBA. Smallpox. Viruses, plagues and history. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.