Smallpox Eradication in the Americas

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Main body
Conclusion
Work Cited

Introduction

Smallpox is caused by either of the two viruses by the name Variola major and Variola minor and it is a unique infectious disease to humans. The Latin calls it Variola or Variola vera which is derived from the word varius which means pimples or spotted. It was during the 15th century when the term was first used and this was to distinguish between syphilis which in other words was referred to as the great pox. According to Frank (1998), “smallpox emerged from in human populations about 10,000 BC. The disease killed an estimated 400,000 Europeans each year during the 18th century and was responsible for a third of all blindness. Between 20 and 60 percent of all those infected and over 80% of infected children died from the disease.” Statistics show that the estimates of those who died from smallpox during the 20th century were between 300 and 500 million people. A million cases of smallpox were reported each year in the early 1950s and this forced the World Health Organization to start a vaccination campaign against the disease. The campaign became successful and by December 1979 the WHO announced to have certified the eradication of smallpox. Smallpox is the only human infectious disease to have been eradicated completely up to date.

Main body

The smallpox vaccine was the first successful globally ever to be effective. Edward Jenner perfected it in 1796 when he acted upon the observation that milkmaids were catching the cowpox virus and he wanted to prevent them from catching smallpox. His advice was that all local cow workers should be inoculated. However, the vaccine materials used by early vaccinators were not reliably derived from cowpox but from other skin eruptions of cows. Due to this problem, an effective scientific model and controlled production were important in reducing these cases and improving the existing vaccine. In the UK around 1974, the death rate from smallpox was approximately one per million and this made the vaccination against smallpox with vaccinia the most effective. The disease was declared officially eradicated in 1979 and this was due to the successful development of the smallpox vaccine. Though the vaccine was successful, it is not yet clear who first initiated smallpox vaccination for the predecessors Plett, Sevel, Jensen, and Rendall, Louis T. Wright are also considered to be the pioneer of the smallpox vaccine during World War I. “The development of vaccine for smallpox was quickened when The United States Health and Human Services Secretary requested the United Kingdom biotechnology company by the name Acambis to speed up its development of a new smallpox vaccine due to fear of bio-terrorism attacks.”(LeDucJw, 2001).

There are vaccines that are in storage at the US Centers around 140,000 vials but these are considered to be unclean or they are made of cow tissue. The United Kingdom biotechnology company signed a deal with the CDC for the initial production of a 40 million dose stockpile of the new vaccine and annual production of additional vaccine until 2020, that is, the year 2001. The deal was worth 343 million dollars. After the September 11 attacks, the company was required to produce the vaccine which was to be tested the following year, and licensing was set for the year 2004. Acambis was aiming to license the vaccine immediately after the trial and this was specifically within two years. The new vaccine was important because the old vaccine did not meet 21st-century health and safety requirements. Acambis having won a tender from the US government, scale up their operations with their subsidiary OraVax in Cambridge where the work of the subsidiary was to produce live cell cultures and testing of the vaccine in the clinics and outside the clinics. It was agreed that comments on the scientific details of the deal were to be avoided for this was viewed that it might interfere with the security. The company secretary stated that “the new smallpox vaccine will be based on the same vaccinia virus strain that was licensed in the US and used for routine immunization against the disease prior to its eradication.” (Fenn, 2001) Following a mass immunization campaign initiated by WHO, the disease was eradicated in the whole world in 1980.

The CDC and the Russian State Center for Research on Virology and Biotechnology in Koltsovo are the only research centers that store the smallpox virus due to its high rate of serious adverse effects. By June 30th, 1999, WHO suggested that the remaining stocks of the variola virus should be destructed. However, World Health Assembly decided that some samples have to be kept for the purpose of research into antiviral agents and to know whether the vaccine needs to be improved. From the Michigan Daily, DeBoer (2002) wrote that “The deliberate reintroduction of smallpox into the population would be an international crime of unprecedented proportions. A spreading, highly lethal epidemic in an essentially unprotected population, with limited supplies of vaccine, no therapeutic drugs, and with shortages of hospital beds suitable for patient isolation is an ominous specter.” A significant number of those vaccinated suffered a heart problem that is pericarditis and myocarditis and this compelled a scientific advisory panel to issue a statement in June 2003 against further vaccination of first responders. In May 2007, the new live virus vaccine produced by Acambis was recommended by the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee of the US to be safe and effective for use where there is a high risk of exposure to the smallpox virus. ” The main hindrance with developing a new, safer vaccine was that a bio-terrorist attack on immunized individuals requires that its effectiveness cannot be tested on people and at the same time other animals do not contract smallpox naturally.” (Fenner, 1998) Research shows that results from animals that are infected with human disease are either misleading or false. This calls for confirmation of data obtained from animal testing if safety and effectiveness have to be demonstrated.

The only FDA-approved treatment for smallpox in the United States is the smallpox vaccine and it is usually effective if given to humans before symptoms develop. Nowadays it is mandatory that all United States Airmen located in the Middle East must receive the vaccination before leaving the United States. This has helped the US government to prepare themselves in case bioterrorist attackers decide to invade their country.

Conclusion

To summarize, smallpox vaccination has been successful and the result shows that if it is given within three days of exposure then it will prevent or reduce the severity of smallpox symptoms in the majority of the affected people. If it is given four to seven days after exposure, then it modifies the severity of the disease and offers protection from the disease. But other than Vaccination, one needs to take care of the wound, apply infection control and fluid therapy. Thanks to the development of vaccines because the disease is now eradicated.

Work Cited

DeBoer, Kara (2002) Study: Should America Vaccinate? The Michigan Daily. Retrieved on 2007.

Fenn E. Smallpox eradication in the Americas. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2001.

Fenner, Frank. Smallpox and its eradication, (History of International Public Health No. 6) Geneva: World Health Organization, 1998.

Leduc J.w. Jahring P.B. Strengthening national preparedness for smallpox. London: Serindia Publications, 2001.

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Smallpox Eradication in the Americas

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