Smallpox overview
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Smallpox (also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera) is a contagious disease unique to humans.[1] Smallpox is caused by either of two virus variants named Variola major and Variola minor. The deadlier form, V. major, has a mortality rate of 30–35%, while V. minor causes a milder form of disease called alastrim and kills ~1% of its victims.[2][1] Long-term side-effects for survivors include the characteristic skin scars. Occasional side effects include blindness due to corneal ulcerations and infertility in male survivors.
Smallpox killed an estimated 60 million Europeans, including five reigning European monarchs, in the 18th century alone. Up to 30% of those infected, including 80% of the children under 5 years of age, died from the disease, and one third of the survivors became blind.[3][4]
Smallpox was responsible for an estimated 300–500 million deaths in the 20th century. As recently as 1967, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 15 million people contracted the disease and that two million died in that year.[5] After successful vaccination campaigns throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the WHO certified the eradication of smallpox in 1979.[5] To this day, smallpox is the only human infectious disease to have been completely eradicated from nature.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ryan KJ, Ray CG (editors) (2004). Sherris Medical Microbiology (4th ed. ed.). McGraw Hill. pp. 525&ndash, 8. ISBN 0838585299.
- ↑ Behbehani AM (1983). "The smallpox story: life and death of an old disease". Microbiol Rev. 47 (4): 455–509. PMID 6319980.
- ↑ Barquet N, Domingo P (1997). "Smallpox: the triumph over the most terrible of the ministers of death". Ann. Intern. Med. 127 (8 Pt 1): 635–42. PMID 9341063.
- ↑ Edward Jenner and the history of smallpox and vaccination
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Smallpox". WHO Factsheet. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
- ↑ De Cock KM (2001). "(Book Review) The Eradication of Smallpox: Edward Jenner and The First and Only Eradication of a Human Infectious Disease". Nature Medicine. 7: 15&ndash, 6.