Smallpox - A Deadly Viral Disease

Smallpox is a dangerous disease in which raised bumps appear on the face and body of the patient suffering from it. Although, it does not seem dangerous, yet it is a very deadly as well as contagious disease and can taken take a turn for worse if not treated on time.

In medical terms, smallpox is a serious, contagious, and more often fatal viral disease. The worst thing about smallpox is that there is no specific treatment for this deadly disease. As a matter of fact, the only prevention is vaccination.

Clinical Forms of Small Pox

Theoretically speaking, there are two clinical forms of smallpox namely:

• Variola major
• Variola minor

Variola major is the complex form of smallpox, which results in a more extensive rash and higher fever. Statistics wise, Variola major has an overall fatality rate of around 30 percent.

On the other hand, as evident from the name itself Variola minor is not complex in nature with death rate of just 1 percent.

Transmission

Smallpox can spread from one person to another if there is direct face-to-face contact. It has been noticed that smallpox can also spread if there is direct contact with infected bodily fluids or contaminated objects. There is no medical evidence as yet that smallpox can spread by virus carried in the air in enclosed settings. Insects or animals are not responsible for transmission of smallpox.

If experts are to be believed, a person suffering with smallpox is in some cases contagious with onset of fever. However, this situation becomes more drastic with the onset of rash. Once the individual reaches this stage, s/he is not able to move around freely within the community. This is because of the simple reason that a person suffering from smallpox is contagious until the last smallpox scab falls off.

Treatment

Smallpox can only be prevented with help of smallpox vaccine at this time.  It may sound a bit frustrating but it’s true that despite all the technological advances in recent years, there is no proven treatment for smallpox.  Though, scientists all around the world are researching to judge new antiviral agents.

Initial reports say that the drug cidofovir can play a prominent part in fight against smallpox virus. It is worth pointing that at present; studies with animals are being conducted in order to get a better understanding of the drug's ability to treat smallpox. Supportive therapy and antibiotics can also turn out to be quite effective for smallpox patients.

The Smallpox Vaccine

The main function of smallpox vaccine is to assist the body in developing immunity to smallpox. This vaccine is created from a virus commonly known as vaccinia, which is a “pox”-kind virus attached to smallpox. There is no dead virus in the smallpox vaccine as it only contains the “live” vaccinia virus.