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Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. [7] [11] The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) certified the global eradication of the disease in 1980, [10] making smallpox the only human disease to have been eradicated to date.
After the epidemic, the Hudson Bay Company implemented a territory wide vaccination program which further reduced smallpox deaths. Unfortunately, as people entered communities to vaccinate against smallpox, they brought with them other diseases that kept mortality rates high. [2] The epidemic altered power structures of impacted nations.
The smallpox vaccine is used to prevent smallpox infection caused by the variola virus. [10] It is the first vaccine to have been developed against a contagious disease. In 1796, British physician Edward Jenner demonstrated that an infection with the relatively mild cowpox virus conferred immunity against the deadly smallpox virus.
The disease killed an estimated 400,000 Europeans annually during the 19th century and one-third of all the blindness of that time was caused by smallpox. 20 to 60% of all the people that were infected died and 80% of all the children with the infection also died. It caused also many deaths in the 20th century, over 300–500 million.
Most people became infected during their lifetimes, and about 30% of people infected with smallpox died from the disease, presenting a severe selection pressure on the resistant survivors. [ 29 ] In northern Japan, Ainu population decreased drastically in the 19th century, due in large part to infectious diseases like smallpox brought by ...
The claim: Smallpox was "never eradicated" and is being "held in check" by vaccines. A Nov. 15 Facebook post from the liberal group Occupy Democrats includes side-by-side images of a child ...
The practice was widely publicized over a century later by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who inoculated her own children against smallpox, despite widespread concern and controversy. Inoculation was the practice of introducing infected materials into the bodies of healthy individuals with the hope that they would contract a mild form of smallpox ...
Symptoms of pneumonia in the elderly may vary depending on the type of pneumonia and the overall health of the person. While not all of these may be present, the symptoms of pneumonia in seniors ...