Smallpox as a health hazard

The last case of smallpox (lat. variola) was documented in Somalia in the late 1970s. In 1967, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a worldwide vaccination campaign to eradicate smallpox after a veritable smallpox epidemic had broken out in Europe. However, since the smallpox vaccination is associated with high risks, the vaccination requirement in Germany was lifted again in the following decade. On May 8, 1980, the WHO declared the world free of smallpox.

smallpox epidemics worldwide

As late as the 18th and 19th centuries, smallpox, also known as smallpox, killed around 70 per cent of those infected. Those who survived were disfigured or suffered from complications such as paralysis, blindness and deafness. The first precise description of the disease comes from Arabia (approx. 900 AD).

But smallpox was known many centuries before that. Traditions from around 1,500 BC bear witness to this from China. Smallpox came to America with the Spanish conquerors and was responsible for the downfall of the Inca and Aztecs – it is said that more than three million people died. Famous men like Stalin, Beethoven and Mozart also suffered from smallpox.

Disease patterns of smallpox

After an incubation period of 8 to 14 days, the smallpox virus is transmitted through droplets and smear infections, e.g., sneezing or clothing. The highly complex viruses protect their DNA, i.e. their genetic information, with a very resistant protein shell. The dangerous actual smallpox begins with the flu, fever, body aches, bronchitis, and a cold.

After about two days, a rash appears. The fever first goes down, only to rise repeatedly; infected people suffer from delirium and disorientation.

Initially, pale red spots form almost all over the body, which itch and swell into lumps . They become pus-filled blisters that dry up, form a scab, become very itchy and then form scars. Between 20 and 50 per cent of patients die.

A very severe form of smallpox is “black box” (Variola haemorrhagic): the skin, mucous membranes, and internal organs bleed, and most patients die after just a few days.

On the other hand, white smallpox (Variola minor) is much less severe; the death rate is one to five per cent – but after infection with white smallpox, you are not immune to infection with actual smallpox.

vaccinations

The first positive attempts to obtain a vaccine against the virus were made by the English doctor E. Jenner in 1798. He carried out his experiments on a small boy with his father’s permission, first injecting him with a small dose of smallpox. After the infection had healed, he tried injecting human pathogenic smallpox – with success.

Since smallpox vaccinations have not taken place in Germany since 1975, all those born later are entirely unprotected. But even those vaccinated, the doctors suspect, no longer have adequate protection since the vaccinations must be refreshed every five to ten years.

In the case of vaccination in the upper arm, there is only a skin reaction with blemishes at this point, which usually heals without complications. But there are also vaccine damages: Statistically, one in 800,000 vaccinated people dies; if all 80 million German citizens were immunized, there would be 100 deaths. Severe vaccine damage, such as meningitis, would affect several hundred people.