Smallpox (smallpox): causes, symptoms, and treatment & bull; hello healthy

What is smallpox?

Smallpox (smallpox) is an infectious disease caused by variola virus infection. The main characteristic of smallpox is the spreading of the pus-filled blisters or blisters on the body.

This disease is often equated with chicken pox. Even though the two diseases have different symptoms and causes of viral infection. In foreign terms, chicken pox is more commonly known as chicken pox. Smallpox is better known by the term smallpox.

Smallpox had become a dangerous plague that claimed many lives for hundreds of years. There is no specific treatment for smallpox.

However, thanks to advances in medical technology, this disease is no longer deadly because a vaccine has been found. With smallpox vaccination since the late 17th century, the disease was successfully eradicated in 1980.

How common is this disease?

Smallpox is a viral infectious disease that has been threatening human health for thousands of years. The fatalistic rate (cause of death) of this disease is considered high, reaching 30 percent. This means, 3 out of 10 people infected with the Variola virus die.

In 1980, The World Health Organization (WHO) states that this disease has been completely eliminated because of the global deployment of vaccinations since 1700.

According to a study titled Smallpox in History, The last smallpox case in the world was found in 1977. Of the last cases found, the total death toll from smallpox reached more than 300 million people.

According to the latest data from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), currently no cases of transmission of smallpox have been found.

However, the existence of this disease still needs to be watched out for. Because, there is potential for the misuse of the Variola virus which is still used for research as a biological weapon.

Smallpox signs and symptoms

Symptoms of smallpox usually appear 12-14 days after first exposure to variola virus. The early symptoms of smallpox include a number of health problems that resemble flu symptoms such as:

• Fatigue
• High fever
• Headache
• Pain in the body
• Gag

The symptoms of smallpox usually disappear within 2-3 days. Then the patient's condition will improve. However, in the next 1-2 days the most common symptoms of this disease begin to appear.

This symptom is in the form of a rash on the surface of the skin which within 1-2 days will turn into small, pus-filled blisters on, or also known as elastic.

At first the elastic will appear on the tongue, face, and arms until it spreads to the front of the body and all over the body. Boils that appear on the tongue or mouth area can also spread into the throat

Within 8-9 days the elastic will then crust up until it finally dries up and turns into a scab, some of which can leave scars.

A person infected with smallpox can transmit this virus from the appearance of a rash to the boil on the skin dries up and peels off on its own in 2 weeks.

The general symptoms of smallpox include:

• The appearance of a red skin rash.
• The rash turns bouncy (pus blister) a few days later.
• Resilience to crust change usually occurs within 8-9 days.
• A scab (the dry area of ​​the wound) forms on the blister and peels, usually within the third week of the appearance of the rash.
• The formation of permanent scars (pockmarks).
• If resilience is formed near the eye, the patient can develop blindness.

When should I see a doctor?

If you have any signs or symptoms above or any other questions, please consult your doctor. Although symptoms can subside on their own, medical treatment can help control symptoms.

In addition, symptoms often cause you discomfort and interfere with your appearance, so treatment is needed from a doctor to be able to overcome them.

Likewise, when the above symptoms are accompanied by health problems that are not mentioned. If you have concerns about a particular symptom, consult your doctor immediately.

Causes of smallpox

The cause of smallpox is a variola virus infection that multiplies in blood vessels in the layers of the skin. Transmission of this disease can take place by inhalation of air that has been contaminated with the virus or direct contact with the affected skin

Variola virus can be released into the air when the resilient bursts causing open sores in the skin and the virus being exposed to wind. The following are some of the ways of transmitting smallpox in everyday conditions:

• Direct human-to-human transmission: direct transmission of the virus requires considerable length of face-to-face contact.
• Indirect from an infected person: in rare cases, it may be through a ventilation system in a building, infecting people in another room or floor.
• Via contaminated object: Variola virus can also be spread by contact with contaminated clothing and bedding.

Risk factors

There are several triggers that put you at risk for this disease, namely:

• Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding
• People with skin disorders such as eczema
• People with weakened immune systems due to medical conditions such as leukemia or HIV
• People with medical treatment, such as for cancer, which weakens the immune system

Diagnosis and treatment of smallpox

The information provided is not a substitute for medical advice. ALWAYS consult your doctor.

If the patient has smallpox, the doctor may be aware of it because the disease has symptoms with a special rash. The rash appears as a blister (resilient) on the skin that is filled with fluid and is crusty.

Smallpox may resemble chicken pox, but the blisters look different from chickenpox blisters. If necessary, the doctor will perform a procedure of examining a skin sample under a microscope to determine the type of virus that is infecting.

How to treat smallpox?

Smallpox has no specific treatment. According to the Bloomberg School of Public Health, previously no specific antiviral was used as a drug to stop viral infections. Experts are still looking for antiviral drugs that can treat this disease since it was first discovered.

The drug cidofovir worked well in early studies. One type of drug called protase inhibitor SIGA-246 for smallpox has gone through the clinical testing phase by the FDA until 2014. Until 2018, the officially approved type of drug for smallpox was tecovirimate (TPOXX).

After the disease has cleared up, the general treatment pursued for healing is more towards supportive therapy.

This is done through the treatment of health conditions that ensure that sufferers get adequate rest and meet the needs of body fluids and nutrients in order to increase the ability of the body's immunity.

If there is a secondary infection in the skin caused by bacteria or an infection that attacks the lungs, antibiotics can be done.

Prevention

The following are some of the ways you can do at home to prevent or even treat smallpox:

• People with this disease will be isolated to prevent the spread of the virus.
• Experts use the virus cousin of Variola (virus vaccinia) to make the smallpox vaccine, because it has fewer health side effects. Vaccines trigger the body's immune system to produce antibodies which are very important to protect themselves from the variola virus and help prevent this disease.
• Anyone who has come in contact with someone who is infected needs to get the vaccine immediately. Vaccines are useful for preventing or reducing disease severity if given within 4 days after exposure to variola virus.
• When children are vaccinated, it is not known exactly how long the immunity lasts. It is possible that prior vaccination provides partial immunity which may protect against serious complications of the disease.

Vaccines for the prevention of smallpox

Vaccination is the only solution to prevent the recurrence of this disease, even though vaccines have quite risky side effects. Getting the vaccine within 3-4 days of contact with the virus can also reduce the severity of the disease or even prevent it from developing further.

However, no one has yet been able to determine the period of protection provided by the vaccine. Some researchers believe that the antibodies from the vaccine can last up to 5 years.

But certainly, the protection from this vaccine is not lifelong. People who have immunity to variola virus infection in the long term are only people who have recovered after being infected.

If you have any questions, consult your doctor for the best solution to your problem.