Smallpox Health Article

Symptoms

• Backache
• Delirium
• Diarrhea
• Excessive bleeding
• Fatigue
• High fever
• Malaise
• Raised pink rash -- turns into sores that become crusty on day 8 or 9
• Severe headache
• Vomiting

Signs and tests

Tests include:

• DIC panel
• Platelet count
• White blood cell count

Special laboratory tests can be used to identify the virus.

Treatment

If athe smallpox vaccine is given within 1-4 days after a person is exposed to the disease, it may prevent illness or make the illness less severe. Once symptoms have started, treatment is limited.

There is no drug specifically for treating smallpox. Sometimes antibiotics are given for infections that may occur in people who have smallpox. Taking antibodies against a disease similar to smallpox (vaccinia immune globulin) may help shorten the duration of the disease.

People who have been diagnosed with smallpox and everyone they have come into close contact with need to be isolated immediately. They need to receive the vaccine and be monitored.

Emergency measures would need to be taken immediately to protect the general population. Health officials would follow the recommended guidelines from the CDC and other federal and local health agencies.

Expectations (prognosis)

In the past, this was a major illness with the risk of death as high as 30%.

Complications

• Arthritis and bone infections
• Brain swelling (encephalitis)
• Death
• Eye infections
• Pneumonia
• Scarring
• Severe bleeding
• Skin infections (from the sores)

Calling your health care provider

If you think you may have been exposed to smallpox, contact your health care provider immediately. Because smallpox has been wiped out this would be very unlikely, unless you have worked with the virus in a laboratory or there has been an act of bioterrorism.

Prevention

Many people were vaccinated against smallpox in the past. The vaccine is no longer given to the general public because the virus has been wiped out. The possible complications and costs of the vaccine outweigh the benefits of taking it. However, according to the CDC, the United States currently has enough supplies of the smallpox vaccine for the entire population.

If the vaccine needs to be given to control an outbreak, it can have a small risk of complications. Some complications are mild, such as rashes. Others are more serious.

Only military personnel, health care workers, and emergency responders may receive the vaccine today. Smallpox vaccination policies and practices are currently being reviewed.