The Eradication of Smallpox Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Eradication of Smallpox - Research Paper ExampleThe present look into has identified that since smallpox was spread by air, it was very difficult to ascertain it in congested human settlements such as cities. Not until the discovery of aesculapian vaccination were humans able to protect themselves against smallpox. While vaccination option remained controversial throughout, there is no doubt that it greatly helped contain the disease and conserve thousands of lives. The improvement in sanitary conditions in cities and hygiene levels in hospitals had also contributed to controlling the disease. As statistics from Britains National Health Service shows, the first stage in the elimination of smallpox was achieved during the middle of last century, when virulent smallpox (variola) was replaced naturally in Britain by a milder type (alastrim), antigenically identical but with a a lot lower mortality (1 percent). This was then gradually eliminated by increased attention to isolati on and contact tracing. However, the threat of smallpox still persisted as intermittent outbreaks of both these variants remained till the 1960s. unless through a combination of vaccination, safety legislation and improvement in sanitary conditions, smallpox was completely eradicated from Europe and the States by 1970. The World Health Organization was encouraged by the success in advanced countries and attempted to replicate this success in the rest of the world. But the medical community always had hope, for smallpox was an ideal candidate for eradication. For example, the immune system of the affected individual got boosted after about. Secondly, the virus was antigenically stable (unlike influenza) there were no carriers (unlike typhoid) or animal reservoirs (unlike malaria). To add to this, effective vaccines were being developed. And the medical community was also aware that robust control measures can be implemented to contain an emerging epidemic. So in the 1970s, a worldw ide eradication drive was implemented. Surveillance-containment was the buzzword associated with this drive. This involved trained workers searching for cases, with rewards for those who found them.