This is my research page, here you will be learning about smallpox.
My research paper will be about smallpox, a disease that was defeated. This disease will have ravaged us if we did not get rid of it. Smallpox would have killed all of us and there would not be a lot to stop it.
Why was smallpox a huge deal?
Smallpox was an epidemic because there was cure or vaccine in the 1800s. When you got the disease many others around you would begin to suffer like you would. If you lived in a town they would all cast you out and let you fend for yourself. They did this because smallpox was very contagious and would infect everyone in the area. (Snedden) Then you probably get different diseases from others like you. Then you just flat out die.
What were the problems with smallpox?
Most people could not do much about the disease and they suffered many problems. When they first got the disease they look as healthy as a horse but they were fatally ill. After a 12 day period of having the disease they would get influenza and the common cold: fever of at least 38.5°C (101 °F), muscle pain, malaise, headache and prostration. As the digestive tract is commonly involved, nausea and vomiting and backache often occur. If they are lucky they get permanent marks for the rest of their lives, if not death would occur.
What were the countries affected most and why?
One main country affected was the United States of America back in the 1800s. We were affected so badly because the British had used Smallpox against us and it was still in some parts of the U.S. Europe was not heavily affected because most were immune to the virus because if you grew up with smallpox and survived you immediately were immune to it. When the 1940s came there were quarantine places for people with smallpox. (Marrin)
What did people do during smallpox plagues?
Most people tried to cure smallpox by wearing a bag of camphor around their neck or drinking a “potion” made of horse manure, mouse whiskers, eye soap, and chopped sponge. (Marrin) Another way was to draw the smallpox out using really hot temperatures, even during the summer. They also used lots of red, and everything was red your clothes, bed sheets, and even curtain would be red. Some countries tried to quarantine the disease and study it, the quarantine worked but the research did not. (Marrin)
What did governments do in response to smallpox?
Today if you were infected with smallpox the CDC (Center Disease Control) would have your house quarantined and maybe perform tests on you. (Marrin) Back in the 1800s, if you lived in a town or village you would be thrown out of it. People feared any kind of skin disease so badly that when you even got a skin rash you got thrown out. It did not matter if you were the town mayor or any kind of special person you were thrown out just the same. (Marrin)
So now you see why smallpox would have killed us all. Fortunately WHO (World Health Organization) could stop this before it got terrible. If they did not we would all die or most of us would be infected with the deadly virus.
Books
Dr. Jenner and the Speckled Monster The Search for the Smallpox Vaccine
Fighting Infectious Diseases
Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0viCe-bin4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=136BCs_DCEE
Pictures
http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/preparedness/factsheet_smallpox_pro.shtm
