Tam Le
Professor Weinshiboum
ENGWR 300
April 8th, 2010
Essay#2
Smallpox 2010 In today’s world it would be amazing if you had a friend or a family member who has smallpox and how sad it would be, especially if she or he was your close relative. That is what happened to my coworker’s Barbara. Barbara’s brother actually died from smallpox. She says that her mother told her that “in 1950 one day her brother didn’t feel well then he ran a high fever and the family sent him to the hospital. A few a days later his skin turned red, then it developed red spots and pustules all over his body.” His throat also felt very dry and irritated, so then the doctors knew that he had smallpox. Therefore, they sent him home to prevent him from infecting others. Not long after he left the hospital, he died at home. From the day it started to the day he died it was three weeks. Not long after that another brother had the same symptoms and he died within three weeks. Although there has not been a case of smallpox for over 30 years, Americans need to be educated about the disease as well as the vaccine and learn what to do in case of an emergency outbreak of smallpox. Smallpox was one of the first diseases that people a found vaccine for and one of the deadliest diseases that humans can contract. When someone first gets smallpox, they start with a fever, headache and back pain, and then they have an eruption on the skin that leaves the faces, arms and legs covered with dimpled scars, or pox. Smallpox is caused by variola major and the infection that is part of the family of viruses known as poxviridae. The disease gets worse and skin actually peels off. Up to 30% of the people who get it will die. Smallpox is very contagious and can be transmitted by breathing in the virus from people who already have the disease. People can get smallpox from traveling in different