Talk:Smallpox

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

News This page has been cited as a source by a media organization. The citation is in:
This article is within the scope of the following WikiProjects:
This article has been reviewed by the Version 1.0 Editorial Team.
Version 0.5
 This article has been selected for Version 0.5 and subsequent release versions of Wikipedia.
Other languages WikiProject Echo has identified Smallpox as a foreign language featured article. You may be able to improve this article with information from the Polish language Wikipedia.
This article was selected on the Medicine portal as one of Wikipedia's best articles related to Medicine.
Archive
Archives
1


Contents

[edit] Smallpox Blankets

There is no credible evidence for this, source was an article about modern use of smallpox as a weapon, not a historical source. So I deleted it.

The source is the Journal of the American Medical Association, which is a pretty credible source, in my opinion. And the quote specifically says, Smallpox was probably first used as a weapon during the French and Indian Wars (1754-1767). Soldiers distributed blankets that had been used by smallpox patients with the intent of initiating outbreaks among American Indians. I don't know how much more reliable you can get. Corvus cornixtalk 00:26, 13 February 2008 (UTC)
like i said in your talk page, it is a paper on modern use of smallpox as a weapon, they are making passing reference to that. Follow their source it is again the same thing (an un-cited reference in a 1945 paper on the benefits of vaccines).
JAMA is peer reviewed. Corvus cornixtalk 00:37, 13 February 2008 (UTC)
The section under biological warfare gives reference to the use of smallpox blankets. William Trent wrote in his diaries about the use of small pox blankets as a biological weapon. Various websources exist that provide citing references to the use of smallpox blankets as a historical, biological weapon. I think it is in some high school history textbooks as well. Legis Nuntius (talk) 18:39, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Article needs reorganization

The section on "infection" includes a great deal of history. Infection should cover clinical descriptions of the diagnosis, progress and prognosis for the disease. The effect of smallpox on history is significant and should be included but in a separate coordinated and integrated section. The history section should be confined to the affect of smallpox on history rather than the history of the discovery of its treatment. The history of its treatment (innoculation and then vaccination) should be a separate, integrated and coordinated section.--Blue Tie 13:03, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Dr. Jan Ingenhousz 1730 - 1799

217.38.64.124 14:36, 23 January 2007 (UTC)Dr. Jan Ingen Housz was born in Breda in the Netherlands in 1730: he came to England in 1764. In 1765 Ingen Housz was appointed Doctor at the London Foundling Hospital where he vaccinated all the children there. in the mid 1760s he became friends with Lord Shelburne (later Prime Minister of Britain), through Lord Shelburne he became a life long friend of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Lord Shelburne invited Ingen Housz and Franklin to stay at his country estate Bowood near Calne in Wiltshire.In 1767 he assisted Dr. Thomas Dimsdale in vaccinating over 600 people in Hertfordshire and prevented a mass outbreak of smallpox. In 1769 following a mass outbreak of smallpox in the Austrian Empire Ingen House became the court physician to the imperial family and personally vaccinated the emperor and empress. Ingen Housz travelled widely in Europe and eventually became part of the house hold of Lord Shelburne at Bowood where he was able to meet up again for a time with Benjamin Franklin. Ingen Housz died in 1799 and is buried in the church yard of St. Mary's Church' Calne, Wiltshire. In 1955 a tablet was erected in St. Mary's Parish Church in his memory. The service of dedication was attended by the ambassadors of Holland and Austria in his memory as the one person who had done the most to pioneer vaccination against smallpox.

[edit] Pericles

  • The epidemiology behind the Plague of Athens is (and probably will remain) uncertain. Thus, including Pericles as a smallpox victim is not terribly supportable. -- MarcoTolo 22:50, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Abraham Lincoln?

Didn't Abraham Lincoln get shot in the head? How can he be a victim of smallpox? or are you going to list all the known people that contracted the disease and got better? Vicco Lizcano 23:17, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

Changed "victims of smallpox" to "historical figures who contracted smallpox." Fullobeans (talk) 07:32, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Questions

  1. What type of organism causes smallpox?
  2. What does the organism do to make someone sick?
  3. what part of the population does smallpox primarily affect?
  4. What is the disease's historical importance?

HELP ME!! I can't find the info anywhere else! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.122.72.187 (talk)

Well, I could just say "read the Smallpox article", since your questions are answered there, or "Go ask at the Help Desk , but I'm feeling extra-helpful tonight.
  1. Smallpox "....is a highly contagious viral disease unique to humans. It is caused by either of two virus variants named Variola major and Variola minor."
  2. "The initial or prodromal symptoms are essentially similar to other viral diseases such as influenza and the common cold—fevers, muscle pain, stomach aches, etc. The digestive tract is commonly involved, leading to vomiting. Most cases are prostrated. Smallpox virus preferentially attacks skin cells and by days 12–15, smallpox infection becomes obvious. The attack on skin cells causes the characteristic pimples associated with the disease. The pimples tend to erupt first in the mouth, then the arms and the hands, and later the rest of the body. At that point the pimples, called macules, should still be fairly small. This is the stage at which the victim is most contagious."
  3. Smallpox isn't particularly choosy about who it infects. As usual, those who are immunocompromised are at higher risk.
  4. Start with Smallpox#Eurasia.

-- MarcoTolo 01:18, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Contradict

Same as my edit summary:

Europe in 165 or 581? No subtleties can be obtained from footnote because there are none. Ufwuct 22:51, 19 February 2007 (UTC)
I'll add a ref (Hopkins, 1983). I think the confusion may lie in the definition of "Western Europe" (the purported 581 AD date). I would have included Italy in that category, but apparently the UN considers it to be in Southern Europe, reserving "Western" for countries north of the Alps and east of the Pyrenees. Or, perhaps the author of that section was just confused... <grin>. -- MarcoTolo 21:11, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
FWIW, I actually used the 2002 reprint of Hopkins, 1982. -- MarcoTolo 21:25, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Editing/Revision needed on 1754 small pox blankets note

Contemporary findings appear to make the actual "small pox blanket" incident rather unlikely. Also, you're quoting a source of source, the actual original note is from a 1945 book (quoted in the footnotes of the 1999 article currently listed.)

I haven't changed the article itself due to the controversial nature of the event, I leave that to registered users.

[edit] Dr. Thomas Dimsdale

I just read an article about how Dr. Thomas Dimsdale from England introduced inoculations for smallpox to Russia in 1768. Catherine the Great made him a baron for his work. Yet, I can find nothing about him throughout Wikipedia.

The publication was the March 24-30, 2007 edition of New Scientist. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Jayavarman1 (talk • contribs) 19:16, 23 April 2007 (UTC). peanuts

Dr.Thomas Dimsdale first set up practice in the town (Hertford, England) in 1734. He had a strong interest in the prevention of smallpox and in 1767 he published a book on the subject. In the following year he travelled to Russia, where he innoculated Catherine The Great, for which he was handsomely rewarded with a title and wealth. He died in 1800 at the age of 90. from web site [1]. Anyone have access to info on this fellow? WBardwin 00:23, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Smallpox transmission

The article describes smallpox as "highly contagious," yet "less so than other infectious diseases." What, if anything, is this supposed to mean? My understanding is that smallpox is only moderately contagious, requiring reasonably prolonged face-to-face contact for transmission. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Robinfrost (talk • contribs) 13:34, 13 May 2007 (UTC).

Concur, that sentence at least jars and is uninformative. I don't have a handy measure of contagiousness, but one thing is I suppose that it is among the more contagious - by touch - diseases in the poxy stage, but less infectious - by walking into a room and breathing - than chickenpox in th prodromal stage. When I feel stronger I may attempt to repair that bit. Midgley 11:13, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Variola major smallpox

Other than ordinary virus there is modified virus which occurs in previously vaccinated patients. The Hemorrhagic and the Flat virus are very rare and very severe according to the CDC. All four of these viruses are part of the Variola major virus.

[edit] Resurgence

Is there any reason the recent resurgence in Bangladesh, and its neighboring areas are left out of this article? --soum (0_o) 13:52, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

according to User:Klparrot's 1 June 2007 note on the article the Indian smallpox alert was false alarm. Klparrot provided this link [2] as a reference. Best wishes. WBardwin 01:41, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Gauthier: Fear factor", MetroWest Daily News, October 21, 2004

That URL/site isn't there anymore!! awww =( somebody fix it!!

Link does not appear to exist at the Internet Archive.... -- MarcoTolo 22:14, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] List of "Species extinct in the wild"

This page has a category marker of "species extinct in the wild" this is utter stupidity, that list is of the IUCN, which only deals with Eukarya. I really can't find the category marker associated with this in the edit page. Could somebody please delete this maker because it is wrong! Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Snelleeddy (talk • contribs)

Fixed. -- MarcoTolo 20:30, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
I suspect we could find stupidity more utter than that, actually. Is it possible that the fault is in the list used or selected, which deals only with the Eukarya? As an example of a species deliberately made extinct Variola may be a good one. The Thylacine was said to be another, but the Yangtse river dolphin is unintentional and Cod will be against our intentions if it goes. Polio is another deliberate target...Midgley 11:17, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
I think that smallpox should be put on the "species extinct in the wild" thing.66.159.69.132 18:12, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Transition to Eurasia

I have not edited in Wikipedia before but I feel that the transition from 2.1 Hemorrhagic smallpox to 2.2 Eurasia is abrupt and confusing. If they are both under the heading of Infection in the Contents outline then the heading of Eurasia seems even more out of place. Oxenmantim 02:02, 19 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Smallpox in Fiction

The ring trilogy of horror novels feature smallpox as being the virus spread by the video tape that kills people in one week. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.29.245.115 (talk) 21:11, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

The book Code Orange by Caroline B. Cooney features a teenage boy who finds two smallpox scabs in an envelope in an old medical textbook. He begins researching the disease for his school project, at the same time desperately trying to find out if, when he inhaled the smallpox scab dust, he contracted the virus. As a terrorist groups finds out about his situation, things go from bad to worse. —Preceding unsigned comment added by RiotMonday (talk • contribs) 17:38, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Eradication of Smallpox

The Soviet Union contribution to the world to ged rid of smallpox is a well known fact. Each year of eradication program USSR contribute more that twenty million bottles of vaccine a year. And also send out a lot of volunteer and equipments. Why this fact become untolerable to someone here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.120.233.237 (talk) 08:15, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

No facts are intolerable to Wikipedia, but they must be sourced and verifiable. If you have sources, we can craft suitable text for the article--—G716 <T·C> 12:10, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 1982 serbian film link

I added a dissambiguation link to a film titled Variola Vera. Typing Variola vera in the search box brings a user to the disease page. A user that is interested in finding the movie would have to know to type in Vera in uppercase letters or to add (film) at the end. This just makes things easier for those looking for the movie even though most people typing in Variola vera will be looking for the disease article. I will reciprocate a link from the movie article. Is everyone OK with this? SWik78 18:39, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] New article

I created a new article, Eradication of infectious diseases, which could use a lot of work if anyone is interested. There is a small section on smallpox that could be significantly expanded. --Ginkgo100talk 17:59, 30 November 2007 (UTC)


[edit] In 1520 another group of Spanish came from Cuba and landed in Mexico. Among them was an African slave who had smallpox

I smell racism in this sentence —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.27.13.152 (talk) 10:22, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

Really? I certainly don't. - Hayaku (talk) 02:16, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

Regardless, it's anecdotal until sourced. A quick googling brought up one reference to an infected slave and another to an infected soldier, but nothing usable. It's too minor a detail to leave in unsubstantiated, in my opinion, so I deleted it. Meanwhile, that whole section seems heavily anecdotal and filled with facts which would be interesting if they were, indeed, facts. I may try to source them on a rainy day (but wouldn't be heartbroken if somebody else did it first). Fullobeans (talk) 06:48, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Clarification on one point

Natural events also impeded the vaccination team’s efforts. The monsoon rains burst dams and dikes. The rain and flooding forced people to flee, once again allowing smallpox to spread. This outbreak took the team a whole year to stop.

There is no antecedent to this outbreak in the text. Can someone who knows what it refers to please add text to make it clear what outbreak is being referred to? I presume one in Indiana and Bangladesh, but that is not entirely clear since the previous paragraph also talks about Sudan. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fenevad (talk • contribs) 15:15, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] John Adams

Removed a section of John Adams trivia from the "Famous sufferers and survivors" section. Adams and his immediately family were all (at different times) inoculated against smallpox and suffered the effects of inoculation to varying degrees, but none suffered or died as a result of a contracted infection. If anyone's interested, the Adams material could be reworked into the inoculation page as well as into the North American smallpox epidemic stub. Fullobeans (talk) 07:26, 20 March 2008 (UTC)


Adams and his family would have been inoculated with a different strain of smallpox in order for it to work: variola minor. Jenner's vaccine would not be available publicly for another twenty or thirty years, so the method of inoculation suggested by Boylston and Mather would have been inoculation with variola minor. The trouble with this practice was that not everyone survived it: up to a third would have died and furthermore in 1770's America there would have been a few things working against them: 1) fewer trained physicians than in Europe available 2) lack of knowledge about pathogens at the time (Leeuvonhoek was just about the discover microorganisms under his microscope at this time) 3) Complete lack of understanding of how medicine for children and medicine for adults was different (children during this period were treated like miniature adults.) Adams's son Thomas in particular had a very nasty case of it because the doctor treated him like he would a grown man: a dangerous thing when you are only about six years old.

Perhaps a small subsection briefly discussing these practices would be wiser: technically, the Adams family DID suffer from smallpox.--Shadowkittie5460 (talk) 20:38, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

It may be splitting hairs, but my opinion on this is that if you shoot yourself in the foot to avoid the draft, then you're not a war casualty. You make a perfectly valid point, though, and if the general consensus is that the Adams family should be included, all I'd suggest is that the mention of them be in proportion to the rest of the article. A brief mention of the family's inoculation and resultant difficulties would be sufficient to direct interested parties to the John Adams, Abigail Adams, or Inoculation pages... except that they'll find no further information once they're there. This is an interesting and illuminating bit of biography, and it would be great if somebody who's knowledgeable on the topic could write a comprehensive and well-sourced summary of it for one of the aforementioned articles. Fullobeans (talk) 05:23, 17 April 2008 (UTC)