SMALL POX

Smallpox Signs and Symptoms

After infection, symptoms may take from 7-17 days to appear for major types of smallpox. The virus begins growing in the bloodstream 72-96 hours after infection, but no obvious symptoms appear immediately.

• People who have contracted smallpoxinitially develop such symptoms as fever, body aches, headache, chills, and, particularly, backache. Over half of people with smallpox experience chills and vomiting. About 15% become confused.
• A rash appears 48-72 hours after the initial symptoms and turns into virus-filled sores, which later scab over. The process can take up to 2 weeks.
• Just after the rash appears, the virus is highly contagious as it moves into the mucous membranes. The body sheds the cells, and virus particles are released, coughed, or sneezed into the environment. The infected person can be infectious for up to 3 weeks (until the scabs fall off the rash). Live virus can be present in the scabs. After the scabs or crusts fall off (in 2-4 weeks), a depression or light-skinned scar remains.
• Early in the course of the disease, the rash and pus-filled sores can easily be mistaken for chickenpox. Lesions occur first in the mouth and spread to the face, then to the forearms and hands, and finally to the lower limbs and trunk. In contrast, rash from chickenpox progresses from the arms and legs to the trunk and rarely forms in the armpits, palms, soles, and elbow areas

Smallpox Treatment

In the hospital's emergency department, a suspected smallpox victim is isolated. All emergency medical services and hospital personnel exposed to someone with smallpoxrequire quarantine and vaccination if they have not been previously vaccinated.

• Quarantine: The infected person and anyone who has come into contact with the infected person for up to 17 days prior to illness (including the treating doctor and nursing staff) may be required to remain in isolation until a definite diagnosis is made. If the suspected case is indeed smallpox, these individuals will have to remain in isolation for at least 17 days to ensure that they are not also infected with the virus.
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  • The most likely scenario of a smallpox outbreak is from a terrorist attack. Given the highly infectious nature of the organism, researchers estimate that 1 infected person can infect up to 20 new contacts during the infectious stage of the illness. If 1 infected person appears at a hospital, it is assumed that a more people have been infected.
  • Because of the medical, legal, and social implications of quarantine and isolation, coordinated involvement at the federal, state, and local levels is mandatory. In reality, strict quarantine of a large segment of the population is probably not possible.
  • Infectious disease specialists are consulted, along with state, federal, and local health authorities.
• Treatment: Medical treatment for smallpox eases its symptoms. This includes replacing fluid lost from fever and skin breakdown. Antibiotics may be needed for secondary skin infections. The infected personiskept in isolation for 17 days or until the scabs fall off.

• Ayurvedic Medicines for SmallPox - Causes, Symptoms

  What is a small-pox ?

  Smallpox is a very serious infection which is caused by a virus named variola, which is a member of the poxvirus family. Smallpox has been a greatly feared disease because it was responsible for huge epidemics. Smallpox gets its name from the pus-filled blisters that form during the illness. Smallpox is not related to chicken pox, which is a milder disease and is caused by a different virus.
  In past, smallpox has affected people all over the world, and disease used to be very serious. But now the condition has improved a lot since now there exist many good vaccines for the treatment of smallpox, so now there is not much threat for smallpox.
  

  Smallpox is of two forms, as given below:

  1) Variola Major - Variola Major is a highly contagious viral disease, which is generally characterized by fever and weakness and skin eruption with pustules that form scabs that slough off leaving scars. It has a mortality rate of 30% or more.
  2) Variola Minor - Variola Minor is a mild form of smallpox caused by a less virulent form of the virus. It has a mortality rate of less than 1%.
  

  What are the symptoms of small-pox ?

  The virus usually entered the body through the respiratory (breathing) tract. The incubation period (the period of showing symptoms after development of infection) for smallpox ranges from approximately 7 to 17 days. During this time, the virus was multiplying within the body and moving through the bloodstream.
  

  Some of common symptoms of smallpox are:

  • Very High fever.
  • Fatigue.
  • Severe headache and Backache.
  • Malaise.
  • Vomiting.
  • Diarrhea.
  • Excessive bleeding.
  • Flu-like symptoms.
  • Muscle and joint pain.
  • Skin eruptions.
  • Chickenpox-like skin rashes.
  In some rare (around 5 to 10 percent) cases of smallpox, more rapidly progressive, malignant disease develops, which is almost always fatal within 5 to 7 days.
  

  What are the causes of small-pox ?

  The main cause of smallpox is caused by variola virus of genus orthopoxvirus. Variola virus period is about 12 days. A characteristic rash is most prominent on the face, arms, and legs, follows in 2-3 days. The rash starts with flat red lesions. Lesions become pus-filled and begin to crust early in the second week.
  

  How is SmallPox Spread?

  Smallpox is a highly contagious and infectious disease and it spreads very easily from one person to other. It mainly spreads through the infected droplets coming from infected person's saliva when the person coughs, or sneezes. It can even spread when the person talks. Smallpox can also be spread from the fluid in the blisters of an infected person's skin or from blankets, towels, or clothes that have touched the infected person, but this is less common.
  

  What are the Treatment of small-pox ?

  Since small pox is caused by a virus, generally there is no treatment available. But a vaccine is must to have as it will help you prevent from developing the disease. The earliest forms of vaccination was inoculation, which entailed taking fluid from the lesions of an infected person and injected the fluid into an uninfected person. This method proved to be effective too, as when the innoculated people suffered from smallpox their symptoms were very mild as compared to an uninnoculated person developing smallpox.
  

  Ayurvedic Medicine I

  Ingredients:

  • Neem Bark.
  • Pitta Papra.
  • Parh.
  • Parval Leaves.
  • Kutki.
  • Bark of Aroosa.
  • Amla.
  • Yavasa.
  • Khas.
  • Red Sandalwood.
  • White Sandalwood.

  Directions:

  Prepare a decoction after mixing all the above ingredients. Now, the patient may take this decoction with raw sugar, 2 to 3 times a day.
  

  Ayurvedic Medicine II

  Ingredients:

  • Awarnamakhshik Bhasma.
  • Kanchnar Bark.

  Directions:

  50 to 100 mg of Swarnamakhshik Bhasma given with decoction of Kanchnar bark.
  source:ayurvedic-medicines.org