What factors made it possible to eradicate the smallpox virus?!
Question: Would this not be possible with another virus like influenza? ( i think it wouldn't be because it changes strains every year, though i don't know much about it)
Answers: Would this not be possible with another virus like influenza? ( i think it wouldn't be because it changes strains every year, though i don't know much about it)
It was possible to erradicate the smallpox virus because of several reasons. First, the strain of smallpox that affected humans did not affect other animals. And smallpox doesn't exist in the wild, it is spread from one infected human to another. Vaccinated persons acquire immunity very quickly, in a matter of days. Additionally, there are no human carriers- you can't carry it and not be infected. It was easy to develop a heat tolerant vaccine, and eventually they were able to develop a dehydrated form of it. That allowed the vaccine to be taken to places and mixed on the spot, so you didn't have to worry about things like refrigeration. And finally, you didn't have to use a needle for vaccination, so you could train nonmedical volunteers to do the vaccination as well. In something like influenza, you have a virus that isn't just limited to humans- in fact several strains have made the leap from animal to human, as bird flu is in the process of doing right now. That's a big difference from smallpox. Currently they are trying to eradicate polio and leprosy. It's proving a challenge, partially because of the things that gave an advantage in smallpox. In polio, you must use a live vaccine- and the vaccinated persons shed the virus for some time afterwards. That spreads the virus to others who have not been vaccinated, and has been the cause of polio outbreaks in places where sanitation is poor. Worse even, polio can infect people who have been vaccinated, making them carriers. Leprosy of course exists in animals- so it would be even harder to eliminate. It is not beyond immagination that a mass vaccination campaign would be able to control the outbreaks and limit the numbers of infected people, but we would not be nearly as likely to eliminate them entirely because of those challenges. In order to eradicate a virus, like smallpox, you have to eliminate all the sources as well. Otherwise, you can protect only those vaccinated at the time. The disease will continue to exist and merely wait for the next generation of unvaccinated persons. You wouldn't be able to simply vaccinate and forget- it would have to be an ongoing program. While children still die from childhood diseases that are preventable, I think it's highly unlikely we will enjoy the sucess seen in the eradication of smallpox. As long as money, politics and religion are still factors in even allowing vaccination, it's just not going to happen.
small pox was by the farmer who took puss off a cow suffering fom cow pox and put it in ihis wife and son. he saved them from death of smallpox. Then, when ever someone was infected, the doctors of the world would take them away to die and innoculate every surounding person. They iliminated all of the virus. it doesnt come back to mutate. we cant do the same thing with influenza because it comes back each year
The fact that you need a specific vaccine against multiple different strains of influenza is part of the problem, as is influenza's tendency to mutate rapidly and produce new strains.
The other problem is that the virus infects multiple different species, including birds. It would be almost impossible to vaccinate every bird in the world.
To completely eradicate a virus you need one that's relatively stable genetically, and affects humans only. Small pox was the first successfully eradicated. Polio will hopefully be the next.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poliomyelit...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox#Er...