Smallpox vaccine, which was developed to prevent smallpox, which caused one of the most serious epidemics in history, has an important place in medicine as the first vaccine. Smallpox, which was eradicated by intensive vaccination applications until 1980, is a disease that is not encountered today. Now, smallpox vaccine stocks are made only in case of a bioterrorist attack.
Smallpox, which has been known for centuries and is an infectious disease with its wide spread, is among the deadly diseases. The smallpox vaccine against smallpox caused by the Variola virus, which is transmitted from person to person by respiratory route, is known as the first vaccine in history. Smallpox vaccine, which is considered a great advance for human health, is a live virus vaccine. Vaccinica virus is used in the content of the vaccine, not the Variola virus.
Smallpox vaccine is often confused with chickenpox vaccine. However, these two diseases and vaccines are different from each other. The blisters seen in smallpox are pus and deep. The rashes seen in smallpox are all the same age, that is, one type. In chickenpox, different types of rash are seen at the same time. While the blisters and skin rashes in smallpox occur on many parts of the body, the blisters in chickenpox are more superficial than in smallpox and usually appear on the trunk.
Protection Period of Smallpox Vaccine
Smallpox vaccine protects a person from smallpox for up to 10 years. Smallpox vaccination within the first four days after infection also provides a protective effect. People who have been vaccinated show less symptoms of smallpox and are less likely to spread the disease than people who have not been vaccinated.
Side Effects of Smallpox Vaccine
The side effects caused by the smallpox vaccine are severe and many people experience the same side effects. Since the side effects of the vaccine are known to be serious, it is not considered appropriate to vaccinate people who do not show symptoms. However, people with the disease are still recommended to be vaccinated because the disease is extremely dangerous. Smallpox vaccine side effects include eczema and brain inflammation. Paralysis due to brain inflammation, loss of vision, mental retardation and life-threatening infections can also be seen. High fever, swelling of the lymph nodes and Vaccinica infection are among the other side effects of the smallpox vaccine.
Smallpox Vaccine in the World
Smallpox vaccination was widely used with the vaccination campaigns and quarantines implemented in the 1960s. After the last smallpox case in Somalia in 1977, the World Health Organization declared that smallpox was completely eradicated in 1980. Since that date, he has not been diagnosed with smallpox again. After 1980, smallpox vaccination was abolished for civilians, and only in some countries, health personnel were vaccinated until 1983. After this date, the smallpox vaccine, which was routinely administered only to American soldiers, was also given to soldiers who participated in the Gulf War in 1990, and was later stopped.
The World Health Organization has introduced some limitations for the scientific research and storage of the virus that causes the disease. Smallpox vaccine production was terminated after this limitation in Turkey and all over the world. Currently, no smallpox vaccination is given to adults or children in any country in the world.
Smallpox vaccination is thought to be available to everyone in the United States today. However, in the United States, the vaccine has only been administered to medical teams who will treat people who contract smallpox as a result of a bioterrorist attack, people working in animal care industry laboratories, and soldiers in the US military. A small amount of vaccine stock has been made against the possibility of contagion by those who have the disease.