What happened to chickenpox?

Answer 1

Here are some facts about chickenpox:

• It causes itchy, contagious, bumps,
• Typically you can only get it once
• it is NOT caused by chickens.
• There is a vaccine available.
• Once you have chickenpox, the virus stays in your body for life and may cause shingles in the future.

Answer 2

Chickenpox is a disease that is caused by the varicella zoster virus. Chickenpox usually starts with flu-like symptoms after which time red spots appear on the trunk of the body that quickly spreads to other parts. These spots develop fluid-filled blisters that can be very itchy. Chickenpox may cause a high temperature, vomiting and loss of appetite.

Answer 3

Chickenpox was first identified by Persian scientist Muhammad ibn Zakariya ar-Razi between the years 865 and 925. After his discovery the disease became know as Rhazes to the people of the west. In the 1500's Giovanni Filippo of Palmero provided a more detailed description of varicella (chickenpox). In the 1600s an English physician named Richard Morton described what he thought to be a mild form of the smallpox as chickenpox. In 1767 a physician named William Herberden was the first physician to clearly demonstrate that chickenpox was different from smallpox. The word pox also means curse, so in medieval times some believed in was a plague brought on to curse children by the use of black magic.

Answer 4

Facts about smallpox:

1. Smallpox only affects humans.
2. Smallpox is caused by a virus.
3. Pharaoh Ramses V of Egypt suffered from Smallpox, so did American presidents George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and Abraham Lincoln.
4. The last case of Smallpox was in 1979, and has been declared eradicated.
5. There are no medications currently approved to treat Smallpox.
6. The fatality rate of Smallpox was about 30%.
7. Since there is no good treatment and because it is highly fatal, many countries researched it as a biological weapon during the cold war.
8. The rash for smallpox starts on the face, hands, and feet and spreads towards the trunk.
9. When Smallpox infects a cell, it causes inclusion bodies to be visible in the cell under a microscope.
10. Smallpox is transmitted through droplets.

Smallpox was eradicated through the effective Intensified Smallpox Eradication Programme, initiated by the World Health Organization. On 26 July 1978, WHO announced the eradication of the smallpox strain Variola Minor. The more deadly strain, Variola Major, had been eradicated several years earlier, in 1975. V. major had a typical mortality rate of 20-40 percent of those infected. The other type, V. minor, only killed 1% of its victims. Smallpox was responsible for an estimated 300-500 million deaths in the 20th century. Those who survived were often left blind in one or both eyes from corneal ulcerations, and left with persistent skin scarring, or pockmarks.

There remains a stockpile of the virus in storage in 600 frozen vials in Atlanta and Russia. This has been deemed necessary, in case further vaccines are required in the future. This stockpile was supposed to be destroyed on 31 December 1993, but on 23 December 1993, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia reversed their decision, announcing that the remaining virus stockpile would not be destroyed, so as to enable scientists to continue studying the disease.

Answer 5

Chickenpox is caused by varicella-zoster virus, a type of herpes virus. The virus spreads through the air in infected droplets sprayed from the nose or mouth when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The fluid from a chickenpox sore or blister carries the virus, so should not be touched. The virus remains in nervous system tissues and may cause shingles after being dormant for several several years.

Varicella zoster virus is a DNA virus measuring 150 to 200 nanometers. It is pleomorphic or spherical. It has an envelope.

Answer 6

Chickenpox was nearly eradicated til people got lazy and/or careless with getting their children vaccinated. In adults, it can cause serious problems , and in rare cases death.

Answer 7

Chickenpox is very contagious. More than 90% of people exposed to chicken pox in a household will develop the disease.

Answer 8

fever and red spots on the face and torso