The Smallpox II,
the return of a battle that we never win / Chapter I.
La Viruela II, el regreso de una batalla que
nunca ganamos / Capitulo I.
Smallpox II...Chapter
II Bibliographic refrences
!!!
Data-Medicos
Dermagic/Express No. 3-(101)
30 Junio 2.001.30 June 2.001.
DEDITORIAL ESPANOL
=================
Hola amigos DERMAGICOS. El tema de este mes sobre la VIRUELA, pareciera no
tener mucha importancia, si analizamos que esta enfermedad FUE DECLARADA
ERRADICADA DEL planeta para el año 1.980, por cierto año en que dejo de
vacunarse contra la enfermedad.
En el año de 1.988 hice una revision sobre el mismo tema, que titule: LA
VIRUELA LA GUERRA QUE AUN NO GANAMOS. Para aquella oportunidad manifeste
mediante algunos articulos la posibilidad de que este MORTIFERO VIRUS pudiese
ser utilizado como un ARMA DE GUERRA. Para aquel momento pocas referencias
bibliograficas sobre tal situacion existian en la red. Hace unas semanas viaje
a la red y cual fue mi sorpresa al encontrar numerosos comentarios donde se
menciona esta POSIBILIDAD.
202 años despues de descubierta la vacuna por EDWARD JENNER y 21 años despues
de la ultima muerte oficial producida por la enfermedad (La periodista Jannet
Parker), tambien del ultimo caso reportado (Ali Maalin), y de DECRETADA LA
DESAPARICION DE LA VIRUELA DEL PLANETA TIERRA, la sombra de UNA POSIBLE
ESCAPADA del VIRUS a la "CALLE" de la poblacion mundial esta cada dia mas
cercana. Los hechos que soportan esto:
1.) Desde que se erradico la enfermedad quedaron reservorios o STOCKS de
virus de la VIRUELA oficilamente reconocidos en RUSIA y ESTADOS UNIDOS. Pero
ahora se sabe que los paises Arabes tambien lo tienen.
2.) SE HABIA PLANTEADO la destruccion TOTAL DE LOS VIRUS inicialmente
para el año de 1.995. Posteriormente la OMS la postergo para finales de Junio
del 1.999. Recientemente el presidente de USA se nego a eliminarlos. El 20 de
Mayo de ese año 1.999 se POSTERGO LA FECHA de destruccion para EL AÑO 2.002.
La cual tampoco creo se cumplira. Pues creo que todas las POTENCIAS MUNDIALES,
y paises como los ARABES tienen reservorios del VIRUS.
3.) La fuerza MILITAR ISRAELI vacuno a SUS SOLDADOS contra la VIRUELA
entre los años 1.991 y 1.996. Porque ocurrio este evento ? SI LA OMS DECLARO
HACE mas de 20 AÑOS QUE LA VIRUELA ESTABA furera de LA TIERRA. De donde
sacaron la VACUNA ?. si LOS DOS (2) UNICOS PAISES LEGALEMENTE RECONOCIDOS como
poseedores de STOCKS de virus de la VIRUELA SON USA Y RUSSIA. Trafico de
vacunas. ???
4.) El virus de la VIRUELA pertenece a la familia de los ORTOPOXVIRUS,
(monkeypox, cowpox, sheeppox, fowlpox, goatpox, camelpox, skunkpox, raccoonpox,
taterapox, yabapox, tanapox y otros). Entre estos se encuentra el virus
CAMELPOX, (viruela de los camellos), quien produce un cuadro muy SIMILAR A la
viruela en humanos. ESTE fue utilizado COMO arma BIOLOGICA EN LA GUERRA DEL
GOLFO PERSICO EN 1.991.
5.) Los Poxviruses continúan siendo una gran amenaza para la salud
humana. Monkeypox es endémico en Africa central, y la interrupción de la
vacunación (con virus de la viruela) ha provocado en la mayoría de los humanos
vulnerabilidad a LA ENFERMEDAD, por lo cual este puede ser usado en UNA GUERRA
BIOLOGICA O BIOTERRORISMO.
6.) Recientemente en BRASIL en el año 2.000 hubo un brote de
contaminacion por POXVIRUS en ordeñadores y ganado, este VIRUS fue denominado
CANTALAGO VIRUS (CTGV), el cual por pruebas de PCR se determino que era casi
exactamente igual en su secuencia genetica a la cepa del VIRUS DE LA VACCINIA
(VV) utilizado en la VACUNA para la VIRUELA ( VV-IOC) HACE 20 AÑOS en BRASIL.
Se cree que durante estos años se mantuvo vivo en el medio natural en animales
presentando polimorfismos y ahora emerge en el ganado y ordeñadores COMO EL
CANTALAGO VIRUS (CTGV). Se reporta este hecho como el primer caso de
persistencia por largo periodo de tiempo del virus DE LA VACCINIA EN EL NUEVO
MUNDO.
7.) En el año 1.999 se plantea en Estados Unidos SERIAMENTE LA
POSIBILIDAD de la utilización del VIRUS DE LA VIRUELA COMO ARMA BIOLOGICA.
Tambien se plantean LAS CONSECUENCIAS HIPOTETICAS de un desastre producido por
la VIRUELA.
Este hecho ocurre UN AÑO DESPUES que DERMAGIC/EXPRESS en 1.998 planteo lo
mismo. Lealo en:
http://dermagic.50megs.com/year1998/25.html
La guerra que aun no hemos ganado, La Viruela.
8.) Para ese mismo año 1.999 se desarrollo en ALEMANIA una vacuna
contra la VIRUELA CON UN VIRUS ATENUADO denominada vacuna MVA, la cual tiene
menos efectos secundarios que la vacuna clasica.
9.) Para el año 2.00 los rusos reportan la exposicion de algunos de sus
soldados al virus de la VIRUELA.
10.) El 20 de noviembre del año 2.000 ante el posible riesgo de un ataque
terrorista con virus de la VIRUELA en ESTADOS UNIDOS el CDC DE ATLANTA decidio
con la compañia productora de VACUNAS ORAVAX producir una nueva vacuna conta
la VIRUELA.
11.) Lo mas espectacular de esta revision la constituye la ultima
referencia publicada en 1999 y en el año 2.000: LA VIRUELA, una SIMULACION o
guion de un ATAQUE. El cual plantea CRUDAMENTE que pasaria en ESTADOS UNIDOS
DIA POR DIA, si la VIRUELA SE DESATA EN ESE PAIS... y que pasaria EN OTROS
PAISES.?
12.) Para algunos laboratorios SERIA UN GRAN NEGOCIO QUE LA VIRUELA
saliera para la "calle", pues HABRIA UNA DANZA DE MILLONES con la vacuna. Por
otro lado, UNAS CUANTAS MUERTES no le caerian nada mal a algunas NACIONES,
triste REALIDAD.
De modo que queda demostrada en esta SEGUNDA revision BIBLIOGRAFICA que lo del
VIRUS DE LA VIRUELA NO ES UNA FANTASIA, ES UNA REALIDAD. y nuestras
AUTORIDADES Y LA OMS creo se hacen la vista CIEGA ante este hecho.
Humildemente pienso que no estan ACTUANDO EN FAVOR DE LA HUMANIDAD, sino de
intereses creados.
La conducta logica ante este riesgo es retomar LA
VACUNACION A TODA la poblacion MUNDIAL susceptible, cosa dificil,
pues los GRANDES JERARCAS de la OMS que
dirigen estos proyectos actuaran SOLO CUANDO CAIGA LA PRIMERA VICTIMA, y
cuando esto suceda, quiza sea demasiado tarde....
y si esto llega a ocurrir NO DIGAN NUNCA
QUE DERMAGIC/EXPRESS SE LOS DIJO...
En las 87 referencias LOS HECHOS...
Saludos a todos.
Dr. Jose Lapenta R.
EDITORIAL ENGLISH
==================
Hello DERMAGIC'S friends. The topic of this month on the SMALLPOX, seemed to
not have a lot of importance, if we analyze that this illness was DECLARED
ERADICATED OF THE planet for the year 1.980, by the way year in that I stop to
be vaccinated against the illness.
In the year of 1.988 I made a revision on the same topic that titles: THE
SMALLPOX THE WAR THAT WE HAVE NOT STILL WON. For that opportunity I show by
means of some articles the possibility that this MURDEROUS VIRUS can be used
as a ARMS OF WAR. For that moment few bibliographical references on such a
situation existed in the net. Some weeks ago trip to the net and which my
surprise went when finding numerous comments where this POSSIBILITY is
mentioned.
202 years after discovered the vaccine for EDWARD JENNER and 21 years after it
finishes it official death taken place by the illness (journalist Jannet
Parker), also of the I finish reported case (Ali Maalin), and of having
DECREED THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE SMALLPOX OF THE EARTH PLANET, the shade of A
POSSIBLE ESCAPE of the VIRUS to the world population's "STREET" IT is every
day but near.
The facts that support this:
1.) Since eradicates the illness they were STOCKS of virus of the
SMALLPOX officially recognized in RUSSIA and UNITED STATES. But now it is
known that the Arab countries also have it.
2.) He had THOUGHT (WHO) ABOUT the TOTAL destruction OF THE VIRUS
initially for the year of 1.995. Later on the WHO defers it for the end of
june 1.999. Recently the president of USA refused to eliminate them. In May 22
of that year (1.999) it has NOTICED THE DATE for the destruction IT will be
THE YEAR 2.002. The one which neither believe it will be completed. Because I
believe that all the WORLD POWERS, and countries like the ARABS have STOCKS of
the VIRUS.
3.) The ISRAELI MILITARY force vaccinate to THEIR SOLDIERS against the
SMALLPOX among the years 1.991 and 1.996. Why it happened this event? IF THE
WHO DECLARES AGO but of 20 YEARS THAT THE SMALLPOX OUT of THE EARTH was. where
they took out the VACCINE ?, if THE two(2) ONLY COUNTRIES OFFICIALLY
recognized as possessors of STOCKS of virus of the SMALLPOX is it USA AND
RUSSIA. I traffic of vaccines. ???
4.) The virus of the SMALLPOX belongs to the family of the
ORTHOPOXVIRUS, (monkeypox, cowpox, sheeppox, fowlpox, goatpox, camelpox,
skunkpox, raccoonpox, taterapox, yabapox, tanapox and other). Among these he
is the virus CAMELPOX, (pock of the camels) who produces a very SIMILAR
illness TO the smallpox in human. THIS it was used AS BIOLOGICAL weapon IN THE
WAR OF THE PERSIAN GULF IN 1.991.
5.) The Poxviruses continues being a great threat for the human health.
Monkeypox is endemic in central Africa, and the interruption of the
vaccination (with virus of the vaccinia) it has caused in most from the human
vulnerability to the virus agent of THE SMALLPOX, reason why this it can be
used in A BIOLOGICAL WAR OR BIOTERRORISM.
6.) Recently in BRAZIL in the year 2.000 had a bud of contamination
for POXVIRUS in milkers and cows, this VIRUS was denominated CANTALAGO VIRUS (CTGV),
which for tests of PCR determines that it was almost exactly same in its
genetic sequence TO the strain of the VIRUS OF THE VACCINIA (VV) used in the
VACCINE for the SMALLPOCX (VV-IOC) 20 YEARS AGO in BRAZIL. It is believed that
during these years he stayed I live in the natural means in animals,
accumulating polymorphisms and now it emerges in the cows and milkers LIKE THE
CANTALAGO VIRUS (CTGV). This fact is reported as the first case of persistence
by long period of time of the virus OF THE VACCINIA IN THE NEW WORLD.
7.) In the year 1.999 IN UNITED STATES it was THOUGHT THE POSSIBILITY
of the use of the VIRUS OF THE SMALLPOX LIKE BIOLOGICAL WEAPON. It also
THOUGHT about THE HYPOTHETICAL CONSEQUENCES of a disaster taken place by the
SMALLPOX.
This fact happens one YEAR after DERMAGIC/EXPRESS in 1.998 I outline
the same thing. Read this at:
http://dermagic.50megs.com/year1998/25.html
The War that we have not still won, the Smallpox.
8.) For that same year in 1.999 in GERMANY develops a vaccine against
the SMALLPOX WITH A vaccine denominated ATTENUATED VIRUS MVA, which has less
secondary effects than the classic vaccine.
9.) For the year 2.00 the Russians report the accidental exposure of
some from their soldiers to the virus of the SMALLPOX.
10.) In November 20 of the year 2.000 in the face of the possible risk
of a terrorist attack with virus of the SMALLPOX in UNITED STATES the CDC DE
ATLANTA decided with the company producer of vaccines ORAVAX to produce a new
vaccine against the SMALLPOX.
11.) Him but spectacular of this revision it constitutes it the last
reference published in 1.999 and in the year 2.000: THE SMALLPOX, an ATTACK
SCENARIO. Which outlines CRUDELY that it would happen in STATES UNITED DAY PER
DAY, if the SMALLPOX it arrives IN THAT COUNTRY... and what it would pass IN
OTHER COUNTRIES.?
12.) For some laboratories it would be A GREAT BUSINESS THAT THE
SMALLPOX came out for the "street", because there would BE A DANCE OF MILLIONS
with the vaccine. On the other hand, FOR SOME NATIONS, it would be good that
some died to diminish the world overpopulation, sad REALITY.
So that it is demonstrated in this second BIBLIOGRAPHICAL revision that of the
VIRUS OF THE SMALLPOX IS NOT A FANTASY, it is A REALITY. and our AUTHORITIES
AND THE OMS, I believe they are made the BLIND view before this fact.
sincerely I think that they are not ACTING IN FAVOR OF THE HUMANITY, but of
created interests.
The logical behavior in the face of this risk is to
recapture THE VACCINATION TO the whole susceptible
WORLD population, sew difficult, because the BIG
BOSSES of the OMS that direct these projects acted ALONE WHEN he
FALLS THE FIRST victim one THE SMALLPOX KILLS, and when this happens, maybe
too much late....
and if this FACT happens NEVER SAY THAT
DERMAGIC/EXPRESS TOLD to you...
In the 87 referrences THE FACTS...
Greetings to all
Dr. Jose Lapenta R.
============================================================
REFERENCIAS BIBLIOGRAFICAS / BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
============================================================
=============================================================
1.) Edward Jenner and the Discovery of Vaccination
2.) Vaccines in historic evolution and perspective: a narrative of vaccine
discoveries.
2.) Montagu's variolation.
3.) [Pharmaceutical development concerning diseases predominating in tropical
regions: the concept of indigent drugs].
4.) Smalllpox and its control in Canada.
5.) Vaccines in historic evolution and perspective: a narrative of vaccine
discoveries.
6.) Production of recombinant subunit vaccines: protein immunogens, live
delivery systems and nucleic acid vaccines.
7.) [Two hundred years ago: the first smallpox vaccinations in Vienna].
8.) Edward Jenner's Inquiry; a bicentenary analysis.
9.) The myth of the medical breakthrough: smallpox, vaccination, and Jenner
reconsidered.
10.) Smallpox: gone but not forgotten.
11.) Edward Jenner and the eradication of smallpox.
12.) Cowpox: a re-evaluation of the risks of human cowpox based on new
epidemiological information.
13.) Smallpox: the triumph over the most terrible of the ministers of death.
14.) [Smallpox: an historical review].
15.) Academic surgeons, take heart: the story of a student, his mentor, and
the discovery of the etiology of angina pectoris.
16.) The Jenner bicentenary: the introduction and early distribution of
smallpox vaccine.
17.) The smallpox saga and the origin(s) of vaccination.
18.) Measuring success in clinical gene therapy research.
19.) [Jenner's cowpox vaccine in light of current vaccinology].
20.) Controlling orthopoxvirus infections--200 years after Jenner's
revolutionary immunization.
21.) Traditional methods used for controlling animal diseases in Iran.
22.) Smallpox: emergence, global spread, and eradication.
23.)Gordon memorial lecture. Vaccines and vaccination--past, present and
future.
24.) New approaches in viral vaccine development.
25.) The global eradication of smallpox.
26.) [The world is free of pox - Implementation and success of a grandiose
program].
27.) Farewell to smallpox vaccination.
28.) [Smallpox vaccine, then and now. From the "cow lymphe" to the cell-culture
vaccine].
29.) Vaccinia virus inhibitors as a paradigm for the chemotherapy of poxvirus
infections.
30.) Global health strategies versus local primary health care priorities--a
case study of national immunisation days in Southern Africa.
31.) Are Saudi Arabian hospitals prepared for the threat of biological weapons?
32.) [Smallpox in Telemark in the last part of the 19th century].
33.) Monkeypoxvirus infections.
34.) [Bioterrorism--a public and health threat].
35.) Ensuring vaccine safety in immunization programmes--a WHO perspective.
36.) The threat of smallpox and bioterrorism.
37.) Inmmune response to vaccinia virus is significantly reduced after
scarification with TK- recombinants as compared to wild-type virus.
38.) Aeromedical evacuation of biological warfare casualties: a treatise on
infectious diseases on aircraft.
39.) An emergent poxvirus from humans and cattle in Rio de Janeiro State:
Cantagalo virus may derive from Brazilian smallpox vaccine.
40.) [20 years without smallpox].
Epidemiol Mikrobiol Imunol 2000 Aug;49(3):95-102 Related
41.) [Circulation of virus and interspecies contamination in wild animals].
=============================================================
=============================================================
1.) Edward Jenner and the Discovery of Vaccination
=============================================================
originally exhibited spring 1996
Thomas Cooper Library, University of South Carolina
text by Patrick Scott
hypertext by Jason A. Pierce
Edward Jenner
Introduction
-------------
The year 1996 marked the two hundredth anniversary of Edward Jenner's first
experimental vaccination--that is, inoculation with the related cow-pox virus to
build immunity against the deadly scourge of smallpox.
Edward Jenner (1749-1823), after training in London and a period as an army
surgeon, spent his whole career as a country doctor in his native county of
Gloucestershire in the West of England. His research was based on careful case-studies
and clinical observation more than a hundred years before scientists could
explain the viruses themselves. So successful did his innovation prove that by
1840 the British government had banned alternative preventive treatments against
smallpox. "Vaccination," the word Jenner invented for his treatment (from the
Latin vacca, a cow), was adopted by Pasteur for immunization against any disease.
In the eighteenth century, before Jenner, smallpox was a killer disease, as
widespread as cancer or heart disease in the twentieth century but with the
difference that the majority of its victims were infants and young children. In
1980, as a result of Jenner's discovery, the World Health Assembly officially
declared "the world and its peoples" free from endemic smallpox.
Note the background view of Berkeley, in Gloucestershire, where Jenner carried
out his original vaccinations, with milkmaid and cow on show. Mezzotint by John
Raphael Smith, from his pastel portrait exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1800,
reproduced from W. R. Le Fanu, A bio-bibliography of Edward Jenner 1749-1823,
London: Harvey and Blythe, 1951.
Edward Jenner, M.D., F.R.S.
An inquiry into the causes and effects of the Variolae Vaccinae, a disease
discovered in some of the western counties of England, particularly
Gloucestershire, and known by the name of the cow-pox
Third edition. London: printed for the author by D. N. Shury, 1801.
Jenner's Inquiry, first published in 1798, reported how, over a period of
years, he had noticed the immunity provided by cow-pox, and how he decided
deliberately to introduce the disease into a patient to see if the effect could
be artificially produced. Soon afterwards, he would again inoculate his patients,
this time with live smallpox virus ("variolation"), to see if the cow-pox had
worked. The "healthy boy" whom Jenner, on May 14 1796, first vaccinated with
virus from the dairymaid Sarah Nelmes was James Phipps, who proved Jenner's
point by surviving repeated unsuccessful attempts to infect him with smallpox.
Case XI: William Stinchcomb
Part of Jenner's argument in the Inquiry was built up from cases like this one,
recording Jenner's failure to inoculate or infect with small-pox itself ("variolate")
a farmworker who some years before has caught a bad case of the cow-pox.
William Woodville, M.D., 1752-1805
Reports of a series of inoculations for the variolae vaccinae, or cow-pox;
with remarks and observations on this disease, considered as a substitute for
the small-pox
London: James Philips, 1799.
Soon after the publication of Jenner's case-studies, William Woodville carried
out much more extensive trials of vaccination among patients in London.
Woodville was Director of London Smallpox and Inoculation Hospital, and he kept
detailed records on several thousand patients. Woodville, like Jenner himself,
had close ties to Sir Joseph Banks, the influential long-time president of the
Royal Society, and his support for vaccination was of great importance to its
acceptance. As the cases shown here indicate, however, many of Woodville's
inoculees developed the characteristic pustules across the body of genuine
smallpox, and the "vaccine" used for his trials may in fact have been
contaminated.
Samuel L. Mitchill, 1764-1831, ed.
The Medical Repository of original essays and intelligence relative to physic,
surgery, chemistry and natural history.
New series, volume 1. New York: John Forbes, 1813.
An early American report on the inroads that vaccination rapidly made on
disease rates in London, even with poorly-controlled vaccine sources.
Christian Charles Schieferdecker, M.D.
Dr. C. G. G. Nittinger's Evils of Vaccination.
Philadelphia: the editor, 1856.
Because of the lack of clear scientific explanation of its effects, the
frequent side-effects, and contaminated vaccines, vaccination itself remained
controversial throughout the nineteenth century. It certainly carried risks for
the infants being vaccinated, and this volume, playing on parental fears, argued,
inter alia, that vaccination was nonsensical, unscientific, criminal, and even
sinful. Shown here is a satiric vignette of a protective mother's discussion
with the family doctor.
=============================================================
2.) Vaccines in historic evolution and perspective: a narrative of vaccine
discoveries.
=============================================================
J Hum Virol 2000 Mar-Apr;3(2):63-76
Hilleman MR.
Merck Institute for Therapeutic Research, Merck Research Laboratories, West
Point, PA 19486, USA.
The sciences of vaccinology and immunology were created only two centuries ago
by Jenner's scientific studies of prevention of smallpox through inoculation
with cowpox virus. This rudimentary beginning was expanded greatly by the giants
of late 19th- and early 20th-century biomedical sciences. The period from 1930
to 1950 was a transitional era, with the introduction of chick embryos and
minced tissues for propagating viruses and rickettsiae in vitro for vaccines.
Modern vaccinology began about 1950 as a continuum following notable advances
made during the 1940s and World War II. Its pursuit has been based largely on
breakthroughs in cell culture, bacterial polysaccharide chemistry, molecular
biology, and immunology which have yielded many live and killed viral and
bacterial vaccines plus the recombinant-expressed hepatitis B vaccine. The
present paper was presented as a lecture given at a Meeting of the Institute of
Human Virology entitled A Symposium on HIV-AIDS and Cancer Biology, Baltimore,
Maryland, on August 30, 1999 and recounts, by invitation, more than 55 years of
vaccine research from the venue of personal experience and attainment by the
author. The paper is intentionally brief and truncated with focus only on
highlights and limited referencing. Detailed recounting and referencing are
given elsewhere in text references 1 and 2. This narration will have achieved
its purpose if it provides a background of understanding and guidelines that
will assist others who seek to engage in creation of new vaccines.
=============================================================
2.) Montagu's variolation.
=============================================================
Endeavour 2000;24(1):4-7
Grundy I.
Arts Faculty, University of Alberta, Canada.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu is sometimes mentioned by both medical and literary
historians as the introducer to England of smallpox inoculation. Usually, the
story is garbled by confusion with Edward Jenner's later invention, vaccination.
Some historians have rejected her claim, arguing that the credit belongs to the
medical establishment of the day. So just how much importance has this gifted
amateur in the story of medical science?
=============================================================
3.) [Pharmaceutical development concerning diseases predominating in tropical
regions: the concept of indigent drugs].
=============================================================
Ann Pharm Fr 2000 Jan;58(1):43-6
[Article in French]
Trouiller P, Rey JL, Bouscharain P.
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Grenoble, BP 217, F38043 Grenoble Cedex 9.
When the WHO certified the eradication of smallpox in 1981, there was a
general impression that the fight against infectious diseases which began with
Jenner and Pasteur was entering a phase of achievement: poliomyelitis,
dracunculasis, leprosy, Chagas' disease and neonatal tetanus were also
responding to eradication campaigns. However, in 1995, infectious diseases are
still an important cause of mortality and morbidity and the rising incidence of
emerging or re-emerging diseases remains a matter of great concern. Although
this situation can be explained, at least partly, by the deterioration of health
care systems and diverse socio-economic and ecological disorders, important
changes occurring in the drug industry since 1980 have also played a role due to
changes in pharmaco-epidemiology and new policies of drug development. Among the
1061 new drugs developed from 1975 to 1994, less than 2.7% concern tropical
diseases. Since praziquantel, novel drugs have issued from veterinary medicine (ivermectin),
military research (halofantrine, mefloquine) or fortuitous analysis of
pharmacopoeia (artesunate). The cost of investments and the lack of market
potential and market security in developing countries have dampened interest in
developing drugs for tropical diseases. Observing the combined effect of
deficient pharmaceutical development, drug wear due to chemoresistance (chloroquine,
sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, aminopenicillins), the cost barrier (second
generation molecules) and the potential abandon of major drugs (eflornithine,
melarsoprol) has led us to establish a classification of these "indigent" drugs
(in opposition to "orphan" drugs) into five classes: true indigent drugs (eflornithine),
indigent drugs by indication (pentamidine), indigent drugs by function (ceftriaxone),
indigent drugs by formulation (melarsoprol) and indigent drugs by default (suramin).
This analysis can serve as a basis for a search for solutions (regulatory,
administrative and financial incentives) favoring a reactivation of drug
development for diseases predominating in intertropical regions.
=============================================================
4.) Smalllpox and its control in Canada.
=============================================================
CMAJ 1999 Dec 14;161(12):1543-7
McIntyre JW, Houston CS.
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta.
Edward Jenner's first treatise in 1798 described how he used cowpox material
to provide immunity to the related smallpox virus. He sent this treatise and
some cowpox material to his classmate John Clinch in Trinity, Nfld., who gave
the first smallpox vaccinations in North America. Dissemination of the new
technique, despite violent criticism, was rapid throughout Europe and the United
States. Within a few years of its discovery, vaccination was instrumental in
controlling smallpox epidemics among aboriginal people at remote trading posts
of the Hudson's Bay Company. Arm-to-arm transfer at 8-day intervals was common
through most of the 19th century. Vaccination and quarantine eliminated endemic
smallpox throughout Canada by 1946. The last case, in Toronto in 1962, came from
Brazil.
=============================================================
5.) Vaccines in historic evolution and perspective: a narrative of vaccine
discoveries.
=============================================================
Vaccine 2000 Feb 14;18(15):1436-47
Hilleman MR.
Merck Institute for Therapeutic Research, Merck Research Laboratories, West
Point, PA 19486, USA.
The sciences of vaccinology and of immunology were created just two centuries
ago by Jenner's scientific studies of prevention of smallpox through inoculation
with cowpox virus. This rudimentary beginning was expanded greatly by the giants
of late 19th and early twentieth centuries biomedical sciences. The period from
1930 to 1950 was a transitional era with the introduction of chick embryos and
minced tissues for propagating viruses and Rickettsiae in vitro for vaccines.
Modern era vaccinology began about 1950 as a continuum following notable
advances made during the 1940s and World War II. Its pursuit has been based
largely on breakthroughs in cell culture, bacterial polysaccharide chemistry,
molecular biology and immunology, which have yielded many live and killed viral
and bacterial vaccines plus the recombinant-expressed hepatitis B vaccine.The
present paper was presented as a lecture given(1) on August 30, 1999 and
recounts, by invitation, more than five-and-half decades of vaccine research
from the venue of personal experience and attainment by the author. The paper is
intentionally brief and truncated with focus only on highlights and limited
referencing. Detailed recounting and referencing are given elsewhere in text
references [Hilleman MR. Six decades of vaccine development - a personal history.
Nat. Med. 1998;4 (Vaccine Suppl.): 507-14] and [Hilleman MR. Personal historical
chronicle of six decades of basic and applied research in virology, immunology
and vaccinology. Immunol. Rev. (in press)]. This narration will have achieved
its purpose if it provides a background of understanding and guidelines that
will assist others who seek to engage in creation of new vaccines.
=============================================================
6.) Production of recombinant subunit vaccines: protein immunogens, live
delivery systems and nucleic acid vaccines.
=============================================================
J Biotechnol 1999 Jul 30;73(1):1-33
Liljeqvist S, Stahl S.
Department of Biotechnology, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm,
Sweden.
The first scientific attempts to control an infectious disease can be
attributed to Edward Jenner, who, in 1796 inoculated an 8-year-old boy with
cowpox (vaccinia), giving the boy protection against subsequent challenge with
virulent smallpox. Thanks to the successful development of vaccines, many major
diseases, such as diphtheria, poliomyelitis and measles, are nowadays kept under
control, and in the case of smallpox, the dream of eradication has been
fulfilled. Yet, there is a growing need for improvements of existing vaccines in
terms of increased efficacy and improved safety, besides the development of
completely new vaccines. Better technological possibilities, combined with
increased knowledge in related fields, such as immunology and molecular biology,
allow for new vaccination strategies. Besides the classical whole-cell vaccines,
consisting of killed or attenuated pathogens, new vaccines based on the subunit
principle, have been developed, e.g. the Hepatitis B surface protein vaccine and
the Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine. Recombinant techniques are now
dominating in the strive for an ideal vaccine, being safe and cheap, heat-stable
and easy to administer, preferably single-dose, and capable of inducing broad
immune response with life-long memory both in adults and in infants. This review
will describe different recombinant approaches used in the development of novel
subunit vaccines, including design and production of protein immunogens, the
development of live delivery systems and the state-of-the-art for nucleic acids
vaccines.
=============================================================
7.) [Two hundred years ago: the first smallpox vaccinations in Vienna].
=============================================================
Wien Klin Wochenschr 1999 Apr 23;111(8):299-306
[Article in German]
Katscher F.
The first successful smallpox vaccination with cowpox lymph outside of England
was carried out in Vienna--only ten months after the publication of Edward
Jenner's book "An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae,
a Disease ... known by the Name of the Cow Pox", and only a little more than
three months after the first vaccinations in London: Two hundred years ago, on
30 April 1799, the medical service chief of Lower Austria, Dr. Paskal Joseph
Ferro, born in Bonn, vaccinated his three children with vaccine which had come
in a letter from London. Subsequently the vaccination was introduced in Austria.
Before 1800 effective prophylactic immunizations against smallpox were carried
out, apart from England, only in Vienna and environs. The first efficient
vaccine to reach India also came from Vienna.
=============================================================
8.) Edward Jenner's Inquiry; a bicentenary analysis.
=============================================================
Vaccine 1999 Jan 28;17(4):301-7
Department of Medical Microbiology and Genitourinary Medicine, University of
Liverpool, UK.
Edward Jenner's famous Inquiry was published 200 years ago. Probably few now
know on what evidence he based his claims but most will be aware that they
initiated controversy which to some extent still continues. This paper briefly
reviews the Inquiry, analysing its merits and faults. Jenner's claims were based
on slender experimental evidence and some of the information presented was
incomplete and misleading. However Jenner's role in the introduction of
vaccination was seminal and others could only test and extend his ideas. His
reputation as the initial promoter of vaccination is justified.
=============================================================
9.) The myth of the medical breakthrough: smallpox, vaccination, and Jenner
reconsidered.
=============================================================
Int J Infect Dis 1998 Jul-Sep;3(1):54-60 Related Articles, Books, LinkOut
Gross CP, Sepkowitz KA.
Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New
York, USA.
A discussion of the particulars leading to the eradication of smallpox is
pertinent to both investigators and the public as the clamor for more "breakthroughs"
intensifies. The rational allocation of biomedical research funds is
increasingly threatened by disease-advocacy groups and congressional earmarking.
An overly simplistic view of how advances truly occur promises only to stunt the
growth of researchers and research areas not capable of immediate great
breakthroughs. The authors review the contributions of Jenner and his countless
predecessors to give a more accurate account of how "overnight medical
breakthroughs" truly occur-through years of work conducted by many people, often
across several continents. In the public eye, few achievements are regarded with
such excitement and awe as the medical breakthrough. Developments such as the
discovery of penicillin and the eradication of polio and smallpox have each
become a great story built around a singular hero. Edward Jenner, for example,
is credited with discovering a means of safely conferring immunity to smallpox.
The success of vaccination and subsequent eradication of this disease elevated
Jenner to a status in medical history that is rivaled by few. However, the story
of the eradication of smallpox does not start or end with the work of Jenner.
Men such as Benjamin Jesty and Reverend Cotton Mather as well as unnamed
physicians from tenth century China to eighteenth century Turkey also made
critical contributions to the crowning achievement. Inoculation to prevent
smallpox was commonplace in Europe for generations prior to Jenner's work.
Jenner himself was inoculated as a child. In fact, vaccination with cowpox
matter was documented in England over 20 years prior to Jenner's work. The
authors' review of primary and secondary sources indicates that although
Jenner's contribution was significant, it was only one of many. It is extremely
rare that a single individual or experiment generates a quantum leap in
understanding; this "lone genius" paradigm is potentially injurious to the
research process. Wildly unrealistic expectations can only yield unsuccessful
scientific investigation, but small steps by investigators supported by an
informed public can build toward a giant leap, as the story of smallpox
eradication clearly demonstrates.
=============================================================
10.) Smallpox: gone but not forgotten.
=============================================================
Infection 1998 Sep-Oct;26(5):263-9 Related Articles, Books
Ellner PD.
Dept. of Microbiology, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons,
New York, NY, USA.
Smallpox represents both the acme of man's efforts to combat infectious
diseases and one of his greatest fears. The disease emerged in prehistoric times
to spread throughout the world causing blindness and death in millions of people.
An acute infection caused by variola virus, one of the Orthopoxviruses, with
skin eruption and marked toxemia had an average case fatality rate of 30%.
Variola minor, a milder form of the disease, had a case fatality of one percent.
Humans are the sole host, and survival confers lifelong immunity. Immunization
was practiced since ancient times by inoculation with the variola virus until
Jenner's demonstration of the efficacy and safety of vaccination with vaccinia
virus. Following an intensive eradication effort by the World Health
Organization, the world was declared to be free of smallpox in 1979. The
decision to destroy all remaining stocks of variola virus in 1999 has met with
some controversy.
=============================================================
11.) Edward Jenner and the eradication of smallpox.
=============================================================
Scott Med J 1997 Aug;42(4):118-21 Related Articles, Books
Willis NJ.
Ninewells Hospital and Medical School University of Dundee.
Edward Jenner's careful investigations into the usefulness of cowpox
vaccination for the prevention of smallpox during the late 1790s, and his
enthusiastic and continued advocation of vaccination despite the scepticism of
critics, laid the foundations for the growth of understanding about the nature
of infectious disease and the development of immunity during the 19th century.
He began the long process which resulted in the successful eradication of the
smallpox virus in 1980. His life story remains an inspiration to physicians
facing an uncertain future as viruses and bacteria not yet eradicated adapt to
the antibiotic age.
=============================================================
12.) Cowpox: a re-evaluation of the risks of human cowpox based on new
epidemiological information.
=============================================================
Arch Virol Suppl 1997;13:1-12
Baxby D, Bennett M.
Alder Hey Childrens' Hospital, Liverpool, U.K.
Human cowpox is a rare but relatively severe infection of interest because of
its links with Edward Jenner and the introduction of smallpox vaccine and, more
recently, because of re-evaluation of the epidemiology of the infection. This
indicates that cowpox is not enzootic in cattle, relegates the cow to a minor
role, and emphasizes the importance of feline cowpox as a source of human
infection and of wildlife as virus reservoirs. The evidence available suggests
that the virus is of low infectivity for humans and should not become an
increasing problem despite the cessation of smallpox vaccination and increasing
numbers of immunocompromised individuals.
=============================================================
13.) Smallpox: the triumph over the most terrible of the ministers of death.
=============================================================
Ann Intern Med 1997 Oct 15;127(8 Pt 1):635-42
Erratum in:
Ann Intern Med 1998 May 1;128(9):787
Comment in:
Ann Intern Med. 1998 May 1;128(9):784-5
Ann Intern Med. 1998 May 1;128(9):784; discussion 785
Barquet N, Domingo P.
Centre d'Assistencia Primaria Gracia, Institut Catala de la Salut, Barcelona,
Spain.
More than 200 years ago, Edward Jenner performed an experiment that laid the
foundation for the eradication of smallpox and transformed humankind's fight
against disease. Smallpox afflicted humankind as no other disease had don; its
persistence and diffusion were without parallel. The disease brought down at
least three empires. Generations watched helplessly as their children succumbed
to the disease or were disfigured or blinded by it. Attempts were made to
contain smallpox by isolating its sufferers and, later, by using variolation
with varying degrees of success. However, the definitive solution was not found
until Jenner's work was done at the end of the 18th century. Milkmaids who had
developed cowpox from contact with cow udders informed Jenner that they were
protected from the human form of the disease; he listened to their folk wisdom
and raised it to the status of scientific fact. Jenner did not discover
vaccination, but he was the first to demonstrate that this technique offered a
reliable defense against smallpox. It was also a reliable defense against other
illnesses, such as poliomyelitis, measles, and neonatal tetanus, although this
was not known in Jenner's lifetime.
=============================================================
14.) [Smallpox: an historical review].
=============================================================
Bull Soc Sci Med Grand Duche Luxemb 1997;134(1):31-51
[Article in German]
Theves G.
Administration des Services Veterinaires, Luxembourg.
The first protection against smallpox, a disease known already in old China
and India, consisted in rubbing infectious material from smallpox patients into
the scratched skin of children. Lady Montagu brought this method from Turkey to
England in 1721. This "variolation", however dangerous, was adopted in Europe
during the eighteenth century mainly by the aristocracy. But it was Edward
Jenner (1749-1823) who in 1796 used cowpox to protect against smallpox without
the risk of acquiring the disease. During more than 60 years the "vaccination"
was carried out from "arm to arm" with a certain risk of transmission of
syphilis. From 1864 on the vaccine was mainly produced on cows to avoid this
risk. The WHO managed in 1978 to eliminate smallpox from the planet by
vaccination. The smallpox outbreaks, the inoculation, the vaccination and the
production of cowpox vaccine in Luxembourg are described.
=============================================================
15.) Academic surgeons, take heart: the story of a student, his mentor, and
the discovery of the etiology of angina pectoris.
=============================================================
Am Surg 1996 Dec;62(12):1076-9
Manders EC, Manders EK.
Division of Plastic Surgery, The Pennsylvania State University and The Milton
S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey 17033, USA.
Edward Jenner is renowned for developing a vaccination for smallpox. He
trained as a surgeon and was an ardent anatomist and naturalist. Part of his
formal training was directed by John Hunter, the father of scientific surgery.
Jenner diagnosed Hunter as suffering from angina pectoris and correctly
identified the cause of angina pectoris from a series of autopsies he conducted.
After Hunter died during an altercation in committee, his postmortem examination
proved Jenner correct. Jenner can be recognized as the first to correctly
ascribe the etiology of angina pectoris to coronary atherosclerosis.
=============================================================
16.) The Jenner bicentenary: the introduction and early distribution of
smallpox vaccine.
=============================================================
FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol 1996 Nov;16(1):1-10 Related Articles, Books
Baxby D.
Department of Medical Microbiology, Liverpool University, UK.
This review describes the background to Jenner's first vaccination, his later
work, and the dissemination of information about vaccination and the vaccine
itself. Although based on relatively slender evidence, Jenner's theories were
basically sound and he merits the credit given him. Given the circumstances,
particularly the slow speed of travel and the lack of information about the
duration of immunity, vaccination became established very quickly in many
countries.
=============================================================
17.) The smallpox saga and the origin(s) of vaccination.
=============================================================
J R Soc Health 1996 Aug;116(4):253-5 Related Articles, Books
Cook GC.
Hospital for Tropical Diseases, London.
Two hundred years ago--in May 1796--Edward Jenner carried out a pioneering
feat in the history of "clinical investigation' which not only paved the way for
the eventual elimination of one of the world's most terrifying infections (variola),
but also heralded widespread vaccination campaigns and the foundation of the
discipline of clinical immunology. Vaccination superseded the formerly used
technique of variolation which had been introduced into England by Lady Mary
Wortley Montague. Under-recognised is the fact that the first clinical trial(s)
of this new development were carried out under the supervision of William
Woodville at the St Pancras Smallpox Hospital (situated at Battle Bridge--now
King's Cross); this work was crucially important in the 'vaccination saga' and
deserves far greater acceptance than is currently the case.
=============================================================
18.) Measuring success in clinical gene therapy research.
=============================================================
Mol Med Today 1996 Jun;2(6):234-6
Culver KW.
Oncor Pharm, Inc., Gaithersburg, MD 20877, USA. [email protected]
Medical science is a compelling career choice, filled with the thrill of
discovery, joy of learning and a meaningful purpose to lessen human suffering.
These benefits and rewards of laboratory and clinical research accumulate in an
asynchronous, irregular, and incremental mechanism, euphemistically known as the
scientific method. Ultimate success in clinical research is the elusive 'cure'.
But in progress towards that goal, success is also measured first as the 'absence
of doing harm', and then by various stages of efficacy. Perhaps only in the case
of smallpox has medicine achieved total 'victory'; it is now exactly 200 years
since Jenner's first clinical trial.
=============================================================
19.) [Jenner's cowpox vaccine in light of current vaccinology].
=============================================================
Verh K Acad Geneeskd Belg 1996;58(5):479-536; discussion 537-8
[Article in Dutch]
Huygelen C.
Two hundred years ago Edward Jenner inoculated James Phipps with vaccinia and
181 years later smallpox had disappeared from the surface of the earth as a
result of generalized vaccination. Compared to the requirements of modern
vaccinology, the procedures used by Jenner and his successors, were extremely
primitive because of an almost total lack of knowledge in the field of
microbiology and immunology. The active principle of smallpox vaccine is
vaccinia virus, which in many respects, differs from that of natural cowpox; the
term "cowpox" has been used for more than a century and a half to designate the
vaccine; it appears itself to be a misnomer, because it is most probably by a
virus of rodents, which only occasionally infects bovines or other species,
especially cats. The origin of vaccinia remains doubtful, but a plausible
explanation is that it is derived from horse-pox. Jenner was convinced that he
was working with a virus of equine origin, which was occasionally transmitted
from the horse to the cow by the personnel on the farms. Horse pox has now
completely disappeared. Especially during the first years after Jenner's
discovery, great confusion was caused by other lesions on the cow's udder, which
were called "spurious cowpox". We know today that these lesions could be caused
by the viruses of papular stomatitis, pseudo-cowpox or para-vaccinia (milker's
nodules), herpes mammilitis and papillomatosis; they could not be differentiated
from those of cowpox or vaccinia, in addition lesions due to bacteria or other
causes also led to confusion. During the first eighty years the vaccine was
being transferred almost exclusively from arm to arm with the risks inherent in
this procedure; one of the reasons for applying this method was the fear of "bestialization"
thought to be linked with the use of material of animal origin. Several
contaminations have been observed as a result of the use of the arm-to-arm
procedure: smallpox was transmitted, especially in the beginning, because
vaccinations were carried out in a contaminated environment. Syphilis was
diagnosed in several countries after the use of vaccine taken from syphilis
patients. At least two foci of hepatitis were reported after the use of
contaminated human lymph. Transmission of tuberculosis or what was then
designated as scrofulosis was unlikely, but was used as one of the main
arguments against vaccination by the antivaccinists. Varicella and measles were
transmitted from time to time with the vaccine and also bacterial infections,
such as staphylococci, streptococci e.a. From the global point of view, however,
the number of contaminations remained limited in comparison with the large
numbers of vaccinations that were performed. Another problem the early
vaccinators were facing, was that of the decline and disappearance of the
immunity after a certain number of years. Jenner and his successors believed
that the immunity post vaccination would be lifelong as it was after variolation.
When in the early part of the 19th century more and more immunity breakdowns
occurred, this observation led to total confusion and it took dozens of years of
debate and controversy before the only logical and efficacious measure, i.e.
revaccination, was generally accepted and implemented. In the last third of the
19th century "human lymph", obtained by arm-to-arm vaccination, was gradually
replaced everywhere by animal lymph i.e. vaccine produced on the skin of animals,
mainly calves. The determining factor in the switch was the risk of vaccination
syphilis. Everywhere vaccine institutes were created, where the vaccinia virus
was propagated on the skin of calves. The harvested virus served each time for
the inoculation of fresh calves; this resulted in a gradual increase of the
number of passages leading to the possible risk of overattenuation. To avoid
this risk, passages in man, donkeys, rabbits or other species were performed
from time to time.
=============================================================
20.) Controlling orthopoxvirus infections--200 years after Jenner's
revolutionary immunization.
=============================================================
Arch Immunol Ther Exp (Warsz) 1996;44(5-6):373-8
Niemialtowski MG, Toka FN, Malicka E, Gierynska, Spohr de Faundez I,
Schollenberger A.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,
Warsaw Agricultural University, Poland.
An 11-year global WHO campaign for eradication of smallpox finished in October
1977 as the result of Edward Jenner's primary success in 1796, who for the first
time applied human vaccination against variola virus (VARV). The 200th
anniversary of this happening is a good occasion to summarize the current status
of the knowledge about the role of B and T lymphocytes in the control of
orthopoxvirus infections. This short review concentrates on general
characteristics of orthopoxviruses and the immune response to infection, mainly
by vaccinia virus (VV) and ectromelia virus (EV).
=============================================================
21.) Traditional methods used for controlling animal diseases in Iran.
=============================================================
Rev Sci Tech 1994 Jun;13(2):599-614 Related Articles, Books
Tadjbakhsh H.
Tehran University, Iran.
In ancient times in Iran, infectious diseases of animals and human beings were
referred to as choleraic diseases. Rhazes (9th century), followed by Avicenna
(10th century), Jorjani (11th century) and others, had specific opinions on the
cause and effect relationship in these diseases, which recall the fermentation
theory of Louis Pasteur. In ancient Iran, the methods adopted for veterinary
procedures were those of general theoretical and practical medicine, including
the humoral theory, accurate diagnosis, signs and symptoms, and the prescription
of herbal and mineral medicines or substances of animal origin. If herbal
treatment failed, cauterisation and surgery were used. When refractory and
contagious infectious diseases occurred, animals were evacuated from the
infected region, in order to preserve their health, with resort to the mercy of
Allah (God) as a final remedy. Iranian scientists of ancient times had
interesting views on rabies. A kind of serotherapy was used for treating persons
bitten by rabid dogs. Vaccination was performed many centuries ago by using
dried smallpox lesions. In Baluchistan (Iran), infants were encouraged to play
with and touch the teats of cows affected with cowpox, in order to immunise the
children against smallpox, and this was centuries before the discovery of
smallpox vaccine by Edward Jenner. Camelpox was also used for human immunisation.
In the case of caprine pleuropneumonia, an extract or juice was obtained from
the lungs of affected animals and was inactivated by treatment with certain
herbal medicines which had a disinfectant effect. A thread coated with this
extract was passed through the ear of healthy goats to render them immune. The
author lists various diseases and their treatment. This work forms part of
detailed research by the author with reference to some 2,200 books and many
ancient manuscripts on the history of veterinary science in Iran.
=============================================================
22.) Smallpox: emergence, global spread, and eradication.
=============================================================
Pubbl Stn Zool Napoli II 1993;15(3):397-420
Fenner F.
John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University,
Canberra.
Speculatively, it is suggested that variola virus, the cause of smallpox,
evolved from an orthopoxvirus of animals of the central African rain forests (possibly
now represented by Tatera poxvirus), some thousands of years ago, and first
became established as a virus specific for human beings in the dense populations
of the Nile valley perhaps five thousand years ago. By the end of the first
millennium of the Christian era, it had spread to all the densely populated
parts of the Eurasian continent and along the Mediterranean fringe of north
Africa. It became established in Europe during the times of the Crusades. The
great voyages of European colonization carried smallpox to the Americas and to
Africa south of the Sahara. Transported across the Atlantic by Europeans and
their African slaves, it played a major role in the conquest of Mexico and Peru
and the European settlement of north America. Variolation, an effective
preventive inoculation, was devised as early as the tenth century. In 1798 this
practice was supplanted by Jenner's cowpox vaccine. In 1967, when the disease
was still endemic in 31 countries and caused ten to fifteen million cases and
about two million deaths annually, the World Health Organization embarked on a
programme that was to see the disease eradicated globally just over ten years
later, and the world was formally declared to be free of smallpox in May 1980.
Smallpox is unique--a specifically human disease that emerged from some animal
reservoir, spread to become a worldwide, severe and almost universal affliction,
and finally underwent the reverse process to emergence, namely global
eradication.
=============================================================
23.)Gordon memorial lecture. Vaccines and vaccination--past, present and
future.
=============================================================
Br Poult Sci 1990 Mar;31(1):3-22
Biggs PM.
Willows, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England.
1. Immunisation was first practised as early as the 10th century when small
doses of smallpox material administered by unusual routes were used to immunise
against smallpox. The procedure was introduced into England in the early part of
the 18th century. 2. The next major development was the use by Jenner of cowpox
to vaccinate against smallpox in the late 18th century. 3. Some eighty years
later came the classic studies of Pasteur developing vaccines for fowl cholera,
anthrax and rabies. 4. The studies of Jenner and Pasteur established the major
principles of vaccination which are in use to this day. 5. The major viral
diseases of the domestic fowl were recognised during the 1920s and 1930s and in
most cases vaccines were developed within 5 years of the discovery of the viral
nature of the cause of each disease. 6. The desirable properties of poultry
vaccines required by the user and producer are not completely fulfilled by
currently available vaccines. 7. There is a need to use the opportunities
provided by modern biotechnology and immunology to search for and develop
vaccines that better fulfil the desirable properties of poultry vaccines. 8.
There are a number of strategies available for the development of novel vaccines,
some of which are appropriate for the needs of poultry vaccines.
=============================================================
24.) New approaches in viral vaccine development.
=============================================================
Scand J Infect Dis Suppl 1990;76:39-46
Brown F.
Department of Virology, Wellcome Biotechnology Ltd, Beckenham, Kent, U.K.
With the exception of the vaccine against hepatitis B the principles involved
in the production of the viral vaccines in use today have not changed since
Jenner (1) first developed the vaccine which was so important in the control and
eventual eradication of smallpox in 1977. All have relied on the presentation of
the live attenuated or inactivated virus to the host, either orally or by
injection, so that it elicited the formation of antibody and primed memory cells
for a rapid response to the subsequent invasion of the virus. With the discovery
that protective immunity could be obtained with isolated individual proteins
from virus particles and the development of methods for the expression of these
proteins, both in vivo and in vitro, there is now considerable promise that
immunity can be induced without the need to use the disease agent itself.
Moreover, the molecular basis of the immune response is now beginning to be
understood, thus allowing a more rational approach to the design of vaccines for
individual diseases.
=============================================================
25.) The global eradication of smallpox.
=============================================================
Am J Infect Control 1982 May;10(2):53-9
Strassburg MA.
On May 8, 1980, the 33rd World Health Assembly declared the world free of
smallpox. This followed approximately 2 1/2 years after the last documented
naturally occurring case of smallpox was diagnosed in a hospital worker in
Merca, Somalia. A major breakthrough for the eventual control of this disease
was the discovery of an effective vaccine by Edward Jenner in 1796. In 1966 the
World Health Assembly voted a special budget to eliminate smallpox from the
world. At that time, smallpox was endemic in more than 30 countries. Mass
vaccination programs were successful in many Western countries; however, a
different approach was taken in developing countries. This approach was known as
surveillance and containment. Surveillance was aided by extensive house-to-house
searches and rewards offered for persons reporting smallpox cases. Containment
measures included ring vaccination and isolation of cases and contacts.
Hospitals played a major role in transmission in a number of smallpox outbreaks.
The World Health Organization is currently supporting several control programs
and has not singled out another disease for eradication. The lessons learned
from the smallpox campaign can be readily applied to other public health
programs.
=============================================================
26.) [The world is free of pox - Implementation and success of a grandiose
program].
=============================================================
Z Gesamte Inn Med 1980 Dec 15;35(24):858-63 Related Articles, Books
[Article in German]
Dittmann S.
At the beginning of this century the compulsory vaccination and revaccination
which was legally founded after the introduction of the vaccination by Jenner
(1796) led to the removal of the smallpox in Europe and Northern America.
However, up to the sixties in the developing countries of Asia, Africa as well
as of Southern America and Middle America still fell ill and died of small-pox
millions of people. Between 1953 and 1973 importations into countries of Europe
and Northern America took place in 51 cases. In 1959 on the motion of the USSR
the WHO decided performance of a world-wide eradication programme of small-pox
which could be led to success with comprehensive personal, material and
financial support of many countries. Flanking scientific, technological and
methodical measures were of essential importance. In May 1980 the World Health
Assembly in Geneva announced in solemn form the world-wide eradication of the
small-pox and gave recommendations to the member countries for concluding
measures concerning the small-pox vaccination, the foundation of vaccine
reserves and the control of the epidemiological situation in the world. Also in
the GDR the small-pox vaccination in childhood could be abolished.
=============================================================
27.) Farewell to smallpox vaccination.
=============================================================
Dev Biol Stand 1979;43:283-96 Related Articles, Books, LinkOut
Arita I.
Man's first attempt to immunize susceptibles against smallpox infection was by
variolation, a practice which could be traced back several thousand years. The
attempt obviously failed to control the disease until Jenner discovered the
effectiveness of cowpox vaccine during the late 18th century. However, it took
an additional 180 years until the current smallpox vaccine--a modification of
Jenner's vaccine--became fully effective, in terms of quality and usage during
the global smallpox eradication campaign. The campaign appears to be on the
threshold of success, which could well mean extinction of one of the most
dangerous pathogens from the natural environment. If this is verified, we may
say farewell to routine smallpox vaccination. The paper discusses different
measures taken to ensure the quality and the use of smallpox vaccine in the best
possible manner during the eradication campaign and, on its completion, the fate
of smallpox vaccination.
=============================================================
28.) [Smallpox vaccine, then and now. From the "cow lymphe" to the cell-culture
vaccine].
=============================================================
Fortschr Med 1977 Jan 13;95(2):79-84 Related Articles, Books
[Article in German]
Hochstein-Mintzel V.
There have been few changes in the preparation of smallpox vaccine since
Eduard Jenner described his method of preventive inoculation in 1798. Jenner's
vaccine, "the matter", was maintained in man by arm to arm passage. The only
major achievement in production methods was the introduction of an animal host
for virus propagation. The skin of living calves or sheep was inoculated with
seed virus and the "pulp" harvested three to four days later. The disadvantages
of this procedure are evident: massive bacterial contamination in spite of
rigorous cleanliness and excessive amounts of undesired tissue debris in the
crude material to be used for vaccine production. In spite of these obvious
disadvantages the method is still in use all over the world. Advances in tissue
culture techniques have led to the production of all modern vaccines for use in
animals and in the human from this substrate with low initial content of foreign
protein and of primary sterility. The only exception today is conventional
smallpox vaccine. Sporadic attempts to produce smallpox vaccine in tissue
culture have been recently and successfully made in England, Holland and
Yugoslavia. The Bavarian State Institute of Vaccination has adopted Vaccinia
strain Elstree to primary cultures of chick embryo fibroblasts. The virus
propagation in roller bottles permits the economical production of a high
titered vaccine with a stability equal to that of calf origin. The cell culture
harvest is bacteriologically steril and has a minimal content of foreign protein.
Within the past two years this cell culture vaccine has totally replaced the old
"calf lymph". Vaccination takes are equal, complications have so far not come to
our attention.
=============================================================
29.) Vaccinia virus inhibitors as a paradigm for the chemotherapy of poxvirus
infections.
=============================================================
Clin Microbiol Rev 2001 Apr;14(2):382-97
De Clercq E.
Division of Virology and Chemotherapy, Department of Microbiology and
Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, K.U. Leuven, B-3000 Leuven,
Belgium.
Poxviruses continue to pose a major threat to human health. Monkeypox is
endemic in central Africa, and the discontinuation of the vaccination (with
vaccinia virus) has rendered most humans vulnerable to variola virus, the
etiologic agent of smallpox, should this virus be used in biological warfare or
terrorism. However, a large variety of compounds have been described that are
potent inhibitors of vaccinia virus replication and could be expected to be
active against other poxviruses as well. These compounds could be grouped in
different classes: (i) IMP dehydrogenase inhibitors (e.g., EICAR); (ii) SAH
hydrolase inhibitors (e.g., 5'-noraristeromycin, 3-deazaneplanocin A, and
various neplanocin A derivatives); (iii) OMP decarboxylase inhibitors (e.g.,
pyrazofurin) and CTP synthetase inhibitors (e.g., cyclopentenyl cytosine); (iv)
thymidylate synthase inhibitors (e.g., 5-substituted 2'-deoxyuridines); (v)
nucleoside analogues that are targeted at viral DNA synthesis (e.g., Ara-A); (vi)
acyclic nucleoside phosphonates [e.g., (S)-HPMPA and (S)-HPMPC (cidofovir)]; and
(vii) polyanionic substances (e.g., polyacrylic acid). All these compounds could
be considered potential candidate drugs for the therapy and prophylaxis of
poxvirus infections at large. Some of these compounds, in particular polyacrylic
acid and cidofovir, were found to generate, on single-dose administration, a
long-lasting protective efficacy against vaccinia virus infection in vivo.
Cidofovir, which has been approved for the treatment of cytomegalovirus
retinitis in immunocompromised patients, was also found to protect mice, again
when given as a single dose, against a lethal aerosolized or intranasal cowpox
virus challenge. In a biological warfare scenario, it would be advantageous to
be able to use a single treatment for an individual exposed to an aerosolized
poxvirus. Cidofovir thus holds great promise for treating human smallpox,
monkeypox, and other poxvirus infections. Anecdotal experience points to the
efficacy of cidofovir in the treatment of the poxvirus infections molluscum
contagiosum and orf (ecthyma contagiosum) in immunosuppressed patients.
=============================================================
30.) Global health strategies versus local primary health care priorities--a
case study of national immunisation days in Southern Africa.
=============================================================
S Afr Med J 2001 Mar;91(3):249-54
Schreuder B, Kostermans C.
Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam.
Building on the successful eradication of smallpox, the World Health
Organisation, together with other agencies, is now moving quickly to the
eradication of poliomyelitis, originally aimed for the year 2000. Plans for the
subsequent global eradication of measles are in an advanced stage. Eradication
of both polio and measles incorporate as a fundamental strategy high routine
coverage, surveillance and special national immunisation days (NIDs), which are
supplementary to routine vaccination services. There has been a lively debate on
whether poor countries, with many health problems that could be controlled,
should divert their limited resources for a global goal of eradication that may
have low priority for their children. From a cost-effectiveness perspective,
NIDs are fully justifiable. However, field observations in sub-saharan Africa
show that NIDs divert resources and, to a certain extent, attention from the
development of comprehensive primary health care (PHC). The routine immunisation
coverage rates dropped on average since the introduction of NIDs in 1996, which
is contrary to what was observed in the western Pacific and other regions. The
additional investment to be made when moving from disease control to eradication
may exceed the financial capacity of an individual country. Since the
industrialised countries benefit most from eradication, they should take
responsibility for covering the needs of those countries that cannot afford the
investment. The WHO's frequent argument that NIDs are promotive to PHC is not
confirmed in the southern African region. The authors think that the WHO should,
therefore, focus its attention on diminishing the negative side-effects of NIDs
and on getting the positive side-effects incorporated in the integrated health
services in a sustainable way.
=============================================================
31.) Are Saudi Arabian hospitals prepared for the threat of biological weapons?
=============================================================
Saudi Med J 2001 Jan;22(1):6-9 Related Articles, Books
Mah MW, Memish ZA.
Department of Infection Prevention and Control, King Fahad National Guard
Hospital, PO Box 22490, Riyadh 11426, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Tel. +966 (1) 252
0088 Ext. 3720. Fax. +966 (1) 252 0437. Email: [email protected]
The use of biological weapons has been recorded repeatedly in history. Until
recently, biological terrorism had been little discussed or written about.
However, events over the past 12 to 18 months have made it clear that likely
perpetrators already envisage every possible scenario. Nations and dissident
groups exist that have both the motivation and access to utilize biological
weapons. In April 1994, a Russian biological weapons expert presented the
conclusions of the Russian experts as to the agents most likely to be used:
smallpox, anthrax, and plague. Health care workers in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia (physicians, nurses, and emergency medical technicians) need to be aware
of the seriousness of the threat of biological weapons, and to have an approach
for the early identification, triage, and management of biological weapons
victims. Clues to the occurrence of a bioterrorism attack include the abrupt
onset of a large number of cases of a similar disease or syndrome, the
occurrence of diseases with unusual geographic or seasonal distribution, and
epidemics of non-endemic diseases. Health care workers must maintain a high
index of suspicion, involve the hospital epidemiologist or infectious diseases
specialist, identify a clear administrative chain-of-command to minimize
confusion, and rely on existing networks such as the hospital disaster-and-safety
committee to ensure a multidisciplinary response. Maximum readiness can be
achieved by periodic readiness drills.
=============================================================
32.) [Smallpox in Telemark in the last part of the 19th century].
============================================================
Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen 2000 Dec 10;120(30):3694-8 \
[Article in Norwegian]
Storesund A.
Institutt for allmenn- og samfunnsmedisin, Universitetet i Oslo, Postboks 1130
Blindern, 0317 Oslo. [email protected]
Was vaccination the only cause of the decline of smallpox in Norway during the
19th century? This regional study focuses on the history of the disease in
Telemark county with special emphasis on the last, extensive epidemic in 1868.
In addition to vaccination, other possible causal relations are discussed. In
Telemark, smallpox seems to have been relatively mild in the 19th century with
the exception of the epidemics at the end of the 1830s and in 1868. In 1868 the
disease spread along the main transportation routes northward through the
western part and eastward through the more densely populated districts along the
coast. The importance of vaccination is apparent from the fact that the
municipalities with the lowest annual percentage of newborns vaccinated were
most heavily struck by the epidemic. Despite vaccination procedures, both adults
and unvaccinated children were groups at risk. Local initiatives--especially
isolation and revaccination--largely prevented or restricted outbreaks of
smallpox. It seems that the efforts of the district medical officers and local
health administrators after 1860 were of decisive importance for the decline in
smallpox cases in the period in question.
=============================================================
33.) Monkeypoxvirus infections.
=============================================================
Rev Sci Tech 2000 Apr;19(1):92-7 Related Articles, Books
Pattyn SR.
Institute of Tropical Medicine and University Hospital Antwerpen,
Nationalestraat 155, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium.
During and after the smallpox eradication campaign, human cases of monkeypox
appeared in West and Central Africa, as isolated cases or as small epidemics.
Since inter-human transmission has never or only very exceptionally been
documented, monkeypox does not represent a serious threat to humans. The virus
reservoir is among tree squirrels living in the tropical rain forests of Africa
and humans are infected by hunting, killing and skinning these animals. However,
the modernization of society lessens human contact with the virus reservoir.
Since the eradication of smallpox, stocks of variola virus have been maintained;
whether these stocks should now be destroyed is a political question, which is
seriously compromised by mistrust between countries.
=============================================================
34.) [Bioterrorism--a public and health threat].
=============================================================
Epidemiol Mikrobiol Imunol 2000 Nov;49(4):165-73
[Article in Czech]
Jezek Z.
[email protected]
In recent years the fear of bioterrorism, of secret modernization and
dissemination of biological weapons is increasing. Facts detected recently in
Iran, Japan and the former Soviet Union provide evidence that there are
countries and dissident groups which have access to modern technology of
cultivation of dangerous pathogens as well as motivation for their use in acts
of terrorism or war. The menace of biological terrorism is nowadays, as compared
with the past, much greater. The most feared candidates as regards production of
biological weapons are the pathogens of smallpox, anthrax and plague. The author
discusses the serious character of possible events associated with terrorist
dissemination of these pathogens. It is much esier to produce and use biological
weapons than to create effective systems of defence against them. The menace of
bioterrorism and bioweapons must not be exaggerated nor underestimated. The
possible terrorist use of bioweapons is real. At present even the most advanced
industrial countries cannot quarantee effective protection of their populations.
Fortunately they are however aware of their present vulnerability. Our society
is not equipped to cope with bioterrorism. Preparation and reinforcement of the
health services, in particular of sections specialized in the control of
infectious diseases is an effective step to divert the sequelae and suffering
associated with terrorist use of biological agents. It is essential to be
prepared. This calls for time and funds which unfortunately are not plentiful.
=============================================================
35.) Ensuring vaccine safety in immunization programmes--a WHO perspective.
=============================================================
Vaccine 2001 Feb 8;19(13-14):1594-605
Jodar L, Duclos P, Milstien JB, Griffiths E, Aguado MT, Clements CJ.
Vaccines & Biologicals, Health Technology and Pharmaceuticals, World Health
Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, 1211 27, Geneva, Switzerland. [email protected]
Ever since vaccines were firstly used against smallpox, adverse events
following immunization have been reported. As immunization programmes expand to
reach even the most remote communities in the poorest countries, it is likely
that many more events will be temporally linked with vaccine administration.
Furthermore, the profound shift in the general public and media interest in
adverse events may lead to undue concerns and allegations which may ultimately
jeopardize immunization programmes world-wide. While the health professional has
understood this issue for some time, the public and the media have now also
become all too aware of the significance of vaccine-related adverse events. The
familiar vaccines, well-tested over decades, have not changed--but the
perception regarding their safety has shifted. Claims outrageous or reasonable
are being made against both the old and the newly-introduced vaccines. At the
same time, the immunological and genetic revolution of the last decade may well
bring to our notice some hypothetical risks that need to be addressed at pre-clinical
level. WHO has been at the leading edge to guarantee vaccine safety for the last
30 years and will continue to do so. The Organization's plans for the next
decade and beyond include the Safe Injection Global Network (SIGN), the
development and introduction of safer technologies, and the prevention, early
detection and management of AEFIs. The new technologies include needle-containing
injection devices such as the autodisable syringe, as well as mucosal and
transcutaneous immunization. Training will continue to be at the centre of WHO's
efforts, limiting human error to a minimum. Mechanisms have been set in place to
detect and respond to new and unforeseen events occurring. Above all, there is a
willingness to respond to new climates and new technologies so that the
Organization is in the best position to ensure safe immunization for all the
world's children.
=============================================================
36.) The threat of smallpox and bioterrorism.
=============================================================
Trends Microbiol 2001 Jan;9(1):15-8
Berche P.
INSERM U411, Faculte de Medecine Necker-Enfants Malades, 156 Rue de Vaugirard,
75015 Paris, France.
Smallpox (variola) was a devastating disease with a high case-fatality rate.
Although the disease was eradicated in 1977, the remaining stocks of smallpox
virus constitute one of the most dangerous threats to humanity. The smallpox
virus is highly specific for humans and non-pathogenic in animals. There is no
antiviral treatment and a vaccine is active only if administered in the first
four days post-exposure. Smallpox virus represents a potential biological weapon
that could be used by terrorists, and the destruction of stocks raises political,
social, scientific and ethical issues.
=============================================================
37.) Inmmune response to vaccinia virus is significantly reduced after
scarification with TK- recombinants as compared to wild-type virus.
=============================================================
Acta Virol 2000 Jun-Aug;44(3):151-6 Related Articles, Books
Phillpotts RJ, Lescott T, Gates AJ, Jones L.
DERA, Biological Sciences Department, Chemical and Biological Defense Sector,
Porton Down, Wiltshire, SP4 0JQ, U.K. [email protected]
Although it is unlikely that large-scale vaccination against smallpox will
ever be required again, it is conceivable that the need may arise to vaccinate
against a human orthopoxvirus infection. A possible example could be the
emergence of monkey poxvirus (MPV) as a significant human disease in Africa.
Vaccinia virus (VV) recombinants, genetically modified to carry the immunogenic
proteins of other pathogenic organisms, have potential use as vaccines against
other diseases present in this region. The immune response to parental wild-type
(wt) or recombinant VV was examined by binding and functional assays, relevant
to protection: total IgG, IgG subclass profile, B5R gene product (gp42)-specific
IgG, neutralizing antibodies and class 1-mediated cytotoxic lymphocyte activity.
There was a substantial reduction in the immune response to VV after
scarification with about 10(8) PFU of recombinant as compared to wt virus. These
data suggest that to achieve the levels of immunity associated with protection
against human orthopoxvirus infection, and to control a possible future outbreak
of orthopoxvirus disease, the use of wt VV would be necessary.
=============================================================
38.) Aeromedical evacuation of biological warfare casualties: a treatise on
infectious diseases on aircraft.
=============================================================
Mil Med 2000 Nov;165(11 Suppl):1-21 Related Articles, Books
Withers MR, Christopher GW.
U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, 2602 West Gate Road, Brooks Air
Force Base, TX 78235, USA.
A basic understanding of the transmission and isolation of infections would be
essential to the safe and effective aeromedical evacuation (AE) of biological
warfare (BW) casualties. First, the airframe as microbial environment is
considered, and relevant preventive and disinfecting measures are discussed. A
survey of past infectious disease transmission on civilian aircraft (including
tuberculosis, influenza, measles, smallpox, and viral hemorrhagic fevers) is
presented, and the communicability and stability of likely BW agents is
described. A brief history of U.S. military aeromedical evacuation (as it
relates to contagious diseases and U.S. Air Force BW doctrine) is also outlined.
Special containment procedures (especially as used by the U.S. Army Aeromedical
Isolation Team) are described. Finally, international legal and regulatory
aspects of the AE of BW casualties are considered, and some unanswered questions
and suggestions for future research are offered. It is concluded that, given
adequate foresight, expertise, and resources, the AE of even contagious BW
casualties could be safely and effectively accomplished.
=============================================================
39.) An emergent poxvirus from humans and cattle in Rio de Janeiro State:
Cantagalo virus may derive from Brazilian smallpox vaccine.
=============================================================
Virology 2000 Nov 25;277(2):439-49
Damaso CR, Esposito JJ, Condit RC, Moussatche N.
Laboratorio de Biologia Molecular de Virus, Instituto de Biofisica Carlos
Chagas Filho, CCS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-900, Brazil.
The biological properties of poxvirus isolates from skin lesions on dairy cows
and milkers during recent exanthem episodes in Cantagalo County, Rio de Janeiro
State, Brazil, were more like vaccinia virus (VV) than cowpox virus. PCR
amplification of the hemagglutinin (HA) gene substantiated the isolate
classification as an Old World orthopoxvirus, and alignment of the HA sequences
with those of other orthopoxviruses indicated that all the isolates represented
a single strain of VV, which we have designated Cantagalo virus (CTGV). HA
sequences of the Brazilian smallpox vaccine strain (VV-IOC), used over 20 years
ago, and CTGV showed 98.2% identity; phylogeny inference of CTGV, VV-IOC, and 12
VV strains placed VV-IOC and CTGV together in a distinct clade. Viral DNA
restriction patterns and protein profiles showed a few differences between VV-IOC
and CTGV. Together, the data suggested that CTGV may have derived from VV-IOC by
persisting in an indigenous animal(s), accumulating polymorphisms, and now
emerging in cattle and milkers as CTGV. CTGV may represent the first case of
long-term persistence of vaccinia in the New World. Copyright 2000 Academic
Press.
=============================================================
40.) [20 years without smallpox].
Epidemiol Mikrobiol Imunol 2000 Aug;49(3):95-102 Related
=============================================================
Articles, Books
[Article in Czech]
Jezek Z.
[email protected]
It is 20 years since the 33rd World Health Assembly (WHA) declared that
"worldwide eradication of smallpox" was achieved. This was the outcome of many
years intensive work of the World Health Organization (WHO) and its member
countries. In 1958 the WHA adopted the recommendation that WHO should initiate
the eradication of smallpox on a worldwide scale. In 1967 the eradication
activities in hitherto endemic countries became more intense. Smallpox affected
31 countries and 15 countries recorded from occasional cases. Every year more
than 10 million people contracted the disease and two million of them died. A
ten-year limit for the eradication was set. Gradually smallpox were eradicated
in South America, then in Asia and last in Africa where the last case of endemic
smallpox was recorded in 1977 in Somalia. WHO ensured international
collaboration, close coordination of activities and mobilization of financial,
personal and material resources. It ensured also that tested methods were fully
applied in the affected countries regardless of their political, religious and
cultural differences. In the eradication activities participated hundreds of
thousands of local and 700 health professionals from abroad, incl. 20
Czechoslovak epidemiologists. The worldwide costs of eradication amounted to
some 300 million dollars, i.e. some 23 million per year. The most important
contribution of the eradication of smallpox was in addition to the termination
of human suffering, worldwide financial savings estimated to 1-2 billion US
dollars per year. These saved personal and financial resources could be used for
other important health projects. The eradication of variola was defined as
eradication of clinical forms of smallpox not as the final eradication of the
variola virus. The importance of laboratories keeping the variola virus
increased steeply at the time when clinical cases of smallpox were eradicated.
From the beginning of the eighties WHO made an effort to reduce their number to
a minimum. Since 1984 strains of variola are officially kept only in two centres
collaborating with WHO. The Organization suggested destruction of the kept
viruses in 1987, i.e. ten years after the eradication of smallpox. Unfortunately
some political and scientific circles did not agree with this intention. Even
recommendations to destroy the virus in 1993 and again in 1999 were not
accepted. In the nineties fear of bio-terrorism and secret modernization of
biological weapons influenced some member countries to change their opinion on
the intended destruction of the virus. Despite this in May 1999 the WHA adopted
a resolution that the final destruction of all variola strains is the objective
of all member countries of WHO and recommended to postpone the destruction of
the virus to the year 2002. The reason for postponement is current research of
new antiviral preparations and better vaccines. There is again hope that all
that will be left of the variola virus will be magnetic signals on computer
diskettes.
=============================================================
41.) [Circulation of virus and interspecies contamination in wild animals].
=============================================================
Bull Soc Pathol Exot 2000 Jul;93(3):156 Related Articles, Books, LinkOut
[Article in French]
Osterhaus A.
Universite de Rotterdam, Pays-Bas.
Paradoxically, just when we have succeeded in eradicating and/or bringing
under control the major viral infections (smallpox, poliomyelitis, measles)
numerous viral infections are emerging in man and in animals. Changes in our
social environment, technological and ecological equilibrium have facilitated
this phenomenon. Furthermore, certain of these viruses have demonstrated an
almost unlimited capacity to adapt genetically to environmental change. HIV has
already infected 40 million individuals, but monkeypox, Ebola, simian herpes can
cause epidemics with serious if not fatal outcomes. Haemorrhagic fever epidemics
have resulted from human contact with Flavivirus infected rodents and insects.
Paramyxoviruses and morbiliviruses can cause fatal outcomes in man and animals.
And the three influenza epidemics having occurred in the 20th century all came
from the type A avian reservoir. The often complex combinations of predisposing
factors having facilitated the emergence of several epidemics merit further
consideration.
==================================================================
DATA-MEDICOS/DERMAGIC-EXPRESS No 3-(101) 30/06/2.001 DR. JOSE LAPENTA
R.
===================================================================
|