Can you pop smallpox

Generally, direct and fairly prolonged face-to-face contact is required to spread smallpox from one person to another. Smallpox also can be spread through direct contact with infected bodily fluids or contaminated objects such as bedding or clothing. Indirect contact is not common. Rarely, smallpox has been spread by virus carried in the air in enclosed settings such as buildings, buses, and trains. Smallpox is not known to be transmitted by insects or animals.

A person with smallpox is sometimes contagious with onset of fever prodrome phase , but the person becomes most contagious with the onset of rash. Patients remain infectious until the last scab falls off. Smallpox can be prevented through use of the smallpox vaccine, even if the vaccine is given within three days after exposure to smallpox.

There is no proven treatment for smallpox, but research to evaluate new antiviral agents is ongoing. Preliminary results with the drug, cidofovir suggest it may be useful. The use of cidofovir to treat smallpox or smallpox vaccine reactions should be evaluated and monitored by experts at NIH and CDC. Patients with smallpox can benefit from supportive therapy e.

The smallpox vaccine is the only way to prevent smallpox. The vaccine is made from a virus called vaccinia, which is another pox-type virus related to smallpox.

The vaccine helps the body develop immunity to smallpox. It was successfully used to eradicate smallpox from the human population. Routine vaccination of the American public against smallpox stopped in after the disease was eradicated in the United States. Until recently, the U. After the events of September and October, , however, we have taken extensive actions to improve our level of preparedness against terrorism. For smallpox, this included updating a response plan and ordering enough smallpox vaccine to immunize the American public in the event of a smallpox outbreak.

The plans are in place, and there is sufficient vaccine available to immunize everyone who might need it in the event of an emergency. The smallpox vaccine is not available to the general public at this time. If vaccination is considered advisable, you will be notified quickly. The smallpox vaccine is not given with a hypodermic needle.

It is not a shot, like many vaccinations. The vaccine is given using a bifurcated two-pronged needle that is dipped into the vaccine solution. When removed, the needle retains a droplet of the vaccine. The needle is then used to prick the skin 15 times in a few seconds. The pricking is not deep, but it will cause a sore spot and one or two drops of blood to form. The vaccine usually is given in the upper arm. If the vaccination is successful, a red and itchy bump develops at the vaccination site in three or four days.

In the first week after vaccination, the bump becomes a large blister, fills with pus, and begins to drain. During week two, the blister begins to dry up and a scab forms. The scab falls off in the third week, leaving a small scar. People who are being vaccinated for the first time have a stronger reaction than those who are being revaccinated.

Vaccination within 3 days of exposure will completely prevent or significantly modify smallpox in the vast majority of persons. Vaccination 4 to 7 days after exposure likely offers some protection from disease or may modify the severity of disease. Past experience indicates that the first dose of the vaccine offers protection from smallpox for 3 to 5 years, with decreasing immunity thereafter. If a person is vaccinated again later, immunity lasts longer.

Recent tests have indicated that diluted smallpox vaccine is just as effective in providing immunity as full-strength vaccine.

The vaccine is made from a virus called vaccinia, another pox-type virus related to smallpox. The smallpox vaccine helps the body develop immunity to smallpox. The smallpox vaccine does not contain smallpox virus and cannot spread or cause smallpox. However, the vaccine does contain another virus called vaccinia which is live in the vaccine.

Because the virus is alive, it can spread to other parts of the body or to other people from the vaccine site. For that reason, the vaccine site must be carefully monitored. In the past, for every 1, people vaccinated, 1 person experienced a serious but not life-threatening reactions. These reactions may require medical attention:. Rarely, people have had very bad reactions to the vaccine. In the past, between 14 and 52 people out of every 1 million people vaccinated for the first time experienced potentially life-threatening reactions.

These reactions require immediate medical attention:. People with certain medical conditions—including people with weakened immune systems or certain skin conditions—are more likely to have these reactions and should not get the smallpox vaccine unless they have been exposed to smallpox. You can read more about people who should not get the smallpox vaccine in Smallpox Vaccine Safety.

Based on past experience, it is estimated that 1 to 2 people out of every 1 million people vaccinated could die as a result of life-threatening reactions to the vaccine.

A few people who have gotten the smallpox vaccine have developed heart inflammation myocarditis , inflammation of the lining of the heart pericarditis , or a combination of both myopericarditis. Other people have experienced heart pain angina and heart attack after getting the smallpox vaccination. However, it is not known if the smallpox vaccination caused these problems or if they occurred by chance alone. If you have chest pain, shortness of breath, or other symptoms of heart disease after getting the smallpox vaccination, you should seek medical attention.

A Note on Numbers: Most of the statistical information about smallpox vaccine side effects cited on this webpage is based on data from two studies conducted in Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. After two to four days, a rash appears. The rash spreads, and develops into raised bumps that crust and scab over. After about three weeks, the scabs fall off, leaving pitted scars. The first symptoms of smallpox usually show up about days after a person has been exposed to the illness, although symptoms can take as little as seven days or as long as 17 days to appear.

Once the first symptoms appear, the patient is usually too ill to travel or engage in most forms of activity. The patient doesn't become infectious - capable to transmitting the disease to others - until the rash appears. Smallpox is contagious, but it's spread less easily than illnesses like influenza or measles. Generally, it takes prolonged, face-to-face contact - of the kind that takes place in a household setting - to spread the disease from one person to another.

It can also be spread through direct contact with body fluids, or objects like bedding and clothing. It can also be spread through the air in buildings or other enclosed spaces, although that happens less commonly. There is currently no proven treatment for smallpox. However, it can be prevented through vaccination. The vaccine can still protect people even after they've already been exposed to the smallpox virus.