Disclaimer. I am not a licensed health practitioner. This is
just another post on knowledge and understanding
you might wish to acquire in advance of a disaster in case no higher
care is available. As long as our society is functioning, you should
leave anything more substantial than applying a Band-Aid to the
professionals. No medication, including those available over the
counter, should be taken without consulting a physician.
Information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes
only. It is not medical advice nor a substitute for licensed medical
care.
Those of us of a certain age all
sport about a half-inch round scar on our upper left arm, telltale proof of
having been immunized against smallpox.
While the worldwide immunization campaign eliminated smallpox in the US by
1949, isolated cases occurred into the late 1970s.
Smallpox was officially declared eradicated
in 1980.
[1] The only smallpox virus samples are now found
in two laboratories, the CDC in Atlanta and the Vector Institute (State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR) in Koltsovo, Russia.
[2] Supposedly.
I never believed that. And last week, there were some little news blurbs (
first article) (
second article) about vials of smallpox being found at a Merck vaccine research facility in Philadelphia. Note that the Merck facility is not one of the only two BSL-4 facilities approved for researching smallpox. (The
latest story out of the CDC's fiction division is that the vials labeled "smallpox" were actually "smallpox vaccine".) That was on the heels of an interview where
Bill Gates discussed the next pandemic being a bioterrorism event involving smallpox and ten airports.
In September, SIGA Technologies, a pharmaceutical company, said it was going to start manufacturing
TPOXX, an oral antiviral for treating smallpox. TPOXX was approved by the FDA in 2018.
Then we have something called
Dark Winter, a "senior-level" exercise that simulated a covert smallpox attack on the US. Couple that with
Fauci (Dark Winter discussion begins at about the 15:00 mark) and
Biden threatening a Dark Winter. Maybe all these dots are just dots and are in no way connected. I don't know.
What I do know, and have believed for about the past 18 months, is that COVID does not qualify as a true pandemic. There just isn't the mortality rate. This planet experiences a true pandemic about every 100 years. And it's been about 100 years since we had a true pandemic, one where a significant percentage of the earth's population dies. Some people call COVID a dress rehearsal for what is coming. I'd say it's more like a script reading. We have something far more deadly on the horizon. Is it smallpox, or some variant thereof? Again, I have no clue, but all these references to it in the government and media make me want to review my preparations to deal with it.
Smallpox is caused by the variola
virus, which has two primary clinical forms, variola major and variola
minor. Variola major causes the most
serious form of the disease and has an average 30% fatality rate. However, as there are over 200 strains of
variola major, the fatality rate varies based on the actual strain, and the
overall health of the person infected.
Individuals who are malnourished or immunocompromised have higher
fatality rates. Among these hundreds of
strains of smallpox are two particularly lethal strains with vastly different
signs and symptoms.
Flatpox, or blackpox, is a rare
strain that occurs primarily in children.
The skin lesions develop slowly, merge together, and remain flat and
velvety to the touch.
They never progress
to the pustular stage and most cases are fatal.
[3]
Hemorrhagic smallpox is more common
in adults, and pregnant women are particularly susceptible.
Interestingly, prior vaccination is not
protective.
The incubation period is
shorter and early symptoms are more severe.
Petechiae (small purple, red, or brown spots under the skin) and skin
and mucosal hemorrhaging begin soon thereafter.
Death usually occurs within 5-6 days, before
the characteristic lesions develop.
[4]
Variola minor causes a much milder
case of the disease and has a less than 1% fatality rate. Because it is a milder case it can easily be
mistaken for chickenpox.
The variola virus can be transmitted
through close contact with an infected person while he is contagious. It
can also be transmitted through contaminated clothing or bedding, as occurred
with blankets given to Indians in North America in the 18th century. In addition, the
virus spreads through air in enclosed spaces like buildings and public
transportation. It is not transmitted by animals or insects.
[5] It is sensitive to light and heat, so
conventional smallpox makes a poor outdoor bioweapon.
[6] However, it’s entirely possible that the
smallpox virus could be engineered to become far less sensitive to light and
heat and thus become more lethal and easily transmitted.
If an outbreak were to occur, it
would be due to bioterrorism.
The
government reportedly has plans in place to vaccinate everyone exposed, with
enough vaccines stockpiled for the entire country.
[7] Based on what we've seen of the CDC’s
response to COVID this past year, I’m not sure this is something I would count
on.
Prevention. There is no effective treatment except for
vaccination.
However, it is critical to
note that the vaccine only offers effective protection for about 3-5 years,
with diminishing efficacy thereafter.
[8] Those of us vaccinated as children are likely
no better off than those who have never been vaccinated.
Signs and symptoms. The course
of smallpox progresses through several stages.
·
Incubation
o
7-19 days, average of 10-14 days
o
Not contagious
o
Person usually has no symptoms and feels fine
·
Initial symptoms
o
2-4 days
o
Patient is sometimes contagious
o
High fever
o
Head and body aches
o
Uncontrolled shaking
[9]
o
Sometimes vomiting
o
People usually too sick to continue daily
routine
·
Early rash
o
4 days
o
Most contagious period
o
Fever continues
o
Rash begins as small red spots on the tongue and
mouth. These spots become sores that
rupture and spread the virus into the mouth and throat. The rash spreads to the skin, starting on the face and spreading to the arms and legs,
then the hands and feet, covering the body within 24 hours.
o
As the rash spreads, the fever diminishes and the person
starts to feel a little better.
o
By the 4th day, the skin sores start to fill
in with thick fluid and have a dent in the center
o
As the skin sores fill with fluid, the fever may spike
again until the sores scab over
·
Pustular rash and scabs
o
10 days
o
Still contagious
o
Sores become pustules, sharply raised bumps in
the skin that are hard and firm, like peas under the skin
o
After about 5 days, the pustules begin crusting and scabbing
over
·
Scabs fall off
o
6 days
o
Still contagious
o
Scabs begin falling off, leaving scars behind
·
No scabs
o
Once all the scabs have fallen off, the patient
is no longer contagious
[10]
Differential diagnosis.
Noteworthy in distinguishing the smallpox rash and blisters from other
diseases is that the blisters develop all at once, together, rather than in
being in various stages like with chickenpox.
Treatment. Conventional treatments are limited
to a few antiviral medications.
Tecovirimat,
cidofovir, and brincidofovir have all been tested in people, but of course, none
of them had smallpox.
Lab tests in
animals with diseases similar to smallpox indicated these drugs may be
effective against smallpox in people.
Tecovirimat and cidofovir are stockpiled by the government to protect
the people in the event of a public health emergency.
[11]
Historically, the following herbs
were used by Native Americans in treating smallpox. There are no data as to their efficacy, and
of course, no one knows whether they would do anything against weaponized
smallpox.
·
Arrowroot, paste applied to sores
·
Large leaf avens
Geum macrophyllum Willd., root tea
[12]
·
Catnip, infusion
·
Desert rue (turpentine broom),
Thamnosma montana, stem tea
[13]
·
Gumweed,
Grindelia
squarrosa, decoction of the tops
[14]
·
Mountain misery,
Chamaebatia foliolosa, leaf tea
[15]
·
Rush skeleton weed,
Lygodesmia juncea, leaf tea
[16]
·
Russian thistle, infusion of plant ashes
·
Vinegar weed (turpentine weed, bluecurls),
Trichostema lanceolatum, leaf and flower
tea used externally as a wash
[17]
·
Winter sage (white sage),
Krascheninnikovia lanata, spit poultice applied to sores
[18]
Much of the above article came from a post I wrote a year and a half ago. With all the recent mention of smallpox in the media, there has been a flurry of interest in a natural remedy reportedly used by the Native Americans in the northeastern US and Canada. It is claimed that
Sarracenia purpurea, or pitcher plant, will stop smallpox in its tracks. I have no idea. I could not find any peer-reviewed research. Click
here for an article a doctor wrote in 1865 on its use in treating smallpox.
I don't plan on ordering the plant or seeds. It seems to be a slow-growing plant and definitely does not grow in desert conditions. If I lived in New England, I'd certainly consider it.
Links to related posts:
[1]
https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/
[2]
https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/history/history.html
[3]
https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/clinicians/clinical-disease.html
[4]
https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/clinicians/clinical-disease.html
[5]
https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/transmission/index.html
[6]
Cynthia Koelker,
Armageddon Medicine,
480.
[7]
https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/prevention-treatment/index.html
[8]
Armageddon Medicine, 481.
[9]
Survival and Austere Medicine, 3rd
Edition, 369
[10]
https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/symptoms/index.html
[11]
https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/prevention-treatment/index.html
[12]
Steven Foster and Christopher Hobbs,
Western
Medicinal Plants and Herbs, 113.
[13]
Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs,
314.
[14]
Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs,
133.
[15]
Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs,
290.
[16]
Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs,
185.
[17]
Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs,
207.
[18]
Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs,
283.
29 july 2020
27 july 2022
