SMALL POX
Small pox is a very serious illness cause by the VARIOLA VIRUS.Small pox gets its name from the pus -filled blisters(or pocks) that form during the illness. Although, the names may sound alike ,small pox is not related to chicken pox, which is a milder disease caused by a different virus . Some people are worried that the germ that causes SMALL POX could be spread and used as a weapon. Small pox is contagious. That means the virus can spread to others. It’s spread through tiny drops of an infected person saliva when the person cough, talks ,or sneezes. Small pox usually passes from person to person during close face to face contact . If someone does get small pox, a doctor can recognize the disease because it causes a special kind of rash . The rash shows up as blisters on the skin that fill with fluid and crust over. This might sound like chicken pox, but the blisters look different from the blisters that chicken pox causes. The other symptoms are small pox like those of many other less serious illnesses: fever, headache, backache,when feeling tired. If someone does become infected with the small pox virus, getting the vaccine within a few days of becoming infected can lessen the diseases symptoms.A vaccine is a type of shot .Years ago, people were vaccinated against small pox . Today , small pox vaccines aren’t given because nobody has had the disease for many years.
