What Parts of the Body Does Smallpox Attack?
Smallpox is an extremely contagious and frequently fatal disease. Caused by the Variola virus, there are two main forms of the disease, Variola major and Variola minor which present with similar signs and symptoms. Variola major is fatal in 30 percent of the infected population, while Variola minor is fatal in less than 1%. Smallpox is a systemic infection that affects the entire body, particularly the skin and mucosa.
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Initial Infection
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Smallpox is spread by direct, long-term contact with an infected person. Items such as clothing, blankets and other items that the host touches, as well as body fluids can carry smallpox. Smallpox usually starts with a high fever, headache and body pains, weakness, and sometimes vomiting. The fever will usually range from 101° and 104° Fahrenheit.
Immune and Circulatory Systems
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The disease spreads through the circulatory system.The disease will then attack the blood vessels within the skin. The virus will also compromise the immune system by killing large numbers of macrophages, defensive cells within the body, which it invades to reproduce.
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Skin
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At first, a rash appears on the skin. It will affect the face, then the torso, arms and legs. Sharply-raised bumps will then occur in the rash. These will fill with pusand will be firm and round. Later, these pustules will ooze, form a crust and scab over eventually falling off and forming scars.
Malignant smallpox, another form of the illness, occurs as flat skin lesions, rather than the raise pustules of Variola major and minor. Hemorrhagic smallpox presents with heavy bleeding within the skin. Both of these forms of the disease are almost always fatal.
Tongue and Mouth
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The tongue and the inside of the mouth will show little red dots that will progress to open sores. These will shed the virus into the mouth, thereby spreading the disease further throughout the body.
Internal Organs
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The circulatory system will carry the infection to organs within the body where it reproduces. This occurs primarily in the spleen, and bone marrow, but can also affect other organs including the lungs and liver.
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