Guide To Almost Eradicated And Entirely Eradicated Infectious Diseases

The eradication of infectious diseases is a goal for many medical researchers. To determine whether a particular disease could potentially be eradicated, scientists note the disease must meet certain criteria. First, the disease needs to be easy to diagnose, and it must not have an animal host since these hosts would need to become extinct for the disease to be successfully eradicated. In addition, the disease cannot lie dormant within a patient for many years, and it needs to follow a cyclic pattern of rise and decline that creates natural immunity in individuals who have survived the disease. Any vaccines or treatments must be cost-effective and easily administered, and the disease must attract the attention of both public health and government officials.

The diseases described below include those that have been eradicated and those scientists believe could likely be eradicated in the future.

Smallpox

With the last confirmed case of smallpox occurring in 1977, the disease was officially certified as eradicated in 1980. The successful worldwide eradication of smallpox was attributed to an effective global vaccination campaign. The smallpox vaccine, the world's first inoculation, was created by Edward Jenner in 1796. While military members are still routinely vaccinated for this disease, vaccination for other individuals ceased after smallpox was eradicated. Samples of the virus are stored for research purposes. Patients infected with smallpox usually survived, but they were often left with deep scarring that could be disfiguring. After an incubation period of up to seventeen days, patients with smallpox would first experience fever, severe back pain, headaches, and extreme fatigue. As the virus progressed, a rash would appear on the patient's face and arms before spreading to their torso. The spots frequently turned into pus-filled blisters that scabbed over and left pitted scars. In addition to these severe scars, blindness was a possible complication of smallpox.

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