Smallpox

Smallpox was declared eradicated, yet still infects humans today

By Viera Scheibner, Ph.D.

April 2, 2012
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In 1967, the World Health Organization(WHO) initiated a world-wide eradication campaign against smallpox. In that year, some 131,000 cases of smallpox were reported to WHO from 42 countries. It was understood that this number could have represented only some 5% of the total number of cases. What was the possible motivation for such an ambitious program?

Side effects and ineffectiveness of smallpox vaccination have been the main smallpox issue discussed in medical papers for a long time. In 1928, the British Medical Journal (14 January:74) published an article by Garrow showing that the fatality rate among the vaccinated cases of smallpox in England and Wales in 1923 and 1926, in those over 15 years of age, was higher than among the unvaccinated. This stirred a lively discussion, published on 21 January 1928 (BMJ; 115-116). Among the comments are those of Percy Stocks, who considered waning vaccine immunity the reason for increased mortality among those of 15 years of age. He tried to imply that although dying within 2 months of contracting smallpox, victims could have died of other causes.

Others, such as Wynne, also tried to explain the five-fold higher smallpox mortality rate in the over 15 year old vaccinees during 1923 and 1926 smallpox epidemics by waning immunity. However, he scalded Garrow for broadcasting in the medical press an assertion “…which he must be aware will be quoted, on his authority and without context, by the antivaccinationist press. This kind of action can do nothing but handicap his colleagues who are engaged in combating the present epidemic of small-pox, with its serious burden on the public funds, the loss of wages involved, and the damage to industry quite apart from the detriment to public health, which in my opinion recent experience is becoming more serious as the infection is passed through the human medium.”

So, the main concern not to embarrass the medical profession while showing a complete lack of concern about the blindness to the truth, and to the obvious (a forgotten word in medicine), on the part of the medical profession, was rife already then.

Millard reasoned that although the mortality rate in those vaccinated is five times that of the unvaccinated, the case mortality is so trifle in either group that it at once arouses suspicion of a “catch somewhere.” The “catch” is that, “under the term ”small-pox” we are including two varieties of the disease so utterly different as regards their mortality that, as for statistical purposes, they are two distinct diseases, and it is most misleading to include them together under the same heading…there should be little practical difficulty in keeping the statistics for the two varieties separate, because I doubt if there has been a single outbreak of small-pox, say in the past ten years, where there was any doubt as to which variety of small-pox was being dealt with.”

Then Millard continued that when the figures are sorted out into (1) variola major and (2) variola minor, “we find that we have under (1) an insignificant minority of, say, under one hundred cases of variola major with most of the 13 deaths, and an overwhelming majority of nearly 10,000 cases of variola minor with practically no deaths. The few deaths that have been attributed to variola minor are usually due to some intercurrent complication, and, if these be deducted, we find that variola minor is for practical purposes, a non-fatal disease in vaccinated and unvaccinated alike.” Then Millard used the following reasoning (used by provaccinators to this day), “As regards the cases and deaths in the small variola major group, it so happens that the few isolated outbreaks which have occurred in the years in question have been among adults rather than among children. But adults in most parts of the country are still, on the whole, a vaccinated class; therefore, it is not very surprising that many of these cases have been in vaccinated persons.” We should ask, wasn’t the vaccine supposed to protect them?

Parry summarized the questions raised by Dr Garrow as follows:
1. How is it that small-pox is five times as likely to be fatal in the vaccinated as in unvaccinated.
2. How is it that, as the percentage of people vaccinated has steadily fallen from about 85 in 1870 to about 40 in 1925, the number of people attacked with variola has declined pari passu and the case mortality has progressively lessened? The years of least vaccination have been the years of least small-pox and of least mortality.
3. How is it that in some of our best vaccinated towns – for example Bombay and Calcutta – small-pox is rife, whilst in some of our worst vaccinated towns, such as Leicester, it is almost unknown?
4. How is it that something like 80 percent of the cases admitted into the Metropolitan Asylum Board small-pox hospitals have been vaccinated whilst only 20 percent have not been vaccinated?
5. How is it that in Germany, the best vaccinated country in the world, there are more deaths [from smallpox] in proportion to the population than in England – for example, in 1919, 28 deaths in England, 707 in Germany; in 1920, 30 deaths in England, 354 in Germany. In Germany, in 1919 there were 5,012 cases of small-pox with 6 deaths. What is the explanation?
6. Is it possible to explain the lessened incidence and fatality of small-pox on the same grounds as the lessened incidence and fatality of other infectious fevers – namely, as due to improved hygiene and administrative control? He finished his letter to the editor with these words: “There are just a few points in connection with the subject which are puzzling me, and to which I want answers. I am in doubt and I want to know the truth. Will some of the experts help me?”

The “experts” commented that:

“We think that Dr Parry, in his desire for enlightenment, would have been wiser not to introduce assumptions of fact into the framework of his questions.”

The editorial comment accused Dr Parry of introducing assumptions of fact into his questions, while he was the one referring to the well-known facts. Indeed, his letter was factual, logical and to the point and would still stand up to scrutiny today. However, the contributions of the other authors reflected the same questionable reasoning still used by some contemporary proponents of vaccination. To this day, the provaccinators accuse those who oppose vaccination of expressing opinions, while the obvious fact is that it is the other way around: it is the antivaccinationists who study orthodox medical literature and document their statements with published facts.

Let’s now have a look at some more published information on the side-effects of small-pox vaccination.

Spillane and Wells (1964), in their voluminous account of post-vaccinal encephalomyelitis following smallpox vaccination, stated that this group of serious adverse reactions to smallpox vaccine has only been recognized after 70 years of compulsory vaccination in England. In other words, it took the medical profession 70 years to admit the observed reactions. In the 1960s, the highest incidence of smallpox encephalomyelitis was recorded in Holland, England and Germany.

In 1951-1958, there were 60 reported cases of encephalitis in Great Britain, 51 following primary vaccination (36 of these in infants). Of the 25 deaths, 21 occurred in infants. Due to a poor [chronic, endemic] recording system, the real numbers will probably never be known. In the reported vaccinated cases, the phenomenon of sensitization was documented because of accelerated and hyper-acute reaction to subsequent inoculations. The neurological reactions ranged from encephalitis to epilepsy, polyneuritis and multiple sclerosis. The time of onset of encephalitis symptoms ranged from 24 hours to several days, with clustering around the same critical days as observed with other vaccinations. Time and again, the evidence of the phenomenon of sensitization appeared in publications by various authors. De Vries (1960), Dick (1962) and Dixon (1982) have suggested that the mortality rate from vaccination was greater in those who were primarily vaccinated in infancy and then revaccinated in later years. The onset of encephalitis was often sudden, explosive and characterized by convulsions or status epilepticus. Hemiplegias and aphasia were common but spinal involvement did not seem to occur. The cerebrospinal fluid appeared often quite normal, but under increased pressure. The electro-encephalogram showed asymmetrical slow waves, often with focal abnormality. Recovery has not always been complete. Cerebral edema and vascular lesions occurred often. The authors noted the lack of detailed information on neurological reactions to Jennerian vaccination. At that time, there was no clear directive about notification of cases of post-vaccinal encephalitis and any other complications involving central nervous system. They felt that better reporting may throw light on the causation of “spontaneous” diseases such as multiple sclerosis and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis.

Indeed, Miller et al. (1967) described 9 patients who developed (5 cases) or experienced exacerbation (4 cases) of multiple sclerosis after primary or secondary vaccinations, mostly against smallpox, in England and Poland. The onset of symptoms was recorded as at 7,12,48 or a few hours or 7-14 or a few days. They also quoted other authors who described similar cases after vaccination against smallpox, typhoid, paratyphoid, tetanus, poliomyelitis and tuberculosis (BCG) and after injections of anti-diphtheric serum and gamma-globulin.

These other authors described the onset of symptoms of multiple sclerosis within hours or days, (2-14) or 3 to 12 weeks. However, the interval between BCG or rabies vaccination and the onset of multiple sclerosis was sometimes measured in years. It was also noteworthy that local reactions at the site of injection were often inconspicuous in people who later developed multiple sclerosis.

It is obvious, that harmful reactions and ineffectivenes of smallpox vaccine was the main motivation behind the eradication campaign. Moreover, whenever anywhere vaccination stopped, smallpox occurrence stopped as well.

At a conference in Kampala in 1971, Henderson stated that only two major epidemic centers remained in Africa, the Sudan and Ethiopia, and there was “every likelihood that these areas will soon be cleared.”

Then a remarkable story started unfolding. While the ‘eradication‘ machinery was well afoot, according to Anonymous (1973), in 1970 several patients with illnesses first indistinguishable from smallpox were discovered in allegedly smallpox-free forest areas of West and Central Africa. Between October 1970 and May 1971 a virus was isolated from some patients in West Africa which was later identified as monkeypox. This virus was not new: it was isolated in 1958 by von Magnus et al. (1959) during an outbreak of smallpox-like vesicular disease in captive monkeys in Copenhangen. Foster (1959) described the first six cases in humans (five in children) of this disease in West Africa (four in Liberia, one in Sierra Leone and one in Nigeria). None of these patients were considered vaccinated against smallpox. Three were severely ill, but all recovered. Three of the cases occurred in an area free of smallpox for at least a year, though 38% of local residents did not have a history of scarring from smallpox vaccination (does it not mean that 62% had?). Two of the patients had occasionally consumed freshly-killed monkeys and others were observed playing with the viscera of freshly-killed monkeys. Serological studies on monkey sera failed to produce any convincing evidence of poxvirus infection in monkeys. Further virological studies in the Congo found evidence of monkey pox viruses in one clinically normal cynomolgus monkey and one normal chimpanzee, but failed to locate any significant source of monkeypox virus infection. There were other reports on monkeypox antibodies in human and simian sera in eastern Africa. However, when the virus was investigated by laboratory methods, it was found indistinguishable from variola virus.

Smallpox eradication has been defined by the WHO Expert Committee on Smallpox Eradication as “…elimination of clinical illness caused by variola virus.” The Committee added “…since there is no human carrier state of epidemiological importance and no recognized animal reservoir of the disease, the absence of clinically apparent cases in man may be assumed to signify the absence of a naturally occurring smallpox.”

Smallpox disease was pronounced officially eradicated on 8 May 1980. According to Arita and Gromyko (1982), the main benefit of official eradication of smallpox was that the smallpox vaccination could be discontinued in all countries. By 1 March 1982, 150 of the 158 WHO Member States had officially terminated their smallpox vaccination programs and the requirement for an international certificate of smallpox vaccination have been abolished in all countries, bar one (the republic of Chad). Vaccination was recommended for only a very small number of investigators at special risk, who still handled and conducted research into variola virus, and some armed forces. However, these represented a danger of transmission to contact persons. In the UK and Finland, smallpox vaccination of army recruits was discontinued in 1981. Sporadic cases of monkeypox continued to be reported from African countries and India. Isolation of other orthopox viruses, such as whitepox, camelpox, cowpox, gerbilpox and tanapax pox viruses continued; they were occasionally linked to sporadic outbreaks of the diseases similar to smallpox or chicken pox.

The authors concluded that the status of smallpox eradication is permanent and if an unexpected situation should occur in the future, WHO would be ready to deal with it.

The last case of epidemic smallpox occurred on October 26, 1977 in Somalia. Since then, 151 rumors have been investigated in all parts of the world. Two laboratory-associated cases of smallpox occurred in 1978 in the UK; all other rumored cases have turned out to be chickenpox, measles, monkeypox, or other skin diseases, or to have arisen from typographic errors, other mistakes in recording, or otherwise unfounded (Lambo 1982. NEJM; July 23: 224).

When vaccinators want to get rid of a vaccine, they can do a good job of it. It is also clear that they know that leaving the diseases to their own resources, limitations and dynamics is the wise thing to do. The disease will extinguish itself.

It is of great importance that when smallpox vaccination efforts were renewed in the US quite recently, they had to be stopped due to very serious reactions.

In early 2003, a decision was made to reinstitute smallpox vaccination for selected segments of the US population on the basis of concern that smallpox could be used as an agent of bioterrorism. However, soon it was established that certain questions about the risk of smallpox vaccination in a 21st century arose such as the possibility that the current United States population might be more vulnerable to serious adverse effects of the smallpox vaccine due to a relative increase – compared with 3 to 4 decades ago – in conditions affecting the immune system such as the use of immunosuppressive drugs and the presence of human immunodeficiency virus infection in the community. Many recipients of smallpox vaccine developed serious cardiac events (MMWR; March 28 2002), myopericarditis (JAMA; 289(24): 3283-3289) cardiac death (MMWR; Oct 16 2003), focal and generalized folliculitis (JAMA; 289(24): 3290-3294) and there was also a multistate outbreak of ‘monkeypox’ (MMWR; 52 (24): June 20).

We have to pause here and think: why would the majority of the US population suffer weaker immune system, with all the US expensive medical technology? It is conspicuous that the authors mentioned only immunosuppressive drugs and AIDS, but forgot to mention the most widely-used immunosuppressive agents – vaccines of all kind. The most damaging are, of course, the vaccinations administered early in infancy. One of the major damaging effects of such vaccines is done to the cardio-vascular system (Kawasaki’s disease and its many synonyms; Scheibner 2009a). However, the pandemic of diabetes, obesity (Scheibner 2009b) and behavioral problems such as ADHD, autism, learning problems and bizarre criminality (school shootings, murder suicides) reached catastrophic proportions (Scheibner 2009c).

Orthodox immunological research of the last 120 years has been demonstrating that the only effect of vaccines is immunosuppression, synonymous with decreased bactericidal power of the blood, sensitization, increased susceptibility to the diseases which the vaccines are supposed to prevent and also to a host or related and unrelated infections. One only has to peruse a good medical dictionary, preferably published before 1990. Why would that be so? It is so because the older, in contrast to the more recent, dictionaries are more generous with the truth. Equally more truthful is medical research conducted before the Big Pharma started well and truly controlling medicine and its education. Already at the turn of the 20th century, Wright (1901) published that injections of vaccines, such as typhoid, result in the negative phase characterized by lowered bactericidal power of the blood (hence the outbreaks of typhoid in the army, right after vaccination). When the immune system returns back to normal it will mostly only be on the same level where it was before vaccination. Parfentjev (1955), Kind (1959), Craighead (1975) and many others demonstrated increased susceptibility to infections of all kind caused by any vaccine injections, as well as causing allergies to a host of substances. Sood et al. (1989) demonstrated increased susceptibility to invasive infections after Hib vaccines. Mintz (1982) described recurrent herpes simplex infection at a smallpox vaccination site in an unauthorized effort to combat genital herpes.

Parents only vaccinate because they believe that there is a need to prevent children from getting measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough, forgetting the old-age wisdom of knowing that these are the natural diseases that prime and mature the immune system of children, and not vaccines. If anything, vaccines de-immunize. Properly managed (meaning not mismanaged by the administration of antipyretics and antibiotics), having measles not only results in a life-long specific immunity to measles, but also in a life-long non-specific protection against degenerative diseases of bone and cartilage, immunoreactive diseases (such as allergies, asthma), sebaceous skin diseases and cancers. As Ronne (1985) demonstrated, not having measles with a proper rash is not desirable. It predisposes to the above diseases; and these were just the diseases that he studied. There could be other non-specific benefits from measles. West (1966) published already several decades ago that having mumps prevents ovarian cancer. Hib and other vaccinations cause diabetes in very young children. The pandemic of diabetes and obesity is also linked to infant vaccination. Hannik and Cohen (1978) observed that babies develop increased insulin production within hours after DPT vaccination. This may and does persist into adulthood and causes derangement of cerebral glucose metabolism in adults with hyperactivity onset in childhood (Zametkin et al. 1990), voracious insatiable appetite, fatty liver, derangement of the endocrine system and pre-diabetic states (hence obesity) and/or some behavioral problems, such as hyperactivity (ADHD).

The list of damage done by infant vaccines, coupled with the documented ineffectiveness to prevent any diseases, is endless. All those modern ills of our world start with vaccines in infancy, aggravated by antibiotics, painkillers and anti-pyretics.

References
Spillane JD, and Wells EC. 1964. The neurology of Jennerian vaccination – a clinical account of neurological complications which occurred during smallpox epidemic in South Wales in 1962. Brain; 87: 1-44.
De Vries E. 1960. Postvaccinal perivenous encephalitis. Amsterdam Elsevier Publ Co.
Dick GWA. 1962. Scientific Proceedings; Symposium on virus diseases. Thirteenth Annual Meeting of the British Medical Association, Belfast. BMJ; 2:319.
Dixon CW. 1962. Smallpox. London J&A Churchill Ltd.
Miller H, Cendrowski W, and Shapira K. 1967. Multiple sclerosis and vaccination. BMJ; 22 April: 210-213.
Anonymous 1973. Monkeypox. BMJ; 6 Jan: 3-4.
Von Magnus P, Andersen IK, Petersen KB, and Birch-Andersen A. 1959. A pox-like disease in cynomolgus monkeys. Acta Pathol et Microbiol Scand; 46 (2): 156-176.
Arita I, and Gromyko A. 1982. Surveillance of orthopox infection and associated research, in the period after smallpox eradication. Bull WHO; 60 (3): 367-375.
Lambo TA. 1982. Eradication of smallpox. NEJM; July 23: 224.
Arita I, and Gromyko A. 1982. Surveillance of orthopox infections, and associated research, in the period after smallpox eradication. Bull WHO; 60 (4): 367-375.
ScheIbner V. 2009a. Increasing numbers of sudden death in children and young adults – Kawasaki’s disease, Behcet disease, Goodpasture’s disease, Stevens – Johnson syndrome, Takayasu arteritis, infantile arteritis nodosa, or a good old immunopathological vasculitis. Medical Veritas; 6: 1992-2011.
Scheibner V. 2009b. Re: Obesity, a major problem of our times. BMJ.com; 12 January).
Scheibner V. 2009c. Hygienic surgery, anaesthesia and isolation of vitamin C. BMJ.com; 15 September.
Wright AE. 1901. On the changes effected by antityphoid inoculation in the bacterial power of the blood; with remarks on the probable significance of these changes. Lancet; Sept14: 715-723.
Parfentjev IA. 1955. Bacterial allergy increases susceptibility to influenza virus in mice. Proc Soc Exp Biol&Med; 90: 373-375.
Kind LS. 1959. Sensitivity of pertussis inoculated mice to endotoxin. J Immunology; 82: 32-37.
Craighead JE. 1975. Report of a workshop: disease accentuation after immunization with inactivated microbial vaccines.
Daum RS, Sood SK, Osterholm NT, et al. 1989. Decline in serum antibody to the capsule of Haemophilus influenzae type b in the immediate post-immunization period. J Pediatrics; 114: 742-747.
Mintz L. 1982. Recurrent herpes simplex infection at a smallpox vaccination site. JAMA; 247 (19): 2704-2705.
Ronne T. 1985. Measles virus infection without rash in childhood is related to disease in later life. Lancet Sep 5: 1-5.
West RO. 1966. Epidemiologic studies of malignancies of the ovaries. Cancer (July): 1001-1007.
Hannik CA, and Cohen H. 1978. Changes in plasma insulin concentration and temperature in infants after pertussis vaccination: 297-299. In: CR Manclark and JC Hill (Ed); International Symposium on Pertussis. U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare , Washington, D.C.
Zametkin AJ, Nordahl TE, Gross M et al. 1990. Cerebral glucose metabolism in adults with hyperactivity of childhood onset. NEJM; 323 (20): 1361-1366.

http://www.vaccinationcouncil.org/2012/04/02/smallpox-declared-eradicated-while-still-alive-and-well-by-viera-scheibner-phd/