| Disease/Syndrome |
Smallpox |
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| Category |
Infection, Occupational |
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| Acute/Chronic |
Acute-Severe |
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| Synonyms |
Variola virus infection |
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| Biomedical References |
Search PubMed |
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| Comments |
The last case of smallpox was reported in 1978. The illness begins with malaise, fever, vomiting, backache, and headache. A rash appears two to four days later with rapid progression from macules to papules to deep pustular vesicles. Lesions are more abundant on the extremities and face and appear in the same stage of maturity in a given area (unlike chickenpox in which the lesions are superficial vesicles in various stages of maturity more abundant on the covered parts of the body). The fatality rate is 20-40% in unvaccinated populations. [CCDM, p. 491-3] Patients are not contagious until the rash appears, and at that stage, most patients are bedridden. Therefore, most secondary cases would occur in households and hospitals. Laundry and waste from patients are potential sources of infection. Petechiae and bleeding from the skin and mucous membranes may occur in the 10% of smallpox cases that are termed "malignant" or "hemorrhagic." Smallpox can be rapidly confirmed in the laboratory by electron microscopy of fluid from vesicles or pustules. "Vaccination administered within 4 days of first exposure has been shown to offer some protection against acquiring infection and significant protection against a fatal outcome." [Henderson DA, et al. Smallpox as a biological weapon.JAMA.1999;281:1735-45.] |
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| Latency/Incubation |
7 days to 2.5 weeks; usually 10-14 days for onset of illness and 12-16 days for onset of rash; |
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| Diagnostic |
Clinical; Culture; Electron microscopy (EM); PCR; [CCDM] EM cannot distinguish smallpox from monkeypox, vaccinia, or cowpox; [Guerrant, p. 628] |
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| ICD-9 Code |
050 |
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| Available Vaccine |
Yes |
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| Reference Link |
OSHA - Smallpox |
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| Related Information in Haz-Map |
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| Symptoms/Findings |
Symptoms/Findings associated with this disease:
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| Job Tasks |
High risk job tasks associated with this disease:
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