Smallpox Epidemic Rapidly Spreading In Pakistan Province

Dawn.com ^ | 6/9/2002 | Muqaddam Khan

[ex-Texan]

Smallpox Epidemic Rapidly Spreading In Pakistan Province

By Muqaddam Khan

SWABI, Pakistan - The smallpox epidemic is rapidly spreading in these parts of the province, but the district health department has failed to take any step to contain this deadly disease, Dawn learnt here on Saturday.

It has been reported from different parts of the Swabi district that a large number of children have suffered from smallpox, but the authorities concerned have failed to take any action to prevent this disease or immunize the people against it.

Smallpox is a fatal disease which causes high fever, leaves permanent marks on the skin and spreads very fast. Timely treatment and precautionary measures are vital for controlling this malady.

A health official said that the dilemma of the people was that they were not aware of the danger aspects of this ailment as the children suffering from it have neither been kept in isolation nor properly treated. And this resulted in the spread of the virus.

In most of the cases, the children of a family or those living close to each other, contract it at one and the same time.

The residents of Naro Banda, a rural area in the district, told this correspondent that a majority of the children in the village had suffered from smallpox a few years back. "My two brothers, Shams and Akhtar, have been afflicted by smallpox and I have appealed to the officials concerned, but they did not bother either to visit the area or take steps for controlling it," said Mukhtaj Ahmad of Naro Banda.

The mother of a sick child said she had informed the lady health workers about the spread of the disease four days ago, but no action was taken.

It was also noticed that most of the parents of the sick children were uneducated. They had either approached the quack living nearby, or the self-made homeopath doctors to treat the children, but no visible improvement could be seen in the health of the children.

If the district health department delayed taking steps for containing the disease, the epidemic may spread to other areas in the vicinity, or the whole of the district, for that matter.

The suffering people have appealed to the NWFP governor, district government bosses and health officials to send in special teams to extend necessary health cover to the children

[Alouette]

I'm guessing that it's chicken pox. The story keeps referring to kids.

You could be right. Many years ago, a friend living overseas came down with a rash and fever. The non-English-speaking doctor who treated him said "You have this little pox" which freaked this guy out because he thought the doctor was telling him that he had smallpox. It turned out that the medical name for chicken pox is (I think) varicella or "little pox" and the medical name for smallpox is variola (medium sized pox?). "Large pox" as everyone knows, is syphilis.

[Cascadians]

There are also reports of "smallpox" "outbreaks" in India:

Three die from Smallpox fury in Barachatti Village

[hlth] Shift in U.S. Smallpox Vaccination Policy Recommended (2 pages, and many other threads with breaking smallpox news on TimeBomb2000 Forum

" Three die from Smallpox fury in Barachatti Village

Barachatti 4 June, (Dainik Jagran). In Patiauna village of Vinda Council in Barachatti block a dreadful outbreak of smallpox is raging. Due to the smallpox so far three children have died and about a dozen children are in its grip. So far in order to treat and cure the smallpox so far no steps have been taken by the medical department due to which the villagers are angry.

Gaya District Equality [Party] chairman Indradev Pasvan has asked the DM to not delay in distributing appropriate medications to the effected children and asked for suitable measures to be taken for protection from this sickness, so that the remaining children may be saved. Mr Paswan said that if this sickness was not quickly brought under control then it might turn into an epidemic."