Smallpox

Sat., October 12, 1935 - Washed my clothes as usual.  Corrected school papers all afternoon.  Annie Miller was here with a coat for Mom to fix.
Sun., October 13, 1935 - Typed history tests this a.m. and p.m.  Ray quit working at Joe Baker's last nite.  He starts tomorrow to work for Guerney Benshoof.  I'm going to drive his car back and forth to school.  Went with Howard to Kennard Hall and Alfred Utecht's charivari dance at Hoskins.  Had a good time.
Mon., October 14, 1935 - Started driving today.  I think I'll like it just fine.  Reports are that Allen, Marian and Frederick have smallpox.  We're postponing our program indefinitely.  Stopped at Florence Niemann's to discuss the program.  Took the hektograph ribbon to Irene also.

What and where is Kennard Hall?*

I won't share smallpox photos because they are not pleasant.  It was declared eradicated by the World Health Organization in 1980.  I am glad for that.  From wikipedia:

     "There were two clinical forms of smallpox. Variola major was the severe and most common form, with a more extensive rash and higher fever. Variola minor was a less common presentation, and a much less severe disease, with historical death rates of 1 percent or less.  Subclinical (asymptomatic) infections with variola virus were noted but were not common.  In addition, a form called variola sine eruptione (smallpox without rash) was seen generally in vaccinated persons. This form was marked by a fever that occurred after the usual incubation period and could be confirmed only by antibody studies or, rarely, by virus isolation.

     The incubation period between contraction and the first obvious symptoms of the disease is around 12 days. Once inhaled, variola major virus invades the oropharyngeal (mouth and throat) or the respiratory mucosa, migrates to regional lymph nodes, and begins to multiply. In the initial growth phase the virus seems to move from cell to cell, but around the 12th day, lysis of many infected cells occurs and the virus is found in the bloodstream in large numbers (this is called viremia), and a second wave of multiplication occurs in the spleen, bone marrow, and lymph nodes.
The initial symptoms are similar to other viral diseases such as influenza and the common cold: fever of at least 101 °F, muscle pain, malaise, headache and prostration. As the digestive tract is commonly involved, nausea and vomiting and backache often occur. The prodrome, or preeruptive stage, usually lasts 2–4 days. By days 12–15 the first visible lesions—small reddish spots called enanthem—appear on mucous membranes of the mouth, tongue, palate, and throat, and temperature falls to near normal. These lesions rapidly enlarge and rupture, releasing large amounts of virus into the saliva.

     Smallpox virus preferentially attacks skin cells, causing the characteristic pimples (called macules) associated with the disease. A rash develops on the skin 24 to 48 hours after lesions on the mucous membranes appear. Typically the macules first appear on the forehead, then rapidly spread to the whole face, proximal portions of extremities, the trunk, and lastly to distal portions of extremities. The process takes no more than 24 to 36 hours, after which no new lesions appear.  At this point variola major infection can take several very different courses, resulting in four types of smallpox disease based on the Rao classification:  ordinary, modified, malignant (or flat), and hemorrhagic. Historically, smallpox has an overall fatality rate of about 30 percent; however, the malignant and hemorrhagic forms are usually fatal.

     Ninety percent or more of smallpox cases among unvaccinated persons were of the ordinary type.  In this form of the disease, by the second day of the rash the macules became raised papules. By the third or fourth day the papules filled with an opalescent fluid to become vesicles. This fluid became opaque and turbid within 24–48 hours, giving them the appearance of pustules; however, the so-called pustules were filled with tissue debris, not pus.

     By the sixth or seventh day, all the skin lesions have become pustules. Between seven and ten days the pustules matured and reached their maximum size. The pustules were sharply raised, typically round, tense, and firm to the touch. The pustules were deeply embedded in the dermis, giving them the feel of a small bead in the skin. Fluid slowly leaked from the pustules, and by the end of the second week the pustules deflated, and started to dry up, forming crusts (or scabs). By day 16–20 scabs had formed over all the lesions, which have started to flake off, leaving depigmented scars.

     Ordinary smallpox generally produced a discrete rash, in which the pustules stood out on the skin separately. The distribution of the rash was densest on the face; denser on the extremities than on the trunk; and on the extremities, denser on the distal parts than on the proximal. The palms of the hands and soles of the feet were involved in the majority of cases. Sometimes, the blisters merged into sheets, forming a confluent rash, which began to detach the outer layers of skin from the underlying flesh. Patients with confluent smallpox often remained ill even after scabs have formed over all the lesions. In one case series, the case-fatality rate in confluent smallpox was 62 percent."

Several members of European royalty died of the disease, as did Pocahontas.  Some who have survived include U.S. Presidents George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and Abraham Lincoln.  Washington became infected with smallpox on a visit to Barbados in 1751.  Jackson developed the illness after being taken prisoner by the British during the American Revolution, and though he recovered, his brother Robert did not.  Lincoln contracted the disease during his Presidency, possibly from his son Tad, and was quarantined shortly after giving the Gettysburg address in 1863. -- from geni.com

Another survivor was Joseph Stalin.  I wonder how history would be different if he had not survived.

I do not remember if I already shared this photo of the kids and me and I'm too lazy busy to find out, so here it is anyway.

*I found out later from Mom that Kennard Hall is a who, not a what.