The past few months have seen an increase in the number of cases of monkeypox in humans around the world. [BTW, monkeypox is now known as Mpox because it seems to be more of a human virus rather than a monkey virus, which was what it was when it first jumped from monkeys in central Africa to humans many years ago.] Mpox’s close relative, smallpox—an extremely serious disease in humans caused by smallpox virus—has been eradicated from the earth since the mid 1980’s. And I’m seriously concerned that Mpox is poised to take over the ecological niche that smallpox inhabited for so long. [Smallpox had been around for millennia; though many years ago it wasn’t the scourge it was when it was eradicated. But by the 1700’s it had become such a terrible disease that vaccination and eradication were absolutely appropriate things to do.]
It should be noted that eradication of smallpox was possible because the virus was an entirely human virus; it had no animal reservoir, as Mpox seems to have in monkeys. This would make eradication of Mpox considerably more difficult since immunizing all those monkeys . . . . . (holy cow) [This is also why eradication of polio is possible; it also has no non-human reservoir.]
But enough of history. It’s the future I’m concerned about. A vaccine against smallpox has existed since the time of Dr. Jenner, when he began inoculating people with cowpox (a pox-like disease similar to smallpox but much less severe). This was the first “vaccine” to be used to prevent a dread disease. [BTW, the term “vaccine” and “vaccinia” are derived from the Latin word vacca, which means “cow”.] Eventually, medical science turned to another virus closely related to smallpox, but with a rather cloudy history called “vaccinia” virus, as the virus to immunize against smallpox. And it has worked very well. Smallpox could be eradicated by tracking down and immunizing all people who had any contact with known cases of smallpox in countries where outbreaks occurred, and where routine immunization wasn’t practiced.
Smallpox vaccine is a live vaccine; by putting a small drop on the skin of the upper arm and scoring the skin with a small pinprick, the virus was forced under the skin and began to grow and replicate and form a very limited infection. But the vaccinia virus couldn’t produce a disease much beyond the place it was inoculated, and it caused a good response of the person’s immune system, a response that gave very good protection against smallpox.
(There is a vaccine against Mpox, but it’s given by injection rather than a pinprick on the skin.)
What concerns me about these two closely related diseases is that Mpox cases seem to be on the rise, and the cases are becoming more serious. I’m very concerned that Mpox will eventually take over the ecological niche that smallpox once occupied, and could potentially become just as serious as smallpox once was. That might make eradication much more difficult. It’s time we started immunizing everyone against smallpox again. Bring back the smallpox vaccine, starting with children of about five years of age and above. We should hit Mpox before it gets out of control. Inoculation with smallpox vaccine protects against Mpox, and should be brought back and used. I never liked stopping widespread smallpox vaccination after eradication. It seemed at the time as though we were “temping fate,” just waiting for something to take over the niche smallpox occupied. A poor decision at the time, and I’m concerned that we are now paying the price of lax vaccination with the rise in Mpox. We have to hit this disease now, or risk the increase in Mpox cases with its concomitant rise in severity.
Bring back smallpox vaccination now.