Definition

1. Noun:
   • A highly contagious viral disease: "Smallpox" is an acute, infectious disease caused by the variola virus. It is characterized by fever, severe weakness, and a distinctive skin rash that progresses to pus-filled blisters. These blisters form scabs that eventually fall off, often leaving permanent scars (pockmarks).

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The global eradication of smallpox is one of the greatest achievements in public health.
  • Before the vaccine, smallpox killed millions of people throughout history.
  • The patient exhibited the classic symptoms of smallpox, including high fever and a pustular rash.

Advanced Usage

• "To be infected with smallpox": to have contracted the disease.
  • The entire village was quarantined after several people were infected with smallpox.
• "Smallpox outbreak": a sudden occurrence of many cases of the disease in a community.
  • Health officials worked quickly to contain the smallpox outbreak.

Variants and Related Words

• Variola (n): The medical/scientific name for the smallpox virus and the disease it causes.
  • Variola major was the more severe and common form of the disease.
• Variolation (n): An early, risky method of immunization against smallpox involving deliberate infection with a small amount of the virus.
  • Variolation was practiced for centuries before the development of the safer vaccine.
• Smallpox vaccine (n): The vaccine that provides immunity against smallpox.
  • The smallpox vaccine contains a live virus called vaccinia.

Synonyms

• Variola (n): The formal medical term.
• The pox (n, historical/informal): A historical term often used to refer to smallpox or syphilis, depending on context.

Related Phrases

• "To be scarred by smallpox": to have permanent marks on the skin as a result of the disease.
  • Many survivors were scarred by smallpox for life.
• "Smallpox eradication": the complete elimination of the disease from the human population, declared by the WHO in 1980.
  • Smallpox eradication was possible due to a successful worldwide vaccination campaign.

Noun

1. a highly contagious viral disease characterized by fever and weakness and skin eruption with pustules that form scabs that slough off leaving scars