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The US Administration for Food and Drugs, FDA for its acronym in English, approved the first drug to treat smallpox, a disease that no longer exists.
It's a "just in case" decision to make sure there's a drug to treat people If smallpox was used as a bioterrorist weapon, the FDA said: " This new treatment gives us an additional option if smallpox is used as a biological weapon, "said the FDA commissioner. Dr. Scott Gottlieb, in a statement
The drug called Tpoxx. Its generic name is tecovirimat. Because smallpox no longer infects people, its safety has been tested on 359 volunteers and its effectiveness has been proven in animals infected by relatives close to smallpox.
For drugs for the treatment of diseases such as smallpox. You can ethically test people to infect them intentionally, the FDA has special rules. If one can prove that the drug is safe for people and that it treats diseases in animals, the manufacturer of the drug may seek approval.
Smallpox was eradicated in 1980 after a sustained global vaccination campaign. The last known natural case dates from 1977. The last home in the United States. It was in 1949.
Nowadays, most people are not even vaccinated against smallpox. But the samples are still stored, and bioterrorism experts say some governments, including the former Soviet Union, have worked in the past to turn the virus into a biological weapon.
When it was still circulating, smallpox was a terrible disease. He killed about 30% of the people who caught him, and he scored a lot of survivors.
Smallpox killed 500 million people in the 20th century.
Causes pustules filled with fluid that can cover the whole body. The virus is very contagious, it spreads in the air, through direct contact and on surfaces touched by an infected person.
The first true vaccine was a smallpox, manufactured by Edward Jenner in 1796 from a related virus, bovine smallpox. Current vaccines are made from another related virus called vaccinia.
There has never been any specific treatment against smallpox. In the 20th century, doctors provided "supportive care" to patients, keeping them hydrated and reducing fever.
Tpoxx is a pill developed by SIGA Technologies with funds from the Federal Government's Advanced Biomedical Research and Development Authority. United States.
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