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"Protecting the health and informed consent rights of children since 1982."
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FROM THE SUN SENTINEL, FLORIDA http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/letters/sfl-brmail881apr30,0,3811761.story?coll=sfla%2Dnews%2Dletters
Reason few seek smallpox vaccine
Jeffrey S. Sartin, M.D.
LaCrosse, Wis.
April 30, 2003
I read with interest your recent report that Florida will begin vaccinating first responders against smallpox ("Low turnout feared for smallpox shots plan," April 25). As an infectious disease physician in Wisconsin who has helped administer the program locally and who has seen several severe vaccine complications, I believe it is an unwise decision.
The cost and resource issues are well-known and do not need to be reiterated. What is more important is the significant health risk of the vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted 45 serious complications, including 10 confirmed or probable cases of myocarditis (heart inflammation) and four heart attacks, two fatal, among the 33,444 civilians vaccinated so far. That is a risk of 1 in 740, which is far and above any risk we would consider acceptable for a medical treatment.
In La Crosse we have seen a severe case of myocarditis requiring intensive care unit admission and a fatal illness possibly linked to the vaccine. The current vaccine is a live virus, which causes complications in unpredictable ways. Ironically, safer vaccines exist and have been used in the past in other countries; they are currently being investigated for approval in the U.S.
The program nationally has been rather unsuccessful, with less than 10 percent participation of the target group of health workers. The serious complications and lack of adequate compensation for illness have kept recipients away in the absence of an actual smallpox outbreak. Why any state would want to build upon this failure by expanding the program is anyone's guess. The result is predictable: more vaccine complications, and possibly more deaths, for no discernible gain
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ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND
MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION
PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS
OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR
LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND
COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH
YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.