Health care workers train for smallpox vaccines

Vaccination News Home Page                                            subscribe Vaccination NewsLetter

http://www.msnbc.com/local/wsaz/M267016.asp

MSN Home   |   My MSN   |   Hotmail   |   Search   |   Shopping   |   Money   |   People & Chat  
msnbc.commsn.com
  Ameritrade    

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Charleston/Huntington, WV
Make this your Local News Top stories from:

 
   
Health care workers train for smallpox vaccines
 

By: WSAZ Charleston
 

CHARLESTON, WV, Jan. 28 - Health care workers in West Virginia are preparing for the threat of a smallpox attack. Nurses and doctors are training on how to give the vaccine.

Click here for more local news
 
E-Mail WSAZ NewsChannel 3
 
Back to WSAZ.COM
 
       It's a lesson nurses and doctors haven't studied for more than thirty years. But with the roll of the sleeve and the snap of a rubber glove, they're ready to learn.
     Health care workers have to use a special needle called a bifrucated needle. It's forked or split so it can prick the top layer of the skin, and get enough of the vaccine inside each person.
     "It was a little bit of fear, just the unknown of what it was going to feel like and how bad it's going to be and also it's a little bit of fear thinking this might actually happen in the United States of America," says Cathy Hill of Boone Memorial Hospital.
     Experts say one in one thousand patients will suffer serious side effects. One in one million can die from the vaccine.
     "It's scary but I feel like if somebody doesn't do this, if somebody doesn't go out and protect the people of our country, who's going to do it?  We send boys overseas to protect us, we need to stay and protect the people here," says Dorothy Hrko of the Wyoming County Health Department.
     "We're having to move forward without crystal balls, that's very difficult, there's no black and white with this. Bad things could happen, and we will not know whether it was worth it until we are able to look back in retrospect," says West Virginia Health Officer Dr. Cathy Slemp.
     But health care workers agree it's better to be proactive in preparing for the worst, than reactive if the worst would happen.
     Health care workers across the state will be the first to receive the vaccination sometime next month. President Bush says for now no one is recommending the vaccination for the general public.
Click here for more local news
 
E-Mail WSAZ NewsChannel 3
 
Back to WSAZ.COM
 

• Top Stories
• Local Sports
• Your Weather
• WSAZ First Warning Weather
» WSAZ ONLINE WEEK IN REVIEW
  Click to search Qwestdex.com
  Click to go to Classmates.com
• SEVERE WEATHER? START HERE AND FIND OUT
• JOHN MARRA'S HOME & GARDEN
• OUTDOORS AND STREAM REPORTS
FIRST WARNING WEATHER
 

As soon as Tony, Scott and Adam know, you know!
Choose more local news from participating MSNBC affiliates
• Clarksburg
• Roanoke
• Other Cities
Question or comment for this MSNBC affiliate?
Send us an email
  MSNBC is optimized for:
• Microsoft Internet Explorer
• Windows Media Player		 •  MSNBC Terms, Conditions and Privacy © 2003
 
Cover | News | Business | Sports | Health | Technology | Living & Travel
TV News | Opinions | Weather - Local | Comics |
Information Center | Help | News Tools | Write Us | Terms, Conditions, and Privacy
  MSN - More Useful Everyday
  MSN Home   |   My MSN   |   Hotmail   |   Search   |   Shopping   |   Money   |   People & Chat
  ©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use  Advertise  Truste Approved Privacy Statement  GetNetWise
 

Vaccination News Home Page

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.