Health Workers Have a Duty to Get Smallpox Shots

Peter Deckers

Last week, Connecticut became the first state in the nation to begin vaccinating its health care workers against smallpox, a very serious, highly contagious and frequently fatal infectious disease.

One would like to think that all health care workers who have been asked would agree to be vaccinated, not only for their own well-being but, more important, to be fully able to care for others during a smallpox crisis. It's comforting to know that many have quickly given their consent.

Yet surprisingly, others in Connecticut and elsewhere are refusing because of concerns of liability and personal safety. They argue that the chances of a smallpox outbreak are too small to warrant the risks associated with receiving the vaccine.

Too small? On Sept. 10, 2001, many things seemed not only remote, but impossible. The next day stunned this nation into facing a grim reality.

Indeed, there are potential side effects associated with the vaccine, but medicine has never been about absolute guarantees. The truth is that the complications are rare. How sad that some in health care appear to be putting their own interests ahead of the people they serve.

The vaccinations are being performed by a team from the University of Connecticut Health Center under the direction of the Connecticut Department of Public Health. The program is part of a comprehensive plan by our federal and state governments to help protect the American people in the event a hostile group maliciously spreads the disease. Once health care workers are vaccinated, the program will extend to the population at large.

Importantly, the vaccinations are voluntary, even for the hospital personnel, public health officials and emergency medical service workers who will be on the front lines of care should we experience a smallpox outbreak.

I strongly encourage every eligible health care worker in Connecticut to receive the vaccination. As a physician for more than 36 years, I am baffled that anyone in the service of medicine would knowingly turn down the vaccine, unless their personal medical status disqualifies them. Medical professionalism includes not only high skills and a sophisticated, up-to-date fund of medical knowledge, but also altruism, a sense of duty, commitment, compassion, courage, sacrifice and risk-taking.

Imagine if an outbreak occurs and certain qualified physicians, nurses and others could not step in to provide care because they chose not to be vaccinated when they had the opportunity. What would that say about our dedication to the public's health? Could we ever again expect or deserve the trust our patients and their families have shared with us so freely and completely in the past?

There is no cure for smallpox. Prevention is all we have. Once a person is infected with the disease, there is no pill, no shot, no technology to make it go away. Although many smallpox victims do recover, death may occur in up to 30 percent of cases. Many survivors are left with permanent scars over large areas of their bodies, especially their faces. Some lose their sight. Others have lasting neurological disabilities. Prevention is clearly the best medicine for smallpox, and the only way to prevent the disease is through vaccination.

Scientists at two of our country's most trusted research institutions, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have carefully examined the data and concluded that the public good would be best served by a nationwide vaccination program. The CDC has a wealth of easy-to-understand information about smallpox and the vaccine on the website www.cdc.gov. I recommend a visit to this site so that emotional reaction and prejudice can be replaced by the truth derived from real data.

Beyond the medical rationale, there is another compelling reason for our health care workers - and, later, the public - to get vaccinated. If we as a state and a nation do a very thorough job of vaccinating ourselves, perhaps we'll discourage those with ill intent from attempting to use the smallpox virus as a terrorist weapon in the first place. And that, after all, would be the ideal outcome.

Peter Deckers, M.D., is dean of the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and executive vice president of health affairs at the University of Connecticut Health Center.