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Published
Sunday, January 26, 2003
Smallpox vaccine questions abound
Shots to be given next month; safety an issue for those getting
them
Last modified at 12:00 a.m. on Sunday, January 26, 2003
LINCOLN (AP) -- When Nebraska medical and law enforcement
officials take smallpox vaccinations in early February, Dr. Richard Morin
will be there with his sleeve rolled up.
"I've made it quite clear I am taking it," Morin told the Lincoln Journal
Star. "For two reasons: I think it's very effective. Second, I'm telling
everyone it's a good idea."
As an infectious disease doctor and chief medical officer for BryanLGH
Medical Center, Morin is dead center in the debate between national
anti-terrorist policy and local concerns over the vaccine's safety.
Smallpox was eradicated 25 years ago, but is now feared to be in the
hands of terrorists.
There has been great deal of discussion about the vaccine among the 250
BryanLGH personnel who could become part of Nebraska's first-response team
in the event of a terrorist attack, Morin said.
Only one air ambulance service among all organizations approached about
taking the vaccine statewide has refused it, said Dr. Richard Raymond, the
state's chief medical officer.
Historically, 10 percent of those vaccinated develop a temperature over
100 degrees, and for every 1 million vaccinations, about 1,000 suffer
serious, nonlife-threatening illnesses. About 15 to 50 per million develop
life-threatening conditions, while about one-third contract encephalitis.
The rest develop a skin infection like a bad burn all over their bodies. One
or two a million die.
Because of the risks, no vaccine will be given to anyone who is pregnant,
has skin conditions like excema or acne or has a compromised immune system.
For some on the fence about whether to take the vaccine, an unresolved
issue is liability. The Homeland Security Act of 2002, which took effect
Friday, exempts vaccine manufacturers and hospitals from lawsuits over
smallpox vaccine. Some workman's compensation insurers have agreed to cover
medical complications that result from an inoculation. Others have said that
since vaccination is voluntary, it is not covered, Raymond said.
The debate follows Nebraska's becoming one of the first states to receive
the smallpox vaccine after 4,000 doses were delivered last week.
Vaccination of the state's 3,500 member smallpox preparedness team will
begin Feb. 10 at sites across the state.
The other 500 doses will be set aside in case smallpox is reported in
Nebraska.
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