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July 09, 2003

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

“Eczema: Promise and Pox”

Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (07/08/03) P. F1; Chang, Elizabeth

Eczema patients are currently advised not to receive the smallpox vaccine or to come into contact with those who have received the vaccine recently due to the risk of complications.  Those with skin disorders are at risk for the complication eczema vaccinatum, in which the smallpox vaccine replicates at the injection site and lesions spread to other parts of the body.  Experts say that currently the risk of complications for eczema patients is higher than the risk of exposure to smallpox, though this would change if a smallpox bioterrorist attack took place.  Eczema patients should also avoid those who have recently received the smallpox inoculation because the virus can be transmitted until the vaccination site heals.  If a smallpox epidemic were to occur, only then would the population of eczema patients be advised to be inoculated depending on their risk of exposure.