WASHINGTON (AP) - Two women developed infections after
touching soldiers who had been vaccinated against smallpox and
then touching their eyes.
Both illnesses were preventable. Health authorities are
reminding people who get the shot to keep the spot where they
were inoculated covered and to avoid touching the skin and the
bandages that cover it.
Even people who have not been vaccinated can become ill if
they touch the inoculation site of someone who was.
Both women are recovering and not expected to have
permanent scars.
The first case involves a 26-year-old woman from the Los
Angeles area who slept in the same bed several times a week
with a man vaccinated in the military's program, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The man
often left his vaccination site uncovered, the CDC was told.
The woman was hospitalized and treated with vaccine immune
globulin, which can counteract the most serious reactions to
the vaccine.
In the second case, an 18-year-old woman handled the
bandage of a man vaccinated in the military program. She
developed lesions on her arms and then swelling in her eye.
The CDC did not say where she lives.
This brings to three the number of moderate-to-severe
reactions among civilians as a result of smallpox
vaccinations. Last week, the CDC reported that a 39-year-old
Florida nurse appeared to have a rash called generalized
vaccinia.
The smallpox vaccine is made with a live virus called
vaccinia, which can cause illness if it escapes the
inoculation site and infects another part of the body.
Vaccinia can also infect those who come into contact with
people who have been vaccinated.
The CDC also reported three other serious illnesses since
the program began, for a total of four, though all of them are
not necessarily related to the vaccinations. The new cases
were a women with a headache and dizziness, a man with high
blood pressure and a severe headache and a woman whose gall
bladder was removed because of an acute inflammation.
In addition, the CDC reported 21 nonserious events,
including fever, pain and rash, for a total of 46 since the
program began.
---
On the Net:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
http://www.cdc.gov