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http://ipsapp002.lwwonline.com/content/getfile/1661/21/9/abstract.htm
Following the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 there has been increased concern about bioterrorism, much of it focused on smallpox. Routine smallpox vaccination in the USA was discontinued in 1972 and most US citizens are susceptible to smallpox. The last natural case of smallpox occurred in 1978 but the virus has been stocked in freezers. If a terrorist had access to stored smallpox virus a release could produce a chaotic situation. In response the USA has developed a program for vaccinating adults but children have been left out. The only available vaccine has recently been tested in adults but a proposal for testing children was not approved. We need to know if available vaccines are safe for children so children can be safely and effectively vaccinated in an emergency situation.
CDC: Centers for Disease Control
aDepartment of Pediatrics and of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, and Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital New Haven, CT, USA and bDepartment of Pediatrics, Eastern Virginia Medical School and Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, Norfolk, VA, USA
Correspondence to Dr Robert S. Baltimore, Department of Pediatrics and of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, and Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital New Haven, CT, USA Tel: 203-785-4655; fax: 203-785-7194; e-mail:robert.baltimore@yale.edu
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