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April 10, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Smallpox Vaccine Plan Gets Officials' Attention"

Seattle Times (seattletimes.nwsource.com) (04/08/02) P. B1; King, Warren

In Seattle, this week's BioDefense Mobilization Conference will be attended by more than 400 public-health officials, commercial vendors of germ-detection devices, and emergency personnel. Public-health officials have been concerned for some time that terrorists might intentionally infect themselves with smallpox and mingle among large crowds across the United States, spreading the highly contagious disease.  For that reason, officials have called for a  national debate on the best way to immunize the population against the disease.  The debate primarily revolves around the question of who should get the smallpox vaccine now. One camp argues that everyone should get the vaccine, even though it can cause severe side effects and death in one or two cases out of a million.  Others argue that only those people who are at the highest risk of contracting the disease, such as emergency health-care personnel, should get the vaccine now.   The current

national policy, as expressed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is to implement a policy of "ring vaccinations" if smallpox were to break out in the United States, which involves isolating anyone suspected of having smallpox and their contacts and vaccinating them against the disease at that point. Critics argue, however, that terrorists launching an attack with smallpox are likely to do so at different places around the country, and that a ring vaccination program would be unable to stop the spread of the disease.

ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.