Grady
Hospital opts out of smallpox vaccinations
ATLANTA (AP) Grady Memorial Hospital has opted out of a state and
nationwide campaign to vaccinate health care workers against
smallpox as a precaution against bioterrorism.
``Grady has balanced the known dangers of the smallpox vaccine,
which can in some instances cause serious side effects, against the
unlikely risk of exposure to the smallpox virus,'' spokeswoman Karen
Frashier said Monday.
In the event of imminent danger of smallpox transmission, Grady
``would move rapidly to vaccinate health care workers,'' Frashier
said.
The decision came three days after President Bush opened voluntary
vaccination to emergency workers and two weeks after the state
Division of Public Health said Grady would be one of the first
Georgia hospitals offered the vaccine.
Dr. Kathleen Toomey, the state health director, said she was not
concerned by Grady's position.
``I think it's a reflection of the fact that we have done our job in
making people realize that this vaccination is voluntary,'' Toomey
said. ``We are not strong-arming them in any way.''
The federal government decided to relaunch vaccination against
smallpox, which has not been used in the United States since 1972,
based on fears that terrorists might use the highly infectious,
frequently fatal disease as a weapon.
The federal smallpox policy, announced Friday, calls for mandatory
vaccination for about 510,000 military personnel and voluntary
vaccination for about 440,000 civilian smallpox-response teams and
emergency-room staff.
For every 1 million vaccinations, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention estimates, there will be one to two deaths; 14 to 52
life-threatening reactions, including gangrene, encephalitis and
severe skin infections; and 50 to 900 other side effects, such as
rashes, fevers and viral eruptions far from the vaccination site.
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) |
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