http://www.msnbc.com/news/844223.asp?0dm=C19NH
|
|||||||||||||||
|
Dec. 6
—
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
OVER THE past several months,
1,500 volunteers have participated in a study to test the controversial
vaccine’s safety. Dr. Tom Talbott, who organized one study at Tennessee’s Vanderbilt University, said scientists also want to find out how much they can dilute the vaccine and still have it work. Talbott said everyone who is vaccinated develops a sore on the arm where it’s injected. About a third experience swelling and redness. And about 10 percent experience flu-like symptoms. After receiving a smallpox inoculation, Mark Harris had a fever of 101 degrees. “For a period of about five to six hours, I was in a lot of pain, delirious from the fever. I had a lot of trouble just moving around,” Harris said. He even had to skip a few days of school. Elizabeth Forrester missed work. “Severe pain. Pain around the site, swelling, and it was just really kind of uncomfortable and achy,” Forrester said. It is not unexpected, but doctors testing the smallpox vaccine are seeing a lot of reactions in the young, healthy volunteers. |
||||||||
|
|
“Somewhere around 1 in 10 people end up taking a day or two off from work or school because they just don’t really feel well,” said Dr. John Treanor of the University of Rochester. President Bush is expected to decide soon to inoculate 500,000 troops and 500,000 health workers. The vaccine trials show that many of them will be incapacitated temporarily, and experts warn that a handful will suffer severe side effects — even death. |
|||||||
|
|
The problem is
that the smallpox vaccine, which is more than 200 years old, is different
from flu shots and other vaccines used today. It is made from a live virus,
closely related to smallpox, which causes an infection on the arm. The doctors conducting the tests say they were initially worried. “I think it is unusual to us as physicians because we’re not used to it,” Talbott said. But with experience, the physicians say they are feeling more comfortable giving the vaccine. And the volunteers say the risk and discomfort are worth the chance to help protect the country from a terrifying threat. The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
|||||||
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.