Unbriefed on risks, 2 in 3 want smallpox vaccine, poll says

By LAURA MECKLER, Associated Press
Published 11:30 a.m. PST Wednesday, December 11, 2002

WASHINGTON (AP) - Two of every three people in the United States are willing to be vaccinated against smallpox, a disease feared as a possible agent of bioterrorism, a poll released Wednesday finds.

The survey also found about six in 10 are worried that smallpox, wiped from the globe more than 20 years ago, will return in an act of bioterror.

People most trust their own doctors to give them correct information about how to protect themselves from disease caused by bioterrorism - although most regular doctors know little about smallpox and other rare diseases likely to result from an attack.

The question about getting the smallpox vaccine was asked after a series of questions about the threat of bioterrorism, so people being surveyed may have been thinking more about the threats than about the risks of the vaccine.

Also, people were not given details about the vaccine's risks: Fifteen of every million people being vaccinated for the first time will face life-threatening complications, and one or two will die.

People are significantly less likely to trust government agencies and officials for information, suggesting the government has a big job ahead of itself to educate doctors, who can then pass the information to their patients.

"Information about diagnosing and treating diseases used in bioterrorism needs to get to the front lines of the health system - doctors," said the report commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Among government officials, the most trusted is the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Overall, most of the public believes the nation is somewhat better prepared to handle a biological or chemical attack than it was last year, when anthrax was sent through the mail, though only a handful say the country is very well prepared.

Pollster Michael Perry noted that smallpox has received increased attention in the media as President Bush nears a decision about offering the smallpox vaccine to the public for the first time in three decades.

"A growing number of people have moved from being uninformed about the disease and the vaccine to a state of heightened concern about the possibility of a smallpox attack," Perry said.

On smallpox, the poll found that 65 percent of people are willing to be vaccinated, although it "may produce serious side effects in a small number of cases." Twenty-two percent said they would not get the vaccine, and 14 percent said they didn't know.

The telephone poll of 1,002 adults was conducted Oct. 20-30. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.