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March 29, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Smallpox Vaccine Supply Jumps"

USA Today (www.usatoday.com) (03/29/02) P. 3A; Manning, Anita

The U.S. smallpox vaccine supply has been increased with the donation of Aventis Pharmaceuticals' 85 million doses it found among its supplies of medicines dating back some 40 years.  The supply will also be stretched by a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) finding, publishing in the New England Journal of Medicine, that the smallpox vaccine is still efficacious when its density is diluted up to five times.  A 1-to-10 dilution also showed some effectiveness, but NIAID Director Anthony Fauci is unsure when [at what dilution] the potency falls.  The ability to dilute the vaccine gives the U.S. government enough doses to inoculate every American.

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