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November 18, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Science: Notebook"

Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (11/18/02) P. A12

M. Elizabeth Halloran of Emory University and colleagues have found through a computer simulation study that mass public smallpox immunization may not be necessary, assuming that some "herd immunity" from pre-1972 inoculations still remains.  The researchers simulated a number of scenarios to see how a smallpox outbreak could spread in a community of 2,000 people.  They noted that, "although further research with larger-scale structured models is needed, our results suggest that increasing herd immunity, perhaps with a combination of pre-emptive voluntary vaccination and vaccination of first responders, could enhance the effectiveness of post-attack intervention." The authors' findings are published in the Nov. 15 issue of Science.

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