Immunization Newsbriefs (c) Copyright Information Inc., Bethesda, MD. Brought to you by the National Network for Immunization Information (NNii). Visit NNii's new website at http://www.immunizationinfo.org.
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October 11, 2002
U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS
"Bioterrorism Threat Spurs Local Action"
Boston Globe (www.boston.com/globe) (10/10/02) P. 1; Rattigan, David
For public health officials in Boston, training and education are key instruments they are using to prepare for a bioterrorist attack. City and state officials have made education in emergency response preparedness a priority following last year's terrorist attacks and the mailing of a white powder to over a dozen area police stations this past September. Peter Mirandi, director of public health in Danvers, Mass., says the most important task right now is "identifying roles at the local level." The areas Mirandi says are most in need of the investigative expertise of public health officials are disease, risk analysis, communication, and approving immunizations and quarantine. Meetings like the New England Environmental Health Association Conference held last month sought to train attendees on the differences between smallpox and chicken pox, diagnosing anthrax, inoculations, and decontamination treatments, as will the upcoming state-sponsored Emergency Management Conference, which will be attended by health department and other city and town officials. As for mass immunizations, Salem health officials are still fleshing out the details for where to administer vaccinations, although nurses in the city are being recruited to participate in the immunization effort.
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