Oct. 18 — Stuck with 30-year-old
data about the effects of the smallpox vaccine, federal officials have
created a comprehensive system to track and monitor those who may
receive the shots.
The system would include pre-vaccination screening and educational
programs, database tracking and checkups of those immunized, access to
government-stockpiled medication to treat side effects and a
24-hour-a-day help line staffed by experts.
Although all vaccines are scrutinized for safety, the smallpox
monitoring system will be the largest ever. The vaccine can cause severe
side effects and even death.
"We always think about any untoward events" regarding vaccines, said
Dr. Myron Levin, a member of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. "But I think
here we're pushing ahead faster than usual. The timetable has been moved
up because of national safety and security concerns."
The monitoring is needed, experts say, because most smallpox vaccine
data ended when routine vaccinations stopped in 1972 in the United
States.
The system, initially intended for the first wave of health care
workers to be immunized, will provide crucial safety data on how people
reacted to the shot and logistical experience should all Americans need
the vaccine.
"We rarely vaccinate 500,000 people at once," Levin said.
Concerns that rogue nations might have access to smallpox, a virus
that was declared eradicated from the world two decades ago, has
prompted the White House to consider making smallpox vaccine available
to health care workers and the public.
No decision has been made. But earlier this week the CDC advisory
committee recommended that about 510,000 hospital workers be immunized.
Federal health officials have suggested offering shots to about 10
million health care workers and eventually making the vaccine available
to the public.
photo credit and caption:
Dr. D. A. Henderson, special adviser
to Health & Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and the Bush
administrations top smallpox expert, speaks at the Department of
Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention's Advisory Committee of Immunization Practices meeting on
the smallpox vaccine in Atlanta Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2002. (AP
Photo/Ric Feld)
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Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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