By Pamela Berry
pberry@clarionledger.com

About 5,000 of Mississippi's healthcare workers are likely to be vaccinated for smallpox before the end of December in the first round of nationwide immunizations, State Health Officer Dr. Ed Thompson said.

That figure translates roughly into about 50 workers per hospital who will be selected, based on their likelihood of having to treat victims of the deadly virus in their areas, he said.

"We've already developed plans to do this because our state was already working on this," Thompson said of the multi-phase smallpox vaccination program still awaiting final approval from President George Bush.

"We've been told that the rough timetable is about December or January," Thompson said. "We don't have the vaccine, of course, because this is all under consideration. But until we've been told what the final plan is, we in Mississippi are planning as best we can for this."

Since Sept. 11, smallpox has emerged as a possible terrorist threat despite its eradication more than 20 years ago.

Federal health officials have recommended Bush proceed with the smallpox vaccination program for emergency medical workers considered most at risk in the event of a bioterrorist attack.

Officials estimate up to half a million hospital workers, mainly critical care and emergency room employees, could be offered the vaccine against the deadly virus.

Hinds County Emergency Management Director Larry Fisher said if he's eventually asked to take the vaccination, it will be his third time to receive it.

"I received my first vaccination when I was probably about 5 or 6 years old," Fisher said. "You had to have it before you started school. Even today, I still have the smallpox scar on my left arm. I got vaccinated again while I was in the (military) service. If I have to be first in line to get the shot again to show support for this, I will."

Often confused with chicken pox, smallpox is a contagious viral infection that causes high fever, a blistering painful rash and disfigurement.

Most patients with smallpox recover, but in the past, death occurred in up to 30 percent of cases. Due to the increase in people with suppressed immune systems in the U.S. population, the mortality rate could be much higher today, officials have said.

Thompson said no one knows if people previously vaccinated against smallpox maintain any immunity from the virus.

"No one is absolutely sure because the kind of test we'd need to do in order to know can't be ethically done," Thompson said. "However, it's possible you may have a little leftover protection and may have a milder case."

Currently, only scientists who handle the virus are given vaccinations against it.

Smallpox vaccine hasn't been administered in the United States since 1972.

In 1980, it was declared eradicated worldwide.

Only the United States and Russia are known to possess small quantities of the virus. But many experts fear the virus could be acquired by terrorists or rogue nations.

Stanley Chapman, chairman of infectious diseases at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said they are currently developing a program on how they'd respond to a smallpox threat.

"Because of the nature of the illness of these patients, I would think that we would select emergency room personnel, critical care physicians, critical care nurses, workers in the intensive care units and others who would likely see these patients," Chapman said. "It's like when hospitals had to go in and identify those who were likely to get Hepatitis B. They focused their preventive health program for high-risk individuals."

Send this article as a postcard