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September 30, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Large-Scale Vaccination Called Risky Though Rarely, Smallpox Shots Can be Deadly" USA Today (www.usatoday.com) (09/30/02) P. 1A; Manning, Anita

Widespread smallpox vaccinations may be deadly to more Americans than last year's anthrax attack, warned scientists after a report indicated that the Bush Administration plans to announce a policy to offer voluntary smallpox vaccinations to thousands of first-line-of defense workers.  The plan would cover emergency care, health care, fire and police personnel, and ultimately all Americans in the event of a bioterrorist attack.  Earlier this summer, when the idea of mass vaccination was discussed, scientists agreed that the risk of the vaccine itself was too great and outweighed its benefits.  About one to two people out of every million immunized with the smallpox vaccine would die, said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and severe side effects are rare, as witnessed during mass vaccinations during the 1960s.  However, Ronald Atlas, president of the American Society for Microbiology, notes that the 20 percent to 25 percent of those people who did suffer adverse reactions caught the vaccine virus from recently immunized people, and with the number of cancer and AIDS patients and others who now have weakened immune systems, the rate of serious side effects could rocket much higher.  He says that "as long as the perceived risk [of bioterrorist attack] is low, risking the death of hundreds, to thousands, of Americans is not a step I'd endorse."

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