Poll: Three-fifths would get smallpox vaccination

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three-fifths of Americans say they would want a smallpox vaccination if it were widely available, according to an Associated Press poll that suggests continued nervousness about bioterrorism. About half of the respondents say they are concerned about the threat of a smallpox attack and think last month's anthrax attacks are the beginning of an extended campaign, according to the poll conducted for The AP by ICR of Media, Pa. Some of those still concerned about bioterrorism say they generally are nervous because they do not know what's coming next.

"To me, now, anything can happen," said Michelle Hunt, a 50-year-old retail clerk from Boulder City, Nev. "If it's out there, it could happen. I try not to worry about it."

The U.S. government is stockpiling the smallpox vaccine in case of terrorist attacks, but has no plans to routinely vaccinate the general public. Smallpox vaccine is made with a live virus related to smallpox, so it can cause some very serious side effects. Experts estimate that if every American were vaccinated against smallpox, some 400 people would die from the vaccine.

A majority of Americans indicate they would get the vaccine if it were available, even after they are informed of the possible risks.

"Smallpox is incredibly contagious and they only have 15 million vaccinations," said 28-year-old Bradford Rubinoff of Tucson, Ariz. "If people would use anthrax against us, who's to say they wouldn't use smallpox?"

Asked if he would want to get the smallpox vaccination even though it carries some health risks, Rubinoff said, "Absolutely."

Among the risks: About 3 in every 1 million people vaccinated would get encephalitis, which can cause permanent brain damage or death. Another 250 would get a smallpox-like rash that also can be fatal if not properly treated.

People with weak immune systems — patients who have AIDS, cancer or organ transplants or are taking high-dose steroids — are most at risk for the side effects, as are people with the skin condition eczema.

The anthrax attacks through the mail, which rattled the nation throughout October, had subsided a bit. But last week's discovery of a suspicious letter to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., may revive public concern.

People are evenly split about whether the anthrax attacks are part of a long-term campaign.

The number who think the anthrax attacks are likely to continue in the coming months is 45%, down only slightly from the height of the anthrax scare in mid-October, according to the poll of 1,003 people taken Nov. 9-13. The poll, conducted before the discovery of the Leahy letter, has an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Young adults between 18 and 34 were twice as likely as those over 65 to think the anthrax attacks are the beginning of a long terror campaign.

"I am worried about it," said 18-year-old Veronica Gallo of San Bernardino, Calif. "Watching it on the news over and over — it scares me. I tend to stay more with my family these days. It's pretty much all the stuff that's going on ... anthrax, plane crashes."

Some of the continuing concerns about anthrax may have to do with bad information. A quarter of the people in the poll erroneously think anthrax is contagious.

Albert Sturms, a 65-year-old retiree from Montcalm, W.Va., said he got a smallpox vaccination when he was a child, but does not know if it still protects him. Scientists believe smallpox vaccinations that were given until the early 1970s probably will not provide protection if smallpox re-emerges.

"Afghanistan is not the only country that is involved in this terrorism from what I understand," said Sturms. "There's plenty of people out there who still want to do the United States harm."

About a fourth of the public say the handling of the anthrax scare gave them more confidence in the government's ability to protect citizens from future terrorist attacks. Almost that many say it gave them less confidence — with Democrats twice as likely as Republicans to say they had lost confidence. About half said it has not affected their confidence level.

"My confidence was not affected," said 26-year-old Christine Jarrell Ratke, a college student from Ferndale, Mich., near Detroit. "I was not surprised they were slow to react. ... It's new and the government isn't perfect. I don't think it can protect us from everything."

If EVERY American was vaccinated, PERHAPS 400 would die of complications from the smallpox vaccine. Well, inhalation anthrax was supposed to be a lot more deadly than it proved to be--when doctors and emergency personnel were on the ball from the get go. (That one man was left home to die, having made two futile 911 calls in which he mentioned being exposed to white powder in a letter at the post office where he worked.)

Okay, so not every American will be vaccinated. Let's say the 3/5 who say they want it are the ones who get it. Right away you're looking at 240 deaths from complications--not 400. Now, what say we actually PAY ATTENTION when we're vaccinated, and our doctors take us seriously when we go in feeling sick afterward. Might that 240 deaths not be reduced substantially by early and attentive care? I'm certain it could be--and will be. Any bookies online? I'm prepared to say that nationwide vaccination of all who VOLUNTEER for the shot and whose doctors approve it (no point in giving it to people with AIDS or people on Chemo anyway)--I'm willing to BET that nationwide, not 50 would die of complications from a newly refined vaccine.

I am in this 3/5 majority. I want the vaccine. Isn't this technology practically ancient? Isn't there a company somewhere that's willing to make a bundle selling this shot to those of us who want it? I know there are legal risks --- which might be holding companies back --- but there are legal risks in all drug manufacturing/selling. Anyway, I stand ready. My checkbook is open. Get something approved by the FDA (I know, a hurdle there too) and I will buy it.

--how times change. In my childhood fifty years ago, the smallpox vaccination was the most feared by my contemporaries--it involved a scratch rather than a needle--now it sounds like the yuppie generation will nearly fight to get in line for it.

I want it for my kids. It's one of few vaccines I do believe in, it's not an attenuated vaccine that has a lot of stuff like aluminum added to it. It's just a live virus that causes a very minor infection in most people but gives them immunity against something far more serious. I'd give up the measles, mumps, chickenpox and hepatitis vaccines but in the face of any threat at all, the smallpox vaccine makes sense.

I'm almost an anti-vaccine kook. I refuse to get flu shots and I've come close to refusing the other vaccines for my kids like measles and mumps. I ran out and exposed them to chickenpox so they'd get the real thing while young and wouldn't get the vaccine which I don't trust because I know they had problems making it and I still don't trust it will give the titers high enough to fight off shingles later. But the smallpox vaccine isn't one I'd refuse.

"I ran out and exposed them to chickenpox so they'd get the real thing while young and wouldn't get the vaccine which I don't trust because I know they had problems making it and I still don't trust it will give the titers high enough to fight off shingles later."

I assume you researched and compared the risk of child death from chicken pox vice death from the chicken pox vaccine? Could you share the results of this research?

Did you read on Worldnetdaily today that some of the smallpox vaccines may be made with fetal cell lines? They said that the old vaccine is "no longer optimal". Some people may refuse the vaccine on these grounds. Convenient if you want to kill off the oposition, eh?

"Did you read on Worldnetdaily today that some of the smallpox vaccines may be made with fetal cell lines?"

"Fetal cell lines," is a buzzword boogeyman. I don't even know what it means. If your talking about stem cells (a certain type of primitive self-morphing cell), there's no basis in fact to the WND article. The active ingredient in the smallpox vaccine is a live but attenuated (non-lethal) version of the smallpox virus itself. They don't obtain it from the cells of dead babies.

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