Posted on 06/27/2002 3:15:15 PM PDT by chance33_98
Some Americans Being Vaccinated Against Smallpox Virus Email story to a friend
Bio-terrorism has been a topic of concern since September 11th, with a specific focus on the smallpox virus. The question is should Americans be vaccinated? And if so, is there enough vaccine to go around? WAVE 3's Lori Lyle has more on a new study to answer those questions.
Because of the ongoing threat of terrorism, the government has been stockpiling the smallpox vaccine for months. And now, for the first time in about 30 years, Americans are being vaccinated against smallpox. The first in the nation are just down the road in Tennessee.
The warnings about the vaccine are pretty serious. Severe reactions can happen. You can infect others. "The only thing I worry about is the kids I take care of, I just don't want to pass it to any of them," said Kathryn Green, RN, who's involved in the study.
Green is the first person in Tennessee to get a dose of smallpox vaccine in decades. The vile was frozen for 50 years. They just discovered thousands of vials filled with vaccine and nobody's sure if the stuff still works. But they're going to find out. It takes 10 jabs with a dull needle. After two to four days, a blister filled with smallpox virus should erupt, scab over and heal.
"We are looking for adults who are between the ages of 18 and 32 years, who have never been vaccinated for smallpox before," said study coordinator Jennifer Bristol.
This study will prove if millions of doses will work, and whether they can dilute them to get even more to protect us all against bio-terrorism. For Green and the others, this feels like the patriotic thing to do. "Everything that's happened in this country recently, it's just a great feeling to know that we're going to work on something that, should the need arise it'll be available," she said.
The study is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. It is being conducted at four centers in the U.S. -- Vanderbilt University, the University of Iowa, Kaiser Permanente of Northern California, and Baylor College of Medicine.
There is some on order that will be available next year. The purpose of these tests is to determine if the already existing stocks are viable in case they were needed sooner.
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