Replies

>> 15% of those who have not been vaccinated will die from a smallpox infection.<<

Actually more like 30%.

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/Agent/Smallpox/Smallpox.asp
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,180313,00.html

Higher mortality rate for old people, children aged 2 and younger, and those with compromised immune systems, e.g., people on cancer chemotherapy, organ transplant recipients, etc.

One researcher says 52% fatalities in unvaccinated.
http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/bioter/effectsmallpoxvaclonger.html

There's little doubt that Iraq possesses and will use smallpox as a weapon. Iraqi military are routinely inoculated against smallpox. In the event that smallpox is deployed against US military in Iraq or within the US, refusing to get vaccinated means that you will become a carrier and infect countless others. Not good.

I doubt very much that vaccination will be mandatory unless smallpox is released into the general population. The vaccine itself causes deaths and neurological damage in a tiny percentage of people.

I understand the higher numbers may be more accurate for an actual epidemic. I was using an overly conservative number to point out the dangers of this disease and the need for vaccinations if otential exposure is probable. In short I am arguing for making the vaccine available for those who wish to be vaccinated. Every person who voluntarily gets the vaccine not only protects themselves (something I would do but would not force another to do) but also contributes to the herd immunity.

Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown

>> 15% of those who have not been vaccinated will die from a smallpox infection.<< Actually more like 30%.

Maybe, maybe not. Check this out: “Smallpox has a slow transmission and is not highly contagious,” stated Joel Kuritsky, MD, director of the National Immunization Program and Early Smallpox Response and Planning at the CDC.

It seems that even though this is a deadly disease, there is a lot of hype concerning it. For more information, see the following article: http://www.mercola.com/2002/jul/10/smallpox_outbreak.htm