I am a physician and deal with children's health care issues regularly. This statement is ill-conceived and should never have been published.
1. Ring Vaccination does not apply in a bioterror attack because the number of index cases can be in the hundreds to thousands. When the first cases are diagnosed, there will not be solo cases that are scattered. There will be dozens and dozens of cases with thousands of potentially infected contacts. These contacts must receive the needed vaccines within a few days. Yet, this county and the State of California has failed under Gray Davis' poor leadership to execute appropriate civil defense planning, imperiling millions of children in our state.
In comments published in the Arizona Daily Star public health authorities have already admitted existing plans are insufficient to protect the US citizenry. In the attachment following this brief statement, I will publish the exact text of the CDC's current recommendation.
(http://www.azstarnet.com/attack/20924nsmallpox.html) Quoting the article, "But Orenstein also pointed out that a smallpox outbreak could kill 300,000 people out of 1 million, making it an easy decision to take the vaccine."
2. AAP is a liberal organization who is supporting recommendations which will restrict civil liberties and force us into lockdowns and travel restrictions in the event of a biological attack. These restrictions will debilitate the US economy at the very time when our nation requires strength in a time of war.
Quoting the Arizona Daily Star's excellent story: "Last year, the CDC released a plan for vaccinating a "containment ring" of people exposed to a smallpox-infected patient. That plan instructs state and local authorities to be prepared to establish isolation facilities, suspend travel and put parts of cities into quarantine in the event of a smallpox attack."
In the event an attack occurs at a major sporting event or transportation center (like an airport, train station, or sea port), the initially ill will be spread over thousands of square miles.
3. AAP has timed the release of this press release to coincide with a major national security speech by the President of the United States. The failure of the AAP to put US national security first and their own political interests second reflects the liberal and socialist bias within the academy.
This policy statement is a product of politics, not scientific or clinical medical judgement.
It is outrageous that a major medical association would be reckless with US national security. In fact, the naivetee displayed by the physicians is profound. In the face of clear and unequivocal evidence that the Iraqi regime is pursuing biological weapons capable of delivery in the US, possible previous assault by Iraqi agents in the use of weaponized anthrax one year ago, and proven intent to utilize weapons of mass destruction; the AAP proposes to leave our children at risk of attack from Saddam's war machine.
It is obvious that minds like Benjamin Spock are laying a course that permits tyrannts to rule and threaten our children for the next generation.
I will not permit it!
This committee's decision can be best understood when one considers the fact that Bill Clinton and Janet Reno were invited to speak at the 1999 National Convention of the AAP in Washington DC only a few mere weeks after being impeached. AAP has consistently demonstrated bias in favor of Hillary Clinton's agenda, which is detrimental to our security and our lives.
We will not permit the AAP's existing warped prism to prevent truth from coming out. The AAP would be better served if they ceased this obstruction of vaccine distribution.
AAP claims that they are interested in the best interests of America's children.
Today, in the worst fashion, we see that AAP has it's own politics at it's heart, not the safety of America's children.
I am a conservative physician and would prefer to debate on the medical policiy issues. However, unfamiliar individuals need to be educated regarding the AAP's poor record of maintaining political independence.
Lest the reader believe that these opinions are only predicated on personal issues, let us discuss some facts based on CDC's own documents.
In reviewing the existing CDC Smallpox Recommendation there is a list of MANDATORY steps which MUST be taken prior to the attack.
NONE of these steps have been taken by the Davis Administration.
NONE were taken by the Clinton Administration.
THE AAP has not put resources in place to execute this plan.
This statement from the AAP is hypocritical political diatribe.
The American people and physicians across the United States are responsible. We are more than adult enough to handle the limited risks involved with this vaccine.
It is high time for AAP's bribed doctors, who control recommendations for the limitation of vaccine distribution to demonstrate some clinical judgement.
That clinical judgement is that voluntary immunization is an ethical, practical, and appropriate solution to the national security threat posed by the Iraqi biological weapons machine.
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Quoting CDC's own document on the existing smallpox vaccination strategy. http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/smallpox/response-plan/index.asp
Rationale for these Guidelines: Prevention of the spread of smallpox virus from patients to others is a critical part of the control strategy.
Smallpox patients usually transmit infection by expelled droplets to close contacts (those within 6 to 7 feet).
Although smallpox patients generally are infectious from the time of first development of rash, the earliest stages of the rash may be difficult to recognize.
However, preceding the development of rash, the patient will run a high fever for 2 to 3 days.
Isolation of a possible case from the time of onset of fever will provide a sufficient time to assure appropriate isolation measures are in place at the onset of their infectious period (rash). This isolation strategy in addition to vaccination of all of the close contacts to the case should sharply limit the spread of smallpox.
Suggested Pre-Event Activities Associated with Isolation/Quarantine Procedures
1. Assure local and/or state legal statures are in place to allow public health intervention and implementation of the isolation and quarantine measures outlined in this section.
2. Identify personnel responsible for local/state coordination of isolation and quarantine activities.
3. Identify appropriate facilities to be utilized for isolation and care of smallpox patients and febrile contacts as outlined and establish procedures for activating them.
4. Identify appropriate law enforcement entities to enforce isolation and quarantine orders.
5. Identify appropriate personnel (medical, maintenance, etc.) to maintain/staff facilities.
6. Establish procedures for monitoring and controlling access to facilities.
7. Establish procedures for appropriate disposal of medical waste when using a non-medical facility.
8. Establish laundry service arrangements (on-site if possible) and appropriate disposal of medical waste.
9. Arrange for food service support for facility occupants.
10. Establish procedures for monitoring health status of facility staff and plans for referral to appropriate care.
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Note: Very severe cases of smallpox (e.g. hemorrhagic and malignant) may generate aerosols spread the virus more widely than what is usually seen. Additional special measures (described below) may be needed in facilities where patients with hemorrhagic or severe (malignant) smallpox are seen.
One by J. Donald Millar, Free to Choose the Smallpox Vaccine. Millar is vice chair and a distinguished fellow of the Public Health Policy Advisory Board, and is a former head of the Smallpox Eradication Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Also, two others put out by the Cato Institute's Charles Pena:
The general public is uninformed about the dangers of ALL vaccines already. So what's his point?
The Bush administration itself is not sure what strategy is best, so why do you get off calling this organization's recommendation politically motivated. I think you have been drinking too much flouridated water or something. You certainly are paranoid.
Maybe the pediatricians strategy isnt right, however, I think they are right to be concerned about vacinnating every child against a pathogen that may never be released against them or any other child in this country. From what I understand, the current vacine has not been tested on children but that past evidence with older vacines has shown that children suffer more adverse effects than adults.
The alternate strategy to ring vacination is vacinating everyone either voluntarily or involuntarily. From what Ive read recently this could not be done currently even if every doctor and nurse were relieved of their current duties. The article I read recently suggested that it would take until 2004 for all citizens to be vacinated.
What is your concern about restricting travel? I sure as hell would shoot anyone who attempted to leave a contaminated area and thereby spread the disease further. You must be a libertarian who thinks he can do whatever he god damn wants to protect his ass even if it contaminates another 100,000 individuals. Fine example.
Ok bones, you said it. You support it. What's your evidence for this. If you provided any, you sure buried it. I didnt know the DNC had a political position on smallpox vacination. Could you share with us what it is? I still think you ought to write yourself a script for Thorazine.
For later reading.