Bandage Cost Concerns With Smallpox Vaccinations - virus can seep out and harm others??

wkrn ^

[chance33_98]

Bandage Cost Concerns With Smallpox Vaccinations

Bandage Cost Concerns With Smallpox Vaccinations

Reporter: Silvia Castaneda

A terrorist attack involving smallpox is a real threat, but the biggest hurdle in developing a vaccination plan is not the cost - it's the bandages.

Tricia Mewbourne went to Vanderbilt Medical Center to get a bandage change. She has a sore on her arm from the smallpox vaccine.

"You see the seepage and you wonder whether it's going outside," Tricia said.

The "it" she was talking about is the live virus in the vaccine. If the virus were to escape from her arm and expose others: "Certain individuals can get fairly ill and even die from this virus."

So Tricia and other Vanderbilt study volunteers are having sores kept under double wraps, using two bandages. Bandages are changed every three days for a few weeks. Each change costs a dollar, so in a mass vaccination situation: "If you multiply that by hundreds of thousands or several thousand individuals, it could be very costly," said Dr. Tom Talbot.

And if most of the state would have to be vaccinated, the bandage cost would be in the millions. But there's no plan right now on who'd pick up that cost. It could fall on strapped local governments.

"We are not stockpiling bandages at this time, " said Dr. Allen Craig.

State Health Department epidemiologist Dr. Allen Craig said it's too early to do that, not only because of cost, but because the federal government hasn't figured out what bandage may protect best. However, if millions of bandages would be needed in a hurry, Dr. Craig said cost wouldn't be a factor.

"We will be able to pick up the cost using federal or state dollars if we need to."

In the meantime, Vanderbilt researchers said they want to test different types of bandages to see whether the cheap ones, like gauze ones that cost just a couple of cents, could protect as well as the costly ones.

[snickeroon]

Gotta' tell you, I'm really scared that these will be mandated, and some of us will be getting a death sentence. I have a serious heart condition and while my Dr. advises the pneumonia vaccine, he absolutely said NO flu vaccine. Also, they DO use some live cultures, (for other vaccines) because my grandchildren's pediatricians advised me not to have close personal contact for a couple of days because I am "immune compromised."

Finally, the real laugh is that it appears that the idiopathic cardiomyopathy which I have was caused by a viral condition.....quite possibly from a Parvo virus which was dispatched in some of the early batches of polio vaccine. Anybody remember the sugar cubes? When I was a child, they allowed us all a double-dose in the cafeteria that day. Guess the thought was that if a spoonful was good a tablespoon was great. Strange, but true.

Doctor comments?

[chance33_98]

Gotta' tell you, I'm really scared that these will be mandated, and some of us will be getting a death sentence.

No need to worry, there is a 250k death benefit in the homeland security bill.

[snickeroon]

Thanks for the info.....wouldn't you just know there's ALWAYS a silver lining!

[Jim Noble]

>> Once you start vacinating anyone, you put the virus back out into the general population<<

The vaccine virus is cowpox (vaccinia), not smallpox (variola).

[Jim Noble]

>>"The American people are used to zero deaths and zero complications. That makes it a little tougher."<<

Guess they've gotten used to lack of leadership. as well.

[Jim Noble]

>>Oh well, those who get the shot and those who don't, will all probably sue the government and the drug companies,no matter what happens.<<

I was at a smallpox clinic planning meeting yesterday.

Every question I took, was a variation of, "but won't we get sued?"

[Jim Noble]

>>Is the risk to theses vulnerable people any more from a smallpox vaccination than say a flu or pneumonia inoculation?<<

Yes, it's much greater.

[Jim Noble]

>>The tradgedy of five hundred deaths is terrible. The tradgedy of 83.4 million deaths is unthinkable, at least to any sane person.<<

People are not thinking clearly about this.

Casualties from enemy action are unavoidable. The goal is to minimize the number of casualties, and to defeat the enemy's strategy.

Focussing on a "zero-casualty" approach to a smallpox attack is foolish, as it will tend to prevent us from pursuing effective strategies to minimize casualties and to defeat the enemy.

[snickeroon]

One of many questions: are we sure that the strain that will be used by terrorists is standard smallpox and not a cocktail of several diseases....for instance, has anyone read about "blackpox"????

Also, we do not have to be innoculated UNLESS there is absolute certainty that we are being exposed....correct?????

[Jim Noble]

>>One of many questions: are we sure that the strain that will be used by terrorists is standard smallpox<<

No, but the feasibility of engineering viruses (which is simple in the movies) is unclear. I myself doubt that viruses can be made more virulent without damaging them in other ways.

>>Also, we do not have to be innoculated UNLESS there is absolute certainty that we are being exposed....correct?????<<

The State cannot require you to be immunized, but they can quarantine you against your will if you refuse.

I don't think vaccine refusal is going to be much of an issue after an attack...

[muggs]

To think that you would need anything other than a curad bandaid with or without a picture of a frog on it is assinine!

I remember when I got my smallpox vaccine they did apply a special bandage. It was dome shaped and hard. I asked my mom about it recently and she confirmed that I remember correctly.

[goodnesswins]

I found this in a CNN article about Israel vaccinating health/police workers.....

"Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease specialist at Emory University in Atlanta, is among the skeptics. "I would really worry about vaccinating people and having to live with the consequences of vaccination and the complications of vaccinations," he said.

Del Rio adds it's not just the vaccinated person who's at risk. Anyone who touches the site on a recently vaccinated person's skin could also get sick.

"I can tell you that, you know, somebody's patch is going to fall off. And something is going to happen," said del Rio."

More nonsensical worries? Just wondering.

[Poohbah]

No, but the feasibility of engineering viruses (which is simple in the movies) is unclear. I myself doubt that viruses can be made more virulent without damaging them in other ways.

I imagine genetic engineering is like any other form of engineering: the engineer must make a series of choices, and each choice limits his future options. For example, ebola is a very lethal virus. It is, however, extremely fragile--exposing it to five seconds of direct sunlight (or an artificial equivalent) is sufficient to kill it.

[Aggie Mama]

I wonder if you can take the vaccine while pregnant or breastfeeding? There are plenty of people with compromised immmune systems that might have problems with it, but what about pregnant women?

[Cold Heat]

More nonsensical worries? Just wondering.

In a word, YES!

Let me try an analogy. ......In todays society we fearfully remove peanuts from our school lunch programs and any other public venues. We force construction workers to wear 35lbs of safety gear any time they get more than a foot off the ground. Restauraunts won't serve tomatoes unless asked and I am not even going to get into the smoking subject.

Sure, in some silly situation a immuno-suppressed person could accidently get into contact with a recently vaccinated person and get some of the virus on a open sore from a leaky bandage. Sure! That might/could happen during a blue moon with the sun and mars in conjunction.

Back when I got my vaccination, we sure did not worry about such things. Not ever!

[Cold Heat]

Vaccination in pregnant females is contra-indicated, as they say. Not reccomended.

[Aggie Mama]

So I'm wondering how many millions would not be able to take the vaccine due to pregnancy or compromised immune system?

[Cold Heat]

The CDC has estimates on this somewhere in all their stuff regarding the subject. The screening procedures are similar to the flue shot, or almost any other vaccine. (as far as who is excluded) We are not talking about a large percentage of the population, but it is a sizable number.

If we were attacked successfully by a bio-bomb, (as I call them). Not everyone would survive, But the death toll would definately be 30% or more if no vaccination was used, and many of the survivors would be crippled by the disease.

We definately would use the vaccine if attacked, starting with health care workers and them the general population. I believe that with the screening, few people would be sickened by the vaccine. Less that 1 per million. We understand alot more about screening than we did in the 50s-60s.

[Darnright]

>This does not mean it may not be neccessary to vaccinate anyway, but the facts are that the vaccine in not 'inert' and if any people are vaccinated, some of those who have not innoculated will become ill and some may die. Even the CDC has admitted it.<

If I'm not mistaken, the same can be said about the live polio vaccine. Even though there is a small risk, it's still being given to infants in this country. The risk of complications is far smaller than the risk of allowing polio to regain a foothold in the population.

[Cold Heat]

Facts about Smallpox



Smallpox infection was eliminated from the world in 1977.



Smallpox is caused by variola virus. The incubation period is about 12 days (range: 7 to 17 days) following exposure. Initial symptoms include high fever, fatigue, and head and back aches. A characteristic rash, most prominent on the face, arms, and legs, follows in 2-3 days. The rash starts with flat red lesions that evolve at the same rate. Lesions become pus-filled and begin to crust early in the second week. Scabs develop and then separate and fall off after about 3-4 weeks. The majority of patients with smallpox recover, but death occurs in up to 30% of cases.



Smallpox is spread from one person to another by infected saliva droplets that expose a susceptible person having face-to-face contact with the ill person. Persons with smallpox are most infectious during the first week of illness, because that is when the largest amount of virus is present in saliva. However, some risk of transmission lasts until all scabs have fallen off.



Routine vaccination against smallpox ended in 1972. The level of immunity, if any, among persons who were vaccinated before 1972 is uncertain; therefore, these persons are assumed to be susceptible.



Vaccination against smallpox is not recommended to prevent the disease in the general public and therefore is not available.



In people exposed to smallpox, the vaccine can lessen the severity of or even prevent illness if given within 4 days after exposure. Vaccine against smallpox contains another live virus called vaccinia. The vaccine does not contain smallpox virus.



The United States currently has an emergency supply of smallpox vaccine.



There is no proven treatment for smallpox but research to evaluate new antiviral agents is ongoing. Patients with smallpox can benefit from supportive therapy (intravenous fluids, medicine to control fever or pain, etc.) and antibiotics for any secondary bacterial infections that occur.