mrz
13-12-02, 07:24
US to offer smallpox vaccine to every citizen
14:30 12 December 02
NewScientist.com news service
Smallpox vaccinations are expected to be offered to some half million US health care workers, and another half million military personnel. President George Bush will announce on Friday the details of the 2003 vaccination strategy, which is a precaution against bioterrorist attack.
Then in 2004 vaccination should be available to all Americans who want it. That will force millions to weigh the unknown risk that smallpox might be released, against the significant health risks of the vaccine.
And the health risks could be more significant than currently predicted. In a similar programme, Israel has already vaccinated 15,000 medical and military personnel against smallpox. Only one vaccinated person reportedly had serious side effects.
But this extrapolates to a rate of about 66 cases of serious side effects per million people vaccinated. On the basis of historical data, US health authorities have predicted a lower rate than this.
The Israeli sample is too small to be conclusive. But it suggests that the rate of side effects in a modern population completely unexposed to smallpox or the Vaccinia virus used in the vaccine might be substantially higher than that observed historically.
Close observation
The issue might be resolved if the first waves of US vaccinees are kept under close clinical observation for possible side effects. That would allow ordinary Americans to make a more realistic assessment of risk when deciding whether to opt for the vaccine.
Under the US plan to be announced on Friday, health care workers and the military will be vaccinated with old stocks of the classic vaccine, which was produced by harvesting Vaccinia from the skin of live animals. Subsequent vaccination of civilians will probably be carried out with new vaccine, made of Vaccinia grown in modern cell culture.
Tests of the new vaccine so far suggest that it induces much the same immune responses in humans as the old one, suggesting that it will be just as effective. But this also suggests that it could induce the same profile of side effects.
The risk of serious side effects are why the US vaccination programme will be voluntary, to protect the government from lawsuits by people whose health may be damaged. Several Americans vaccinated against anthrax under the mandatory military vaccination programme are currently suing for alleged damages caused by the vaccine.
Debora MacKenzie
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993177
Wie heeft er allemaal pokken gehad vroeger? :D
14:30 12 December 02
NewScientist.com news service
Smallpox vaccinations are expected to be offered to some half million US health care workers, and another half million military personnel. President George Bush will announce on Friday the details of the 2003 vaccination strategy, which is a precaution against bioterrorist attack.
Then in 2004 vaccination should be available to all Americans who want it. That will force millions to weigh the unknown risk that smallpox might be released, against the significant health risks of the vaccine.
And the health risks could be more significant than currently predicted. In a similar programme, Israel has already vaccinated 15,000 medical and military personnel against smallpox. Only one vaccinated person reportedly had serious side effects.
But this extrapolates to a rate of about 66 cases of serious side effects per million people vaccinated. On the basis of historical data, US health authorities have predicted a lower rate than this.
The Israeli sample is too small to be conclusive. But it suggests that the rate of side effects in a modern population completely unexposed to smallpox or the Vaccinia virus used in the vaccine might be substantially higher than that observed historically.
Close observation
The issue might be resolved if the first waves of US vaccinees are kept under close clinical observation for possible side effects. That would allow ordinary Americans to make a more realistic assessment of risk when deciding whether to opt for the vaccine.
Under the US plan to be announced on Friday, health care workers and the military will be vaccinated with old stocks of the classic vaccine, which was produced by harvesting Vaccinia from the skin of live animals. Subsequent vaccination of civilians will probably be carried out with new vaccine, made of Vaccinia grown in modern cell culture.
Tests of the new vaccine so far suggest that it induces much the same immune responses in humans as the old one, suggesting that it will be just as effective. But this also suggests that it could induce the same profile of side effects.
The risk of serious side effects are why the US vaccination programme will be voluntary, to protect the government from lawsuits by people whose health may be damaged. Several Americans vaccinated against anthrax under the mandatory military vaccination programme are currently suing for alleged damages caused by the vaccine.
Debora MacKenzie
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993177
Wie heeft er allemaal pokken gehad vroeger? :D