States asked to speed up smallpox plans: 1 in 1000 may need long term care afterwards
<<<I bet my head that sudden change of the timeframe without explanations has something to do with Homeland Security Bill 'immunizing" drug makers from liability - they simply may want to carry it out before those provisions can be repealed, or at least make that repeal NOT retroactive, so it'll be a done deal and those harmed will not be able to sue. Plus, peak of the flu season, holiday season will make it harder to accurately track reactions - scap >>>
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Autism-Mercury/message/65335
--- In Autism-Mercury@y..., Teresa Binstock <binstock@p...> wrote:
> If 1 in 1000 average adults will need long term care after vaccinia-virus > vaccination, what will be the rate of adverse effects within
families having an > acquired and/or genetic immune problem and/or chronic illness? --
Teresa
>
> States asked to speed up smallpox plans
> New time line would trim experience with possible side effects >
Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48375-2002Nov27.html
> Thursday, November 28, 2002; Page B02
>
> Washington -- Federal health officials have directed the states and the District of Columbia to speed up plans to offer smallpox vaccinations to 500,000 hospital workers nationwide, urging that the task be completed within 30 days of an announcement that could come as early as next week.
>
> The timetable, delivered last Friday by the U.S.
> Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has
> stirred public health and logistics concerns among state health officials. Most planned to immunize hospital workers in phases over a 60-day period to better track potentially severe side effects.
>
> The advisory, made without explanation, is not linked to an increased threat of a smallpox release, CDC spokesman Curtis Allen said.
>
> The directive underscores the urgency of an
> extensive public health campaign to vaccinate
> potentially millions of U.S. residents that top
> administration aides expect President Bush to order shortly.
>
> The voluntary program is expected to start with
> health workers who would bear the brunt of a
> smallpox outbreak and would need to be protected in order to treat victims and prevent the health care system from collapsing. Military officials also expect a decision on a plan to inoculate 500,000 U.S. troops.
>
> The civilian program poses complexities unseen by U.S. health workers since routine smallpox
> vaccinations were discontinued in 1972. The vaccine will require detailed education, screening, tracking and follow-up of a critical segment of health workers, potentially at a time of year when hospital workloads surge and staffing falls because of the holidays, officials said.
>
> "We are struggling with how to logistically phase that in and do it within the 30 days the new guidance provides. It is going to be difficult," said Donald Williamson, Alabama's state health officer and the chairman of a vaccination task force.
>
> Allen said the change was made "for planning
> guidance. The ultimate time frame will depend on the announcement we're expecting from the White
> House." Allen said he did not know why the time
> frame changed, but called 30 days "a prudent
> amount of time."
>
> Smallpox vaccinations are complicated because of a small risk of severe side effects that appear within three weeks and because the inoculation site can be contagious. Many states planned to vaccinate 20 percent to 30 percent of hospital workers at a time to give clinicians more experience with side effects.
> States also sought time to train and vaccinate the vaccinators.
>
> Nationwide, the CDC has set a Dec. 9 deadline for states to turn in plans for carrying out a voluntary smallpox vaccination program that would begin with 500,000 frontline health care workers, expand to 10 million emergency responders and extend to the rest of the population as early as 2004. States have until Monday to outline more generally how to vaccinate their populations within 10 days of an actual outbreak.
>
> The vaccine is estimated to be lethal to one in every 1 million recipients and to require long-term care in one in every 1,000. Smallpox kills about 1 in 3 people exposed.
>
> The vaccine's side effects, such as swollen, red
> arms, will also be unfamiliar to most practitioners.
