For Release: June 21, 2002
Contact: DMS Communications (603) 650-1492
Panel Headed By DMS Physician Makes New Smallpox Vaccine Proposal
Hanover, NH - A national panel headed by Dartmouth Medical School physician John Modlin has recommended expanding smallpox vaccination for certain healthcare workers and other emergency responders, but rejected mass immunization for the country.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on immunization practices, which Modlin heads, announced its updated recommendations June 20, in Atlanta, following a series of meetings. The proposals will go thorough the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services for consideration.
Although there has not been a case of smallpox worldwide for almost 25 years, the threat of a terrorist attack prompted a request to review the current recommendations, said Modlin, an infectious disease expert who is professor and chair of pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
Since the smallpox vaccine comes from a milder live virus that can cause serious, perhaps lethal complications, the challenge is to balance the risks of an outbreak and the potential for problems. The question, said Modlin, is "Does the threat of smallpoxwhatever that threat will bejustify what will likely be in the very least, a couple of hundred deaths, and more likely be a larger number of other serious adverse reactions in otherwise healthy US citizens or people living in this country?"
After weighing a number of factors including the low risk of an attack and how smallpox spreads, the committee recommended a strategy for smallpox protection and control.
The recommendations are available at:
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/smallpox/index.asp
A transcript of the CDC briefing is at:
