Small Pox Vacine

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2003-01-22 10:36am

They started giving the small pox vaccine yesterday at one of the local military bases.

So far I think it is only the two techs who are going to be administering the vaccine that have been enoculated. After a day or so they will begin giving the vaccine to servicemen and women who may be deployed to a potential hazard area.

They did a story on the news about the vaccine. Apparently the inoculation site turns into a big puss filled blister and is itself contagious Your not supposed to touch the blister and if you share a bed with someone you need to put gauze over the blister/scab because the other person could get small pox. You also have to wash your clothing separately to prevent people getting it. It is supposedly a contact only danger.

They showed pictures of a few examples of break outs of small pox. and what the normal blister/scab is supposed to look like. It's pretty nasty.

Considering how careful they are being really makes me wonder how they dealt with this when I was a kid. I got the vaccine as a kid, got the scar and everything.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-01-22 10:51am

A lot of people debate this as being a wise move, the vaccine can and has killed people before through severe anaphylactic shock or even a true outbreak of the disease somehow.

I can't remember where I read it, but there was a column on people debating the point in using such a vaccine now since the only stores of Smallpox in the world are in US or Russian hands.

I do hear it hurts like a bitch though, more so than the measles job I got when I was 11.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2003-01-22 12:03pm

Im not quite old enough to have been vaccinated. I find this whole process amazing. There is a sizable group of folks who think certain vaccinatoins cause autism but I dont here any outcry from them about this vaccine. If given a choice without any evidence of an outbreak I would not want a small pox vaccination.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2003-01-22 12:09pm

TrailerParkJawa wrote:Im not quite old enough to have been vaccinated. I find this whole process amazing. There is a sizable group of folks who think certain vaccinatoins cause autism but I dont here any outcry from them about this vaccine. If given a choice without any evidence of an outbreak I would not want a small pox vaccination.

This one sounds like it is much more dangerous than most vacines. I can't remember exactly the statistics from last night but I think they said 1 in 1000 develope complications. Those odds are a lot worse than the risks from most vacines.

Ted · Post by **Ted** » 2003-01-22 05:06pm

Is it the Small Pox Vaccine of the Anthrax Vaccine in which they know atleast 10 people will die from it, and everyone will take a day or two atleast off work after recieving the vaccine?

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-01-22 05:24pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:A lot of people debate this as being a wise move, the vaccine can and has killed people before through severe anaphylactic shock or even a true outbreak of the disease somehow.

I can't remember where I read it, but there was a column on people debating the point in using such a vaccine now since the only stores of Smallpox in the world are in US or Russian hands.

I do hear it hurts like a bitch though, more so than the measles job I got when I was 11.

No, the only declared samples are in Russian and US hands. China, Iraq, Iran, Italy or a hundred other countries may have secreted away a few viles.

And we all know how Great Russian security was in the mid 90's, with the Chechens getting most of their weapons from completely unguarded bases and all that fun.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-01-22 05:26pm

Ted wrote:Is it the Small Pox Vaccine of the Anthrax Vaccine in which they know atleast 10 people will die from it, and everyone will take a day or two atleast off work after recieving the vaccine?

The Smallpox vaccine kills about one in one million, but makes a great many more very sick for a time.

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2003-01-22 05:33pm

So how many are they up to?

Dahak · Post by **Dahak** » 2003-01-22 05:56pm

About 1 in 1000 gets meningitis.

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2003-01-22 06:06pm

I think with the vaccine being more widely distributed it would give people who actually wanted a sample of the disease a greater chance f acquiring a sample.

AS much as I support a ot of what the US military does and a good many ofthe things the government is doing to defend against terrorists I'm a little uncomofrtable with the fact that the vacine could kill more people than a smallpox attack will.

Post by **Edi** » 2003-01-23 04:47am

Darth Fanboy wrote:I'm a little uncomofrtable with the fact that the vacine could kill more people than a smallpox attack will.

Are you insane? Just a couple of years ago the US military and the health authorities ran a hypothetical scenario of one, yes, ONE smallpox carrier entering the US East coast area undetected. Projected casualties: 25 to 30 million dead people. If the vaccine kills one out of every million and makes one in thousand sick, that's still only 25 to 30 dead and less than 300,000 sickness cases versus 30 million dead on the East Coast alone!

The reason why the vaccine would have such high rate of side effects is that our immune systems haven't had even casual exposure to it, unlike in the past when there was a certain degree of resistance even without the vaccine (because smallpox was more common). I don't think the vaccine would much help anyone interested in acquiring the bacterium, because the vaccine uses dead bacteria, not live ones, IIRC.

Interesting factoid of the day: North Korea vaccinates all of its military against small pox. Draw what conclusions you want from that.

Edi

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2003-01-23 11:55am

Darth Fanboy wrote:As much as I support a lot of what the US military does and a good many of the things the government is doing to defend against terrorists I'm a little uncomofrtable with the fact that the vacine could kill more people than a smallpox attack will.

You are obviously ignorant of the situation, so I will explain it to you. The vaccine will maybe kill one in several thousands. Smallpox will kill 35% of those who are unvaccinated and infected. There is a reason smallpox is gone, and that reason is the vaccine. If people fifty years ago followed your logic, smallpox would still be ravaging whole cities and countries, killings thousands if not millions every year.

In the military, you are asked to do dangerous things. You are asked to go on ships, fly on airplanes, shoot guns, handle explosives, and take vaccines. A military member who refuses a vaccine is like someone who refuses to wear their helmet into combat, or to buckle up while flying on a jet. They are endangering themselves, their unit, and the mission given to them. They are being irresponsible, and are making themselves a liability. All military personal should be forced to take the vaccine for that reason. If they refuse, the need to be court marshalled.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-01-23 12:35pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:A lot of people debate this as being a wise move, the vaccine can and has killed people before through severe anaphylactic shock or even a true outbreak of the disease somehow.

I can't remember where I read it, but there was a column on people debating the point in using such a vaccine now since the only stores of Smallpox in the world are in US or Russian hands.

I do hear it hurts like a bitch though, more so than the measles job I got when I was 11.

Bah, you are WEAK (regarding the measles vaccine).

OTOH, my brother was screaming when he got the Mumps-Measles-Rubella shot.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-01-23 12:40pm

Darth Fanboy wrote:I think with the vaccine being more widely distributed it would give people who actually wanted a sample of the disease a greater chance f acquiring a sample.

Edi wrote:The reason why the vaccine would have such high rate of side effects is that our immune systems haven't had even casual exposure to it, unlike in the past when there was a certain degree of resistance even without the vaccine (because smallpox was more common). I don't think the vaccine would much help anyone interested in acquiring the bacterium, because the vaccine uses dead bacteria, not live ones, IIRC.

Smallpox (variola) is a virus, not a bacterium.

The vaccine consists of a "a lyophilized, live-virus preparation of infectious vaccinia virus" (CDC).

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5010a1.htm

Post by **Edi** » 2003-01-24 04:33am

Sorry about that mistake, phongn, I was going from memory. Thanks for correcting it.

Edi

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-01-24 10:26am

Not a problem.