Bush smallpox vaccine program takes a hit Illinois, New York suspend immunizations

[Guest guest]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/03/29/MN743.DTL

 

Bush smallpox vaccine program takes a hit

Illinois, New York suspend immunizations

Ceci Connolly, Washington Post

Saturday, March 29, 2003

©2003 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback

 

URL:

 

Washington -- As federal scientists struggle to figure out whether the smallpox

vaccine is triggering a series of cardiac-related problems, at least two states

suspended smallpox immunizations Friday and the Pentagon reported its first

fatal post-inoculation heart attack.

Also Friday, the government's leading vaccine experts recommended that the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention take additional precautions in the

beleaguered program by screening out anyone volunteering for inoculation with

known heart disease or risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes or high

cholesterol.

Federal health experts are investigating at least 18 cases of possible cardiac

reactions, including three fatal heart attacks in recently immunized military

personnel and civilian health care workers. But William Winkenwerder Jr.,

assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said the heart attack death

of a 55-year-old National Guardsman was more likely related to the man's high

cholesterol and smoking than the vaccination.

" That is very noteworthy in this case, " Winkenwerder said. The evidence at this

point " indicates smallpox vaccination was not likely to be the cause of his

death. " More than 350,000 military personnel have been inoculated since

December.

Although historically the smallpox vaccine has not been linked to heart attacks

or angina, the recent cases have added to widespread reluctance in the medical

community to be immunized against a disease that has not been seen in three

decades.

The deaths are likely to make health care workers even more wary of the vaccine,

said Dr. Deborah Kamali of UCSF, who helped organize area doctors to write the

CDC and urge that the program be stopped. They argue that known risks of the

vaccine outweigh the unknown risks of an attack with smallpox.

" I think it will definitely make health care workers more reluctant. This is

something they can relate to, " she said. " As a field, we've already been

reluctant. "

INOCULATIONS SUSPENDED

Illinois and New York suspended immunizations entirely, as did some individual

hospitals such as Dartmouth Medical Center in New Hampshire. Other states,

including Florida, postponed inoculations until they could update volunteers on

new safety measures relating to heart risks.

At the CDC offices in Atlanta, staffers were fielding phone calls from nervous

people who had been vaccinated and worried they may be at risk for heart

failure, said Dixie Snyder, associate director for science at CDC.

At the two-month mark, the Bush administration's effort to immunize millions is

stalled, hampered by fears of the vaccine itself, doubts about the risk of a

smallpox attack, and the lack of compensation for people who suffer

complications from the vaccine.

So far, 25,000 people have responded to President Bush's call for medical

personnel to be inoculated, a tiny fraction of the 450,000 that state officials

estimated they would need to set up mass vaccination clinics in the event of a

bioterrorism attack. The House has rescheduled a vote on a compensation proposal

for Monday, although Democrats complain the Republican bill falls far short.

'TIME TO STOP THE PROGRAM'

" I think it's time to stop the program, " said one early skeptic, Richard Wenzel,

chief of internal medicine at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical

Center in Richmond. " Now is the time to say let's err on the side of caution

until this is really sorted out. "

A safety subcommittee of CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices

recommended screening out anyone over age 50 and people under 50 with risk

factors for heart problems, said John Neff, co-chair of the smallpox vaccination

safety working group and a physician at Children's Hospital in Seattle.

" This would provide the maximum degree of safety for the population, " he said.

" That is our major concern. "

In an emergency two-hour meeting, however, the full committee stopped short of

that position Friday, in part because it fears that the vaccination program

would come to a standstill.

Eliminating everyone over 50 would make it " infeasible to develop the numbers we

need for preparedness, " said Guthrie Birkhead, a committee member and director

of the Center for Community Health at the New York State Department of Health.

" We are taking extraordinary precautions because of a theoretical concern. "

WAIT FOR MORE DATA

A few committee members said they preferred to wait for more data before

proceeding with the program.

Winkenwerder said the military has had few serious side effects from the vaccine

program. Two cases of encephalitis had been reported previously. And there have

been about 10 cases of heart inflammation, but none was severe. Some people have

been hospitalized for one to three days and then returned to duty. Those cases

involved people in their 20s and 30s, he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

©2003 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback

Page A - 1

 

 

Gettingwell- / Vitamins, Herbs, Aminos, etc.

 

To , e-mail to: Gettingwell-

Or, go to our group site: Gettingwell

 

 

 

 

Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop!