A new report in the Journal of the American Medical Association says that 822 of the healthcare workers immunized in the voluntary smallpox inoculation program reported adverse reactions. 100 of those cases were classified as serious and two were fatal.

The voluntary smallpox vaccination campaign announced by President Bush three years ago did not produce the plethora of side effects many in the medical community feared, an analysis released yesterday found. But it remains a mystery why a few dozen adults who were inoculated suffered severe, and in some cases fatal, heart complications. (Washington Post)

November 15, 2005

New vaccine technologies are emerging that offer a fresh chance to devise a strategy against smallpox, the most fearsome potential weapon in the bioterror arsenal.

Two companies are reporting rapid progress in developing a new vaccine designed to be safer than the standard one, and a third company, with no government support, is developing yet another new vaccine. (Washington Post)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: Smallpox