December 07, 2005

Smallpox Vaccinations Bring Mixed Results

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)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: Smallpox