| January
24, 2003
Little
Rock ---
Three states and one
locality — Connecticut, Nebraska, Los Angeles County and
Vermont — are receiving the first shipments of the smallpox
vaccine as part of Phase 1 of the National Smallpox
Vaccination Program.
Arkansas
expects to receive its allotment of vaccine in February. Vaccination of the state’s smallpox preparedness response
teams is scheduled to begin shortly thereafter, Dr. Boozman, Director
of the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH), said.
Phase I of
the program is designed to protect designated public health,
healthcare and first response workers who would be called upon
to respond to an outbreak of smallpox. This includes personnel
in hospitals who might first come in contact with an infected
patient and those public health personnel who would be
assigned to investigate cases, track contacts, vaccinate
people and institute measures to control the spread of
disease. There are no plans to vaccinate the general public at
this time.
“While the
chances of an outbreak of smallpox occurring anywhere in the
world are very remote, the consequences would be great if one
were to happen,” Dr. Fay Boozman, said. “It’s important
to be prepared, and this is what Phase I of the Pre-Event Plan
is all about.”
The
preparedness teams will consist of up to 10,108 hospital
response and public health response team members. Public
health response teams will go to the site of a suspect
smallpox case, investigate the case’s origins and vaccinate
others at the site. Hospital response teams will also be able
to provide hospital care to anyone presenting to an emergency
room that is suspected of having smallpox. All Phase I
vaccinations are voluntary.
Few
if any serious adverse reactions are expected as a result of Arkansas’ pre-event vaccination plan because the team members will have been carefully screened to rule out those with conditions that indicate they should not have the
vaccine.
People
who should not be vaccinated include those who have HIV, are
pregnant, whose immune systems are suppressed because of
chemotherapy or have a history of certain skin conditions such
as eczema and atopic dermatitis and others. (For a complete
list of those who should not receive the vaccine, visit The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website at www.cdc.gov).
The
last case of smallpox in the United States was reported in
1949. Routine immunizations for the disease were discontinued
in 1972 in this country. The World Health Organization
declared the disease eradicated in 1980 after the world’s
last case was reported in Somalia in 1977.
NOTE:The Arkansas Department of Health’s website at
www.healthyarkansas.com
has additional information on smallpox and links to other Web
sites. The CDC has also activated the following hotlines for
the general public:
English
language, 888-246-2675
Spanish,
888-246-2857
TTY,
888-874-2846
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