Returning to the smallpox debate

You continue to send a lot of e-mails and post comments on the HSI Forum (www.hsionline.com) regarding the e-Alert I sent you about the debate over smallpox vaccination (“A shot in the arm; a shot in the dark” 6/10/02). John B. wrote with a question that was asked by many members:

“About 60 years ago, I received my ‘smallpox’ vaccination – a group of pin pricks to the upper arm. Back then the vaccine was actually made from cowpox, NOT smallpox. Cowpox was not normally fatal to humans, and someone noticed a long time ago that milkmaids that had contracted cowpox were protected from smallpox. Is the smallpox vaccine of today actually made from smallpox?”

That was a point that I didn’t make clear in the e-Alert. The simple answer is: No, the vaccine isn’t made of smallpox. And you’re right, John, the first smallpox vaccines were made of cowpox. But these days it’s a bit more involved.

According to the National Vaccine Information Center, the current licensed vaccine for smallpox contains live vaccinia virus – a pox virus. This live virus can cause vaccinia viral infection in the vaccine recipient or in someone who the vaccinated person comes into contact with. And as with most vaccines, complications are very similar to the complications of the disease they were designed to prevent.

The vaccinia vaccine has not been used on a mass basis in the U.S. since the early 70’s, so almost no one under the age of 30 has had any experience with it. That makes it especially important to note that neurological complications occur ten times more often among first-time recipients, and are frequent among infants. So it’s no wonder that the drug companies have asked Congress to create legislation that would shift all liability for vaccine injuries and deaths to the government. If they’re already diving for cover, it makes me think that we should, too.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson

Health Sciences Institute

Copyright 1997-2002 by Institute of Health Sciences, L.L.C.