Revisiting the smallpox vaccination debate

We’ve received a flood of emails in response to an e-Alert I sent you earlier this week about smallpox vaccination (“A shot in the arm; a shot in the dark”). Somehow I suspected we would. This complex and urgent situation is a flashpoint that questions each individual’s stand on moral, social and even philosophical issues.

I can’t possibly respond to every email, but I’ll address a representative sampling in this and in upcoming e-Alerts over the next few days. And, of course, I invite you to post your ideas and concerns on the e-Alert forum at www.hsionline.com

Member Ann M. wrote to clarify an important detail: “Just one critical point: your message says, ‘So the moment a single vaccine is administered, smallpox will be reintroduced to the general population for the first time in more than two decades.’ This isn’t true. The smallpox vaccine isn’t smallpox (variola), it’s cowpox (vaccinia). You’re right, it can still be dangerous to people with eczema, among other conditions, but it is not smallpox, and it doesn’t have smallpox’s 30% death rate. There is a death rate associated with vaccinia, which is certainly a real risk, but it is very, very small compared to the fatality rate (with the best care in the world) for smallpox, if it ever broke out.”

Thanks for clearing that up, Ann.

Off to the dentist now

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute

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