"Wally Kairuz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > i was talking about this with a bunch of immunologists today. a few people > and organizations have received ''anthrax envelopes'' in buenos aires and in > cordoba [central argentina], so biowar is a local concern too. > smallpox vaccination was stopped in argentina in 1974. a new vaccine is > being developed locally. apparently, people who were vaccinated before > the 70's [my case] are still immune. the mortality rate for smallpox cases > is 33%. the disease is highly contagious. > i think that the best scenario is that countries start producing a vaccine > locally. the cultures exist so it shouldn't take long. however, after > smallpox, what? > wallyK
I guess whether or not there will be local production of vaccines will depend on the recommendations of the WHO. I think it's not such an easy or fast thing to do. It will take some time to produce enough vaccine for everyone, if there is a recommendation the WHO to vaccinate the general population again. I think I read somewhere that the USA only has a stockpile of about 40,000 vaccinations and that it would take two years to produce enough for everyone in the USA. Don't quote me on that. Maybe it was 40 million? Anyway, the point is that there is not currently enough vaccine to vaccinate everyone and that it would take some time to produce and distribute it. Also there are risks involved in getting vaccinated. People used to die from it, or have other horrible complications. Anyway, I found this link (see below) that indicates the WHO will be looking at the whole issue and deciding what to do. Marian [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.jmdl.com/guitar/marian/guitar.htm + + + + + + + + http://www.who.int/inf-pr-2001/en/note2001-15.html Note for the Press N0 15 19 October 2001 WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION REVIEWS SMALLPOX VACCINATION GUIDANCE WHO Director General Gro Harlem Brundtland today stated that she has asked the WHO Smallpox Advisory Group to review guidelines on smallpox vaccination in light of the current concern that populations might be deliberately infected with the smallpox virus. During the last few days WHO has received several enquiries about the usefulness of mass vaccination to protect people against the malicious use of specific infectious agents, including smallpox. Smallpox was eradicated almost 25 years ago by a WHO-led programme. Since then there have been no naturally occurring cases and one known laboratory accident. National vaccination programmes against smallpox have been stopped in all countries since the early 1980s. Current WHO guidelines, updated in 1998, recognise the effectiveness of existing smallpox vaccines. They also detail the incidence of adverse side effects due to vaccination, particularly among people whose immune systems are compromised. The guidelines recommend that only individuals at risk of exposure (for example, laboratory researchers working on smallpox or human monkeypox) should be vaccinated. Dr Brundtland has asked the Advisory Group to consider whether WHO should modify this guidance to take account of any potential situation in which the smallpox virus is deliberately used to cause infection. Any new WHO guidance will immediately be made available to Ministers of Health of the Member States of WHO. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- For more information please contact Iain Simpson, CDS Communications Officer, Communicable Diseases, WHO, Geneva. Tel. (+41 22) 791 3215; Mobile (+ 41 79) 475 55 34; Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or Daniela Bagozzi, Office of the Spokesperson, WHO, Geneva. Telephone: (+41 22) 791 4544; Fax: (+41 22) 791 4858; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] All WHO Press Releases, Fact Sheets and Features as well as other information on this subject can be obtained on Internet on the WHO home page http://www.who.int. + + + + + + + +
