"When many cures are offered for a disease, it means the disease is not curable" -Anton Chekhov
''Once you tell people there's a cure for something, the more likely they are to pressure doctors to prescribe it.'' -Robert Ehrlich, drug advertising executive.
"Opinions are like sphincters, everyone has one." - Chris Rangel
Smallpox Update: The Washington Post has some info on the state of smallpox research. The thing to remember, though, is that all of these experiments are going to take time to bear fruit. Time is not on our side. What we do have is an effective vaccine that is available now to prevent the infection, although at a higher cost in side effects than what we have become used to. Even then, the side effects aren't as overwhelming as they are being made out to be. The CDC and the media should be giving the general public more information on the vaccine so they can make an informed decision, not scaring people with vague hints at the dangers of the vaccine, like they do in this article:
"The smallpox vaccine itself causes serious side effects that would kill several hundred people if it were given to all Americans"
The real figure is perhaps a couple of hundred. Not several hundred. But, if we continue unprepared and smallpox is used against us, the death rate will be in multiples of a thousand.
UPDATE REMINDER: Don't forget that the CDC now has its public comment form up and running. Let them know how you feel about the use of smallpox vaccine. posted by Sydney on
6/03/2002 05:45:00 AM
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