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medpundit |
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Monday, October 07, 2002UPDATE: DB's MedRants pointed out this article from the New York Times about the American Academy of Pediatrics position on smallpox vaccine. They favor the ring vaccination technique of days of yore when immunity was high. Their reason: Potential side effects are too severe, and available vaccines have not been tested on children, who may be at higher risk for bad reactions, the academy said in a policy statement released Monday. ``We're talking about a disease that hasn't existed in the world since the 1970s and a vaccine that we know can cause death,'' said Dr. Julia McMillan, a Johns Hopkins School of Medicine pediatrics professor and co-author of the policy. Smallpox vaccine was used in children for years. It used to be a mandatory childhood vaccine. We know perfectly well how children respond to it. Smallpox does exist in the world, that's the problem. It's sitting in labs here and in the Soviet Union, and God knows where else. (Listen to the above Fresh Air interview to hear the details on why there's a good possibility Iraq might have it.) I've discussed the AAP's position on smallpox vaccination in detail before, but the bottomline is that a lot of their own committee members were the same ones who were on the CDC's Advisory Panel on Immunization Practices, so it's no surprise that they're clinging to the discredited ring vaccination. That's a shame. They're putting the nation's children at risk. Children have no immunity, and they have higher mortality rates. I wouldn't hesitate to have my own children vaccinated if it were offered tomorrow. posted by Sydney on 10/07/2002 07:41:00 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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