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Thursday, February 27, 2003The survey, published in New Scientist magazine, shows 59% of authorities have had to cut back on routine work. Ironically, if authorities are to have a hope of fighting the spread of smallpox in the event of an outbreak they need to identify any cases early. Public health departments aren't likely to be the ones diagnosing and identifying an index case of smallpox. That's far more likely to occur in a community physician's office or an emergency room. And, since the vaccination effort so far has been turned over to hospitals, just why, exactly, have the health departments had to cut back on their routine work? Have they stopped their childhood immunization clinics and STD clinics to go out and vaccinate the community? Of course not. What they have to do, is have their administrators come up with plans to address bioterrorism, and that's what they're really complaining about. Yet more evidence that bioterror preparedness shouldn't be left to the public health community. posted by Sydney on 2/27/2003 08:39:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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