Smallpox

(CIDRAP News) – The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said yesterday it will release $100 million in recently appropriated emergency funds to help states with their smallpox vaccination program and other public health preparedness efforts.

(CIDRAP News) – A total of 103 women in recent months inadvertently received smallpox shots while pregnant or just before becoming pregnant, despite screening to prevent that scenario, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported yesterday.

The agency said the screening appears to be effective, but it plans to investigate the situation anyway.

(CIDRAP News) – Although few states have finished the first stage of their smallpox vaccination programs, half of the states that responded to a recent survey said they are prepared to vaccinate their entire population in 10 days if necessary.

(CIDRAP News) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) should help states adjust their smallpox vaccination plans and goals to reflect the reality that relatively few health workers have volunteered for the shots so far, the General Accounting Office (GAO) of Congress says in a report released yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – Congress, acting to remove a major barrier to the government's smallpox vaccination program, has passed a more generous compensation plan for those harmed by the vaccine than the one originally proposed by the Bush administration.

(CIDRAP News) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported three more possible cases of heart inflammation and another heart attack in recent civilian smallpox shot recipients.

(CIDRAP News) – A Republican proposal for compensating healthcare workers harmed by the smallpox vaccine won narrow approval from a Senate committee yesterday, over Democratic objections that the plan is not generous enough.

(CIDRAP News) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported three more cases of heart problems in recent smallpox shot recipients, including two cases of heart inflammation and one heart attack. The cases bring the number of civilians who experienced cardiac problems after vaccination to 10 since the immunization program began in January.

(CIDRAP News) – Federal agencies have reported four more cases of heart inflammation in military personnel who received smallpox shots, including one severe case. The report came as officials advised the states to suspend smallpox shots for people with three or more major cardiac risk factors as well as for those with known heart disease.

(CIDRAP News) – A 55-year-old National Guard member died of a heart attack Mar 26, 5 days after getting a smallpox shot, a Department of Defense official reported today.