- NEW YORK (Reuters Health)
- Nearly half of Americans would get themselves vaccinated against smallpox
right now if the vaccine were made available and nearly two-thirds support
some type of mass immunization campaign to reduce the threat of any future
bioterror attack, according to a new poll.
-
- When asked "If you were offered a vaccination against
smallpox now, would you choose to have it or not?," a full 49% of
nearly 3,000 adult Americans surveyed answered "yes," according
to the results of a Wall Street Journal Online/HarrisInteractive Health-Care
Poll, released this week. Of the remainder, 21% said they would not get
vaccinated, while 31% answered "not sure."
-
- Smallpox was eradicated worldwide decades ago, with the
last US case reported in 1978. But public anxiety surrounding the potential
release of smallpox virus by terrorist groups has escalated since the September
11th attacks. At present, government laboratories in US and Russia are
known to hold small supplies of smallpox virus for research purposes, but
a recent CIA report concluded that covert stores may also be held in France,
Iraq and North Korea.
-
- This week, officials in the UK announced that 350 "first-responder"
health workers would be immunized against the disease, while in the US
the White House is currently reviewing recommendations on mass vaccinations
of military personnel.
-
- According the to WSJ/Harris poll, most Americans support
some form of mass immunization of civilian populations as well. Forty-two
percent of those questioned supported vaccinating "everyone as soon
as possible," with the exception of those at increased risk from the
vaccine, such as pregnant women. Another 18% thought a more restricted
immunization campaign focused on key health workers, paramedics, police
and firefighters was a better option, while 5% suggested restricting vaccination
to emergency health care workers only. Overall, 65% of US adults appear
to support some kind of mass vaccination effort.
-
- Those who do not support mass immunization may take this
stance due to fears of complications associated with the smallpox vaccine.
However, the poll indicates that many of these fears may be exaggerated.
While the real risks associated with vaccination is about one or two deaths
per every million immunized, 46% of respondents thought the risks were
higher. In fact, one in every ten Americans believes the risk of death
from receiving the smallpox vaccine is up to 100 persons per million, according
to the poll.
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- The survey was conducted during the first week of November
2002, among a representative sampling of 2,924 adults nationwide.
-
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