Guarding against the pox

Staff

Published Sunday, January 26, 2003

Suffolk News-Herald

The Suffolk Health Department should be ready to begin vaccinating a core team of local doctors, nurses and health department employees against smallpox within the next month.

The state Department of Health has ordered 10,000 doses of the vaccine from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Trina H. Lee, a department spokesperson. The vaccines, expected to arrive in about a week, will be routed as requested to local health districts to inoculate the volunteers making up the medical team that will be tapped as first responders if there is a smallpox outbreak.

Last week, Connecticut became the first state to begin vaccinating volunteer

health-care workers. Nebraska, Vermont and Los Angeles County also had received vaccine shipments by Wednesday but were waiting until this week to begin vaccinating.

Dr. Larry Gernon, executive director in Suffolk, said the only other delay preventing Virginia from moving ahead with the smallpox vaccinations is a bill moving through the General Assembly that would remove any liability from individuals giving the vaccinations. He expects the legislation to be addressed this week.

Gernon is hoping 50-100 heath-care providers in Suffolk, Franklin and the counties of Southampton and Isle of Wight will volunteer for the inoculations during the first vaccination phase.

"Members of this team must be willing to be vaccinated and to vaccinate others," Gernon said.

It's likely to be a tough decision for nurses, doctors and other health care providers to make, he added.

Smallpox vaccine can cause some people to suffer uncomfortable, sometime dangerous side effects, Gernon said, and one or two of every million patients will die from the vaccination.

People also have to be in good health to be vaccinated.

The vaccine is not recommended for people with skin problems, such as eczema, or those with weak immune systems, such as HIV, transplant or cancer patients. The government says even people with close family members in those categories should be screened out.

This initial team will be responsible for giving vaccinations to other first-responders to emergency situations: firefighters, police officers and other health care providers, Gernon said.

The potential risks to the smallpox vaccine have some hospitals across the nation questioning whether to offer the vaccinations to their employees. Even some major hospitals are refusing the vaccine, including Colorado's largest chain, Centura Health with 10 hospitals; and Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, home of the CDC.

In a recent survey, 63 percent of 2,600 nurses responding said they would get the smallpox shot, 13 percent said they wouldn't and 24 percent were undecided, according to the National Network for Immunization Information, a coalition of several health trade groups.

Gloria Seitz, marketing director at Obici Hospital, said the hospital hadn't decided whether the smallpox vaccination would be offered to employees.

"We have not made any policy decisions yet," Seitz said. "We are in the information-gathering and educational mode this month. We want to see what is coming forth before we move ahead."

Southampton Memorial Hospital hasn't taken a policy stand yet either, a spokesman said.

Over the past couple of weeks, Gernon has been speaking to physicians groups at both Obici and Southampton Memorial hospitals about the pros and cons of being vaccinated.

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