WASHINGTON (AP) Two women developed infections after touching
soldiers who had been vaccinated against smallpox and then touching
their eyes.
Both illnesses were preventable. Health authorities are
reminding people who get the shot to keep the spot where they were
inoculated covered and to avoid touching the skin and the bandages
that cover it.
Even people who have not been vaccinated can become ill if they
touch the inoculation site of someone who was.
Both women are recovering and not expected to have permanent
scars.
The first case involves a 26-year-old woman from the Los Angeles
area who slept in the same bed several times a week with a man
vaccinated in the military's program, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention said Thursday. The man often left his
vaccination site uncovered, the CDC was told.
The woman was hospitalized and treated with vaccine immune
globulin, which can counteract the most serious reactions to the
vaccine.
In the second case, an 18-year-old woman handled the bandage of
a man vaccinated in the military program. She developed lesions on
her arms and then swelling in her eye. The CDC did not say where
she lives.
This brings to three the number of moderate-to-severe reactions
among civilians as a result of smallpox vaccinations. Last week,
the CDC reported that a 39-year-old Florida nurse appeared to have
a rash called generalized vaccinia.
The smallpox vaccine is made with a live virus called vaccinia,
which can cause illness if it escapes the inoculation site and
infects another part of the body. Vaccinia can also infect those
who come into contact with people who have been vaccinated.
The CDC also reported three other serious illnesses since the
program began, for a total of four, though all of them are not
necessarily related to the vaccinations. The new cases were a women
with a headache and dizziness, a man with high blood pressure and a
severe headache and a woman whose gall bladder was removed because
of an acute inflammation.
In addition, the CDC reported 21 nonserious events, including
fever, pain and rash, for a total of 46 since the program began.
On the Net:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov
