Smallpox shot side effects feared - Study on volunteers finds pain, flu-like symptoms common

By Robert Bazell
NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT


Dec. 6 — Tia Neeley was among the first volunteers to test the smallpox vaccine after Sept. 11, 2001. A year ago, NBC News reported on her inoculation. “My arm got pretty sore for about two days, around seven to eight days after vaccination,” Neeley said. Hers was a mild reaction, but for many it was not so easy.

OVER THE past several months, 1,500 volunteers have participated in a study to test the controversial vaccine’s safety.

Dr. Tom Talbott, who organized one study at Tennessee’s Vanderbilt University, said scientists also want to find out how much they can dilute the vaccine and still have it work.

Talbott said everyone who is vaccinated develops a sore on the arm where it’s injected. About a third experience swelling and redness. And about 10 percent experience flu-like symptoms.

After receiving a smallpox inoculation, Mark Harris had a fever of 101 degrees.

“For a period of about five to six hours, I was in a lot of pain, delirious from the fever. I had a lot of trouble just moving around,” Harris said. He even had to skip a few days of school.

Elizabeth Forrester missed work.

“Severe pain. Pain around the site, swelling, and it was just really kind of uncomfortable and achy,” Forrester said.
It is not unexpected, but doctors testing the smallpox vaccine are seeing a lot of reactions in the young, healthy volunteers.


“Somewhere around 1 in 10 people end up taking a day or two off from work or school because they just don’t really feel well,” said Dr. John Treanor of the University of Rochester.

President Bush is expected to decide soon to inoculate 500,000 troops and 500,000 health workers. The vaccine trials show that many of them will be incapacitated temporarily, and experts warn that a handful will suffer severe side effects — even death.

What you need to know about smallpox

The problem is that the smallpox vaccine, which is more than 200 years old, is different from flu shots and other vaccines used today. It is made from a live virus, closely related to smallpox, which causes an infection on the arm.
The doctors conducting the tests say they were initially worried.
“I think it is unusual to us as physicians because we’re not used to it,” Talbott said.
But with experience, the physicians say they are feeling more comfortable giving the vaccine. And the volunteers say the risk and discomfort are worth the chance to help protect the country from a terrifying threat.

 

Smallpox's rise and fall - Time line of a scourge

1754-1767
British forces in North America distribute tainted blankets to "disaffected tribes," marking first use of smallpox as an intentional weapon.
1796
Edward Jenner demonstrates that cowpox inoculation can guard against smallpox.
1967
World Health Organization launches global vaccination campaign against smallpox.
1971
Smallpox's eradication leads U.S. to discontinue routine vaccination.
1977
Last naturally occurring case of smallpox reported in Somalia.
1980
WHO certifies that the world is free of naturally occurring smallpox. Soviets begin to develop smallpox as a bioweapon.
1982
Vaccine production is discontinued in the United States.
1990
U.S. military discontinues routine vaccinations.
Today
Smallpox vaccinations are generally limited to selected lab workers and military personnel.