March 26, 2003 -- CDC suspends smallpox vaccinations to those at cardiac risk

 

Here is more reason to praise the courage of health workers who
opposed the government's mass smallpox vaccination of health workers,
not only because of its dangers to providers, patients, and the
public, and its epidemiological fallacies, but also its being used to
generate support for this obscene war.

There is little or no reporting on the danger to patients at cardiac
risk who are exposed to vaccinated healthworkers who continue patient
contact per government guidelines.
 

San Francisco Chronicle, Wednesday, March 26, 2003

New alarm over smallpox vaccine  3 recipients had heart attacks, one
fatal -- link to coronary problems to be explored

Following the first reported death associated with its controversial
smallpox vaccine program, the Bush administration warned Tuesday
evening that no one with a history of heart disease should volunteer
to be immunized.

In a hastily called telephone news conference, the head of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention disclosed that three female health
care workers,

all in their 50s, have suffered heart attacks after receiving the
vaccine.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC, said one of the heart
attack victims remained on life support.

OTHER HEART PROBLEMS

She also noted that four others recently vaccinated had suffered other
heart problems.

According to the Associated Press, the dead woman was a Maryland nurse
who was vaccinated on March 18 and died five days later. Her death is
the first to be linked to the smallpox vaccine -- considered the most
dangerous ever administered to the general population because it is
expected to kill 1 or 2 of every 1 million people who receive it.

As a precaution, the CDC is amending the list of conditions that would
disqualify a volunteer from getting the smallpox vaccine. It will now
include those with a history of heart or coronary disease.

"We have yet to determine whether the vaccine has any relation to the
onset of illness in these individuals," Gerberding said. But the
restrictions are being implemented immediately "to err on the side of
caution."

The CDC said the seven cases of heart problems are from among 22,000
civilians who thus far have volunteered for the smallpox vaccination.
The inoculation has been shunned by large numbers of health care
workers concerned about potential side effects.

NEW RESTRICTIONS

CDC officials estimated that the new restrictions would affect 5 to 10
percent of the pool of potential vaccine volunteers. The Bush
administration had hoped to vaccinate 500,000 health care workers who
would be most likely to encounter victims of a bioterrorist smallpox
attack.

In the unlikely event of an actual smallpox attack, Gerberding said,
the safety restrictions would be lifted, and the vaccine would be
recommended for all, even those with a history of heart disease.

In addition to the three who had heart attacks, two others suffered
angina, or heart pain, and two more showed symptoms of inflammation in
heart tissue.

The three heart attack victims and two angina sufferers all had a
prior history of heart problems.

Gerberding said she was convening a meeting of heart specialists and
immunology experts to consider whether the smallpox vaccine could be
responsible for triggering cardiovascular events.

"There is biological plausibility that when you have a viral
infection, there could be an inflammatory response that in some way
exacerbates coronary artery disease," she said.

But Gerberding also said the most likely possibility is that all the
recent health problems of the vaccine volunteers are unrelated to the
vaccine itself.

More than 100,000 members of the armed services also have received
smallpox vaccine since December, with no reports of death. In
February, a 26-year-old Air Force serviceman developed chest pain and
was later diagnosed with heart inflammation.
 

Here is the CDC press release advising temporary medical deferral for
persons diagnosed with heart disease (cardiomyopathy, previous heart
attack, history of angina, or other evidence of coronary artery
disease) following reports of heart problems in seven vaccinated
health workers.  These included three cases of myocardial infarction
(heart attack), one of which resulted in death; two cases of angina
(chest pain); and two cases of myopericarditis (inflammation of the
heart muscle or sac surrounding the heart).  Cases of heart
inflammation following smallpox vaccination were reported in the 1960s
and 1970s. http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r030325.htm

ABC reports CDC director saying the national vaccination program, off
to a slow start, must move forward to prepare for the possibility of a
bioterror attack with smallpox, adding "The potential for terrorism
has probably never been higher." She also said the five workers with
heart attacks and angina all had risk factors for heart disease before
the vaccination, such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension or use of
tobacco.
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Living/ap20030326_870.html