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2003 SEP 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- More than 90% of people vaccinated for smallpox might retain lifetime immunity to vaccinia, the virus used to vaccinate against the disease, Mark Slifka and colleagues report.
The researchers examined the levels and duration of antiviral immunity - both by virus-specific antibodies and by "memory" T-cells - after smallpox vaccination. While vaccinia-specific T-cell memory declined slowly over decades, most people maintained stable antibody responses for up to 75 years after vaccination, suggesting essentially a lifelong immunity, the researchers reported.
Based on their evidence, published in the September 2003 issue of Nature Medicine, the risks of an intentional smallpox outbreak would be significantly lesser, the researchers suggested. However, ...