U.K. government criticized for choice of vaccine.(Brief Article)

2002 AUG 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A newspaper claimed July 31, 2002 that Britain had ordered the wrong smallpox vaccine to stockpile in case of bioterror attack.

But the government defended its decision, saying it was made with expert scientific and medical advice, and the World Health Organization said the chosen vaccine would work as well as the other major vaccine.

Since the September 11 terrorist assaults on Washington and New York and subsequent anthrax attacks, fears that the smallpox virus could resurface as a biological weapon have grown and governments, including Britain's, are building up vaccine stocks.

There are several vaccines, but the two main ones used during the global campaign to eradicate smallpox were the Lister vaccine, which came from England, and the New York City Board of Health vaccine.

Britain has ordered stocks of the Lister vaccine, but the Times newspaper contended that a terrorist attack is most likely to involve smallpox strains from countries where the New York vaccine, not the Lister vaccine, was used and that it's a gamble whether the Lister vaccine would work against such an attack.

The United States has chosen to go with the New York City Board of Health vaccine, which was used in the Americas and West Africa during the smallpox eradication effort. Derivatives of ...