Some vaccines recommended.(Brief Article)

2002 OCT 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials are recommending that smallpox vaccinations be given to about 250,000-500,000 people, including hospital and emergency workers most likely to see smallpox patients and special response teams in each state, officials say.

HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said he has sent his recommendation to the White House and is awaiting a decision from President Bush.

At issue is the likelihood that certain groups of workers would see an infectious smallpox patient versus the likelihood they would get sick, or possibly die, from the vaccine itself.

Officials cautioned that the numbers are still in flux and could change before a final decision is announced. The 250,000-500,000 figure was disclosed over the summer, and officials said at press time that it had not changed.

A final decision was expected in September, Thompson said.

The proposed number of vaccinations is significantly more than the 10,000-20,000 recommended earlier this year by an advisory committee, which was worried by the vaccine's side effects. In its deliberations, the committee assumed that the risk of a smallpox attack is very low. A host of mathematical models made it clear that any one person faces a much higher risk of being hurt by the vaccine than being hurt by smallpox.

But Thompson said he has to assume that it's possible.