The Latest Biology News And Medical NewsBiology News 2Health News 2Biology News 3Health News 3
HOME >> MEDICINE >> NEWS
Smallpox outbreak response: Targeted vaccination may be almost as effective as mass vaccination

This news release is also available in French.

Vaccinating those people in close contact with smallpox victims may be almost as effective as vaccinating the entire population, in the event of an outbreak, scientists have found. The study appears in the journal Science, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Using a computer model to investigate how smallpox might spread after being introduced by a few infected individuals, Elizabeth Halloran of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and her colleagues also found that the success of a vaccination effort hinged, to a large degree, on the level of "pre-existing immunity" in the general population.

Researchers have no way of determining how much leftover protection people over thirty still have as a result of the stippled vaccines they received as children, up until 1972, according to Halloran.

One way to increase the level of existing immunity before a smallpox outbreak may be to vaccinate volunteers and "first responders"--hospital workers and others most likely to encounter the virus, according to the researchers.

If people simply stayed home during their illness, that significantly reduced the spread of the disease and increased the effectiveness of vaccination, the researchers also found.

"The last thing you want is thousands of people running out to get vaccinated [after smallpox has been introduced]," said Halloran. "The idea is that people should just stay calm and stay home."

Based on information from the U.S. Census, the researchers' computer model simulated the possible ways that smallpox could spread through a community of 2,000 people, and the impacts of various types of vaccination efforts.

Whether to use mass or targeted vaccination in response to intentionally spread smallpox has been a matter of debate among researc
'"/>

Contact: lonaga@aaas.org
lonaga@aaas.org
202-326-7088
American Association for the Advancement of Science
14-Nov-2002


Page: 1 2 3

Related medicine news :

1. Smallpox vaccine can be diluted and still be effective, expanding supply if needed
2. Smallpox vaccine may cause harmless skin rashes
3. A new method for early detection of disease outbreaks
4. Anniversary of one of the largest hepatitis A outbreaks in the US brings experts together
5. Avian influenza outbreaks create concern about human infection Mayo Clinic researchers warn
6. SARS without pneumonia could be common in outbreak areas
7. Intl surveillance system suggests 2002 gastroenteritis outbreaks from new variant norovirus
8. SARS outbreak in Beijing spread rapidly, was controlled fairly quickly
9. No significant genetic difference in viruses responsible for two major Hong Kong SARS outbreaks
10. OHSU researchers study recent monkeypox outbreak
11. First relapsing fever outbreak in Montana identified
Post Your Comments:
(Date:11/21/2008)...Protect Investment And Restore Shareholder Value ,...re/ -- Dr. Stephen Joffe, Craig Joffe, and Alan Bu...D with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission...ership of 11.4% of LCA-Vision, Inc. (Nasdaq: LCA...vision correction centers in 33 states in the Unit...
(Date:11/21/2008)...tCall/ -- Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: BRL ...ngly approved the proposals submitted to them rela...icals Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA ). , ,...port of the transaction by the Barr shareholders,"...e are pleased with the progress that we continue t...
(Date:11/21/2008)...tewide survey, 33 physicians credentialed to pract...rian Hospital of Dallas were honored by Texas Mon...s ." , , Each year, the publishers of Texa...to survey more than 38,000 medical professionals a...dical care, which doctor would you choose?" Key P...
(Date:11/21/2008)...pe Research(TM), a revolutionary,biometric media ...easurement,announced today the appointment of th...research and development, business strategy and ma...nts, who deliver a combined 60 years of experience...r and Vice President of,Strategy; Dr. Ravi Kothur...
Breaking Medicine News(10 mins):Health News:Founders & Former Executive Management Team of LCA-Vision Seek Change to Rescue Company 2Health News:Founders & Former Executive Management Team of LCA-Vision Seek Change to Rescue Company 3Health News:Founders & Former Executive Management Team of LCA-Vision Seek Change to Rescue Company 4Health News:Founders & Former Executive Management Team of LCA-Vision Seek Change to Rescue Company 5Health News:Founders & Former Executive Management Team of LCA-Vision Seek Change to Rescue Company 6Health News:Founders & Former Executive Management Team of LCA-Vision Seek Change to Rescue Company 7Health News:Barr Shareholders Approve Pending Teva Acquisition 2Health News:Barr Shareholders Approve Pending Teva Acquisition 3Health News:Barr Shareholders Approve Pending Teva Acquisition 4Health News:Annual List of 'Super Doctors' Features 33 Texas Institute for Surgery Physicians 2Health News:Innerscope Research Strengthens Management Team With Three Executive Appointments 2
Other News:
...ished cardiovascular disease risk factors such as ...eatly increases risk of hospitalization for and de...according to a study in the Jan. 11 issue of the J...ing Yan, assistant professor of preventive medicin...
......To:Medical and health reporters/producers......... United States Pharmacopeia (USP) will release the...ndings From Intensive Care Units and Radiological ...ssociated with radiological services -- a growing ...
Every year, close to 1 million people around the world kill themselves.......Florida State University Bright-Burton Professor of Psychology Thomas Joiner has spent much of his career trying to find ou
...y balanced diet is good for your heart. Studying h... the Caloric Restriction Society, investigators at...ouis found that their hearts functioned like the h...rt their findings in the Jan. 17 issue of the Jour...
health news:Obesity in middle age raises heart disease, diabetes risk in older age 2health news:Practice makes deadly perfection, FSU suicide researcher says 2health news:Practice makes deadly perfection, FSU suicide researcher says 3health news:Caloric restriction appears to prevent primary aging in the heart 2health news:Caloric restriction appears to prevent primary aging in the heart 3health news:Caloric restriction appears to prevent primary aging in the heart 4
...www.ucr.edu) -- Dr. Tim Close, professor of geneti...at UC Riverside, has been awarded a $2.4 million g...ect that will facilitate researchers' access to th... cereal plant traits relevant to agriculture and b...
ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 12, 2003 -- Babies are more vulnerable to serious head injury during a fall than had been previously thought, according to new research that may also begin to help child abuse inv
...ing pathway of the natural hormone leptin, Johns H...e to minimize or even reverse a dangerous enlarged...is published in the Aug. 12 issue of the journal C...ht and metabolism, but also can affect the heart a...
...world's smallest photosynthetic organisms, microbe...iving biomass like plants do, will be in the limel...tists, including a group from MIT, will announce t...ms of these organisms, which numerically dominate ...
UC Riverside geneticist awarded $2.4 million grant by the National Science Foundation 2UC Riverside geneticist awarded $2.4 million grant by the National Science Foundation 3Infants more vulnerable to serious brain injury from falling than previously thought 2Natural hormone could reverse heart damage 2Microbes' 'blueprints' promise insights into oceans, more 2Microbes' 'blueprints' promise insights into oceans, more 3Microbes' 'blueprints' promise insights into oceans, more 4
... Think undergraduate competition, and the NCAA "M...ll bowl games, pop to mind.......In fact, there ar...es of undergraduates and spur these students to ev... David S. Bruce Undergraduate Research Awards, for...
...niversity of Michigan report an advance toward the...oline. While the U.S. Department of Energy estimat...ntrations of at least 6.5 percent, the chemists ha...y three times as much as has been reported previou...
...h 6, 2006 It has been well documented that, acros...ually more aggressive and less nurturing than fema...osterone, for male behavior such as aggression. Bu...ocial behavior also has a genetic basis, according...
...hockey puck-sized eyes, shortened face and nubby h...st to its mother, a three-horned dinosaur called T... had one of the largest skulls of any land animal ...California, Berkeley's Valley Life Sciences Buildi...
Undergrads compete for American Physiological Society Bruce awards at Experimental Biology 2Chemists report progress in quest to use hydrogen as fuel for cars and electronic devices 2Chemists report progress in quest to use hydrogen as fuel for cars and electronic devices 3Sex chromosome genes influence aggression andmaternal behavior, say UVa researchers 2Smallest Triceratops skull ever found provides clues to dinosaur's growth 2Smallest Triceratops skull ever found provides clues to dinosaur's growth 3