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Smallpox (Variola)
PEDIATRICS Vol. 111 No. 6 June 2003, pp. 1431-1432

COMMENTARY

The US Smallpox Vaccination Plan

Jon S. Abramson, MD, Chairperson, Julia A. McMillan, MD, Member and Robert S. Baltimore, MD, Member

American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157
American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21287
American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510

Abbreviations: AAP, American Academy of Pediatrics

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently published a policy statement on the use of the smallpox vaccine in children.1 This commentary expands on issues raised by Congress2 regarding the implementation of a smallpox vaccination program in children.

AAP policy states that children should not be offered the smallpox vaccine at this time. This recommendation is based on weighing the fact that infants and children are particularly vulnerable to serious complications caused by the smallpox vaccine, including death, versus the government’s own assessment that the current risk of a smallpox attack is low.3 When the risk of a smallpox attack is low, a ring-vaccination policy that includes a plan for rapid distribution of smallpox . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Address correspondence to Jon S. Abramson, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston Salem, NC 27157-0001. E-mail: jabrams@wfubmc.edu