possessed or converted smallpox virus as well as other biological agents into weapons of
mass destruction. By mid-June 2004 627,000 military employees and 40,000 civilian first
responders and health care workers had been vaccinated. The civilian program reported
900 “adverse events” occurring within days of the inoculation, including one confirmed
death from the vaccine. The military reported one death and 75 cases of heart
“inflammation” caused by the vaccine. These events should not have come as surprises to
the Army and civilian medical authorities since the complication rate from vaccination
was greater than the risk of exposure to smallpox virus in the 21st century. The fate of the
vaccination program is undetermined at this writing. Efforts are underway (18) to find an
effective but safer vaccine than the one in current use. Stored vaccines from European
pharmaceutical companies were also being acquired by the United States until the
country had manufactured sufficient supplies to vaccinate the entire population.
The current vaccine, the one retrieved from storage (8), is “Dryvax-R”. The
vaccinia currently licensed in the United States is a lyophilized, live virus preparation of
infectious vaccinia virus (Wyeth Laboratories, Marietta, Pennsylvania). Vaccinia vaccine
does not contain smallpox (variola) virus. Previously the vaccine had been prepared from
calf lymph seed virus derived from the New York City Board of Health (NYCBOH)
strain of vaccinia virus and has a minimum concentration of 10 to the 8th pock-forming
units (PFU/ml). Vaccine is administered by using the multiple puncture technique with a
bifurcated needle. A reformulated vaccine, produced by cell culture technique, is now
being developed.
Postvaccinal (Postvaccination) Encephalitis