[NVIC] Marines Ordered To Take Smallpox Vaccine

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Since (the hospital) usually deals with young, healthy servicemembers, most

everyone is eligible for the vaccine, " Pate said.

BL Fisher Note:

There were thousands of young, healthy military recruits who died or were

left with lifelong health problems after being vaccinated with more than 17

vaccines, both approved and experimental, during the Gulf War. In the past

five years, there have been many more young, healthy Americans who

volunteered to give their lives on the battlefield defending America and

instead ended up giving their lives before they ever got to a battlefield

because they were ordered to take the highly reactive anthrax and smallpox

vaccines.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/CD376EB2FB08961E85256FCF000

A6A7B?opendocument

United States Marines

March 25, 2005

Okinawa-based Marines push to meet smallpox vaccination goal

Submitted by: MCB Camp

Story Identification #: 2005324205346

Story by Lance Cpl. Cathryn D.

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, Japan (March. 25, 2005) -- Units

islandwide are pushing to meet the May 1 goal for smallpox vaccinations for

the more than 20,000 servicemembers currently assigned to the III Marine

Expeditionary Force.

Medical personnel must screen and vaccinate all medically qualified

servicemembers in order to meet the goal outlined in a letter of instruction

issued by the III MEF commanding general, Lt. Gen. R. Blackman, this

past February.

The LOI was in response to a message sent by Secretary of Defense H.

Rumsfeld to hospitals militarywide Sept. 2, directing the expansion of the

smallpox vaccination program to deploying servicemembers.

The immunization program was expanded as part of an ongoing military

inoculation plan that began in 2002, in order to give military members an

additional layer of protection, in addition to antibiotics, against

infectious diseases.

Smallpox was officially considered eradicated in 1977, but the United States

and the former Soviet Union kept samples of the disease for research

purposes, explained Lt. Cmdr. Pate, an occupational medicine physician

at the U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa in a smallpox briefing here March 8. In

1980, the former Soviet Union lost its samples of the virus, and it is

unknown whether the samples were given to other countries in an effort to

create biological weapons.

Servicemembers need to receive the smallpox vaccine before deploying to

areas such as Korea and Iraq, which are high-risk areas for biological

weapons, Pate stressed.

Before a servicemember receives the vaccination, he must receive a brief

that outlines how the vaccination works, vaccination site care and medical

problems that may prevent a servicemember from receiving the shot.

Representatives from the USNH have been giving mass briefings to Marines

islandwide in order to meet the May 1 goal.

Following the brief, all individuals who are eligible to receive the vaccine

will undergo a one-on-one medical screening with a specifically trained

healthcare provider to ensure that the servicemember does not have any

medical conditions that would make it dangerous for them to receive the

vaccine.

People who would not receive the smallpox vaccine are those who have

weakened immune systems, including people with AIDS, HIV, cancer, recent

organ transplants or who are currently ill, Pate explained. Additionally,

people with certain skin problems and women who are pregnant are not

eligible for the vaccine.

The USNH has also been administering the vaccine to individual units and

servicemembers at their place of work.

" Instead of making all the Marines come to (the hospital), we have been

going to them, " Pate said.

The prevalent symptoms of smallpox are fever, chills and a rash, which is

mostly concentrated on the face, legs and arms. The rash consists of swollen

lumps under the skin and leaves individuals with permanent, disfiguring

scars. About 30 percent of people who become infected with smallpox will die

from the virus if not previously vaccinated, according to the military's

vaccines Web site at http://www.vaccines.mil.

The smallpox vaccine is administered with a small pitchfork-like needle,

which is dipped into the vaccine and jabbed into the skin three times,

usually on the upper arm, and it protects about 95 percent of people exposed

to the virus, Pate explained.

A small blister forms at the vaccination site within six to eight days if

the vaccine is working correctly. The virus stays at the site of the

blister, making it extremely important for people not to touch the site

after the inoculation. If a person touches the blister or scab, the virus

could spread to other parts of the body, which could create a similar

blister, Pate stressed.

The blister will turn into a scab, after the body has fought the virus, and

fall off in about 21 days.

About 20 percent of those vaccinated suffer from side effects of the

vaccine, which may include a headache, sore arm, itching at the site of the

inoculation or fatigue, according to Pate.

" Since (the hospital) usually deals with young, healthy servicemembers, most

everyone is eligible for the vaccine, " Pate said.

Servicemembers required to receive the smallpox vaccine will be contacted by

their respective unit's vaccine coordinators with scheduled appointments.

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