Fighting Bioterrorism | No One Should Be Vaccinated Against Smallpox

Todd Sloane is assistant managing editor of Modern Healthcare.

Summary: The U.S. government is asking health care providers to be vaccinated against smallpox so they will be protected in the event of a bioterror attack. This proposal seems foolish because there is little reason to believe that such an attack will occur. Vaccination is risky, both because people may have severe reactions to the vaccine and because vaccinated people can spread the disease to others. Furthermore, the government is not offering to pay for it, and its costs could force health...

[The entire page is 806 words long]

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