 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Raymond Strikas and Mehran Massoudi, PhD. National Immunization Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30333, 404-639-8813, RStrikas@cdc.gov
On December 13, 2002, President Bush announced a national plan to protect the nation against a possible smallpox bioterrorism event by making careful and thorough preparations at the federal level and in state and local health jurisdictions. The goal of the pre-event planning is to increase the nation’s bioterrorism preparedness by safely and expeditiously immunizing and training members of smallpox public health and healthcare response teams. The smallpox vaccine is being offered to response team members under a voluntary program only after providing education about the vaccine risks and benefits to the individuals and their household members. Currently, as of 5/16/03, all 50 states, Los Angeles County, District of Columbia, Chicago, New York City, and Puerto Rico have vaccinated response personnel staff in their jurisdictions. There have been 36,662 individuals vaccinated against smallpox in the civilian smallpox vaccination program. Of these, 23,520 are part of healthcare response teams and 11,479 are part of public health response teams. Of the reported 4,915 acute-care hospitals in all states, 2,038 (41%) have enrolled in the smallpox vaccination program and have vaccinated selected personnel. National preparedness planning and activities at the state and local level will expand; specifically, state and local health jurisdictions will be asked to identify additional types and numbers of personnel necessary for an adequate response to confirmed smallpox case and/or an outbreak. Special emphasis will be placed on surveillance/epidemiology and contact tracing related activities, education and training, table-top exercises, data management, and communications.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Bioterrorism, Immunizations
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.