Now's the time to prepare for smallpox

It has been more than 30 years since routine smallpox vaccinations stopped in the United States. The last U.S. smallpox case occurred in 1949. And the last known case of smallpox in the world was in Somalia in 1979. Since then, the world has been free of the fear of smallpox, which has been described as one of the worst diseases known to mankind because of the way it affects its victims and the way it leaves survivors scarred for life.

Despite this three-decade lull in the smallpox scourge, the smallpox virus still exists, mainly in medical labs where it is kept for research purposes. But now we know that smallpox is among several types of deadly diseases whose viruses and toxins have likely been developed into biological weapons that might be used in a worst-case war scenario.

With war clouds continuing to form over Iraq -- one of the countries believed to have biological weapons and, apparently, willing to use them -- it is only prudent that the U.S. government has launched an inoculation campaign to protect those most likely to be affected if an outbreak of smallpox occurs.

Health-care workers are among those who would be on the front lines. Approximately 450,000 nurses and doctors are beginning to experience being on the receiving end of a smallpox vaccination, most of them for the first time.

Smallpox inoculations aren't simple shots. A spot on the arm has to be stuck with a needle several times so the serum can be absorbed through the skin. The process is not particularly painful, but it's an ordeal nonetheless for those who are squeamish.

Of more concern is the fact that the inoculations may cause side effects -- some severe -- in a small number of those receiving the shots. While that has become a major issue for some health officials, anyone who remembers receiving smallpox inoculations a few decades ago probably can't recall ever thinking it was better to risk getting smallpox. At that time, the inoculations were routinely required for health-care workers, military inductees and even students going off to college.

In today's world of heavy advertising for new drugs, we've become accustomed to the magazine pages touting the benefits of a particular drug followed by a page of itsy-bitsy type that's full of disclaimers about potential side effects. Does that keep people from taking advantage of drugs that promise to relieve allergies or improve sexual performance? No. As Dr. Peter Gott, the Southeast Missourian's medical columnist, routinely advises readers: In most cases, the benefits of a drug so far outweigh the possible harmful effects that there is little or no hesitation in using the drug.

Let's hope the inoculation program that's been inaugurated in the United States is all for naught. Right now, the only way for an outbreak of smallpox to occur is if someone deliberately unleashes the virus as an act of aggression or cowardly retaliation.

Given the odds, it's best to be prepared as best we can.