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Hospital trains for smallpox

Story by Lance Cpl. Jessica L. Moss
Story Identification Number: 200313110173

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, N.C.(Jan. 30, 2003) -- Healthcare providers at the Halyburton Naval Hospital are receiving training in order to properly administer the smallpox vaccine.

In a "Train the Trainer" session, officials from Naval Hospital Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune distributed the shot to doctors and corpsmen, who must receive the vaccine before they can administer it, in order to train others with the required procedures.

Doctors must first watch as the vaccine is administered to three individuals, then give the shot to three people before becoming qualified with the injection. At this time, only military healthcare providers, not servicemembers, are the recipients of the vaccine. This is because officials must train with the vaccine before servicemembers can receive it.

We're standing by day by day in wait for further guidance from higher headquarters," said Navy Capt. Christopher R. Armstrong, a native of Williamsburg, Va., and the Halyburton director of outpatient care. "The decision will be based on when the units deploy."

"We want to give you the opportunity to see the vaccine being given," said instructor Georgette Dougherty, a registered nurse at the MCB Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune, to a class of Sailors at Halyburton.

The vaccine is used to prevent the occurrence of smallpox, which can be used as a weapon of mass destruction.

According to www.smallpox.army.mil, a Department of Defense website, smallpox is a contagious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a germ called the variola virus. The infection spreads slowly, usually by face-to-face contact for an hour or more with an infected person. However, smallpox may also be spread through contact with contaminated blood cells.

The symptoms of smallpox begin with a high fever, head and body aches and vomiting. In the following stage, a rash spreads and progresses to raised bumps that crust, scab and fall off after about three weeks to leave scars.

The smallpox infection may be spread by contact with inanimate objects such as clothing, towels and linens, but this is not the most common form of receiving the virus.

To counter the effects of smallpox, healthcare officials administer the smallpox vaccine. The injection contains the live vaccinia virus, not the smallpox virus. The same vaccine was given to millions of Americans, including servicemembers, from World War I until the 1980s.

However, certain procedures are followed before a person can receive the shot. For example, those infected with human immunodeficiency virus or cancer are directed not to take the injection. Pregnant women or people who have skin care problems are also unauthorized to take the vaccine. These are just few examples of many that may prevent a person from taking the shot.

"Three out of ten people who get contact smallpox die," said George E. Reynolds, the community health director at the MCB Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune. "Only one out of a million who receive the vaccine will die."