I don't have a position on that yet; I need more information to make an informed decision.
Much of modern medicine consists of weighing the relative risks of treatment and preventative options. My oldest daughter, for example, was not vaccinated with the "P" (pertussis) part of the DPT shot because she had a history of fever seizures as an infant. Her pediatrician informed us that in his opinion, the risk of complications from the pertussis portion of the vaccine in light of the history of fever seizures outweighted any risk that she might contract whooping cough and the damage from that disease if she did contract it.
Smallpox might be a different matter. The mortality rate is 33%, and the disease is highly contagious. If smallpox virus ever got loose again on this earth, there could be massive and serious consequences to the world population (and the economy) from a rapidly-spreading pandemic.
I'm not sure of the side effects arise from smallpox vaccination and the risk of serious or permanent damage from those side effects. I do know that when I was growing up, everyone in my family and all my friends and their families were vaccinated and, to my knowledge, there were no adverse side effects.
To properly evaluate the risk/reward ratio of smallpox vaccination, we need more information about the chance that terrorists have smallpox virus. If they do have it, it's pretty much a given that they would not hesitate to use it. Once the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, it may be too late.
Finally, let me ask this. Do you have kids? Did you have them vaccinated against the usual childhood diseases? DPT, MMR, etc.? I'd be interested to know the answer. |
