Text 1670, 53 rader
Skriven 2009-12-12 07:31:00 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
   Kommentar till text 1661 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
Ärende: Smallpox 2002
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Ward Dossche wrote to Roy Witt on Saturday December 12 2009 at 00:38:

WD> The innoculations as of old were only a preventive measure and
WD> countrary to what people believed not 100% failsafe.

What vaccine is 100% effective, Ward? I'm not aware of any.

WD> They also wore-off in time.

As do all vaccinations I'm aware of. Is that something new or specific to
smallpox?

WD> As a result rught now most likely no-one anywhere is still protected
WD> from smallpox.

An assumption, since nobody knows how long the resistance can last and there
are still a good many of us "old folks" around who were vaccinated multiple
times in days of yore - but still a fairly good assumption based on what is
known.

WD> Except maybe the few idiots in those 2 labs.

Well, let's say "scientists and personnel in direct contact with infectious
materials". And as for "2 labs", I apparently have to correct myself, since I
have meanwhile read about the only smallpox outbreak after its worldwide
eradication. That was in a British lab working with the virus, and there were
even a couple of deaths, but the outbreak was contained very quickly.

So apparently there are other labs also dealing with the smallpox virus.

WD> But, as the disease is eradicated, where would a rogue country get the
WD> virus in the first place?

A "rogue country", except possibly one ruled by a bunch of crazies like North
Korea, probably wouldn't be interested in the first place. Too much danger that
a disease could get out of hand and infect its own population.

But a suicide terrorist just might. However, he wouldn't necessarily be
interested in smallpox. Practically any infectious, preferably deadly disease
would do to kill people and disrupt the infrastructure and normal life of even
a country as large as the USA, as we saw during the relatively harmless anthrax
scare.

Cheers, Bob

P.S. Something else I read surprised me: apparently the smallpox vaccine has
been made of attenuated or inactivated virii. I always thought it was just
cowpox virus, but apparently I was wrong. This naturally makes it logical to
keep stocks of the virus just in case of a surprise outbreak, to be able to
prepare vaccine on short notice.

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