WASHINGTON - United States President George W. Bush was vaccinated against smallpox yesterday in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the US armed forces - and showed no side-effects.
Bush this month announced plans to immunise half a million troops and up to 10 million civilian health care and emergency workers against the long-dormant disease, now deemed a terrorist threat.
Doctors began the vaccinations last week, before a possible US-led war to strip Iraq of any banned chemical, biological or nuclear weapons programmes.
Bush took the shot in his left arm in the White House medical unit. It was administered by a senior immunisation technician from Walter Reed Army Medical Centre under the supervision of the White House doctor, Richard Tubb.
"The President feels fine and there are no side-effects," said White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo in a conference call with reporters.
Bush was immunised shortly before leaving by helicopter for his Camp David retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains, where he will spend Christmas with his family.
Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also plans to be vaccinated.
Smallpox has not occurred naturally since 1978 and the United States stopped vaccinations in 1972. But some experts fear Iraq, North Korea and extremist groups may have turned smallpox into weapons.
Scientists have warned that the vaccine can cause serious side-effects in a small number of recipients, including brain inflammation and death.
The vaccine has changed little since its invention in the late 18th century. It is formulated to deliberately infect the recipient with vaccinia, a live virus related to smallpox. The body's reaction to vaccinia makes the recipient immune or, in some cases, less susceptible to smallpox.
Some people have severe side-effects to the vaccine, including a scarring rash, high fever and encephalitis, a swelling of the brain that can kill.
One or two in every million people die from the vaccination, and a further 1000 per 1 million have a serious reaction, says Dr Renata Engler, chief of allergy and immunology at Walter Reed.
Two studies in the 1960s found that there were life-threatening reactions in 14 to 52 people per million vaccinated.
A new cause for concern is that there are now many people with suppressed immunity, because of HIV or therapy for cancer or transplants. They will be excluded from vaccination, along with about 50 million Americans who once had eczema or topical dermatitis, which can increase the risk.
The danger is that these high-risk groups could catch vaccinia from those vaccinated.
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Commander-in-Chief Bush leads way with smallpox vaccination
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