State to get enough vaccine for every resident by January

<br>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Oklahoma will have enough smallpox vaccine by January to inoculate every resident in case of a bioterrorism attack, an expert says. <br><br>Wednesday's announcement by Dr.

Thursday, September 26th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Oklahoma will have enough smallpox vaccine by January to inoculate every resident in case of a bioterrorism attack, an expert says.

Wednesday's announcement by Dr. Robert Petrone, Oklahoma's bioterrorism preparedness and response coordinator, came after states were told to prepare to vaccinate all Americans in case of a biological attack using smallpox.

``People in every state, including Oklahoma, could be vaccinated,'' Petrone said.

The federal plan sent to states offers specific suggestions for a community that must vaccinate 1 million people in 10 days, but officials said the timing and the scope of vaccinations will depend on the situation.

The National Pharmaceutical Stockpile should have enough doses for every American by early 2003, but Petrone believes only certain groups of people will need to be vaccinated.

Small teams of infectious disease specialists who could be quickly deployed to a terrorism event involving smallpox would be vaccinated first.

The teams would be made up mainly of personnel from the state Health Department and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City.

They could immediately vaccinate those who had contact with a highly infectious patient in hopes of stemming the spread of the disease.

The next group of Oklahomans could be about 2,000 emergency room staffers, including doctors, nurses and technicians.

A third group immediately vaccinated would be ``first responders,'' including ambulance operators and medical technicians, police officers and firefighters.

The smallpox virus is fatal in about one-third of cases, Petrone said. People die from burning skin lesions, multi-organ failures, respiratory problems that prevent breathing or some combination of ailments.

The vaccine is about 99 percent effective, and is still effective even four or five days after a person is exposed.

Smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980, but experts fear that hostile nations or terrorist groups may have acquired the virus and could release it on a population that now harbors very little natural immunity. Routine immunizations in the United States ended in 1971.