If the Small Pox vaccine was offered, would you want it?

[lonegunman]

Would seem the chances of a reaction to vaccine would be low... and the chances of being exposed to small pox (as bioterrorism) is unknown...

 

[blades67]

No. If the threat were shown to be imment (i.e. the agent was in the country, but its location was unknown) then yes.

 

[lonegunman]

I am not sure its gonna do you much good then, though, blades. Vaccines work by causing your body to make antibodies.

This can take a couple of weeks.

At least that's my understanding.

 

[blades67]

The reaction to the vaccine lasts a lifetime. Some are mild, many are not. I don't take anything for malaria either, but I have a better chance of getting it than contracting small pox. The SF troops that came back to Ft Bragg and killed their wives were all give a "safe" vaccine. The Pentagon will deny that it had anything to do with the killings just like they claim there's no "Gulf War Syndrome" that they can find. Only Gulf War vets who were in the Middle East, and now their families, have it, but it doesn't exist. You try it, I'll wait.

 

[Fraser]

Sure. I've been vacinated against smallpox twice in my life. Once when I was little, it was required before entering kindergarten. Another time in my 20's. Only thing I remember is that my arm felt like it was a dead weight for about a week.

 

[labgrade]

I'll pass. Agent Orange was declared safe for, what? 20 years?

 

[Standing Wolf]

I certainly would. I'm sure I haven't been vaccinated against smallpox since the age of five or six.

 

[taco]

I would do it.

I have been vaccinated 3 or 4 times already (last one was about 30 years ago) and the current vaccine is the same strain as the ones I've taken in past so I don't expect any problems.

 

[gorlitsa]

If there is a real threat, the vaccine will be in short supply. I'll pass my dose on to someone more likely to catch the virus and more likely to die from it. I've never been severly ill, and my body heals quickly. I'll take my chances and trust on my natural responses.

 

[Zorro]

Yep!

I am WAY over due for my booster for my 1970 shot.



Don't be GAY! A Small Pox shot has possibly a 1 in 1,000,000 chance of causing you harm.

You take a much greater risk driving a car every day of your adult life.

 

[mcshot]

Another Yep as my immune system is shot.

 

[Edward429451]

I'll pass. I've read the horror stories of vaccines and what they can do. (Emerging Viruses- Leonard Horowitz). I know enough about strengthening my immune system nutritionally, plus a little faith.

 

[RKCheung]

No thanks.

 

[clem]

When I was a kid, everyone had to have the small pox shot. Then in the Corps after 20 years and hundreds(?) of shots, plauge, yellow fever, cholera and God knows what else. What's one more. And I've had it before.

You don't want to even think about contacting small pox, if it's offered, get the shot.

 

[Mike Irwin]

You stand a much better chance of having a spontaneous allergic reaction than you do of reacting to a vaccine.

Having had numerous spontaneous allergic reactions over the years, including two that were life threatening, I don't fear a vaccine.

 

[labgrade]

I'm not rolling in any tin-foil hype mind you, I just don't see any need for taking it - any more than one for West Nile (if available, or offered).

Current chances of infection are nil - so I'll pass. That could change.

 

[SteelyDan]

Yes, but I wouldn't be the first one in line. I'd give the program a month or two to make sure there were no surprises (well, to diminish the odds of any surprises), and then I'm there.

 

[rlpinca]

I would take it after the program had been going for a while, just to make sure the old stuff was used up before getting to me. Now that I have a choice I watch the expiration date on vaccines. In the Marines my batalion got an expired batch of anthrax shots that were discovered to be expired for quite some time, they noticed after we got them of course. Nothing bad happened, but it got my attention.

 

[C.R.Sam]

Yes.
Had em before, like many millions of others.

There has to be a reason that much of the eastern bloc military was getting smallpox vaccinations long after we stopped it.

Sam

 

[444]

Yes, working as a firefighter/paramedic in a city with one of the busiest international airports in the world I woud be exposed to it right away more than likely. I take anything like that I can get.