Vaccine for All? Math model supports mass smallpox inoculation
By Nathan Seppa
Widespread vaccinations after a terrorist attack with the smallpox virus would save thousands more lives than the response plan currently being considered by the U.S. government, a new study finds.
The government plan, devised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, would combat a smallpox outbreak by quarantining sick people and vaccinating anyone who had come in contact with an infected person. The plan calls for vaccinations of entire communities only if the more targeted approach doesn’t stop the outbreak.