Smallpox vaccine and HIV: a deadly combination. (Science).With soldiers and health care workers receiving smallpox inoculations under President Bush's bioterror prevention program, many Americans are considering whether to receive vaccinations if they become more widely available. But people with HIV--and anyone who spends time with them--may have as much reason to fear the inoculations as they do an actual bioterror attack. The vaccine uses a weakened--but live--version of a virus similar to smallpox to stimulate an immune system immune system Cells, cell products, organs, and structures of the body involved in the detection and destruction of foreign invaders, such as bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells. Immunity is based on the system's ability to launch a defense against such invaders. defense. Because the immune systems of HIV-positive people may not be able to fight off the effects of active pathogens, doctors say they should never get a live-virus vaccine. According to Stephen E. Goldstone gold·stone n. An aventurine with gold-colored inclusions. Noun 1. goldstone - aventurine spangled densely with fine gold-colored particles , MD, cofounder co·found tr.v. co·found·ed, co·found·ing, co·founds To establish or found in concert with another or others. co·found of the Web site GayHealth.com, the vaccine's threat is so serious that even those who live with HIV-positive people should forgo the vaccination. Once a person is vaccinated, a small blister forms on the skin. During the three weeks it takes for that blister to heal, that person can pass the infection to another person via casual skin-to-skin contact. It then follows that HIV-positive people also could be at risk when visiting vaccinated health care workers. Jonathan S. Appelbaum, medical director of Boston's Fenway Community Health, said employees at AIDS organizations such as Fenway probably won't receive vaccinations until later in the year. Still, the implications worry him. "We're grappling with the whole idea because we care for about 1,100 HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. patients," he said. "We're really not sure what risk we as providers would have in transmitting it to our patients." Even in healthy people, the vaccine can cause a number of irritating to life-threatening complications, ranging from painful skin rashes and infections to encephalitis encephalitis (ĕnsĕf'əlī`təs), general term used to describe a diffuse inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, usually of viral origin, often transmitted by mosquitoes, in contrast to a bacterial infection of the meninges , which can be fatal. Goldstone said any gay or bisexual man who is considering receiving the smallpox vaccine smallpox vaccine n. A vaccine containing vaccinia virus suspensions that is inoculated subcutaneously to immunize against smallpox. should first take an HIV test HIV test Various tests have been used to detect HIV and production of antibodies thereto; some HTs shown below are no longer actively used, but are listed for completeness and context. See HIV, Immunoblot. to rule out HIV infection. "A lot of people run around with the idea that what you don't know won't hurt you," he said. "But it absolutely could hurt you when it comes to this." |
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