On Wednesday night, Dan Rather on 60 Minutes scared Americans half to death with presentations of smallpox disease horrors AND the devastating damage caused by smallpox vaccine adverse reactions. He offered no alternative except to face the grim reality of getting sick and possibly dying from the vaccine. Don’t give up; there are alternatives. He also anticipated President Bush’s announcement coming this Friday that millions of health care workers will be vaccinated and every American will have access to the vaccine next year.

Everyone assumes that terrorists are ready to release smallpox, which seems highly unlikely. Admittedly, terrorists are crazy, but if given a choice I suspect most terrorists would rather just kill people in the targeted country with a non-infectious agent such as anthrax than with a virus that was guaranteed to spread to their own communities and families.

Everyone assumes that the vaccine is effective, which is highly questionable. Historical accounts differ considerably concerning the effectiveness of smallpox vaccine. For example, in many communities across the world the rate of smallpox disease increased dramatically following mass vaccination campaigns. Vaccine critics have always doubted that a vaccine prepared from cowpox, later renamed vaccinia virus, could prevent disease caused by a different organism, human smallpox (variola) virus. One study showed that smallpox vaccine reduces the fatality rate, but the ability of the vaccine to act preventively remains undetermined. Smallpox disease was eliminated from the world, but other deadly diseases have also disappeared without the benefit of a vaccine. Whether the vaccine played a role in the extinction of smallpox or whether other factors that limit the spread of disease (isolation, quarantine, and improved sanitation) were responsible remains a mystery. If the smallpox vaccine is ineffective, then we are about to embark on a very foolish mission.

Studies of a homeopathic preventive for smallpox did show promising results during an epidemic in the early twentieth century. For those who decline the smallpox needle, this option is available. In the meantime, I will not be vaccinating myself or my family.