Draft Recommendations for Use of Smallpox Vaccine in a Pre-Event Smallpox Vaccination Program: Supplemental Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HI

In June 2001, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) made recommendations for the use of smallpox (vaccinia) vaccine to protect persons working with orthopoxviruses, and to prepare for a possible bioterrorism attack and for response to an attack involving smallpox.[1] Because of the terrorist attacks in the fall of 2001, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asked the ACIP to review their previous recommendations for smallpox vaccination. These supplemental recommendations update the 2001 recommendations for vaccination of persons designated to respond or care for a suspected or confirmed case of smallpox. In addition, they clarify and expand the primary strategy for control and containment of smallpox in the event of an outbreak. Recommendations for vaccination of laboratory workers who directly handle recombinant vaccinia viruses derived from non-highly attenuated vaccinia strains, or other orthopoxviruses that infect humans (e.g., monkeypox, cowpox, vaccinia, and variola) remain unchanged.[1]