Center for Disease Control and Prevention to Dispose Dryvax Vaccine

March 3, 2008

(Long Island, N.Y.) The Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Friday its intention of disposing the century-old vaccine ‘Dryvax’ which is the oldest smallpox vaccine in the world and has saved millions of lives in an epidemic which occurred in the early 20th century.

CDC currently stockpiles over 12 million doses of the vaccine but incorporation of better research and study in the medical society led to better and more modern measures to fight smallpox and the disintegration of Dryvax use. Currently, the CDC plans to replace the Dryvax vaccine with ACAM2000 which is a more modern product manufactured by Acambis laboratories Inc.

“It is a historical moment, because it’s our oldest vaccine, It was a vaccine that eliminated smallpox from the United States. “Times had changed, and our awareness, sensitivity and tolerance for adverse events associated with vaccines was much greater than during the smallpox vaccination campaigns of the 20th century.” said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of Vanderbilt University’s department of preventive medicine.

The decision by the CDC to eliminate the use of Dryvax vaccine for smallpox patients was generated by concerns that the vaccine could trigger heart attacks and a painful heart inflammation in some patients as reported by several medical institutions across the country.

Smallpox is often an acute infectious disease unique to humans it is generally caused by either of two virus variants named Variola major and Variola minor. During the 20th century, medical records indicate that smallpox caused 300-350 million deaths worldwide. Smallpox patients suffer from prolonged sweltering fevers and tremendous body aches. Survivors often bare blisters and spotty scars across their body after recovery.

Dryvax vaccine was created in the late 1800’s by American Home Products which later became Wyeth Laboratories. After the World Health Organization eradicated the use of the vaccine in the late 1980’s Wyeth decided to end production of the vaccine.

Posted by News LI Editor · Edited by Brianna - Filed Under Health