CDC reports vaccinia infections in lab workers
Robert Roos News Editor
[snips]
Apr 21, 2008 (CIDRAP News) ? An ongoing trickle of vaccinia virus infections in laboratory workers who handle the virus points up the need for them to be immunized, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said last week.
Vaccinia is a close relative of the smallpox virus and is the active ingredient in smallpox vaccine. Labs use it in research on orthopoxviruses (the group that includes smallpox and vaccinia) and as a tool to induce cells to make foreign proteins, the CDC said.
From 2005 through 2007, the CDC learned of five vaccinia infections in lab workers, three of whom had never received vaccinia immunizations, according to an article in the Apr 18 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). The cases were reported informally, since there is no national system for tracking lab-related vaccinia infections.
The five cases, four of which occurred in academic labs and the other in a government lab, all involved needlestick injuries. Two of the workers were hospitalized briefly, but all recovered. Three patients had a fever along with a lesion at the injury site, while one had only a lesion.
The article says it is not possible to estimate the incidence of lab-related vaccinia infections, because the number of labs that handle the virus is unknown. The CDC receives fewer than five reports of such cases per year.
Full Cidrap article:
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/bt/smallpox/news/apr2108vaccinia.html
Full CDC article:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5715a3.htm
Robert Roos News Editor
[snips]
Apr 21, 2008 (CIDRAP News) ? An ongoing trickle of vaccinia virus infections in laboratory workers who handle the virus points up the need for them to be immunized, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said last week.
Vaccinia is a close relative of the smallpox virus and is the active ingredient in smallpox vaccine. Labs use it in research on orthopoxviruses (the group that includes smallpox and vaccinia) and as a tool to induce cells to make foreign proteins, the CDC said.
From 2005 through 2007, the CDC learned of five vaccinia infections in lab workers, three of whom had never received vaccinia immunizations, according to an article in the Apr 18 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). The cases were reported informally, since there is no national system for tracking lab-related vaccinia infections.
The five cases, four of which occurred in academic labs and the other in a government lab, all involved needlestick injuries. Two of the workers were hospitalized briefly, but all recovered. Three patients had a fever along with a lesion at the injury site, while one had only a lesion.
The article says it is not possible to estimate the incidence of lab-related vaccinia infections, because the number of labs that handle the virus is unknown. The CDC receives fewer than five reports of such cases per year.
Full Cidrap article:
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/bt/smallpox/news/apr2108vaccinia.html
Full CDC article:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5715a3.htm