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Smallpox shot in military member led to four vaccinia cases
Four people contracted vaccinia virus infections, leading in one case to systemic symptoms, as a result of direct or indirect contact with a US military man who had received a smallpox shot, according to a report in Emerging Infectious Diseases. The military member was vaccinated on Feb 23, 2010, and on Feb 27 he wrestled with two other men in a semiprofessional match, during which his vaccination-site dressing came off. Both of those wrestlers suffered skin lesions within 3 days. One of the two wrestled another man on Mar 5, and the latter subsequently had skin lesions on his chest. One of the men required treatment for erythema and early blepharitis of his left eyelid. In addition, a 29-year-old female household contact of the first case-patient suffered lesions along her lower jaw, followed by fever, chills, arthralgia, submandibular swelling, and a lesion in her right nostril. After her physician and the New York State Department of Health (NYSDH) consulted with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, she was treated with vaccinia immune globulin, lead author Gregory E. Young of the NYSDH told CIDRAP News, which alleviated the pain of her lesions within 24 hours. Vaccinia virus was confirmed in all four patients, and gene sequencing in three of the cases linked the virus to the ACAM2000 smallpox vaccine. The report says the cases point up the need to ensure that military vaccinees understand the risks associated with contact transmission of vaccinia. On Mar 16 the same journal published a report of four similar vaccinia cases that were linked to a martial arts gym.
Link to Story on CIDRAP