washington (reuters) - a maryland nurse who died after getting a smallpox vaccine suffered a heart attack, which suggests the shot did not kill her, health officials said on wednesday.
but officials at the centers for disease control and prevention put out a warning saying people with heart disease should not get the smallpox vaccine, just in case.
the nurse, who worked at a private maryland hospital, died on sunday in virginia. she got her smallpox immunization on march 18.
"the autopsy was conducted on tuesday and it indicates a heart attack was the cause of death," lucy caldwell of the virginia department of health said in a telephone interview.
this, said caldwell, suggests but does not prove that her death was not a side effect of the vaccine.
"we feel it certainly would not have been the primary cause. but additional tests will be conducted to rule out that it could have been a contributing factor," she said.
the nurse was one of seven female healthcare workers who developed heart symptoms after being vaccinated, said cdc head dr. julie gerberding.
"we have seven patients with what looks like coronary artery disease and two additional patients that have inflammatory conditions that have affected the heart," gerberding told reporters on tuesday night.
gerberding said she doubted any of the cases were caused by the smallpox vaccine but the cdc was being extra careful. she noted all the patients had heart disease to begin with.
"and that's why we cannot necessarily ascribe any relationship of vaccination to these events. it could be entirely coincidental. but until we know that for sure, we're taking this precautionary step," she said.
the cdc says more than 25,000 heath workers have received the smallpox vaccine. they will then be ready to vaccinate other health and emergency workers and police in case there is ever a smallpox attack.
the u.s. government hopes to vaccinate 450,000 health workers in this first phase of the program. half a million troops are also being vaccinated.
smallpox was eradicated in 1979 but the government fears iraq and other countries have developed smallpox for use as a biological weapon.
the vaccine can have severe side effects, mostly in young children and those with weak immune systems. in the past, it killed between one and two people per million who got the shot and made up to 52 extremely ill.
i hadn't heard about this yet? anyone else hear about this yet?
