Hacker News Reader

Comment by nix23 | Hacker News Reader

Why not just get your smallpox vaccination? Hint it's 35 swiss franks. ...when you visit Switzerland (in the tropical institute) ;)

View on HN

It originally had a higher rate of side effects than many other vaccines because it was a locally replicating live virus. This is why vaccinated people typically have scars because it would create a local infection and a lesion on the arm. In some rare cases this would go systemic and result in a full scale infection, so when it was locally eradicated the mass vaccination program ended in the US (1972).

Apparently the modern vaccine uses an attenuated virus so it’s less likely to cause issues. I assume that’s what is used if you elect to take it for travel in Switzerland.

If the smallpox vaccine has not changed a lot in the meantime... Probability of death: 1 in 1 million. Probability of death for infants: 5 in 1 million.

Still not something to take a risk.

[Comparatively, if this source is not mistaken: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/ad... for Covid vaccine 5 deaths per 1 million]

afaik no smallpox vaccine is currently approved in Switzerland (according to https://www.nau.ch/politik/bundeshaus/affenpocken-swissmedic...)

Why do you link a monkeypox article?

That is smallpox:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox

And that's the vaccine in 1980:

https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co14865...

Your article means that the smallpox vaccine is not approved for monkeypox...please read at least your article.

https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/de/home/krankheiten/krankheiten...

>>Unser Land verfügt zudem über einen Notfallplan (Isolierung der Erkrankten, Quarantäne, Impfung exponierter Personen und Dekontamination von Gegenständen) sowie über eine genügende Menge eines Pockenimpfstoffes der 1. Generation, der für die Impfung einzelner Bevölkerungsgruppen bis hin zur Gesamtbevölkerung ausreicht. Zudem werden derzeit antivirale Medikamente entwickelt.

>>Our country also has an emergency plan (isolation of the sick, quarantine, vaccination of exposed persons and decontamination of objects) and a sufficient quantity of a 1st generation smallpox vaccine for vaccination of individual population groups up to the entire population. In addition, antiviral drugs are currently being developed.

Because the article talks about the theoretical effectiveness of smallpox vaccines against monkeypox but that no vaccine (smallpox or monkeypox) is currently approved in Switzerland (the smallpox vaccine was approved in the past but is not anymore since its eradication)

Vaccine does not need to be re-approved. If it is approved it stays like that, if nothing happens, but it's not approved for monkey-pox.

And this is the vaccine:

Smallpox (J07BX)

https://www.swissmedic.ch/dam/swissmedic/de/dokumente/marktu...

The smallpox vaccine is still administered (but not mandatory anymore) and that report is from 2015, it's about side effect from vaccines.

Side Effects = administered

And why is that if it is "eradicated"?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2016/08/28/smallpox-co...

>>Ein Heilmittel gegen die Pocken existiert nicht. Lediglich eine vorbeugende Schutzimpfung ist möglich.

>>There is no cure for smallpox. Only preventive vaccination is possible.

https://tropeninstitut.de/krankheiten-a-z/pocken

A friend of mine got one ~2 years ago for traveling to Mongolia.

So what it boils down to: The old (1st generation) vaccine is still being held in storage but currently not available to the general public (says https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/de/home/krankheiten/krankheiten..., FAQ number 10). It could be made available in case of an outbreak. There is no approval for any of the more modern vaccines.

> please read at least your article

Please refrain from accusations of someone not having read the article, it's unconstructive and against site guidelines.

I don't know how you come up with a different reading of the nau.ch article. It states (even though it's an inaccuracy as there are still some 1st generation vaccines available as we figured out):

"Der Pockenimpfstoff gilt als erster der Geschichte. Nur nützt das die Schweiz in der aktuellen Situation mit immer mehr Fällen von Affenpocken nicht. Denn hierzulande ist kein Impfstoff zugelassen."

Reply on news.ycombinator.com