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Smallpox vaccinations: Weighing the pros and cons
By Dr. Sanjay Gupta
(CNN) -- Many call it the biggest public health decision the country has ever had to make: to vaccinate or not to vaccinate against the smallpox virus. Although the virus has been eradicated for over 20 years, it is believed that stores of the virus still exist in the world today, possibly in Iraq. Under a White House smallpox plan expected to be announced in the next few weeks, about 500,000 health workers and "first responders" would be vaccinated over a period of one to two months. The plus side is that these people would develop immunity within a few days and have protection against the smallpox virus. The down side is the potential side effects. According to health officials, 15 per 1 million people vaccinated would develop life-threatening complications, with one to two people out of every million actually dying from the vaccine. Through voluntary participation in clinical trials, the vaccine would be made available to the public, but the government would only recommend it for health workers and first responders. People with weakened immune systems –- including patients battling HIV/AIDS or cancer, as well as the 28-30 million people who have ever had eczema -- would be ineligible for the vaccine. Whether or not you ultimately choose to get vaccinated, please get as much information as possible before making your decision -- and continue to read The Pulse, my weekly column on the week's top health and medical news. Here are more stories making headlines this week. Another sick shipNearly 200 people on the Carnival Cruise ship Fascination have fallen ill with gastrointestinal problems similar to those plaguing other cruise liners. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not yet confirmed whether a Norwalk virus, which causes diarrhea and vomiting for 24-48 hours, is to blame. An outbreak of gastrointestinal illnesses has sickened more than 1,000 people on several cruise ships in the last few months, including Disney Cruise Line and Holland America ships. The Fascination was disinfected and it departed Monday, a few hours later than scheduled. An additional nurse was added to the staff and passengers were given tips on how to stay safe. Disney Cruise Line and Holland America have each cancelled one sailing to fully sanitize their ships. Click here for more information on the recent outbreak of gastrointestinal illnesses aboard cruise ships, and to find out how the Norwalk virus is transmitted from person to person. New technique in chest pain triageA new test could better separate people who are a having heart attack from those who only "think" they're having one, according to Boston-area researchers. The new technique, called myocardial perfusion imaging, uses a radioactive tracer to produce a computer image of the heart muscle, helping doctors determine if the heart is receiving adequate blood flow. Each year, more than 6 million people show up at hospital emergency rooms with heart attack symptoms, like chest pain. Most are admitted for observation because initial tests are inconclusive, but about half turn out to be admitted unnecessarily. Researchers say that the new test could spare 250,000 patients the costs of unnecessary hospitalization and the risks of more invasive procedures. Click here to read the findings of the study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Violent video games and brain activity in aggressive teensViolent video games may affect brain activity of teens, especially those with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD), according to a new report. Indiana University researchers studied the brain activity of 38 teens, half of whom met the diagnostic criteria for conduct disorder. The adolescents were shown clips of two moderately violent video games while brain activity was measured using an MRI. When watching the video games, those with behavioral problems showed lower levels of brain activity in the frontal lobes -- the area of the brain that handles thinking, learning, reasoning and emotions – compared to the nonaggressive teens. Additionally, adolescents who were often exposed to violence in the media had different brain activity levels than those who weren't, although the testing didn't prove cause and effect. The president of a video industry organization expressed skepticism of the study, and pointed to the small number of test subjects. Click here to read the details of the study, and for more information on brain activation patterns in teens with disruptive behavior disorders.
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