BMJ 2002;325:1371-1372 ( 14 December )

Editorials

Interim smallpox guidelines for the United Kingdom

Developing new policies from old evidence

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Last week, the Department of Health in London published interim guidelines for responding to a deliberate release of smallpox in the United Kingdom. 1 2 The guidelines describe contingency plans for diagnosis and management of the first cases, vaccination strategies before and in the event of an outbreak, and other essential measures to ensure outbreak preparedness and control. Two of us (RH and DM) have contributed to the development of the guidelines, and the aim of this editorial is to give a brief summary and highlight some of the underlying evidence. (Comments on the guidelines may be sent to smallpoxplan@doh.gsi.gov.uk before the end of this year.)

Developing policies to combat an eradicated infectious disease is difficult for two reasons. Firstly, it is impossible to balance the benefits and risks of interventions against the potential risk from disease. No one knows whether variola virus exists outside the two laboratories approved by the World . . . [Full text of this article]
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Relevant Article

WHO advocates investment in global infrastructure for outbreaks such as smallpox
Cathy E Roth, Patrick Drury, Roberta Andraghetti, Ray R Arthur, Michael J Ryan, and Guenael Rodier
BMJ 2003 326: 447. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Roth, C. E, Drury, P., Andraghetti, R., Arthur, R. R, Ryan, M. J, Rodier, G. (2003). WHO advocates investment in global infrastructure for outbreaks such as smallpox. BMJ 326: 447-447 [Full text]  
  • Delamothe, T. (2002). How political should a general medical journal be?. BMJ 325: 1431-1432 [Full text]  

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