Soldier’s Smallpox Inoculation Sickens Son

Two year old boy was placed in the hospital for seven weeks with such symptoms as kidney failure and the loss of most of his skin which has since grown back. He was taken to the University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital where they said the boy was covered with “mounds of pox”. The story is here.

As someone who gives Smallpox vaccinations, when you see corpsman paranoid about giving any shot and they give you gloom and doom scenarios if don’t take proper care of it. There must be a reason. We normally give this shot out the day prior to shipping out and put a bandage on that doesn’t come off this the patient is well in country where they can be carefully monitored. We do this for liability, we screen the heck out of these guys, give them this questionnaire to fill out and even after they fill them out, we’re grilling them for possible problems, old people in their house hold? Or have young Children? If they answer yes, we usually get them in country.

Unlike the civilian doctor who will probably get sued, we would probably get busted down and sent to jail. Who wants that on their resume?

Even with all of the precautions, there are those who tend to tone everything we say out. Mark no on all of the questions and don’t follow the directions. The most recent? I’m writing about it because nothing ended up happening. One of our Marines got his shot, (which isn’t really a shot, it’s a prong shaped needle dipped in the vaccine and pricked in the skin 3 times like a tattoo) and immediately went home, took off the band aid, took a shower and rubbed lotion all over his body and didn’t even think about it till the next day and came by medical telling us what happened. He was shipping out that afternoon.

It could have been bad, I sent an email to his units medical, warning them about what happened. Our medical department took turns at chewing the Marine out which included slides, strong words and fear of gross maiming if he didn't wash his hands all of the time, don't touch his face and didn't keep the band aid on. We sent him over to see a doctor so the doctor could have his turn and let him go with more warnings about what to watch out for. His first episode of PTSD given to him by Navy Medicine. Even though nothing happened but that nothing could be because we made him paranoid, anyway. that's what I like to think.