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The World Health Organization’s June 2009 declaration of the H1N1 pandemic
highlights the need to encourage airport operators to update their pandemic flu plans and to
encourage those that do not already have pandemic flu plans to develop such plans for their
airport. These plans include business continuity and operational response plans for aircraft with
potentially ill passengers onboard. The Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Health
and Human Services (HHS) are leading planning efforts for entry and/or exit screening of
international flights at the 19 airports with quarantine stations as part of the risk-based border
screening program. Other airports may wish to develop similar plans with DHS/HHS guidance.
Why the restriction of smallpox vaccination to persons less than 65 years of age (and greater than 18 years)?
At this time the vaccine is not recommended for the general public. The original restriction was based on absence of studies about smallpox vaccination in the "geriatric" age group, which CDC defined as 65 years and greater. This cutoff was chosen for simplicity. However, if an individual older than 65 is asked to participate in a smallpox response team (and does not have a contraindication to receiving the vaccine, emergency.cdc.gov...), they can volunteer and be vaccinated. At this time, vaccination against smallpox is only recommended for laboratorians who work with orthopox viruses, and public health and health care response team members. It is unlikely that smallpox response team members are under the age of 18, but can be older than 65.
This is just a scare tactic my question is why?