In October, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) issued additional guidelines regarding a pre-outbreak smallpox vaccination strategy for hospital workers.
While these October ACIP recommendations are not yet approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), they represent the best current clinical thinking on issues that will be key in implementing any pre-outbreak vaccination strategy. These recommendations address implementation issues of importance to hospitals, including the scope and composition of the hospital "Smallpox Health Care Teams," the need for administrative leave for vaccinated health care workers, the care of the vaccination site in order to prevent secondary transmission of vaccinia virus, and recommendations for screening for a number of contraindications for vaccination.
These guidelines can be found at www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/smallpox/vaccination/acip-recs-oct2002.asp.