Soldier's Vaccination Infects Boy, His Mother

Mar 18, 10:38 AM

Current Headlines: CHICAGO (AP) -- A 2-year-old Indiana boy and his mother contracted a rare and life-threatening infection from his soldier father's smallpox vaccination, according to a published report.

The boy and his mother were being treated in a specially ventilated room at the University of Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital, the Chicago Tribune reported Saturday.

The family's name and home town were not released at their request.

The boy developed a virulent rash over 80 percent of his body earlier this month after coming in contact with his father, who had recently been vaccinated for smallpox before he was to be deployed overseas by the Army, the paper said.

Physicians stressed that the boy was not suffering from smallpox, but from the related vaccinia virus which is used to convey immunity to the much deadlier disease.

The U.S. Defense Department and federal, state and local health authorities have been in daily contact with the hospital about the case. Health officials say there is no infection risk for the general population because the vaccinia virus can be spread only through close physical contact.

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