[Sabertooth]

data from a 1902-1903 smallpox outbreak in Liverpool, England, strongly suggests otherwise. A study analyzed the impact of the disease on 1,163 Liverpudlians, 943 who received the vaccine during infancy, and 220 who were never vaccinated. The study further separated people by age and by the severity of their disease. In the oldest age group, 50 and above, 93 percent of the vaccinated people escaped severe disease and death. In contrast, 50 percent of the unvaccinated in that age bracket died, and another 25 percent had severe disease. To put it plainly, the vaccine offered remarkable protection after 50 years.

[Senator Pardek]

Thanks for the "good" news. They stopped vaccinating by the time I came out of the chute.

[vikingchick]

That is good news.

[Victoria Delsoul]

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, about 40 percent of the U.S. population is 29 or younger, and having never received a smallpox immunization, up to 30 percent of that cohort would die if infected with the virus during a bioterrorist attack.

Gee, thanks Saber!

[Demidog]

Look for Japan. A population with 100% vaccination rates was suffering from repeated smallpox epidemics. Hard to explain. Once vaccination was discontinued the outbreaks stopped.