The threat of bioterrorism has been on the minds of many parents, particularly since September 2001. Several infectious organisms have the potential to be used in acts of terrorism, and children are considered to be particularly vulnerable to these germs. Children tend to be more sensitive to many infectious diseases and toxins because of their more rapid breathing rate and, depending on their age, inability to describe symptoms to their parents, which might delay appropriate treatment. Here are some of the most common germs, from anthrax to smallpox that could be used in a terrorist attack.
Anthrax
Anthrax is a serious infection caused by a bacterium called Bacillus anthracis. Since 2001, when 22 cases of the disease were reported in the United States after anthrax spores were sent through the mail, most Americans have been aware of this infection and its possible use as a biological weapon.
At the same time, naturally occurring anthrax infections in humans or animals remain very rare in the United States. Both 2000 and 2001 had one such case of this form of anthrax. These natural infections in humans can be spread through contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products such as hides, wool, hair, and undercooked meat.
Signs and Symptoms
Anthrax bacteria can be contracted in 3 ways—through breaks in the skin (cutaneous anthrax), by being breathed in (inhalational anthrax), or by swallowing (gastrointestinal anthrax). Each type of infection has its own set of signs and symptoms.
In cutaneous anthrax, anthrax spores (dry resting forms of the bacteria) enter the skin through a cut or abrasion, causing swollen, itchy sores or bumps on the skin. Within a day or two, the center becomes black. In most cases, the sore is not painful.
Inhalational anthrax develops when a child breathes anthrax spores into his lungs. Early symptoms are similar to those of the flu, including fever, chills, cough, chest pain, headaches, muscle pain, and weakness. Two to 5 days later, the symptoms get worse and may include excessive sweating, a bluish tint to the skin from not receiving enough oxygen, serious breathing difficulties, mental disorder, and shock.
Gastrointestinal anthrax can be caused when your child eats undercooked meat from an infected animal. Its symptoms include nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting, and fever. As the child’s condition gets worse, he may have severe stomach pain, bloody diarrhea, and vomiting of blood. Some youngsters have sores in their mouths and throats and swelling of their necks.
Although the skin sores are infectious, person-to-person transmission of any type of anthrax is rare. The incubation period for all forms of anthrax is usually less than 2 weeks, although it can be as long as months for the inhalation variety.
How Is the Diagnosis Made?
If your pediatrician believes an anthrax infection may be present, perhaps because your child has been exposed to anthrax or has developed the symptoms described here, your pediatrician may order special diagnostic laboratory tests of your youngster’s blood, respiratory fluids (sputum), or skin lesions. If inhalational anthrax is suspected, your doctor will recommend a chest x-ray film or a computed tomography scan to look more closely at the lungs and other areas inside the chest.
Your pediatrician will report any suspected cases of anthrax to public health officials.
Treatment
When an anthrax infection occurs, your child needs to be treated right away.
Naturally occurring cutaneous anthrax is typically treated with a variety of antibiotics such as penicillin, erythromycin, or tetracycline for 7 to 10 days. In the cases of anthrax associated with bioterrorism in 2001, doctors often prescribed oral ciprofloxacin or doxycycline medicine instead. Although drugs such as ciprofloxacin and tetracycline are generally not recommended for use in children, they may be appropriate choices in serious infections in which the benefits of these antibiotics outweigh any real or possible side effects. However, the drugs such as ciprofloxacin or tetracycline that are usually given to adults for these anthrax infections are prescribed more cautiously in children and pregnant women because of safety concerns.
For inhalational and gastrointestinal infections, your pediatrician may first recommend that antibiotics be given intravenously in the hospital. Treatment for these more serious infections usually lasts 2 months or longer.
What Is the Prognosis?
When treatment for anthrax is provided early, it is usually effective. However, if the infection is untreated, it is very serious and can cause death. Of the 3 types of anthrax infections, inhalational anthrax is the most dangerous. This type of anthrax can prove to be deadly within days after symptoms appear in as many as half of those with the infection. By contrast, cutaneous anthrax poses a very small risk of death. In fact, deaths are rare when cutaneous and gastrointestinal anthrax infections are treated right away.
Prevention
An anthrax vaccine is available in the United States, but it is not approved for use in children or pregnant women because it has not been tested enough in these groups. Newer, more efficient anthrax vaccines are currently being studied.
Do not give your child antibiotics as a preventive measure because you are afraid that he might be exposed to anthrax at some time in the future. Antibiotics can lead to resistance, which makes them less effective. They can also sometimes cause serious side effects. Your doctor should prescribe these medicines only if your child has actually come in contact with anthrax bacteria. If your pediatrician thinks your child has been exposed to anthrax spores, the doctor may consider prescribing preventive antibiotics against inhalation anthrax, even though this approach has not been approved for use in children. If a terrorist attack should occur, pediatricians will decide whether antibiotics should be used as a preventive measure.
Hemorrhagic Fevers Caused by Arenaviruses
A number of viruses can cause infections called hemorrhagic (bleeding) fevers. A family of viruses called arenaviruses is responsible for causing lymphocytic choriomeningitis and 5 hemorrhagic fevers—Bolivian, Argentine, Sabia-virus associated, Venezuelan, and Lassa. In some parts of the world, especially South America and the African continent, these infections are much more common, but they can be seen in the United States. Lassa fever, for example, occurs primarily in West Africa, but has been diagnosed in the United States among people who have traveled to Africa.
Arenaviruses are carried by rodents and can be spread to humans who breathe in tiny particles of the virus or have skin contact with the urine or saliva of the rodents. The virus then enters the body through a cut or scratch.
Signs and Symptoms
Some hemorrhagic fever infections cause only mild illness, but in other cases, they can be much more serious. At times, they can be fatal. An infection with an arenavirus often begins with symptoms such as
· Fever
· Headache
· Muscle aches
· Eye inflammation
· Abdominal pain
Respiratory tract symptoms, including a sore throat and pus, can occur in people with Lassa fever. Arenavirus infections can also cause bleeding from the mucous membranes (the nose and mouth) and red spots called petechiae and purpura that indicate bleeding under the skin. In the most severe infections, patients can develop shock about 7 to 9 days after the illness begins. Other serious findings may include seizures, tremors, and changes in consciousness.
Person-to-person transmission through body fluids or respiratory secretions is uncommon, but can occur. The incubation periods for the arenavirus diseases are about 1 to 2 weeks.
How Is the Diagnosis Made?
Children and adults suspected of having hemorrhagic fever can be tested for antibodies to the virus.
Treatment
Sometimes an antiviral medication called ribavirin, given intravenously, is used to lower the death rate among people with severe Lassa fever, especially if the medicine is given during the first week of the illness. Ribavirin also may be helpful in treating other types of arenaviruses. Transfusions of plasma from patients who have recovered from arenavirus infection are sometimes given as part of the treatment.
Prevention
The best way to avoid arenaviruses is to keep away from rodents that may carry the disease. Make efforts to prevent rodents from entering homes and nesting in areas near people.
Argentine and possibly Bolivian hemorrhagic fever can be prevented with a vaccine that is still being studied. No vaccines are available for other hemorrhagic fevers associated with arenaviruses.
Do not allow your child to be in close contact with people already infected with a hemorrhagic fever virus.
In case of a bioterrorist attack involving arenaviruses, follow the instructions from public health officials to reduce your family’s risk of exposure.
Plague
Once called “Black Death,” plague killed millions of people in earlier times. In the 1300s, for example, it was responsible for the deaths of 20 to 30 million people in Europe. Although improvements in living conditions and rodent control have dramatically reduced the number of cases today, there are still 1,000 or more new cases worldwide each year, including some in the United States. The bacteria responsible for plague are called Yersinia pestis. Cases of plague have been reported in several western states in the United States, primarily New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Colorado. The disease occurs in rural areas and the incidence tends to be higher in the summers, especially those that follow mild winters and wet springs.
Bubonic plague is the most common form of plague, and it infects the lymph nodes. It is usually spread when humans are bitten by fleas that have fed on infected rodents (most often, rats) or animals such as pet cats and dogs that have been in close contact with rodents. Less frequently, it is spread when humans come in contact with the tissues and body fluids of infected rodents and other animals, including pets. The germs typically enter the human body through a cut or abrasion in the skin. Some cases of plague are transmitted when people are bitten by an infected animal such as a ground squirrel or prairie dog. Person-to-person transmission can occur from contact with drainage from infected lymph nodes or droplets coughed up by patients with lung infection.
Other forms of the disease can be spread to humans in the following ways:
Signs and Symptoms
Bubonic plague begins with symptoms such as
· Fever
· Painful, swollen lymph nodes called buboes
Buboes tend to develop in the groin area or regions of the armpit or neck. Other common symptoms associated with bubonic plague, as well as other forms of plague, include
· Chills
· Headache
· Extreme weakness or exhaustion
When a person has plague that infects the bloodstream (septicemic) and spreads through the body, it can cause serious problems such as low blood pressure and breathing difficulties. Pneumonic plague can have serious complications as well, such as a cough, breathing difficulties, and bloody sputum.
The incubation period for bubonic plague is always less than a week and possibly as little as 2 days.
When to Call Your Pediatrician
Contact your pediatrician if a rodent bites your child or if she develops symptoms like those described in this section.
How Is the Diagnosis Made?
Plague is usually diagnosed with laboratory tests that can detect Y pestis, including evaluations of samples from sputum and the lymph nodes, as well as blood specimens.
Treatment
Children with plague are most often treated with antibiotics such as streptomycin or gentamicin given as a shot. In some cases, other drugs may be chosen instead. This treatment usually continues for 7 to 10 days or until several days after the fever breaks. Your doctor also may recommend draining the pus from lymph nodes in children with bubonic plague.
What Is the Prognosis?
If treatment is given promptly, it can keep plague from getting worse. If not properly treated, however, the disease can result in death related to infections in the lungs and bloodstream.
Prevention
If you live in parts of the United States where plague has been reported, such as the southwest, take steps to lower your risks for the disease. Do not leave out pet food that can attract rodents. Remove brush and rock piles that can serve as rodent nesting sites. Use insecticides to destroy fleas. Regularly treat the family pets to remove fleas. Children should be told to avoid any contact with sick and dead animals.
If your child has had close contact with a person with plague, call your pediatrician if she develops a fever or other symptoms that may indicate that she has become infected. Antibiotics may be prescribed as a preventive (prophylactic) measure in these cases.
Although plague has not been used as a bioterrorist weapon, government officials have noted its possible use in this way. If the threat ever turns into reality, guidelines may be issued on steps to take to protect your child. There is no vaccine presently available to protect against plague.
Smallpox
Many Americans grew up in an era when there was no apparent danger of contracting smallpox. In fact, in 1980, the World Health Organization declared that smallpox had been eradicated worldwide. In the United States, doctors stopped giving routine smallpox vaccines to children in 1971. After the terrorist attacks of September 2001, however, concern about smallpox reemerged because the disease is considered a possible weapon for use in a bioterrorist attack. As a result, even though the smallpox vaccine is not recommended for universal use, public health officials are developing recommendations for when such a vaccine should be given.
The variola virus, part of a family of viruses called Poxviridae, causes smallpox. It is highly contagious and is spread by airborne saliva droplets from an infected person. In a small number of cases, it can be spread by direct contact with a smallpox lesion, clothing, or bed linens. Only humans can get smallpox.
Signs and Symptoms
A child with smallpox will develop the illness after a 7- to 17-day incubation period. He will become so severely ill that he’ll be left bedridden with symptoms such as
· A high fever (102°F–104°F or 38.9°C–40.0°C)
· Severe headaches
· Backache
· Abdominal pain
· Physical exhaustion
· Vomiting
· Seizures
After about 2 to 5 days, the child will develop blisters or ulcers in the mouth or throat. At this point, he will become contagious and able to spread the infection. In the next 24 hours, a rash will develop, usually beginning on the face and spreading rapidly to the forearms, torso, and legs. This rash will progress to raised bumps and then pus-filled blisters that soon become crusty. Rarely, the blisters will be filled with blood. Scabs will form, which will fall off approximately 3 to 4 weeks later, sometimes leaving behind pitted scars.
About 3 to 4 weeks after the rash first appears, the scabs will separate. At this point, the child will no longer be contagious.
When to Call Your Pediatrician
If your child develops this illness, especially a rash with a fever, contact your pediatrician.
Early chickenpox can be confused with smallpox, but the rashes look very different. The blisters of chickenpox are more concentrated on the face and torso than the arms and legs. The rashes appear in waves rather than all at once and are in different stages of development at the same time (eg, bumps, blisters, scabs). Chickenpox is more delicate, and appears to be on the skin more than in the skin.
How Is the Diagnosis Made?
A doctor will suspect smallpox if the symptoms described previously are present, particularly the characteristic rash associated with the infection. Diagnostic tests for smallpox, which include analyzing fluid from the rash and blisters, can only be conducted at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If a child or adult is suspected of having smallpox, health departments should be contacted immediately.
Treatment
Currently, no effective treatment is available for smallpox. An antiviral medicine called cidofovir may be useful but has not been tested in actual cases. Children and adults with the infection will be given supportive treatment such as intravenous fluids in the hospital, as well as medication to manage the fever and other symptoms. Patients and their close contacts will immediately be placed in isolation so they will not spread the infection to others.
What Is the Prognosis?
A death rate as high as 30% has been reported with smallpox, especially in infants before their first birthdays and adults older than 30 years. Nevertheless, the majority of children and adults with this disease recover, although they may be left with scars associated with the rash.
Prevention
Immunizations against smallpox are not presently recommended for the general public, and the vaccine is not available from your pediatrician. Military personnel and first responders such as ambulance drivers, emergency medical technicians, some nurses, and doctors have received the vaccine. In the United States, the government has stockpiled large supplies of smallpox vaccine to be used in an emergency, including a smallpox-related terrorist attack, if it should ever occur. The vaccine can reduce the seriousness of a smallpox infection or even prevent it if it is administered within 4 days after a person has been exposed to the variola virus. However, the vaccine itself has potentially serious side effects.
Last Updated: 8/12/2010
Source: Immunizations & Infectious Diseases: An Informed Parent's Guide (Copyright © 2006 American Academy of Pediatrics)
Red Book 2009
Red Book Online was developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Disease to provide guidance on the manifestations, etiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of more than 200 common childhood conditions.
Due to the complexity of the vaccine licensure process and the large number of vaccines on the horizon, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has developed this information page on Red Book Online to provide current information about the licensure process and AAP recommendations about vaccines listed in the table. This table will be updated when changes occur. Click on disease names for current Red Book® recommendations.
Infectious Disease Presentation Slides
From Red Book Online, download PowerPoint presentation slides based on Committee on Infectious Diseases (COID) policy statements as well as other key infectious disease content from AAP.
Anthrax is a serious infection caused by a bacterium called Bacillus anthracis. Since 2001, when 22 cases of the disease were reported in the United States after anthrax spores were sent through the mail, most Americans have been aware of this infection and its possible use as a biological weapon.
At the same time, naturally occurring anthrax infections in humans or animals remain very rare in the United States. Both 2000 and 2001 had one such case of this form of anthrax. These natural infections in humans can be spread through contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products such as hides, wool, hair, and undercooked meat.
Signs and Symptoms
Anthrax bacteria can be contracted in 3 ways—through breaks in the skin (cutaneous anthrax), by being breathed in (inhalational anthrax), or by swallowing (gastrointestinal anthrax). Each type of infection has its own set of signs and symptoms.
In cutaneous anthrax, anthrax spores (dry resting forms of the bacteria) enter the skin through a cut or abrasion, causing swollen, itchy sores or bumps on the skin. Within a day or two, the center becomes black. In most cases, the sore is not painful.
Inhalational anthrax develops when a child breathes anthrax spores into his lungs. Early symptoms are similar to those of the flu, including fever, chills, cough, chest pain, headaches, muscle pain, and weakness. Two to 5 days later, the symptoms get worse and may include excessive sweating, a bluish tint to the skin from not receiving enough oxygen, serious breathing difficulties, mental disorder, and shock.
Gastrointestinal anthrax can be caused when your child eats undercooked meat from an infected animal. Its symptoms include nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting, and fever. As the child’s condition gets worse, he may have severe stomach pain, bloody diarrhea, and vomiting of blood. Some youngsters have sores in their mouths and throats and swelling of their necks.
Although the skin sores are infectious, person-to-person transmission of any type of anthrax is rare. The incubation period for all forms of anthrax is usually less than 2 weeks, although it can be as long as months for the inhalation variety.
How Is the Diagnosis Made?
If your pediatrician believes an anthrax infection may be present, perhaps because your child has been exposed to anthrax or has developed the symptoms described here, your pediatrician may order special diagnostic laboratory tests of your youngster’s blood, respiratory fluids (sputum), or skin lesions. If inhalational anthrax is suspected, your doctor will recommend a chest x-ray film or a computed tomography scan to look more closely at the lungs and other areas inside the chest.
Your pediatrician will report any suspected cases of anthrax to public health officials.
Treatment
When an anthrax infection occurs, your child needs to be treated right away.
Naturally occurring cutaneous anthrax is typically treated with a variety of antibiotics such as penicillin, erythromycin, or tetracycline for 7 to 10 days. In the cases of anthrax associated with bioterrorism in 2001, doctors often prescribed oral ciprofloxacin or doxycycline medicine instead. Although drugs such as ciprofloxacin and tetracycline are generally not recommended for use in children, they may be appropriate choices in serious infections in which the benefits of these antibiotics outweigh any real or possible side effects. However, the drugs such as ciprofloxacin or tetracycline that are usually given to adults for these anthrax infections are prescribed more cautiously in children and pregnant women because of safety concerns.
For inhalational and gastrointestinal infections, your pediatrician may first recommend that antibiotics be given intravenously in the hospital. Treatment for these more serious infections usually lasts 2 months or longer.
What Is the Prognosis?
When treatment for anthrax is provided early, it is usually effective. However, if the infection is untreated, it is very serious and can cause death. Of the 3 types of anthrax infections, inhalational anthrax is the most dangerous. This type of anthrax can prove to be deadly within days after symptoms appear in as many as half of those with the infection. By contrast, cutaneous anthrax poses a very small risk of death. In fact, deaths are rare when cutaneous and gastrointestinal anthrax infections are treated right away.
Prevention
An anthrax vaccine is available in the United States, but it is not approved for use in children or pregnant women because it has not been tested enough in these groups. Newer, more efficient anthrax vaccines are currently being studied.
Do not give your child antibiotics as a preventive measure because you are afraid that he might be exposed to anthrax at some time in the future. Antibiotics can lead to resistance, which makes them less effective. They can also sometimes cause serious side effects. Your doctor should prescribe these medicines only if your child has actually come in contact with anthrax bacteria. If your pediatrician thinks your child has been exposed to anthrax spores, the doctor may consider prescribing preventive antibiotics against inhalation anthrax, even though this approach has not been approved for use in children. If a terrorist attack should occur, pediatricians will decide whether antibiotics should be used as a preventive measure.
Hemorrhagic Fevers Caused by Arenaviruses
A number of viruses can cause infections called hemorrhagic (bleeding) fevers. A family of viruses called arenaviruses is responsible for causing lymphocytic choriomeningitis and 5 hemorrhagic fevers—Bolivian, Argentine, Sabia-virus associated, Venezuelan, and Lassa. In some parts of the world, especially South America and the African continent, these infections are much more common, but they can be seen in the United States. Lassa fever, for example, occurs primarily in West Africa, but has been diagnosed in the United States among people who have traveled to Africa.
Arenaviruses are carried by rodents and can be spread to humans who breathe in tiny particles of the virus or have skin contact with the urine or saliva of the rodents. The virus then enters the body through a cut or scratch.
Signs and Symptoms
Some hemorrhagic fever infections cause only mild illness, but in other cases, they can be much more serious. At times, they can be fatal. An infection with an arenavirus often begins with symptoms such as
· Fever
· Headache
· Muscle aches
· Eye inflammation
· Abdominal pain
Respiratory tract symptoms, including a sore throat and pus, can occur in people with Lassa fever. Arenavirus infections can also cause bleeding from the mucous membranes (the nose and mouth) and red spots called petechiae and purpura that indicate bleeding under the skin. In the most severe infections, patients can develop shock about 7 to 9 days after the illness begins. Other serious findings may include seizures, tremors, and changes in consciousness.
Person-to-person transmission through body fluids or respiratory secretions is uncommon, but can occur. The incubation periods for the arenavirus diseases are about 1 to 2 weeks.
How Is the Diagnosis Made?
Children and adults suspected of having hemorrhagic fever can be tested for antibodies to the virus.
Treatment
Sometimes an antiviral medication called ribavirin, given intravenously, is used to lower the death rate among people with severe Lassa fever, especially if the medicine is given during the first week of the illness. Ribavirin also may be helpful in treating other types of arenaviruses. Transfusions of plasma from patients who have recovered from arenavirus infection are sometimes given as part of the treatment.
Prevention
The best way to avoid arenaviruses is to keep away from rodents that may carry the disease. Make efforts to prevent rodents from entering homes and nesting in areas near people.
Argentine and possibly Bolivian hemorrhagic fever can be prevented with a vaccine that is still being studied. No vaccines are available for other hemorrhagic fevers associated with arenaviruses.
Do not allow your child to be in close contact with people already infected with a hemorrhagic fever virus.
In case of a bioterrorist attack involving arenaviruses, follow the instructions from public health officials to reduce your family’s risk of exposure.
Plague
Once called “Black Death,” plague killed millions of people in earlier times. In the 1300s, for example, it was responsible for the deaths of 20 to 30 million people in Europe. Although improvements in living conditions and rodent control have dramatically reduced the number of cases today, there are still 1,000 or more new cases worldwide each year, including some in the United States. The bacteria responsible for plague are called Yersinia pestis. Cases of plague have been reported in several western states in the United States, primarily New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Colorado. The disease occurs in rural areas and the incidence tends to be higher in the summers, especially those that follow mild winters and wet springs.
Bubonic plague is the most common form of plague, and it infects the lymph nodes. It is usually spread when humans are bitten by fleas that have fed on infected rodents (most often, rats) or animals such as pet cats and dogs that have been in close contact with rodents. Less frequently, it is spread when humans come in contact with the tissues and body fluids of infected rodents and other animals, including pets. The germs typically enter the human body through a cut or abrasion in the skin. Some cases of plague are transmitted when people are bitten by an infected animal such as a ground squirrel or prairie dog. Person-to-person transmission can occur from contact with drainage from infected lymph nodes or droplets coughed up by patients with lung infection.
Other forms of the disease can be spread to humans in the following ways:
- Although septicemic plague, which affects the bloodstream, occurs most often as a complication of bubonic plague, it can occur from direct contact. Once bacteria invade the bloodstream, the disease can cause serious illness.
- Primary pneumonic plague infecting the lungs is spread when an individual breathes in airborne droplets from a person or animal with the plague. As its name suggests, it can lead to pneumonia. In recent years, concerns have been raised about the possible use of Y pestis in bioterrorism because it can be spread through the air.
Signs and Symptoms
Bubonic plague begins with symptoms such as
· Fever
· Painful, swollen lymph nodes called buboes
Buboes tend to develop in the groin area or regions of the armpit or neck. Other common symptoms associated with bubonic plague, as well as other forms of plague, include
· Chills
· Headache
· Extreme weakness or exhaustion
When a person has plague that infects the bloodstream (septicemic) and spreads through the body, it can cause serious problems such as low blood pressure and breathing difficulties. Pneumonic plague can have serious complications as well, such as a cough, breathing difficulties, and bloody sputum.
The incubation period for bubonic plague is always less than a week and possibly as little as 2 days.
When to Call Your Pediatrician
Contact your pediatrician if a rodent bites your child or if she develops symptoms like those described in this section.
How Is the Diagnosis Made?
Plague is usually diagnosed with laboratory tests that can detect Y pestis, including evaluations of samples from sputum and the lymph nodes, as well as blood specimens.
Treatment
Children with plague are most often treated with antibiotics such as streptomycin or gentamicin given as a shot. In some cases, other drugs may be chosen instead. This treatment usually continues for 7 to 10 days or until several days after the fever breaks. Your doctor also may recommend draining the pus from lymph nodes in children with bubonic plague.
What Is the Prognosis?
If treatment is given promptly, it can keep plague from getting worse. If not properly treated, however, the disease can result in death related to infections in the lungs and bloodstream.
Prevention
If you live in parts of the United States where plague has been reported, such as the southwest, take steps to lower your risks for the disease. Do not leave out pet food that can attract rodents. Remove brush and rock piles that can serve as rodent nesting sites. Use insecticides to destroy fleas. Regularly treat the family pets to remove fleas. Children should be told to avoid any contact with sick and dead animals.
If your child has had close contact with a person with plague, call your pediatrician if she develops a fever or other symptoms that may indicate that she has become infected. Antibiotics may be prescribed as a preventive (prophylactic) measure in these cases.
Although plague has not been used as a bioterrorist weapon, government officials have noted its possible use in this way. If the threat ever turns into reality, guidelines may be issued on steps to take to protect your child. There is no vaccine presently available to protect against plague.
Smallpox
Many Americans grew up in an era when there was no apparent danger of contracting smallpox. In fact, in 1980, the World Health Organization declared that smallpox had been eradicated worldwide. In the United States, doctors stopped giving routine smallpox vaccines to children in 1971. After the terrorist attacks of September 2001, however, concern about smallpox reemerged because the disease is considered a possible weapon for use in a bioterrorist attack. As a result, even though the smallpox vaccine is not recommended for universal use, public health officials are developing recommendations for when such a vaccine should be given.
The variola virus, part of a family of viruses called Poxviridae, causes smallpox. It is highly contagious and is spread by airborne saliva droplets from an infected person. In a small number of cases, it can be spread by direct contact with a smallpox lesion, clothing, or bed linens. Only humans can get smallpox.
Signs and Symptoms
A child with smallpox will develop the illness after a 7- to 17-day incubation period. He will become so severely ill that he’ll be left bedridden with symptoms such as
· A high fever (102°F–104°F or 38.9°C–40.0°C)
· Severe headaches
· Backache
· Abdominal pain
· Physical exhaustion
· Vomiting
· Seizures
After about 2 to 5 days, the child will develop blisters or ulcers in the mouth or throat. At this point, he will become contagious and able to spread the infection. In the next 24 hours, a rash will develop, usually beginning on the face and spreading rapidly to the forearms, torso, and legs. This rash will progress to raised bumps and then pus-filled blisters that soon become crusty. Rarely, the blisters will be filled with blood. Scabs will form, which will fall off approximately 3 to 4 weeks later, sometimes leaving behind pitted scars.
About 3 to 4 weeks after the rash first appears, the scabs will separate. At this point, the child will no longer be contagious.
When to Call Your Pediatrician
If your child develops this illness, especially a rash with a fever, contact your pediatrician.
Early chickenpox can be confused with smallpox, but the rashes look very different. The blisters of chickenpox are more concentrated on the face and torso than the arms and legs. The rashes appear in waves rather than all at once and are in different stages of development at the same time (eg, bumps, blisters, scabs). Chickenpox is more delicate, and appears to be on the skin more than in the skin.
How Is the Diagnosis Made?
A doctor will suspect smallpox if the symptoms described previously are present, particularly the characteristic rash associated with the infection. Diagnostic tests for smallpox, which include analyzing fluid from the rash and blisters, can only be conducted at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If a child or adult is suspected of having smallpox, health departments should be contacted immediately.
Treatment
Currently, no effective treatment is available for smallpox. An antiviral medicine called cidofovir may be useful but has not been tested in actual cases. Children and adults with the infection will be given supportive treatment such as intravenous fluids in the hospital, as well as medication to manage the fever and other symptoms. Patients and their close contacts will immediately be placed in isolation so they will not spread the infection to others.
What Is the Prognosis?
A death rate as high as 30% has been reported with smallpox, especially in infants before their first birthdays and adults older than 30 years. Nevertheless, the majority of children and adults with this disease recover, although they may be left with scars associated with the rash.
Prevention
Immunizations against smallpox are not presently recommended for the general public, and the vaccine is not available from your pediatrician. Military personnel and first responders such as ambulance drivers, emergency medical technicians, some nurses, and doctors have received the vaccine. In the United States, the government has stockpiled large supplies of smallpox vaccine to be used in an emergency, including a smallpox-related terrorist attack, if it should ever occur. The vaccine can reduce the seriousness of a smallpox infection or even prevent it if it is administered within 4 days after a person has been exposed to the variola virus. However, the vaccine itself has potentially serious side effects.
Last Updated: 8/12/2010
Source: Immunizations & Infectious Diseases: An Informed Parent's Guide (Copyright © 2006 American Academy of Pediatrics)
Red Book 2009
Red Book Online was developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Disease to provide guidance on the manifestations, etiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of more than 200 common childhood conditions.
- Major Changes General
- Section 1. Active and Passive Immunization
- Section 2. Recommendations for Care of Children in Special Clinical Circumstances
- Section 3. Summaries of Infectious Diseases
- Section 4. Antimicrobial Agents and Related Therapy
- Section 5. Antimicrobial Prophylaxis
- Appendices
Due to the complexity of the vaccine licensure process and the large number of vaccines on the horizon, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has developed this information page on Red Book Online to provide current information about the licensure process and AAP recommendations about vaccines listed in the table. This table will be updated when changes occur. Click on disease names for current Red Book® recommendations.
Infectious Disease Presentation Slides
From Red Book Online, download PowerPoint presentation slides based on Committee on Infectious Diseases (COID) policy statements as well as other key infectious disease content from AAP.