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CDC smallpox plan could be too much for states

Emergency Management Alert, December 3, 2003

A new plan designed to measure state public health preparedness for smallpox received mixed reviews recently, the AHA News reports.

The draft readiness indicators, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ask public health entities to take steps such as securing a hospital solely for smallpox patients, and generating local disease surveillance reports to keep track of unexpected fluctuations in symptoms associated with an outbreak.

The Health Resources and Services Administration is also working on a set of bioterrorism readiness indicators specifically for hospitals. The CDC's plan contains more than 100 indicators, which some say could be too much work for states.

State health officials voiced their opinions on the CDC draft at a November 6 meeting held by the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Smallpox Vaccination Program Implementation. Some noted that the idea of designating a smallpox hospital in advance is pointless, since infected patients likely will go to the nearest facility. In addition, it may prove difficult to find a hospital willing to accept such a designation.

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