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CDC: Smallpox shot passed via sex

ATLANTA, May 3 (UPI) -- U.S. health officials Thursday warned about the possibility women can get a vaginal infection from people who recently received the smallpox vaccine.

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report in the May 4 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report a case of an Alaskan woman who contracted a viral infection, known as vulvar vaccinia, after having sex with a U.S. service member who had received a smallpox vaccination.

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Vaccinia is the virus used in the smallpox vaccine, but it is different from the smallpox vaccine and cannot cause the deadly disease. Vaccinia can, however, cause problems of its own, including localized or widespread rash.

CDC officials suspect the man transmitted the vaccinia virus to the woman by failing to wash his hands after handling his bandages or touching his vaccination site. They recommend vaccinees be educated about the importance of washing hands to prevent genital vaccinia infections.

This is not the first time vulvar vaccinia has been reported. Cases occurred prior to the global eradication of smallpox in the 1970s and cases also have been reported in New York and Texas since the U.S. military resumed a smallpox vaccination campaign in 2002.

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