If pregnant women are vaccinated with the smallpox vaccine are there any special risks to the fetus?
Smallpox vaccine has not been shown to cause an increased risk of serious birth defects. Except for the rare case of fetal vaccinia, smallpox vaccination of pregnant women has not been linked with prematurity, low birth weight, or other serious birth problems. Babies born without fetal vaccinia are not known to have a greater risk of future medical problems Fetal vaccinia is an infection in the unborn baby that can lead to premature delivery, skin rash with scarring, stillbirth, or death of the baby after delivery. Sometimes a baby who develops fetal vaccinia is born with skin scars but is otherwise healthy. Fewer than 50 cases of fetal vaccinia have ever been reported in the world, and only three of these cases were reported in the United States. When smallpox vaccine was routinely given in the United States from 1967 to 1971, only one case of fetal vaccinia occurred among an estimated 90,000 to 280,000 pregnant women who received the vaccine. It is estimated that 5,700 to 17,000 of t
