Tattoos and the Small Pox vaccination.
I thought that this was not needed but it seems that I was wrong. For some reason it seems that people are not taking their Small Pox vaccination safety brief seriously. Recent stories about people getting tattoos shortly after getting the shot are coming to my attention. It should be notied that everyone getting the shot is instructed on the things that you cannot do after getting the shot. So things like this should not be happening.
I want to get a tattoo placed on my smallpox vaccination site. How long should I wait?
Before getting a tattoo, wait until the smallpox vaccination site has fully healed, the scab has fallen off, and the skin is intact and dry. It may take longer than the average 30 to 60 days after your vaccination before the skin is ready for tattooing. Please contact the VHC if you have additional questions.
But it seems that some of you are not getting this through your head. For example when I see post like this.
Q (In Air Force).
can you get a tattoo in the opposite arm of where you received a smallpox vaccination?A.
Yes you can get inked up, but just give a week just to be on the safeside the vaccination has no counter action 🙂Q Reply to A;
thank god. i got the vaccination last week on wednesday and im scheduled for a half sleeve on the opposite arm this saturday. i just wanted to make sure i wasnt gonna start some epidemic. good to know. thanks
Then there is this one too.
Q;
Does it really matter if i get a tattoo while i have the smallpox vaccine? Like seriously. I want one so bad. BEFORE I leave the states, I dont trust foreign countries to tat me up hhahaA.
I am no medical expert but from what I’m reading the vaccine and the tattoo shouldn’t interfere with each other. You can get a vaccine on the same day you get a tattoo. Make sure you go to a safe parlor.
I am worried because people are doing things like this and creating a risk to everyone.
SMALLPOX (DRYVAX) Side Effects Report #254130
SMALLPOX (DRYVAX) vaccine side effect was reported on 04/17/2006. Male patient, 20.0 years of age, was vaccinated with SMALLPOX (DRYVAX). Patient symptoms: Injection site vesicles, “Soldier received smallpox vaccine on 4April06 after receiving a briefing on the care of smallpox vaccination sites and soldier also verified the care of vaccine site with the immunization provider and the PA prior to being vaccinated. Soldier returned to the clinic on 10April 06. He stated that he had gotten a tattoo on 7April06 and that he now has bumps around the tattoo and was not sure if it was from the smallpox vaccine or from a reaction from the tattoo. Soldier was instructed to cover bumps and to monitor them for changes and to return to clinic for further changes. Soldier returned to clinic today. Bumps have been spreading to arms and torso, each site covered with gauze, tape and ace wrap. Soldier instructed to return to clinic every morning for bandage changes. Soldier again given instructions for care of innoculated sites and was told to change bed linens, wash towels, and to spray with bleach all surfaces he had touched. Soldier also reported to his chain of command.” NONENONE . During the same period patient was treated with NO. Patient recovered.
Also the consequences from getting a tattoo after getting a Smallpox vaccination are no joke. Range from being sued by the CDC, the Tattoo Studio and anyone else who was put at risk by your actions. Not to mention a possible Dishonorable discharge from the Military. This is not a Joke.
Category: Pointless blather
I got my smallpox vaccination within a week of heading out on my second tour in Iraq. It was a pain in the ass to take care of in that environment; I can’t imagine why someone would get a tattoo immediately after getting the vaccine. But, some people just have to learn the hard way I suppose.
Man, I remember how badly that vaccination itched, and all I could do was occasionally slap the bandage that was on it to releave the itching a bit. I don’t know why you’d want to get a tattoo on top of it.
Man, I remember how badly that vaccination itched, and all I could do was occasionally slap the bandage that was on it to relieve the itching a bit. I don’t know why you’d want to get a tattoo on top of it.
woops sorry for the double post, I thought I was able to back out in time and correct my horrible spelling…
Tats…Why mess up one’s beautiful skin?
I don’t think starting an epidemic is something to worry about. As far as I know they don’t actually use real smallpox viruses in the vaccine. They use the cowpox virus which is very similar. So similar the body can’t differentiate between the two. Aside from being a pain in the ass for the dipshit that has to deal with all the sores or the medics that have to deal with it, I don’t think its much of an issue.
Sporkmaster::It becomes a issue when the live virus is spread to anyone that used the tattoo studio after you. The CDC will be involved to control a outbreak. If anyone exposed comes in contact with a infant under the age of one year that is a big problem. The Studio can sue the person for loss of equipment and business. It is a huge deal.
Not to defend stupidity, but in the defense of a fellow zoomie, wingnut, chair force (yeah I said it). The Airman in question was asking about getting a tat on the opposite arm, i.e. NOT the arm with the injection site. Also the second quote doesn’t say anything about location of said tat for all we know they wanted a purple butterfly tramp stamp (panama city license plate, etc..)which is no where near the injection site. I caveat all this that it probabaly not a good idea to get any tat too soon after any injections, however if your Doctor gives you the clear….
Notice I said Doctor, dealing with medicine is alot like dealing with the law, never trust the average Joe and always seek professional advice, i.e. a Dr/Lawyer and even then, it might be better to get a second opinion just to be sure. Since I’m not a Dr nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, don’t rely on my opinion, go ask your Dr!
-Ish
Sporkmaster:The other arm does not matter because like anything in the medical field the person will be viewed as contaminated regardless of the site. Because all it takes is one bump or slip, or accidental touch and the person or object is now exposed. But that is the thing, We told a group of people leaving a while ago that the site will not heal before you leave. Do not get any new tattoos before you deploy, if you have a appointment for a tattoo to cancel it immediately.
Missing something here – why would anyone be getting a small pox innoculation within days of deploying? Wouldn’t that have been administered months or years prior??
OWB: I believe current practice is to give anyone who needs it the smallpox immunization during pre-deployment training/processing. When I deployed a few years ago, I got mine roughly 1 week before heading to the sandbox.
Not missing anything OWB. It’s actually pretty common. During my first tour they even had quarantined showers at Camp Fallujah for those who had just got their small pox vaccination. I was on deck to deploy to OIF a second time and got the vaccination a week prior because a few months before that, I was on my first tour in Iraq. We had about four months in between deployments, including RCAX and SASO training out in 29 Palms.
Guess this is another of those generational things. We all got them as wee tots, then had an occasional booster which typically caused no reaction at all – just another shot. But that was all done long before we were on orders to go anywhere. Oh, sure, there would be some specific something from time to time sepcific to a particular destination (like GG) but the rest of our shots just happened on a schedule.
All shots current all the time is what we had to do to remain worldwide mobile.
@Sporkmaster
In which case these people are idiots! Medical people said don’t do it then….DON’T DO IT.
Didn’t realize that part of the reasoning was also to prevent the spreading live virus (probably should have, but since I’m not medical my self, I didn’t think of it that way and which is why I put: don’t take my word for it, go ask a Dr/medical person), vrs simply messing with the injection site, i.e. wound. Also didn’t know you where/are medical Spork and directly involved vrs a supervisor noticiting people being dumb @$$es, and specifically told them to cancel their tat apts. My oppoligies…
-Ish
Per the CDC website:
Vaccinia is the pox-type virus used in the smallpox vaccine, and is a live virus.
It can be transmitted to other parts of the body, surfaces, or other people, while the injections site is still open — that’s the reason you protect the site until the scab falls off; that’s also the reason you don’t get a tat until the site is healed.
Pregnant women, nursing women, and immune-compromised people should not get this vaccine.
I imagine the artist will laugh them out of the shop. I’ve only ever gotten tatts from proven professionals with a history of great work, and facilities that would put a Doctor and phlebotomist office to shame. They would never consider doing any work on an area with any sort of abrasion, let alone some large oozing pustule. But I think even the guy in San Quentin who inks guys for cigarettes wouldn’t consider attempting this.
Otherwise I hope he’s the one who gets to explain to the artist why he gave him smallpox. We jokingly referred to our smallpox vaccination scar as our deployment tattoo. With that in mind at least the moron won’t ever be in need of any future work since he’ll now be covered head to toe in all the tattoos he could ever want.
Whether or not they end up causing infection all over their bodies, every single person who ignored common sense by getting a tattoo before their vaccination site healed should get thrown in the brig with nothing but the pleasant pictures of smallpox sufferers (such as in the link below) for decoration. There’s a reason the eradication of naturally occurring Smallpox is, and will always be, considered one of the greatest medical achievements in the history of humanity. Hopefully they’ll realize the gravity of the crime their dipshit selfishness could have unleashed. Helped along of course by bringing everyone still living who either suffered from or worked on the teams who eradicated this scourge to visit the moron in the brig before kicking him in the balls.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox
Now maybe it is just the shops that I have spent tons of money getting my work done in, but they are actually familiar with quite a bit of stuff you wouldn’t imagine they would be. I also know that of they saw a huge open sore that you wanted them to tattoo over they would tell you to go f yourself. The last thing they want is to be shut down because Joe nubnutz came in am contaminated their shop. Now like we always used to say no stupid questions…just stupid joes.
Ann: it’s impossible to spread smallpox from a modern-day smallpox vaccination. The virus used in modern smallpox vaccine is related to smallpox (vaccinia vice the variola virus that causes smallpox), but does not cause smallpox. It can cause a relatively minor disease called cowpox, which is almost always nonlethal. However, the virus is closely enough related to smallpox that it provides a number of years immunity to smallpox as well.
The key words above is “almost”. On rare occasions or with certain at-risk populations, serious complications to smallpox vaccination can occur. Spreading the virus to other locations on one’s own body (or other persons) can occur, with consequences ranging from significant discomfort to blindness (eye infections are bad news) – or worse. And fatal complications rarely do occur, though generally only in at-risk populations.
As I recall, the frequency of fatal complications from vaccinia infection is literally on the order of 1 in a million. That’s low, but it’s not zero.
And yes: anyone who ignores the medical advice regarding aftercare is a freaking moron, and is endangering both themselves and others.
Athena, beautiful skin sometimes needs some beautiful artwork! I’m very fond of mine, though I always: wait a minimum of a year once I am certain on what I want, make sure the image and location would never be anything I’d be embarrassed to show my Grandma, choose a studio that looks cleaner than a hospital’s phlebotomy lab, always get custom work, and never get anything faddish (unlike those nitwits with bits from languages they don’t understand, Git R Done and similar phrases, or getting flashart.)
Hondo, thanks for the info I didn’t know that. The Docs telling us don’t mess with the vaccination site, or you’ll end up with them all of your body was enough for me. Even if they’d just said don’t mess with it minus an explanation I’d have listened.
I still think not following what the medical personnel tell you should land you some brig time so you can reconsider you delusions of medical expertise. I’m sure these are the same guys who let their buddy’s cousin’s sister’s ex-husband’s brother’s cellmate tatt them in their kitchen, and are shocked when their $50 crime against humanity ends up on WTF Tattoos. They’re also probably the guys who go swimming two days after they get it.
Back in the day (when dinosaurs roamed) I remember instructors telling us that tattoos could preclude one being chosen for certain missions. We all thought about that one and no-one ever got a tattoo… EVER!
I got my smallpox vaccine about two weeks before deploying. I think it fell off in Kuwait before I got to Iraq, but that was still not a good environment to be dealing with the scab.
Beretverde, I don’t know how true that is today. I know the previous Commandant and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps really hated tattoos, and pushed through a lot of policies against sleeve tattoos regardless of what they were of. It made a lot of Marines (myself included) really angry.
Those who had sleeves were grandfathered in, but despite that having full sleeves meant you’d never get picked for a B Billet and therefore really screw your career. I knew some excellent Marines who stayed in despite the high op tempo, and could have done a lot of good for the Corps had the policies been sensible. Instead most went into law enforcement or the Army.
Ann- when the elite are in competition for tough missions (e.g. Son Tay, Eagle Claw etc.)… you listen very closely. Might have been BS… but if that is the line, you follow it. That type of mission can cull many.
Beret Verde they no longer issue Flint tipped spears either… 🙂 times and things have changed a lot.
Jason- Some things change a lot and some don’t.
I remember the unofficial “no mustache policy.” Later on…the “Hitler Mustache” regulation took its place… Lew Millett had a good laugh at that one! I know two SS and one DSC award earner simply shave their mustaches off completely in disgust. The zipper headed haircut rage later came into play and that was a war in itself.
When I was in jump school, several West Pointers balked at the “no mustache” policy when the instructors loudly stated that no one will graduate from jump school with a mustache. I don’t know their fate, nor do I care. Cooperate and graduate was my plan!
Admittance to OCS once had a “no tattoo” rule as well (my buddy’s class Ft. Riley in 1951).
As for the tattoos- you will never see a GO with one. It will be a career killer.
I wonder if that is still true because I know a lot of field grade officers do have tattoos, and to eliminate a potential candidate over a trivial matter such as a tattoo seem kinda silly.
@25… so was the mustache policy!
Beretverde, JustPlainJason: “no mustache” may be a second de facto qualification for prospective GOs, at least in the Army. I don’t recall many GOs with a mustache at all during the past 35 years. In fact, I can only recall one (Paige), though there may well have been more.
Lol! You’re all funny. So, I work in an immunizations clinic in the military and inoculate deploying personnel with the Smallpox vaccine. It is a live virus and can be passed on. Prior to getting the vaccine, your pre-screening questionnaire, which you can find on the CDC website, asks if you have ANY open sores which would include a tattoo. It doesn’t matter if it is on the same arm that you will have the vaccine on. That’s why you’re given three pamphlets and should be given a briefing from the provider as well as the immunization technician on how to care for the site. There’s a reason why you can’t even just throw the scab away…you’re supposed to put it in a plastic bag with bleach. Do not get tattoos right before getting the vaccine and please wait until it is FULLY healed before getting a tattoo. I hope that helped.