[2009 Nov] Misrepresenting smallpox vaccine in pregnancy findings by Meryl Nass, M.D  Last April I wrote a detailed critique in this blog of a paper by Margaret A. K. Ryan et al on anthrax vaccinations in pregnancy and birth defects. In the paper I am discussing today, Evaluation of Preterm Births and Birth Defects in Liveborn Infants of US Military Women Who Received Smallpox Vaccine, Ryan has studied birth defects in military servicewomen who received smallpox vaccine during pregnancy. In fact, there is likely significant overlap between the two groups of women Ryan studied, since both anthrax and smallpox vaccines have been given to all service members deploying to Iraq, Afghanistan and Korea since 2003. The findings of the two studies are, no surprise, very similar: women receiving smallpox vaccine during the first trimester of pregnancy had a rate of major birth defects in their offspring of 4.5%, while the offspring of women vaccinated post-pregnancy had a major birth defect rate of only 3.2%. The birth defect rate is therefore 40% higher if the mother was vaccinated during the first trimester. What would a true scientist have done with these results?