Boy Gets Rare Infection From Dad’s Shot

A 2-year-old Indiana boy has contracted a rare infection from contact with his father who was recently vaccinated for smallpox.

The boy has eczema vaccinatum and is in critical condition, The Chicago Tribune reports. He is hospitalized at the Comer Children’s Hospital in Chicago.

The boy passed the virus on to his mother, who has the disease in milder form.

The father was vaccinated with smallpox because he is in the military. While smallpox was eradicated worldwide in 1980, small stocks of the virus still exist, leading to fears they could be used in biological warfare or terrorism.

The virus that has affected the mother and son is not smallpox itself but a relative close enough to confer immunity. The boy had eczema, a risk factor for the virus infection.

Doctors say there is no risk of the infection spreading because it is only passed on by close physical contact.