If a woman wants to get pregnant, how long does she need to wait if a close contact has received the smallpox vaccine?
A close contact includes anyone living in your household and anyone with whom you have close, physical contact (such as a sex partner). A woman should wait until the vaccine site in her close contact has completely healed and the scab has fallen off before trying to become pregnant after vaccination. Generally, this means a woman should wait at least four weeks (28 days) after close contact with a vaccinated person before becoming pregnant. Until that time, effective measures should be taken to prevent pregnancy, such as birth control pills, injections, implants, IUDs, or abstinence. Other methods of birth control, such as condoms, diaphragms, spermicide, and natural family planning are less effective.
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