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San Antonio Express-News 10-13-07:

Going to the races? Better get your shots!

Congressional staff told to be immunized before NASCAR visits.

LISA ZAGAROLI
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
WASHINGTON — NASCAR fans might seem rabid, but are they actually contagious?
Getting a hepatitis shot is standard procedure for travel to parts of Africa and Asia, but some congressional aides were instructed to get immunized before going to Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., and the racetrack in Talladega, Ala.
The House Homeland Security Committee planned a fact-finding trip about public health preparedness at mass gatherings and decided to research two of the nation's most heavily attended sporting events, NASCAR's Bank of America 500 event this weekend and the UAW-Ford 500 last weekend.
Staff who organized the trips advised NASCAR-bound aides to get a range of vaccines: hepatitis A, hepatitis B, tetanus, diphtheria and influenza.
Rep. Robin Hayes, a Republican from Concord, took umbrage when he heard about it.
“I have never heard of immunizations for domestic travel, and as the representative for Concord, N.C., I feel compelled to ask why the heck the committee feels that immunizations are needed to travel to my hometown,” Hayes said in an Oct. 5 letter to Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who chairs the homeland security panel.
“I have been to numerous NASCAR races, and the folks who attend these events certainly do not pose any health hazard to congressional staffers or anyone else,” Hayes added.
He noted the four aides on the trip will be visiting hospitals, and the immunizations commonly are recommended for health-care workers.
“Since committee staff members are visiting hospital and other health-care facilities ..... I believe that the recommendation (not requirement) that our congressional staff receive these same immunizations was sound,” Thompson said in a letter responding to Hayes.