THOUSANDS of soldiers will fall sick in a wave of illness destined to eclipse that which followed the first Gulf War, according to veterans already glimpsing the first fresh cases of a controversial syndrome.

A soldier from Morley, near Leeds, has already fallen ill with suspected Gulf War Syndrome after receiving five vaccination jabs in one day.


 The national Gulf Veterans and Families Association, based in Hull, has been fighting since the last conflict for recognition of Gulf War Syndrome – an illness it says has ruined the lives of hundreds of soldiers.

 And members warn that the effects of the most recent conflict will be worse than before.

 The warnings came as Lance Corporal Tony Barker, 45, spoke of how a mystery illness has left him unable to work and suffering from exhaustion and trembling hands since he returned from the Gulf.

 The Territorial Army veteran was given five vaccinations for hepatitis, typhoid, polio, diptheria and yellow fever on February 17. The father-of-one received an anthrax jab days later. Although suffering from high blood pressure he was passed fit for service. The HGV driver was based at Camp Eagle in northern Kuwait where he was given nerve agent treatment and anti-malarial pills. He also had a second anthrax jab.

 The driver from the Royal Logistics Corps fell ill shortly afterwards as his blood pressure soared. He was ordered to stop taking his anti-malarial drugs and flown home.

 His condition has deteriorated and he is set to be discharged. He is unable to return to work.

 He told the Yorkshire Post: "I'm from the old school and if somebody further up the chain of command reckons you should do something, you do it. We were given the option of not having the jabs but I thought the top brass wouldn't give us it if it was dangerous.

 "When I thought of Gulf War Syndrome until then I thought it was all about trauma and things like that. The chemical side of it never occurred to me.

 "I had my jabs and pills but then I got a chronic upset stomach. I reported to the medics, they took my blood pressure and I was on a plane home.

 "When I got back I found I was exhausted and my hands were twitching. I put it down to a change in sleeping pattern but five weeks later I'm still the same. I'm starting to worry. I can't work as an HGV driver if I'm exhausted. I've never felt like this before and I just keep thinking of all those chemicals that were pumped through me. They're the same as the lads from the first conflict got and look how they've suffered."

 The vaccinations were in stark contrast to a Government pledge that troops would not be given the multiple vaccinations blamed for making veterans sick after the first conflict.

 Former Army paramedic Shaun Rusling leads the Veterans' Association. He said that according to medical protocol three doses should be given at three-week intervals, followed by a fourth at six months to offer sufficient protection.

 He said: "We haven't even seen the tip of the iceberg yet. These lads have been pumped full of the same chemicals that made us ill. Then you've got the trauma of what they've seen over there to go on top...

 "We're already getting calls on our helpline from wives of soldiers concerned that their husbands are acting strange since they returned."

 The MoD has said the anthrax jab had been given to many hundreds of troops over the years and there was no clinical evidence to suggest any had suffered a long-term ill-effect.

dave.mark@ypn.co.uk
 

27 April 2003