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March 27, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Anthrax Vaccine Doesn't Affect Fertility, Study Finds" Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (03/27/02) P. A22

A new study in today's Journal of the American Medical Association says that the anthrax vaccine does not appear to damage women's fertility.  The study, which was conducted by Christopher Littell and Andrew Wiesen from the Tacoma, Wash.-based Madigan Army Medical Center, involved an examination of female soldiers who were not thought to have been pregnant when they received the vaccination.  The report found that the shots do not appear to have caused any ill effects on birthrates or pregnancy rates.  The study also indicated that the anthrax vaccine does not lead to a rise in birth defects when used on nonpregnant women, although the researchers note that the results were not conclusive because very few pregnancies occurred among the female military personnel who were studied.

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