http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20020306/D7I35LFG0.html
Panel Says Anthrax Vaccine Is Safe
|
Email this Story
By
The currently
available anthrax vaccine, while in need of improvement, is safe and effective,
a panel of the National Academy of Sciences reported Wednesday.
"The
anthrax vaccine should protect against even the inhalational
form of the infection, but the lengthy vaccination schedule and the way the
shots are physically administered make it far from optimal," said Brian L.
Strom, chairman of the committee that reviewed the vaccine.
The committee
urged the Defense Department to support research into a better vaccine.
The current
vaccine was approved by FDA in 1970. The manufacturer, BioPort
Corp., took over the product in 1998, but not until February did it win FDA
approval for full production.
The delays
hampered availability of the vaccine, limiting efforts by the military to
vaccinate all service personnel.
Only a small
number of special mission forces have been getting the vaccine. Some 400
soldiers, fearing complications from a vaccine they considered experimental,
had refused it.
The new
report was welcomed by the Pentagon.
"This
peer-reviewed report ... offers confirmation that the department uses a
protective measure that works for those at risk of exposure to the lethal agent
anthrax," said Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr.,
assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.
Strom said
the study, which had already been under way, was expedited after last year's
terrorist attacks.
Concern about
the limited supplies of the vaccine was heightened by last fall's
anthrax-by-mail terrorism coupled with the fear that the disease could be used
as a weapon by foreign terrorists.
The new
report from the National Academy of Science's
The report
said this may be because the vaccine is injected under the skin rather than
into muscle, which is done for most vaccines.
There is only
limited information about possible long-term effects, the report noted, but
there are no indications of increased risks.
But the
vaccine is manufactured using older technology and requires six shots plus an
annual booster, something the committee felt should be improved.
"The
most prudent course of action is to develop a new vaccine - given the nation's
war against terrorism and the domestic attacks where anthrax was used as a
deadly weapon," said Strom, director of the Center for Clinical
Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the
The current
vaccine has been used to protect veterinarians and others who work with
animals.
Normally
anthrax is a disease of animals, and humans have contracted it from handling or
working with the animals. Anthrax spores can live for years.
Five people
died from the inhaled form of the disease, including two postal workers, after
letters containing anthrax were sent to people in
There are
also skin and intestinal forms of the disease if the bacillus is contacted by the
skin or eaten.
BioPort, of
The
government does not recommend the vaccine for civilians, but officials want to
have it on hand in case of need.
Committee
member Dennis Kasper, executive dean for academic programs at
The
researchers said the vaccine can also be used after exposure to anthrax,
accompanied by antibiotics to protect the patient until the vaccine takes
effect.
---
On the Net:
BioPort: http://www.bioport.com
FDA: http://www.fda.gov
Defense
Department: http://www.defenselink.mil/
ALL
INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR
GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE
KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED
AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO
VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU
ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.