Vaccination News Home Page

http://www.afnkorea.com/

This time, DOD keeping tighter control over who will get anthrax shots

By Mark Oliva, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, October 17, 2002

CAMP LESTER, Okinawa — Servicemembers will begin rolling up their sleeves once again for the anthrax vaccine, but this time around the shot might not be for everyone.

The Department of Defense abandoned its original plans for mass vaccinations for all uniformed servicemembers. Instead, it’s adopted a threat-based vaccination program. Now, only those headed to areas considered high risk, such as the Middle East or South Korea, are getting the shot.

“What changes between the way we did things in the past and the way we’re going to do things now is there’s going to be better control about who gets it and who needs it,” said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Dale Baker, Director for Community Health at the U.S. Naval Hospital here. “As a result of that, many of the groups have dropped off now because the mass immunization that we once thought was necessary, the folks have gone back and decided that probably might have been overkill.”

Anthrax spores infect people by exposure to the skin or when inhaled into the lungs. The spores migrate to the body’s lymph nodes, change into bacteria and multiply. The bacteria produce toxins that cause internal bleeding and destroy organs.

Symptoms include virus-like aches and pains, fever, cough and chest discomfort followed by severe difficulty breathing. Symptoms can take one to six days to appear. Anthrax is not contagious.

Vaccination News Home Page

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.