|
Archives | (June 2001)
Printer Friendly
The Anthrax Vaccine: Making Our Soldiers Guinea Pigs Part Two (cont.)
------------------------------------------------------------------ Page 6 of 6 Taken together, what all of this means is that there is no clear picture of what the real rate of reactions to the anthrax vaccine is, how severe those reactions might be, or what possible health threats may lie down the road for those who were inoculated. The Institute of Medicine Committee may have had the same concerns, because they carefully hedged their bets in the first paragraph of the press release accompanying the anthrax report stating: “The current vaccine can continue to be used, but the U.S. Department of Defense should vigorously support research efforts not only to improve the way it is administered, but also to develop an alternative.” Further down in the release, the researchers again qualify their support: “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. In the meantime, the current vaccine is sufficiently safe and effective to be useful.” This is hardly a ringing endorsement! Yet, despite their ambivalence, the IOM committee members still gave DOD the green light to being the vaccination program, and it has proceeded apace. But, is this decision in the best interests of our men and women in uniform? Also, what is the Congress doing about the anthrax controversy? Finally, why is it that the anthrax vaccine seems to cause such severe reactions? The answers to these questions and more will be found in the final installment of this series next month. |
|
