Military Anthrax Vaccination

Since the conclusion of the Persian Gulf War, the United States and the United Nations have worked hard to compete with Saddam Hussein for his "Weapons of Mass Destruction." Saddam's persistence and suspicious attitude to the US military has raised concerns about military protection. In order to combat biological threats, Secretary of Defense William Cohen imposed mandatory military vaccinations against all soldiers. Since the start of the program, the program has been criticized by military members, veteran associations, physicians, and many senators of Capital Hill.

Just before the Gulf War, anthrax vaccines that all soldiers had to use had been at the center of the controversy. Is it safe and effective? Should all Americans receive vaccinations? Please explain these issues for yourself through an overview provided on the US military website. In April 2000, the World Health Organization established a global network of 72 centers around the world to monitor the occurrence of signs of deliberate biological attacks. The organization maintains multiple pages related to this work on its website. To view a collection of WHO technical guides, papers, and press releases on the intentional use of biological and chemical weapons, please visit this regularly updated website.

Anthrax vaccine available in the US is an inactivated cell-free vaccine that is approved in a series of six doses. Active and reserve personnel of all US military forces are subject to vaccine management. As with all vaccines, anthrax vaccines can cause pain at the injection site, itching, redness and swelling. A total of 1% to 5% of vaccinees reported 1 to 5 inches of redness at the injection site. Muscle pain, nausea, chills and fever are common, but the hospitalization rate for vaccinated and unvaccinated soldiers is the same as the main adverse event (http://www.vaccines.mil/documents /854AVASafetyRvw.pdf)

Working group I: direct cardiovascular effects of new infections and bioterror threats