PRO/AH> Anthrax, human - USA (02) (fwd)

[Guest guest]

Just some more info about biowarfare. Lany, whom many

of you know, sent me an email and something she said has

to be considered heavily: could all this excitement

about anthrax just be a way for terrorists to divert our

attention while they plan more spectacular events?

I have to think that this could be a very real

possibility, especially as I am reading a book about bin

Laden and his terrorist network.

The other concern I have that promed raises is the fact

that people are stockpiling supplies of cipro. And I

have heard some people are even taking cipro

prophylactically. This is not only dumb, it is

dangerous. Again, we are well on our way to developing

resistant strains to a very strong, good, and effective

antibiotic. The more people that are put on cipro for

no reason, the more chance that not only many bacteria,

but anthrax, will become resistant to it.

Please think twice before asking your doc for some cipro

or taking any cipro you have for prophylactic reasons.

We need to save the strong, heavy duty drugs like cipro,

for serious threats, like anthrax. I already have

resistance to cipro because I took it for cellulitis a

few yrs ago. As it turns out, the bacteria was not

sensitive to cipro, but now any infection I've had since

then has always been resistant to cipro. I just hope

that if biowarfare becomes a " common " problem, that

cipro will work for me, as I can't take doxycycline or

PCN.

e

---------------------- Forwarded Message: ---------------------

From: ProMED-mail <promed@...>

promed-ahead@...

Subject: PRO/AH> Anthrax, human - USA (02)

Date: Sun, 14 Oct 2001 00:24:41 -0400 (EDT)

ANTHRAX, HUMAN - USA (02)

*************************

A ProMED-mail post

<http://www.promedmail.org>'>http://www.promedmail.org>

ProMED-mail is a program of the

International Society for Infectious Diseases

<http://www.isid.org>

[see also:

Anthrax, human - USA 20011013.2511

Anthrax, human - USA (Florida) 20011004.2407

Anthrax, human - USA (Florida) (10) 20011011.2485

Anthrax, human - USA (New York) 20011012.2489

Anthrax, human - USA (New York & Florida) 20011013.2503]

Date: October 13, 2001

From: ProMED-mail <promed@...>

[The amount of hysteria and hype that has been in a crescendo phase

following the anthrax isolates in Florida and most recently in NYC is

very disconcerting. The news wires have been listing the various scares

(other NYC locations, Reno, Los Angeles to name a few), in some places

people who have opened envelopes with powder are being hospitalized

(4 Denver postal employees, a Sony picture employee in Culver City)

for testing. There was a news wire report in the past hours about a US

Airways jet en route to Denver from North Carolina was diverted to

Indianapolis for an unscheduled landing when a flight attendant found

" suspicious white powder " in the bottom of a trash bag in the plane's

galley. There was a news wire report of 5 people being taken to a

hospital in Genoa, Italy for testing after handling a suspicious letter

with white powder and threats of BT.(Preliminary testing has been

negative for anthrax.) Dick Cheney is saying that while there isn't

evidence, terrorism must still be considered. NYC ERs are being

overwhelmed by people wanting to be tested and wanting to have

prescriptions for Cipro (in an Op-Ed piece by Rich in the NY Times

today he mentioned that Cipro has surpassed Viagra sales on the internet

-- that's how serious the hysteria has gotten).

The situation is well summed up by a headline in today's Telegraph

(London):

New anthrax case sparks panic in US

<http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=3D/news/2001/10/13/=

wanth13.xml>

By Philip Delves Broughton in New York and Ben Fenton in Washington

(Filed: 13/10/2001)

------------

While not dismissing the present threat there is a need for calm. Attached

is a very responsible editorial from today's NY Times for our members to

read, along with a request for a discussion of how we might help to simmer

down the ongoing hysteria here in the US, as well as among our friends in

other countries who are being caught up in the same scare fever. Clearly

things are getting out of hand. In addition, we at

ProMED-mail are very concerned about the potential negative impact on

public health as a result of widespread distribution of ciprofloxacin

(Cipro) into the hands of the general public. - Mod.MHJ]

Date: 13 Oct 2001

From: ProMED-mail <promed@...>

Source: NY Times [edited]

<http://nytimes.com/2001/10/13/opinion/13SAT2.html>

Anthrax in New York

-------------------

" The discovery of an anthrax case in New York City - coming on top of 3

anthrax exposures in Florida - has heightened concern in a nation that was

already jittery and waiting for the next terrorist act to occur. Top

officials at NBC announced yesterday that an employee had developed a

full-fledged case of anthrax several days after the network received

" suspicious mail. " She is being treated with antibiotics and is said to be

doing well. Nevertheless, her case has multiplied the fears generated by an

episode at a Florida newspaper publisher where one editor died of anthrax

apparently inhaled at his workplace and 2 others who worked in the mail

room were exposed to the anthrax germ but have not become sick.

The pattern of these incidents seems to suggest an attempt to infect

journalists, though that has yet to be established. Amid what can only be

described as rising hysteria in the country, it is important to remember

that so far only 2 people have been diagnosed as ill with anthrax, and one

of them is expected to recover.

It is difficult to retain one's composure at a time when false leads, wild

Internet gossip and outright hoaxes - as well as genuine intelligence

warnings from the government - make it seem as if the nation is under

incessant attack. The Times learned firsthand yesterday what it feels like

to face these uncertainties, when a bioterrorism reporter received a letter

containing a white powdery substance. The police were called, the area was

cleared, the air was tested for chemicals and found clean, and the

substance itself, which smelled like talcum powder, was sent off for

testing. Though work resumed, no one will rest easy until the results are

in. Times workers discovered the short psychic distance between reasonable

caution and irrational fear, the difficulty in always distinguishing

between the remote possibility and the clear and present danger.

A logical assessment of the odds of harm helps. Should a person

inadvertently open a letter containing anthrax spores, he or she can

prevent the onset of disease by promptly seeking medical treatment.

Employers and individuals will need to be especially alert to packages and

letters that might conceivably have lethal substances in them. But it makes

little sense for people throughout the city to race to emergency rooms, as

many are, when the incidents are so few and so limited in the number of

exposures. Nor is there any need to stockpile antibiotics that are readily

available should the need arise, and which the government is poised to

distribute in mass quantities if a real anthrax outbreak should occur. Nor

does it make sense to buy a gas mask that would be useful only if someone

had advance notice that the spores would be in the air. Anthrax is not

contagious and does not spread from one person to another.

For now, the remarkable thing is how small these incidents were, and how

quickly contained. In that sense they are a cause for reassurance, not

panic. "

***

[Moderator comments:

[1]

Anyone needing advice as to what to look out for in suspicious mail

should check the following FBI site:

FBI Advice

<http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/conditions/10/12/nyc.anthrax/fbi.jpg>

[2]

Secondly, the basic advice if you should suspect a letter or parcel is

to put it down; call building security or the police; and go wash your

hands and face; then relax and get on with your life ... its probably a

hoax. Leave it to the experts.

[3]

Hysteria and panic only aids the people who have sent out these

contaminated letters or are mailing hoaxes. So make it difficult for

them by staying calm.

[4]

On top of everything else, this is the first biological threat that this

country has had in modern times. All the prior practice and games

playing beforehand are now being tested. Many of the actions taken have

been very successful. Yes, mistakes are being made but the risks posed

by the current series of events are really very small and readily

treatable. This is our time for really learning how to handle them.

Remember, one learns by mistakes. And if there is a next time, there

will be far, far fewer errors and thus, hopefully, even less of an

impact. - Mods.MPP/MHJ/PC/TG]

--

ProMED-mail

<promed@...>

...........................mpp/mhj/tg/pc/es

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