US Naval Institute - The Proceedings - November 2001

[Guest guest]

The enemy is no longer over there somewhere, but here among us, and I

believe that our citizens must be armed with the greatest possible

defenses about acts of terrorism, whether they be chemical,

biological, or nuclear. I contend that we must have detection

devices that would be worn on our persons to afford our citizens and

military members knowledge that we have been exposed to such agents

so that prompt medical treatment can be provided upon entry into the

emergency medical system.

Vaccines such as a new anthrax vaccine must be created using

recombinant technology, which will pass stringent FDA standards,

unlike the present 1960's era technology. The current vaccine has

continued to fail FDA standards because of a number of contaminants

and inadequate manufacturing guidelines. The current vaccine at

Bioport remains unsafe for our military and is not approved for

civilian use.

We remain the greatest country in the world, and we must be prepared,

not afraid. We need to be armed with the best technology and

treatment modalities, not those of decades past. It is truly a time

for pursuit of scientific discovery, not a retreat to old

technologies to find a quick fix. I have no doubt that we are up to

the task. Craig Uhl, MD