Anthrax Shot Considered for Civilians

[Guest guest]

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/16/national/16MAIL.html?todaysheadlines

" Dr. S. Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said that there was

not yet a consensus among health experts on whether to offer an anthrax vaccine

to civilians because the antibiotics treatment is considered sufficient. If the

vaccine becomes available, patients will have to make their own decision about

taking it, he said. "

Let me make something clear. Patients are in no position to " make their own

decision " about taking any medical treatment, let alone anthrax vaccine. That

is why we have dctors, who can interpret the risks and benefits of treatments

for patients. In the case of AVA, in which US physicians have no been provided

with truthful information about the risks and benefits of the vaccine, patients

are in an impossible position. They should CERTAINLY NOT be making their own

decisions when there is no truthful information from which to base a decision.

Yes, there is a danger of spores germinating late, after antibiotics are

stopped. That is why I suggested on my website in October that tests should be

done to assess this risk, as currently we only have limited animal experiments

to go on. Have such tests been done, so we can have better infrmation on

whether this is a problem, and how significant it could be? My guess is that it

is not very significant, since many of those exposed (thousands according to the

media) have apparently stopped antibiotics early, and none have come down with

anthrax yet in that group.

Another way to approach this problem would be to treat all patients with

antibiotcs as soon as they developed any sign at all of a respiratory infection

or flu-like illness. That saved several people so far. Another is to keep

patients on antibiotics for longer than 60 days--6 months has been suggested in

the past.

Meryl Nass, MD