Soldiers to stagger jabs amid fears of GW syndrome - 22 Jan 03

January 22, 2003

Note: The US military refuses to take this common-sense precaution...

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January 22, 2003

Soldiers to stagger jabs amid fears of Gulf War syndrome

By Charter, Chief Political Correspondent

MILITARY chiefs have ordered troops to leave a ten-day “window” between

anthrax vaccination and other inoculations after fears that the cocktail of

jabs needed for the Gulf could cause long-term harm.

Rear-Admiral Ian , the Surgeon-General, has said that no other

inoculations should be given for five days leading up to and five days after

an anthrax vaccination.

The new directive is one of a range of measures designed to avoid the kind of

illnesses that have plagued veterans from the 1991 conflict, even though the

Ministry of Defence does not recognise so-called Gulf War syndrome as a

separate condition.

Colonel Terry English, director of welfare for the Royal British Legion,

said: “A much earlier investigation of this whole issue would have given

today’s soldiers the confidence to take inoculations. There are now many who

may be more afraid of the side-effects of the immunisation than they are of

Saddam’s weapons, which may have disastrous consequences for them.”

Figures show that 46 per cent of troops heading for the Gulf have refused

anthrax vaccination. Take-up ranged from 28 per cent in the Navy to 46 per

cent in the RAF and 78 per cent in the Army.

Veterans who received anthrax alongside other vaccines seized on the

directive as an admission that this combination contributed to illnesses

blamed for more than 500 British deaths since 1991. The MoD’s refusal to

accept Gulf War syndrome will be challenged at a High Court pensions appeal

next month.

Lord of Manchester, a long-standing campaigner, said: “I am deeply

concerned to establish the facts on Gulf War syndrome in the interests of

people who fought very bravely, and out of concern for serving soldiers. One

of my concerns is that it should not happen to anyone else.”

The recommendation of a ten-day window for anthrax vaccination was disclosed

after the Health Department said yesterday that the jab should be given only

“alone”.

It comes after the admission by Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, who told

the Commons on Monday that there had been “lessons learnt” from previous

conflicts.

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