AF Times Article

[Guest guest]

Air Force Times

November 15, 1999

Pg. 12

Three Shots Are Enough In Wartime

But six, plus boosters, called necessary to have full protection

By Rick Maze, Times staff writer

Service members with at least three anthrax vaccine shots may not be fully

protected from the deadly disease, but they have enough protection to be

deployed in a crisis to an area where the germ might be used as a weapon,

said the director of the Pentagon's vaccination policy.

Marine Maj. Gen. Randall L. West, special assistant to the secretary of

defense for biological warfare and anthrax, said in a Nov. 3 interview that

the Pentagon continues to support the Food and Drug Administration's

recommended dose of six shots, plus annual boosters, as a requirement for

full protection. It also supports the strict schedule for when those shots

should be given.

But, he said, the Pentagon's " interim goal " is that all troops deploying to

the Middle East and Asia, where the threat is highest, have a minimum of

three shots.

" Once you have at least three, you have 95-percent protection " against

anthrax used in aerosol form as a weapon said West. " Still, we want to give

everybody six shots and give [the shots] as close to schedule as we can.

" What we know is that no one who has had more than two shots has ever come

down with the disease, " said West, referring specifically to the current

vaccine's protection against the type of anthrax that is inhaled.

There were three cases in the 1950s of people who received three doses of

vaccine but became infected with subcutaneous anthrax, which results from

skin exposure. Defense officials said those cases involved a different

vaccine and a different method of exposure than expected from biological

weapons.

Inoculation of troops entering high-risk areas is key, West said, because the

military's other protections are inadequate.

Better detection needed

The military has 10 systems capable of detecting anthrax release, and they

are not always accurate, he said. " We don't have very many of those and they

are not very good, " he said. The military is developing more and better

detection equipment.

The military also lacks protective gear -- masks and full body suits -- for

deployed troops. Current equipment, West said, " is not good enough to fight

in. "

Inoculations, he said, are the best way of protecting troops.

West and other defense officials were questioned about dosages and scheduling

of the anthrax vaccine during an Oct. 12 congressional hearing at which

officials from the Food and Drug Administration and the General Accounting

Office said there is little scientific evidence to establish the proper dose

of the vaccine.

There is ongoing research into the antibody levels produced as a result of

the vaccinations that may help health officials determine whether the dose

should be changed and, particularly, whether it could be reduced for women,

who report more negative reactions to the shots.

Under tough questioning from Rep. Shays, R-Conn., Pentagon

officials said they did not have scientific proof anyone was fully protected

from anthrax after just the first three shots and would stop making the claim.

In the Nov. 3 interview, West said full protection may not be possible after

just three shots, taken over a four-week period, but tests on rabbits and

monkeys have convinced him that three shots give 95 percent protection.

Defense Department records show that 292,857 service members had received

three or more of the required six anthrax shots as of Oct. 13. Another

321,826 had been vaccinated twice. Only 4,066 had received all six shots. The

mandatory inoculation program began in March 1998.

GAO raises doubts

At the Oct. 12 hearing, Kwai-Cheung Chan of the General Accounting Office, a

congressional watchdog agency, raised doubts about how many doses are needed

for full protection. Chan said he could find no study that showed the proper

dose of the current vaccine and no proof that annual booster shots are needed.

West did not dispute Chan's testimony but said the Pentagon is confident in

tests that have been conducted on guinea pigs, rabbits and monkeys. This

research has shown that monkeys are protected against aerosol exposure to

anthrax by the vaccine, he said.

Chan said there is no direct comparison of immunity in humans to that of

monkeys, and said more tests are needed.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/9/99 11:08:23 PM Eastern Standard Time,

Onesinhot@... writes:

<< The military also lacks protective gear -- masks and full body suits --

for

deployed troops. Current equipment, West said, " is not good enough to fight

in. " >>

List,

I contacted MSA - Mine Safety Appliances Company in Pittsburgh, PA. They

sent me a full color catalog of their protective equipment both for miners

and defense. I don't think they would appreciate Maj. West's comments about

their " Proven Under Fire " equipment. According to their catalog in the

summer of 1990 when the threat of chemical and biological warfare suddenly

became a reality, they responded by by providing thousands of

chemical-biological masks for Operation Desert Storm. They claim... " Just as

the state-of-the-art weapons, vehicles and aircraft showed the world the

future of military prowess, MSA Defense Equipment represented the future of

combat respiratory protection. "

Also, it states that they have developed and shipped more than 7.5 million

chemical-biological masks to military forces around the world. They boast 80

years of expertise in defense equipment engineering. (Well exceeds 2.4

million service members!)

Maybe Maj. West should check into their M40 Series. According to their

catalog, " Protection against chemical and biological agents is one thing, but

it's laser ballistic-grade protection that makes the M40 Series

Chemical-Biological Masks from MSA a truly powerful force in combat

respiratory protection. It either comes in your choice of silicone or Hycar

rubber. Spare parts are even available and they come in 3 sizes. It has also

been fully tested against bilogocial agents and these chemical warfare

agents: GA, GB (Sarin), GD, VX, mustard and ite. Testing was conducted

by MSA and independent laboratories and assures that the gas mask and

canister meet the requirements for effectiveness against CW agents using the

test protocol recommended by the Chemical Agent Safety and Health Policy

Action Committee (CASHPAC). (Sounds safer than the anthrax vaccine to me!)

And that's not all. They have an AP2C Chemical Agent Detector Kit designed

for high sensitivity, fast response, can clear down time. Suitable for both

contamination and decontamination checks. Weighs less than 2.0 kg (4.4

lbs.). Instruction label printed on the side with one-button turn-on.

Multi-year shelf life on detector (shelf life?). Response time: less than 2

seconds. (More than enough time to administer atibiotics.) A complete chart

with a summary of Chemical Warfare Agents -- Agent Classes, Characteristics,

Exposure Symptoms and Agent Examples.

The good part of all this equipment is... you can take it off after the

battle.