Larry did you know the Center for Disease Control might know what the military should stockpile?
The CDC has Epidemic Intelligence Service Officers. Do you know any? Be interesting to see if at least a former one knows about BPI.
O.K. found a former Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer and have cut and pasted his comments below. Of course he no longer works for the CDC but perhaps he still has contacts there.
Dr. Lowell Young,
Director of the Kuzell Institute
for Arthritis and Infectious Diseases at
the California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco,
and former Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer,
Centers for Disease Control
Dr. Young, could you give us some background on gram-negative
bacteria? The outer wall of a gram-negative bacterium contains endotoxin. Humans
are extremely sensitive to this endotoxin. Therefore, gram-negative infections trigger
fever and a drop in blood pressure, and may set off an inflammatory cascade. This can
lead to shock, in which blood pressure falls so far that vital organs are starved of blood.
Brain, kidneys and lungs start to fail. The later stages of this process are sometimes called "sepsis" or "septic shock".
As a cause of death, sepsis-related disorders are in the top ten. Half a million cases a year and 250,000 deaths are cited
in the literature. With an aging population and life-sustaining treatments, more people are susceptible. The number and
severity of cases is definitely trending upward.
How does BPI fit into this picture? BPI is a sophisticated molecular shotgun, a protein found inside our white
blood cells. It represents a new strategy for augmenting host defenses, because it acts early in the infection to kill
gram-negative bacteria and neutralize their endotoxin. My fundamental belief is that it is best to eliminate the bacterial
endotoxin stimulus as early as possible in the infectious process. Thus, clinical studies which test BPI as a preventive or
early treatment, instead of waiting until the septic cascade is well advanced, represent a sound approach.
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Yes, this is from the 1995 XOMA annual report. While I do not know what the military will stockpile I doubt the CDC is unaware of BPI. Suppose you own no stock in XOMA but you make the decision on what to stockpile for one or more of these countries: China, Iran, Iraq, North Korea,Russia, or the U.S. Tell me why you would not stockpile Neuprex, as part of your preparedness plan? Left out Israel, because their decision probably has already be made. <g>
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