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Pastimes : ANTHRAX Are you concerned about this fatal disease -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stephen O who wrote (4)	12/19/1998 10:42:00 AM
From: Stephen O	Respond to of 9

From The Times of London Germ fears 'are an excuse for Americans to leave' THE American authorities' suggestion that people under 18 and over 65 should leave vulnerable locations in Israel lest the Iraqis bomb them with anthrax bacillus-laden shells obviously appeals to common sense. These are the unproductive members of the community who can easily be spared and would be safer walking around Gramercy Park in New York. It is also true as a general rule that the immune system of older people is not so efficient and any immunity induced by vaccination might not be so immediately effective. However, unless the medical profession in the United States knows more about anthrax inoculation than we do, it is possible that injections are being made an excuse to evacuate non-essential residents. Human anthrax vaccine creates protective immunity to the toxin produced by the bacillus. It is normally provided only for workers, particularly those in the bone meal, fleece and leather industries. Experience in those groups has shown that reactions to the injection are rare. After the injections - four intramuscular ones in all are needed, with intervals of three weeks between the first three and of six months between the third and fourth - there may be slight swelling and a little inflammation to the skin of the upper arm which lasts about two days. Very occasionally glands under the arms may swell, accompanied by a slight temperature. There are three types of anthrax. In the cutaneous form, unpleasant-looking black ulcers appear. This is the usual type that is found among British workers in animal products. It is treated with heavy doses of penicillin, or other suitable antibiotics, and usually clears rapidly. In the gastrointestinal form, the patient, who has eaten contaminated food, is much more ill as the anthrax ulcers may cause perforation of the guts, and death. President Saddam Hussein's shells, however, would endeavour to spread pulmonary anthrax. In this variety the bacilli are breathed into the lungs. There spores multiply, lung tissue and the root of the lung bleed and break down, and the victim dies, usually within three days. Death can occasionally be very sudden. It is not surprising that the authorities would want to evacuate the most vulnerable to serious infections. But this is probably more a matter of policy than a fear of adverse effects from the vaccination. the-times.co.uk