Anthrax vaccine safe, study says
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The currently available anthrax vaccine, while in need of improvement, is safe and effective, a panel of the National Academy of Sciences reported Wednesday.

“The anthrax vaccine should protect against even the inhalational form of the infection, but the lengthy vaccination schedule and the way the shots are physically administered make it far from optimal,” said Brian L. Strom, chairman of the committee that reviewed the vaccine.

The committee urged the Defense Department to support research into a better vaccine.
The current vaccine was approved by FDA in 1970. The manufacturer, BioPort Corp., took over the product in 1998, but not until February did it win FDA approval for full production.

The delays hampered availability of the vaccine, limiting efforts by the military to vaccinate all service personnel.

Only a small number of special mission forces have been getting the vaccine. Some 400 soldiers, fearing complications from a vaccine they considered experimental, had refused it.

The new report was welcomed by the Pentagon.

Strom said the study, which had already been under way, was expedited after last year’s terrorist attacks.

Concern about the limited supplies of the vaccine was heightened by last fall’s anthrax-by-mail terrorism coupled with the fear that the disease could be used as a weapon by foreign terrorists.

The new report from the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine found no unexpected adverse effects from taking the vaccine. The rate of reactions was similar to that of other vaccines, such as tetanus, given adults. These included skin redness and occasional malaise and muscle pain but no serious health impairments, the report said. There were also reports of itching or swelling at the injection site.

There is only limited information about possible long-term effects, the report noted, but there are no indications of increased risks.

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