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Army Not Immune to Anthrax Vaccine Threats Phil Brennan, NewsMax.comSince 1998, only about 521,000 people out of 2.4 million active and reserve members of the armed forces have been given anthrax vaccine - a preventive measure many service men and women fear more than they fear getting anthrax. The reaction to taking the shots - six vaccinations over 18 months - has been so adverse that 102 people have been court-martialed for refusing to allow themselves to be vaccinated and hundreds of others have resigned from the services rather than take the vaccine, foes of the program report. They may have good reason for fearing the vaccinations. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday on the results of one victim's vaccination. Last year, U.S. Army Reserve Capt. Jason Nietupski was given the shot before being sent to South Korea. Shortly after being inoculated in February, he developed sores all over his mouth and throat. "The side of my tongue was all raw with little canker sores, and bloody mucus was coming out of my nose," Nietupski told the Journal. The afflictions, which the Journal reported "were ultimately diagnosed as an autoimmune disorder in which his body accidentally attacked itself, grew worse as he got the next two installments of the six-shot regime." He and several of the doctors who examined him are convinced the vaccine was the cause of his problems, which included a series of blood clots in his legs that afflicted him months later. That problem keeps him from jogging or standing for any period of time. That case, and those of hundreds more, which members of the armed forces say resulted from the shots, have put the Army behind the eight ball, curbing the vaccination programs for all but those considered in high-risk situations, such as being sent overseas. More than 1,600 of those getting the vaccine have said they suffered reactions after getting the shots, such as redness or swelling at the site of the vaccination. The Journal says that 10 subjects had such massive swelling in their arms after the vaccine that they needed to be hospitalized, a reaction that Lt. Col. John Grabenstein, an army epidemiologist who tracks reactions to the vaccine, admits was probably due to the vaccinations. Fifteen patients were successfully treated for anaphylaxis, a potentially fatal allergic reaction, which can cause lungs to spasm and the throat to swell up. Those opposed to the vaccination programs insist that the officially reported side-effect numbers are artificially deflated because the military discourages reporting them. Capt. Nietupski told the Journal that, although he was examined by more than a dozen military doctors since his symptoms began in February 2000, not one of them initially reported them to the FDA. Only in March, a year later, after he complained to members of Congress, was his case reported. According to the Journal, the FDA says that six people have died shortly after being vaccinated. "Three died of some sort of cardiovascular problem, one committed suicide, one had cancer and another, Sgt. Sandra L. Larson, died in June of last year of a rare blood disorder," the Journal reported. Dr. Grabenstein told the Journal that a panel of civilian experts have looked at the deaths and found no evidence they were caused by the vaccine. "People are saying, 'I'm sick and I've been vaccinated.' I'm sorry that you're sick, but A following B doesn't mean A caused B," he said. "It's far more intricate than that." Making the case more intricate is the source of the vaccine - BioPort, a Lansing, Mich., company that has an exclusive contract to make the vaccine for the Armed Forces. As reported by NewsMax.com on Oct. 8, the company has yet to produce a single dose of the vaccine since 1998 when the company bought the plant from the state. It has failed two FDA inspections in a row. "The manufacturer has been unable to pass a single inspection," Capt. Dale Saran told the Journal. Saran, a U.S. military lawyer, defended two of those court-martialed for refusing to take the vaccine, which was licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1970. "No vaccine today would be made with these procedures." After the FDA discovered the plant's problems, BioPort shut down to make renovations designed to satisfy the agency. There were on hand, however, a sufficient number of doses to keep the vaccination program going. The company says it has made some vaccine since 1998, but won't release it for use until it gets the FDA's approval to resume operations. Nobody can say for certain that any of the individual problems were the result of the vaccine. Experts say the only surefire method is to study large groups of victims to determine if particular maladies are more common among those have been vaccinated than among the general population. Dr. Grabenstein told the Journal that 18 studies have found no higher incidence of serious reactions, such as blood clots or autoimmune disorders, among those getting vaccines. But, the Journal commented, few of those studies, which include many by military scientists and some that date back to the 1960s, have been "peer reviewed," or examined by experts not involved in the studies before they were published. In a 1999 report cited by the Journal, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) found "insufficient evidence" to determine whether the anthrax vaccine is safe or not. The IOM is now preparing another report on the matter, and Grabenstein told the Journal that the military was "pleased" with where it appeared to be headed. The Journal was unable to contact the IOM for comment. Sgt. Larson's sister, Nancy Rugo of Spokane, Wash., is continuing her search for answers. Before Larson died, she told her sister "be sure you finish this search for me, because I know it's the vaccine," Rugo told the Journal. Rugo, following through on her sister's wishes, is comparing notes with others whose family members have died or suffered serious disability after getting the shots. "As far as I'm concerned," she told the Journal, "this is an unsolved mystery."
A mystery for her, a problem for the U.S. military, involved in a war in which anthrax seems to be an enemy weapon.A product that might interest you: |
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