AP Online
02-18-2000
Pentagon To Keep Anthrax Program
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon is sticking to its plan to inoculate all 2.4 million active duty and reserve troops against anthrax, the deadly biological agent that defense officials believe poses a threat to tens of thousands of U.S. troops stationed in the Middle East and South Korea.
Pentagon officials on Thursday rejected a call by a House subcommittee to suspend the vaccination program on grounds that some military members do not trust the Pentagon's medical information.
``It's very important that we use the existing and available, safe and effective vaccine to give our troops that go in harm's way the protection that they deserve,'' Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Randy West told a Pentagon news conference. He is a special adviser to Defense Secretary William Cohen on biological warfare.
Sue Bailey, the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said the Defense Department intends to continue toward its goal of immunizing all military members.
Anthrax is a naturally occurring bacteria that, when inhaled, can cause death within a few days. The Pentagon believes Iraq and other nations hostile to the United States have produced anthrax weapons.
In a report released Thursday, the House Government Reform national security subcommittee said the anthrax vaccine does provide a degree of protection to those who receive it. ``Just how much protection is acquired, by whom, for how long ... are questions the Defense Department answers with an excess of faith but a paucity of science.'' it said.
``Plagued by uncertain supplies, uncertain safety and unproven efficacy against the anthrax threat, the mandatory, force-wide immunization program should be suspended until the Department of Defense gets approval to use an improved vaccine,'' said Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., chairman of the subcommittee.
The Pentagon says it is searching for an improved vaccine but may not get one for years.
So far more than 400,000 troops have been given approximately 1.5 million shots, Bailey said. There have been 620 reported adverse reactions, 26 of which required hospitalization, and only six of the hospitalizations are known to be related to the vaccine, she said. The illnesses of the 20 others were unrelated to the vaccine, she said.
``We have a very safe and effective vaccine against a very deadly biologic agent that we know to be in the hands of many of our adversaries and could be used against our forces,'' Bailey told reporters. ``That would imply were they not vaccinated and exposed to this agent, they would die a horrible death.''
The vaccine has come under increasing scrutiny from lawmakers as a growing number of troops have refused to take the six-shot regimen. Complaints have included fevers, muscle pain and dizziness. Some military members testified in hearings held by Shays' panel that the vaccine controversy is hurting morale.
West, who was with Marine units that routed the Iraqi army from Kuwait in the 1991 Gulf War, said he is concerned that an Internet-driven campaign to stop the Pentagon's vaccination program is taking a toll.
``I do worry about divisiveness'' within the military, he said. ``I worry about any serviceman or woman that would leave the military or face any kind of disciplinary action for no reason other than the fact that he refused to take a shot that was designed only to be good for him.''
West said 351 members of the active and reserve forces have refused to take the vaccine since the program started in 1998.
The Shays report said that because there is little research on the inhalation of anthrax spores by humans, the vaccine should be regarded as an investigational drug, requiring the approval of troops to be administered. The Pentagon counters by saying research on humans is not possible because anthrax is deadly.
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