Diseases and vaccines - Anthrax/anthrax vaccine/Gulf War Syndrome        also see The Anthrax Vaccine Ruling

Comment:  Never mind the fact that the FDA miraculously found reason to approve it just days after the judge declared the vaccine experimental, and put a (what turned out to be) temporary hold on the military's anthrax shot program.

►March 4, 2004 - Criticism, skepticism surround anthrax vaccine - BioPort defends product despite lawsuits, studies - The State News - "BioPort Corp. executives are the first to admit that a cloud of doubt seems to linger above their anthrax vaccine...Critics relentlessly question if the Lansing-based company's product would be effective against a bioterrorist attack. Others contend the immunization is harmful to those who receive it...Company executives, however, maintain that scientific fact and a series of medical studies vouch for the safety and effectiveness of the nation's only federally licensed anthrax vaccine."

►March 2, 2004 - Anthrax vaccine inquiry soldiers demand - Medical News Today 

►March 4, 2004 - Drug to treat hepatitis B proves useful in blocking anthrax toxin - The University of Chicago Chronicle - "'These toxins pack a one-two punch that makes inhalational anthrax extremely harmful,' said Tang, Associate Professor in the Ben May Institute for Cancer Research at the University. 'For the first time, we have a clinically approved drug that, at least in tissue culture, completely eradicates half of that toxic team, and does it at non-toxic doses.'"

Comment:  That is good news.  In my opinion, it is far better to develop drugs to treat those exposed to anthrax, rather than expose everyone to the known and unknown risks of anthrax vaccination, whether they need it or not.

►March 2, 2004 - Soldiers demand anthrax vaccine inquiry - www.abc.net.au

►March 2, 2004 - Scientists: Device rids air of anthrax, other biological dangers - AP via Newsday

►October 12, 1999 - Anthrax Vaccine: Safety and Efficacy Issues (Testimony, 10/12/1999, GAO/T-NSIAD-00-48). - U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov

►September 20, 2004 - Anthrax Vaccine: GAO's Survey of Guard and Reserve Pilots and Aircrew (20-SEP-02, GAO-02-445). - U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov

►July 21, 1999 - Medical Readiness: Issues Concerning the Anthrax Vaccine (Testimony, 07/21/1999, GAO/T-NSIAD-99-226). - U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov

►June 30, 1999 - Contract Management: Observations on DOD's Financial Relationship With the Anthrax Vaccine Manufacturer (Testimony, 06/30/99, GAO/T-NSIAD-99-214). - U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov

►April 29, 1999 - Medical Readiness: Safety and Efficacy of the Anthrax Vaccine (Testimony, 04/29/99, GAO/T-NSIAD-99-148). - U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov

►March 29, 1999 - Gulf War Illnesses: Questions About the Presence of Squalene Antibodies in Veterans Can Be Resolved (Letter Report, 03/29/99, GAO/NSIAD-99-5). - U.S. GAO via www.gpoaccess.gov

►March 2, 2004 - VaxGen reports Phase I clinical trial results of anthrax vaccine candidate - VaxGen, Inc. via www.eurekalert.org 

►March 2, 2004 - Troops ‘gagged’ over anthrax jab concerns - The Herald, UK - "SOLDIERS calling for an inquiry into the possible effects of Iraq war anthrax vaccinations on the health of their unborn children have accused the Ministry of Defence of attempting to gag them."

►March 2, 2004 - Vaccinated GIs spread infections - Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer - "Thirty people in the military have transferred infections to other people after being vaccinated for smallpox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

►March 1, 2004 - Anthrax Vaccine Paralyzes Soldier - WVLT via www.volunteertv.com

►Military Vaccine Dangers - CBS News Video

►March 1, 2004 - Anthrax Jabs Blamed for Baby Deaths - PA News via The Scotsman

►March 1, 2004 -  Soldiers link baby deaths to jabs - Some UK Soldiers who served in Iraq have expressed fears for their unborn babies after claiming a number of child deaths are linked to anthrax jabs. - BBC

►March 1, 2004 - Military Vaccine Flattens GI, 17 - CBS News - "Amid all the war stories that have come out of the conflict with Iraq, Tyran Duncan's hasn't been widely told. The willing soldier became an unwitting victim to the vaccinations he was required to take to deploy. And as CBS News Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports, he's not the only one."

►February 28, 2004 - Anthrax: Vital fact the diggers weren't told - The Australian

►February 29, 2004 - Campaign: Scandal of the Anthrax Babies: A Deadly Chemical Weapon - The Sunday Mirror, UK

►February 29, 2004 - Campaign: Scandal of the Anthrax Babies: Our Worst Nightmare - Baby Kye died: 5 weeks - The Sunday Mirror, UK

Comment:  What on earth does the alleged fact that "a number of Townsville soldiers and airmen had the vaccination and did not experience any long-term side effects' have to do with whether or not some/many others did suffer long-term effects? 

►February 23, 2004 - Did Government Poison NZ Troops in Afghanistan? - Scoop Media, NZ

►February 23, 2004 - The blame drain - The Gulf War veterans are blaming their lawyer for the collapse of their case against the MoD. Jon Robins hears both sides of the story - www.thelawyer.com

►January 27, 2004 - Anthrax kills nine cows in western Saskatchewan, farm quarantined - Canadian Press via http://cnews.canoe.ca

►January 26, 2004 - Make vaccine voluntary - editorial - Army Times - "Five years after the Defense Department began forcing service members to roll up their sleeves for the anthrax vaccine, the battle over whether the shots are safe, effective or even legal still rages...But there’s another question that gets far less attention: Has anyone reassessed the potential threat that prompted the vaccine program in the first place?...More than eight months after major combat operations ended in Iraq, U.S. officials have failed to find a single drop of the thousands of gallons of anthrax supposedly stockpiled by Saddam Hussein."

►January 25, 2004 - Ohio National Guard Member Charged For Refusing Anthrax Vaccine - AP via www.wcpo.com - "An Ohio National Guard member has been charged by the Army with disobeying a lawful order after he again refused to take the anthrax vaccine...Hickman could go to jail and be discharged if convicted...Pfaff said the charge is separate from Hickman's court martial in Ohio last month."

►January 12, 2004 - Jabs linked to Gulf War Syndrome - A Ministry of Defence doctor has said a cocktail of vaccines may be to blame for a range of debilitating illnesses known as Gulf War syndrome. - BBC - "Mr Izett, 33, who now lives in Bersenbruck, near Bremen in Germany, was inoculated like other troops against anthrax, botulism and other biological agents...He said he went public with the confidential report, dated September 22, 2001, so that other soldiers vaccinated with the same 'secret' injections could claim compensation for the physical and mental illness they may have suffered as a result."

►January 2004 - “DoD and the Anthrax Vaccine” - message from William Winkenwerder, Jr., MD, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs - www.anthrax.mil - "I want to address the recent controversy created by a U.S. District Court decision December 22 to order a preliminary injunction against our anthrax program and the subsequent lifting of that injunction, January 7. Although the litigation has not been finally resolved, we are pleased the Court lifted the preliminary injunction. DoD is now vaccinating service members again to protect them against the threat of anthrax. The facts, the best medical science, and the FDA’s December 30 final rule, fully support all of DoD’s actions and speak for themselves."

►December 27, 2003 - Airing anthrax - Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune - "The question of whether anthrax vaccine used during the first Gulf War caused or contributed to the set of ailments referred to as Gulf War Syndrome is unresolved. Up to 20,000 veterans of that conflict continue to suffer memory loss, fatigue, rashes and muscle and joint pains and still are trying to get compensation from the Department of Defense for their medical expenses. So it is easy to see why today's troops balk at taking the vaccine when so many questions remain unanswered."

►December 24, 2003 - When it comes to vaccines, let soldiers call the shots - Commentary, Chicago Sun-Times - "Soldiers must obey orders. Normally that would begin and end our thinking regarding the U.S. military's desire to inoculate its troops against anthrax...But the military, which has performed so skillfully and admirably during warfare, has a terrible record when it comes to guarding the health of its personnel off the battlefield, and has lost the right to dictate, unquestioned, what troops should be required to automatically undergo."

►December 29, 2003 - Compounds stop anthrax toxin: studies - www.cbc.ca - "Researchers have discovered a way to stop a deadly anthrax toxin in tests on cells. They say it could lead to new ways of treating the disease...Rather than vaccinating whole populations, a therapeutic combination of antibiotics and protease inhibitor drugs would need to be used only in actual cases, Cantley said."

►December 29, 2003 - A dose of restraint ordered for Pentagon - Opinion, The Virginia-Pilot - "Air Force Gen. Richard Myers said of the vaccine, 'It’s not experimental. It has been approved by the FDA.'...Yes, but only for cutaneous anthrax...And one attorney who worked on the case told The Washington Post that the only thing Pentagon officials received from the FDA to bolster their claim was the personal opinion of a political appointee, not full agency sanction that the shot can be used against both types of anthrax.