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Feds increasing anthrax vaccine stockpile
Seattle Post-Intelligencer ^ | May 5, 2006 | KEN THOMAS

Posted on 05/06/2006 12:25:01 AM PDT by neverdem

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- A Michigan company will receive $120 million to produce 5 million more doses of anthrax vaccine to bolster the government's stockpile of antidotes against bioweapons.

Lansing-based BioPort Corp. completed its delivery of 5 million doses of anthrax vaccine to the federal stockpile in February under a $122.7 million contract.

But the Department of Health and Human Services said Friday it would modify the contract to buy the additional doses of Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed.

"We are committed to protecting the nation from the consequences of an anthrax attack," said Stewart Simonson, HHS' assistant secretary for public health emergency preparedness.

BioPort, a subsidiary of Gaithersburg, Md.-based Emergent Biosolutions Inc., is the nation's only licensed manufacturer of the anthrax vaccine. The contract would run through September 2007 and delivery of the doses will begin almost immediately, said BioPort spokeswoman Kim Brennen Root.

The funding was awarded under Project BioShield, which President Bush signed into law in July 2004 with the promise of spending $5.6 billion to develop remedies against possible bioweapons.

Fuad El-Hibri, Emergent Biosolutions' chairman and CEO, said the company was "proud to play a vital role in the strategic defense of the United States and the protection of its citizens in the event of another anthrax attack."

On the Net:

BioPort Corp.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services


TOPICS: Anthrax Scare; Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia; US: Maryland; US: Michigan; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: anthrax; anthraxvaccine; health; medicine
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1 posted on 05/06/2006 12:25:03 AM PDT by neverdem
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To: neverdem

Hey protect me from Congressionalitis. Forget about anthrax, that's just a scare to get money.


2 posted on 05/06/2006 12:39:23 AM PDT by taxesareforever (Never forget Matt Maupin)
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To: neverdem

What's the shelf-life of that stuff?


3 posted on 05/06/2006 12:42:44 AM PDT by Cementjungle
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To: neverdem

Very interesting.


4 posted on 05/06/2006 1:18:20 AM PDT by ChiMark
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To: neverdem; ChiMark; Cementjungle; taxesareforever
This is the same vaccine, and I agree with this Lt. Col. who wrote for Soldiers For The Truth:

The 2002 FDA-approved package insert acknowledges both six deaths related to anthrax vaccine and also a wide range of autoimmune disorders.[viii] In November 2005, Newsday reported that FDA has now quietly admitted to 21 deaths.[ix] A wide range of credible media sources have reported these adverse reactions and deaths over many years.

--------------------


Perhaps one general or admiral will finally have the guts to acknowledge
what is now obvious:

that the anthrax vaccine experiment, justified by willful mistruths about
the threat, was morally and ethically wrong;

that the anthrax vaccine experiment, justified by willful mistruths about
the threat, was morally and ethically wrong;

that the on-going cover-up of the deaths and illnesses associated with the
anthrax vaccine is criminal and should be prosecuted under the UCMJ; and,

 that the military leaderships' years of silence and unwillingness to
protect the warriors from the Pentagon's medical bureaucrats has been
cowardly.

Therefore, taking the anthrax vaccine isn't patriotic, or a sign of loyalty
to the chain of command. It is simply aiding and abetting a crime by a
Pentagon leadership, during both the Clinton and Bush Administrations, that
has had no respect for either the law -- or for the soldiers, sailors,
airmen and Marines who serve them.

Those responsible must now be held accountable.

Until there is full accountability, if you are asked to "volunteer" for the
anthrax vaccine, follow former First Lady Nancy Reagan's advice about
illegal drugs: "Just Say No."

John Richardson is a retired USAF Reserve lieutenant colonel, a 1991 Gulf
War veteran, and served as a policy analyst on the Joint Staff (J-5) from
1992-1998.

 

5 posted on 05/06/2006 1:30:53 AM PDT by zipper
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To: zipper
wide range of credible media sources

I choke when I see a statement like that.

6 posted on 05/06/2006 1:37:28 AM PDT by Cementjungle
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To: Cementjungle

I told everyone : Watch the ports, airports and especially any new " Diplomats " entering WITH not only their whole families!! but their nannies, aids, relatives and neighbors too!- all "approved" quite expeditiously too by our WONDERFUL State Department!

You know them right? the ones who brought you the Expired Travel Visas NOT checked up on, being used to get into the U.S. to fly planes into America Cities and buildings?

DAB


7 posted on 05/06/2006 8:24:44 AM PDT by AirBorn
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To: zipper; taxesareforever; El Gato; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Robert A. Cook, PE; lepton; LadyDoc; jb6; ...
zipper, thanks for the links, especially the Newsday link. The following is from the second page of that story.

Government officials say the rate of serious illness associated with anthrax injections is lower than that for other common vaccines such as influenza, smallpox, tetanus, diphtheria and hepatitis.

About 9 percent of all health problems tied to the BioPort vaccine are considered "serious," compared to 14 percent for the other vaccines combined, said the FDA.

Vaccine Combined With Short-term Postexposure Antibiotics Protects Monkeys From Inhalational Anthrax

As noted by the authors, following the 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States, approximately 10,000 people were offered 60 days of antibiotic therapy to prevent inhalational anthrax. Adverse events associated with this regimen--including diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness--were commonly reported. More importantly, only about 44 percent of people completed the whole 60-day course. Thus, minimizing the duration of postexposure antibiotic treatment could be crucial to a successful defense against a large-scale anthrax attack.

If I lived in a city with a major league sports team, or I went back in the service, I would take this vaccine in a New York minute. BTW, I was born and grew up in Manhattan. I live a few miles north in the Bronx now.

8 posted on 05/06/2006 9:53:53 AM PDT by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
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To: neverdem
If I lived in a city with a major league sports team, or I went back in the service, I would take this vaccine in a New York minute

I'm fine with that, you be the guinea pig; let the real soldiers have a choice (as they do now under the federal judge's orders).

9 posted on 05/06/2006 10:00:31 AM PDT by zipper
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To: neverdem
If I lived in a city with a major league sports team, or I went back in the service, I would take this vaccine in a New York minute.

That is the reason the government gets away with providing huge sums of money based on scare tactics. As long as it can scare the general public most of time it has created the idea that something must be done. To show that something is being done, they will allocate huge sums of money in wasteful programs.

10 posted on 05/06/2006 10:57:43 AM PDT by taxesareforever (Never forget Matt Maupin)
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To: taxesareforever
That is the reason the government gets away with providing huge sums of money based on scare tactics.

Was September 11, 2001 a joke, or were the dems and the Transportation Security Administrations' responses to it a joke?

What about the anthrax that followed it? Do you know why only 44% could continue taking Cipro for 60 days? Hint, it was probably the adverse drug reactions to it. "Adverse events associated with this regimen--including diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness--were commonly reported."

Maybe you have a problem with national defense. I don't.

11 posted on 05/06/2006 12:02:42 PM PDT by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
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To: neverdem
What about the anthrax that followed it?

Oh, you mean the blown up incident of anthrax in an envelope? Truly a far cry from calling this a threat to our national security. In line with that I do believe that expenditures from Homeland Security in the name of national security have spiraled out of control. Much of the payouts in the name of Homeland Security have absolutely zilch to do with security. What exactly does rebuilding New Orleans have to do with Homeland Security? If you believe that the anthrax vaccine is going to save you in the event of a terrorist action you have blinders on. A person needs to take six shots at various intervals in order to be protected. Does anyone really believe that government can administer such a program effectively? I certainly don't. And, who will get these doses of a restricted supply? Certainly not the normal Tom Dick and Harry.

12 posted on 05/06/2006 1:20:21 PM PDT by taxesareforever (Never forget Matt Maupin)
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To: taxesareforever
Oh, you mean the blown up incident of anthrax in an envelope?

Would you have considered it a "blown up incident" if the five who were killed were your relatives?

You apparently failed to read the link provided in comment# 8, "Vaccine Combined With Short-term Postexposure Antibiotics Protects Monkeys From Inhalational Anthrax ," and failed to appreciate the excerpt which came from it: "As noted by the authors, following the 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States, approximately 10,000 people were offered 60 days of antibiotic therapy to prevent inhalational anthrax. Adverse events associated with this regimen--including diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness--were commonly reported. More importantly, only about 44 percent of people completed the whole 60-day course. Thus, minimizing the duration of postexposure antibiotic treatment could be crucial to a successful defense against a large-scale anthrax attack."

Besides the other casualties from the anthrax attack, they're were about 5600 made ill from Cipro, aka ciprofloxacin, adverse drug reactions. I have no doubt that there were a number of cases of severe clostridium difficile enteritis or Pseudomembraneous colitis and others with severe fungal infections in their blood from prolonged antibiotic administration.

Truly a far cry from calling this a threat to our national security. In line with that I do believe that expenditures from Homeland Security in the name of national security have spiraled out of control. Much of the payouts in the name of Homeland Security have absolutely zilch to do with security. What exactly does rebuilding New Orleans have to do with Homeland Security?

What does that have to do with developing a useful anthrax vaccine?

A person needs to take six shots at various intervals in order to be protected. Does anyone really believe that government can administer such a program effectively? I certainly don't. And, who will get these doses of a restricted supply? Certainly not the normal Tom Dick and Harry.

I seriously doubt that you read the last link in comment# 8. In the alternative, you failed to comprehend its implications.

As usual, your comments are a rant about government spending for anything is a waste.

13 posted on 05/06/2006 2:50:31 PM PDT by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
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To: neverdem
Don't know where to begin with this diatribe. First, the incident I was referring to was the envelope in the Senate. I have never heard of an incident of anthrax killing 5 people in the U.S. Even it it did, is that a reason to spend huge sums of money to stockpile a serum because "something sometime" might happen? You're right. I do believe that 80% of government spending is is wasted. "Vaccine Combined With Short-term Postexposure Antibiotics Protects Monkeys From Inhalational Anthrax ,"

Okay, now what about humans. I could care less about the monkeys.

14 posted on 05/06/2006 4:55:19 PM PDT by taxesareforever (Never forget Matt Maupin)
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To: taxesareforever
Don't know where to begin with this diatribe. First, the incident I was referring to was the envelope in the Senate. I have never heard of an incident of anthrax killing 5 people in the U.S.

In an incident reminiscent of the deadly anthrax scare that killed five people in the fall of 2001, police at a Senate office building in Washington, D.C., Monday discovered traces of a poisonous substance called ricin.

It was the same strain of bacteria that killed folks from New York to Florida which was simultaneous with the mailed anthrax to the Senate. I don't know why I should bother this discussion any longer. The threat of weapons of mass destruction in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 was apparently the only convincing argument for the dems in Congress who voted for the war powers resolution. If you don't think we face a threat from biological warfare, so be it.

Okay, now what about humans. I could care less about the monkeys.

Do you know anything about medical research?

15 posted on 05/06/2006 6:25:16 PM PDT by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
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To: neverdem
Do you know anything about medical research?

Sure do. And that is the reason we see so many drugs pulled off the market. Hey, monkeys didn't die so humans shouldn't either. Wow. Five people killed in how many years? Oh, 50 or 100? Guess what. Anthrax virus was all supposed to be accounted for. Maybe we should be concerned about how it got out there more than what it could do if it does get out there. Seems a more plausible approach to me. Maybe we should store serum for the Black Plague. Never know when a terrorist will hit us with that.

16 posted on 05/06/2006 9:18:55 PM PDT by taxesareforever (Never forget Matt Maupin)
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To: neverdem

Check this out:
http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/terrorism/anthrax.html

What do all these cases have in common? None of the individuals had been given anthrax immunizations. What does this say? It means that anthrax isn't as deadly as we are being told. They make it sound like the only way you can survive is by being immunized. These cases show that isn't true. What is true is that veterinarians are immunized because they come in contact with anthrax often. This keeps them from getting sick, not from automatically dying from exposure.


17 posted on 05/06/2006 9:33:46 PM PDT by taxesareforever (Never forget Matt Maupin)
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To: neverdem

Lets consider some facts here.

First, the anthrax vaccine they parade around...developed in the mid-1960s. They haven't improved it since then. Oh, they may tell you about ongoing research...but nothing really gets FDA approval or goes to market. So will it work against a modified anthrax virus? Probably not. Course, they wouldn't tell you if it wouldn't. Oh, and ask those nice DOD folks if they ever tested it in conjunction with 20-odd other shots and pills they hand out for deployment...like those nerve gas pills we all had to take during Gulf War 1. They will smile at you and say tests are always ongoing...then ask them what tests? They have no idea. The technology and the guys behind the vaccine door beyond the comprehension of 90 percent of the pentagon leadership.

Second, this company who got the contract to make the stuff. You do realize that out of 500-odd drug companies in the US...this was the ONLY one to bid on it and get the contract? You do realize that approximately five years after they won this contract...in full scale production for the mighty pentagon...that FDA inspectors came in...and found serious problems. They actually shut down the plant. If Bayer or one of the well-known names had a plant shut down...it'd be serious news. The pentagon actually wanted to waiver the issues. But the company was smart...they went to the pentagon and demanded between $10 and 20 million in cash...just as a favor...cash, you know. Yep, the fools gave it to them. So what did they do with the money? Oh, they did fix most of the issues...paved the parking lot...and even bought brand-new modular furniture.

Third, the vaccine itself? After DOD came out and said it was widely used throughout the animal doctor world...a reporter went to a vet meeting in west Texas. Most of these gentlemen handled sheep on a daily basis...so you'd expect them to use the stuff. Not a single vet at this meeting...had ever used it or knew of another person that used it. In fact...other than research labs run by the government...there just aren't any civilians in the US who are raising their hands and admitting they used the stuff...in 20 years.

Common sense here tells you that there is a quality control issue with Bioport. Common sense tells you that alot of the leadership in DOD haven't asked questions about this and just accepted this as a general order. Common sense tells you that if you haven't improved the vaccine since 1966...maybe the enemy has improved anthrax enough to readily defeat it. Common sense tells you that congress and DOD are very capable of just throwing money at a problem and never really improving anything.


18 posted on 05/06/2006 9:55:38 PM PDT by pepsionice
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To: taxesareforever
"Do you know anything about medical research?"

Sure do. And that is the reason we see so many drugs pulled off the market.

Drug development and withdrawal from the market have nothing to do with vaccine development.

Hey, monkeys didn't die so humans shouldn't either.

Ethical human trials are problematic, especially for airborne anthrax. Because of that, it may only be tried in a suspected anthrax attack.

Wow. Five people killed in how many years? Oh, 50 or 100?

Five people were killed during the fall of 2001 from the same weaponized strain, IIRC.

Guess what. Anthrax virus was all supposed to be accounted for.

Smallpox virus was supposed to have been eliminated except for reference specimens retained securely by the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Anthrax, i.e. bacillus anthracis, is a bacterium endemic to several areas around the world, including the southwest of the U.S.

Systematic review: a century of inhalational anthrax cases from 1900 to 2005.

BACKGROUND: Mortality from inhalational anthrax during the 2001 U.S. attack was substantially lower than that reported historically. PURPOSE: To systematically review all published inhalational anthrax case reports to evaluate the predictors of disease progression and mortality. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE (1966-2005), 14 selected journal indexes (1900-1966), and bibliographies of all retrieved articles. STUDY SELECTION: Case reports (in any language) between 1900 and 2005 that met predefined criteria. DATA EXTRACTION: Two authors (1 author for non-English-language reports) independently abstracted patient data. DATA SYNTHESIS: The authors found 106 reports of 82 cases of inhalational anthrax. Mortality was statistically significantly lower for patients receiving antibiotics or anthrax antiserum during the prodromal phase of disease, multidrug antibiotic regimens, or pleural fluid drainage. Patients in the 2001 U.S. attack were less likely to die than historical anthrax case-patients (45% vs. 92%; P < 0.001) and were more likely to receive antibiotics during the prodromal phase (64% vs. 13%; P < 0.001), multidrug regimens (91% vs. 50%; P = 0.027), or pleural fluid drainage (73% vs. 11%; P < 0.001). Patients who progressed to the fulminant phase had a mortality rate of 97% (regardless of the treatment they received), and all patients with anthrax meningoencephalitis died. LIMITATIONS: This was a retrospective case review of previously published heterogeneous reports. CONCLUSIONS: Despite advances in supportive care, fulminant-phase inhalational anthrax is usually fatal. Initiation of antibiotic or anthrax antiserum therapy during the prodromal phase is associated with markedly improved survival, although other aspects of care, differences in clinical circumstances, or unreported factors may contribute to this observed reduction in mortality. Efforts to improve early diagnosis and timely initiation of appropriate antibiotics are critical to reducing mortality.

Do me a favor. Keep your idle, uninformed comments off of my medical threads, please. I will no longer dignify them with any replies if I can avoid it.

19 posted on 05/06/2006 10:09:46 PM PDT by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
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To: neverdem
Do me a favor. Keep your idle, uninformed comments off of my medical threads, please.

I am more informed than you give me credit for. All your mambo jambo isn't going to convince me that I should be scared of anthrax. I suppose you are also scared of global warming and bird flu. Can't imagine living in a world of fear.

20 posted on 05/06/2006 10:57:05 PM PDT by taxesareforever (Never forget Matt Maupin)
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