U.S., British troops concerned by anthrax vaccine

[Guest guest]

Quoting KD Weber <wvadreamin:

 

> U.S., British Troops Concerned by Anthrax Vaccine

> http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews & storyID=2008655

> Wed January 8, 2003 06:51 AM ET

>

>

> By Paul Majendie

> LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. and British troops who may be sent to war in

> Iraq say they have suffered potentially deadly side-effects from the

> anthrax vaccine they are being offered -- but defense officials insist

> it is safe.

>

> Veterans groups on both sides of the Atlantic say up to one in three

> soldiers has fallen ill after taking the vaccine and six of them died in

> the United States.

>

> But British Undersecretary of State for Defense Lewis Moonie said there

> was no cause for alarm. " It has been given to many, many people over a

> long period of time and there has never been a case of serious

> side-effects. Not one case, " he said.

>

> British soldiers are now raising the anthrax alarm in calls to the

> National Gulf Veterans and Families Association, set up after the last

> Iraqi conflict sparked claims that thousands of soldiers were suffering

> from " Gulf War Syndrome. "

>

> " We have hard facts, " said Association treasurer James Moore. " Two and

> Three Parachute Regiments have had anthrax injections. At least a third

> come down with flu-like symptoms and have been very poorly.

>

> " If I was going out, there is no way I would have the vaccine. There is

> a minuscule risk of being exposed to anthrax. I think Saddam Hussein

> would more likely use mustard gas rather than something as unreliable as

> anthrax, " he told Reuters.

>

> " In the United States, over 30 percent have come down with symptoms and

> six have died after taking the vaccine, " he said.

>

> Moore's concerns were echoed by Joyce Riley of the American Gulf War

> Association who told BBC Radio: " My concern about the anthrax vaccine is

> that it has proved to be unsafe. It is not a tested vaccine.

>

> " What we are seeing from those who have been given the vaccine is

> usually something to do with blackouts, with seizures and motor

> problems. We are finding that these people become affected by skin

> lesions, they develop sores and problems that just never go away. "

>

> But Moonie stoutly defended the inoculations. " I can assure you the

> vaccine is safe. It has side-effects -- all vaccines like this do, " he

> said.

>

> " You may get soreness at the site of injection and you may get a

> flu-like illness after it. But there are no serious complications, " he

> added.

>

> The mistrust of veterans still runs deep after years of battling over

> " Gulf War Syndrome. "

>

> But neither the United States nor Britain accepts that a direct link has

> been established between the 1991 war and the syndrome, even though they

> have spent more than $300 million researching possible causes.

>

> Veterans' groups say they suspect the use of pesticides in the

> battlefield, burning oil tanks, bombs made from depleted uranium and new

> vaccines for causing health problems that range from exhaustion to loss

> of motor function.

>