Fwd:Stars & Stripes: Political Opinion Squelched, Anthrax Shot Regime Continues

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STARS & STRIPES LETTERS

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

 

Notice on letters pertaining to the election

 

Stars and Stripes

 

With the U.S. presidential election two weeks away, Stars and

Stripes will refrain from publishing letters to the editor that

pertain to the election and specific candidates in editions that

carry publication dates of Oct. 20 through Nov. 4.

 

This prevents a situation in which a letter that introduces new

information about a candidate yet contains a factual error appears

before Election Day, Nov. 2, without the error being corrected

before votes are cast in the States. Even though many Stripes

readers are overseas and vote by absentee ballot, many others read

Stripes online and will vote in the States on Nov. 2.

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125 & article=25000

 

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Pentagon says 200,000 who started anthrax-shot regimen must continue

 

By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes

European edition, Thursday, October 21, 2004

 

 

ARLINGTON, Va. — Troops who received some of their anthrax

inoculations before the Pentagon halted it 3 years ago have until

Dec. 31 to resume their six-shot regimen, no matter where they might

be stationed, officials said.

 

About 200,000 troops need to pick up the vaccination where they left

off, even if it has been three years since their last shot, said

Col. Steve Jones, director of the Military Vaccine Agency.

 

Commanders will be responsible for working with health care

providers and troops to ensure shot records are up-to-date and that

those who qualify get their shots, Jones said.

 

The controversial vaccination program is mandatory for all personnel

deploying to areas Pentagon officials have deemed " high risk, " and

for those who already started the process. The department will not

inoculate those exempt for health reasons, though exempted personnel

still are deployable.

 

For security reasons, Pentagon officials won't publicly define the

high-risk areas, or say how many doses are available.

 

Anthrax vaccines were suspended in June 2001 because of a lack of

vaccine when the manufacturer, BioPort, changed its manufacturing

process without FDA approval. The stoppage created a stockpile

shortage for the military. When the program resumed in 2002, it

first started with troops deploying to the high-risk areas. With

supply no longer an issue, the program can expand to include other

troops, Jones said.

 

Some servicemembers have maintained the vaccine causes health

problems and have accepted separation from service or disciplinary

action for disobeying an order rather than take it

 

This summer, the Pentagon expanded the vaccination program in two

phases. In June, as a result of an increase in supply, the Pentagon

started inoculating " tens of thousands " of U.S. troops in or heading

to the Pacific Command and Central Command areas.

 

In July, the program resumed for troops who already had received a

dose before the program's halt, regardless if deployed to a combat

zone or stationed in the United States, Jones said.

 

Stars and Stripes requested information from the Department of

Defense after seeing reports on the matter.

 

Since the June 2002 resumption, the department has inoculated about

840,000 personnel. Since the program's inception in 1998, more than

1.2 million people have been vaccinated, he said.

 

In spite of the lag, troops do not have to start over with the

regimen, experts said.

 

" We're following guidance from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention) … on immunization practices and they recommend to

one, stay on schedule as close as possible, and two, if you miss [a

dose] it is not necessary to resume the entire sequence. Start where

you left off, " Jones said.

 

However, the shots are unnecessary, said Dr. Meryl Nass, a physician

at Mount Desert Island Hospital in Bar Harbor, Maine, and an anthrax

and bioterrorism expert who has testified repeatedly before Congress

as a vocal opponent to the program.

 

" What is the evidence that there is a risk? There is none, " said

Nass. " [Presidential candidates] Bush and Kerry both are beating the

drums about the risk of bioterrorism, but every credible

organization that has looked into the issue hasn't found any, " she

said. " There are no weapons of mass destruction [in Iraq] and two

groups hand-picked to find them didn't find them. "

 

But troops need the vaccine, Jones said.

 

" We still feel the threat remains, " Jones said. " We do not see a

change in the threat and we think it is important to continue to

provide a layer of protection to our troops and vaccinations is one

of the primary layers of protection we can provide them. "

 

The CDC is conducting studies to determine if the six-dose regimen

can be lowered to four. It hopes to submit data to the FDA in early

2005 that could change the route of administration to intramuscular

and reduce the dose schedule to five doses, with the full study to

change to four doses and possibly biannual boosters in late 2007.

 

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104 & article=25024

 

 

 

 

http://pets.care2.com/

 

" The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men. " --

Plato

" Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing

health care to all Americans is socialism. " -- anon