Safety, Efficacy Tests Begin On Controversial Vaccine.(Brief Article)

2001 APR 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) --

New tests on the effectiveness and safety of the anthrax vaccine were scheduled to begin at the end of March 2001. The battery of studies, coordinated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the lead federal agency charged with protecting health and safety, could help answer lingering concerns about the vaccine.

The vaccine is made solely in the United States by BioPort Corp. in Lansing, Michigan.

The CDC studies may help determine if the vaccine can be effective with fewer doses, and how it may best be administered to military troops to reduce adverse reactions, according to a story in the March 23, 2000, edition of the Lansing State Journal newspaper.

The vaccine is used to combat a deadly biological weapon that Iraq and up to a dozen other nations possess, according to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Anthrax vaccinations were made mandatory for all 2.4 million U.S. military personnel in 1998, but the program has stalled because of production problems at BioPort. About 500,000 military personnel have received at least one dose of the six-shot series.

Military leaders plan to restart the program in early 2002 if the federal government approves BioPort's vaccine-making process at renovated labs. Meanwhile, the vaccine's safety and effectiveness have come under fire from congressional critics and about 400 military personnel who have refused to take the drug. The most recent criticism came March 22, 2001, when Connecticut's attorney general urged the DoD to end the mandatory vaccination program.

The studies won't determine whether there are long-term health effects associated with the vaccine. But another branch of the CDC, the National Immunization Program, will look at some safety issues related to the drug and the procedures for reporting adverse effects.