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Medical Readiness: Issues Concerning the Anthrax Vaccine

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Report Type Reports and Testimonies
Report Date July 21, 1999
Report No. T-NSIAD-99-226
Subject
Summary:

The Defense Department (DOD) announced in 1997 that all U.S. forces would be inoculated against anthrax, to protect against possible exposure on the battlefield. Questions have been raised, however, about the safety and the efficacy of the military's anthrax immunization program. Also, the Food and Drug Administration has cited manufacturing problems at the facility producing the vaccine. DOD recognizes that some of the concerns about the current vaccine might be mitigated through further testing and research. This testimony discusses (1) the extent to which the data support the need for six initial shots and an annual booster of the anthrax vaccine, (2) the relative merits and weaknesses of a passive surveillance system in determining adverse events, (3) the available data on differences in adverse reaction rates between men and women receiving the anthrax vaccine, and (4) the disadvantages of the current vaccine and the status of federal efforts to develop an improved anthrax vaccine.

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