Anthrax Vaccination Tests on Kids?!

Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethics released Safeguarding Children: Pediatric Medical Countermeasure Research. This report is creating a bit of a commotion but actually this is a study for ethically testing children in the case of that the study is commenced.  This report is in response to the January 6, 2012 request by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Here is a little of the back story on a 2012 blog post on a nature.com blog.

The conclusion of the March 2013 report was as follows:

The Bioethics Commission concluded that before ethical pre-event pediatric AVA trials can be considered, further steps must be taken, including additional minimal risk research with adult participants, in order to determine whether the research risks to children—who do not stand to benefit directly from it—can be reduced to a level that poses no substantial risk to their health or well-being.

There won't be any testing any time soon. 

Is Anthrax a real threat?

After reading more about Anthrax  it is not so scary.  Anthrax aka Wool sorter’s disease and/or Rag picker’s disease has always had a strange and scary connotation to me however this article and many others say that the likely human affected are those who work with hoofed animals.  Below is an image from Howstuffworks.com. Why are we not hearing about anthrax infections of farmers and vets all the time?  Shouldn’t that be the topic of discussion at the local rural diner? This leads me to believe that this dangerous disease is not that much of a threat.

So we know how it is naturally occurring but what is the potential that it will be a real threat to children. What if it is easy to make?   Most of my findings suggest that to make anthrax you have to have a lab which led me to believe that it is not easy to produce and manage.

Amy Gutmann, the chair of the bioethical issues commission, says that a strong case for the study would be made “if the community that’s most supportive of moving this forward would volunteer their own children for the study”. Parker, Major General John Parker, the chair of the National Biodefense Science Board, responded to the comment: “There are people in our population [the armed forces] that would like their family immunized.”

 I would like to know what service members want their family to endure the same hard ships they do. As a veteran parent I would not allow my child to be tested with anthrax vaccinations even though I had no adverse experiences.  I got anthrax vaccinations in preparation for combat and maintenance vaccinations while in the combat zone.  For more info on the military vaccination program visit the AVIP website.  The actual process for fabricating weapon-grade anthrax is classified and I would not share it even if it were unclassified.  However during the process of taking my anthrax shots the military temporarily suspended the program.  This suit was more about choices than adverse health risk. Let me put a little bit more perspective on the suspension, according to the linked article the suit was filed in March of 2003.  The 10th anniversary of the first day of bombing of Baghdad was just yesterday March 19, 2003.  In such haste it is scary to be at the mercy of someone else’s decision for what is best for you. A child cannot file a suit for the option of taking the vaccination.

I believe that it is important to protect our children however I do not believe that this is the best method.  I would suggest review documented cases and starting studies in rural areas, tanneries, or locations where hoofed animals and human interact that look for anthrax cases. What I found was that weaponized anthrax was enhanced to last longer in the natural elements in order to more wide spread as opposed to more devastating.  This validates the study of naturally occurring infections.