Few people have chosen to take the anthrax vaccine as a post-exposure treatment, federal health officials said yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 2).  Meanwhile, testing and cleanup efforts continued in several Washington buildings tainted with anthrax, according to reports.

Out of the 5,100 who were offered anthrax vaccine treatment, only 152 accepted, according to the Washington Post.  About 1,200 chose instead to receive another 40-day round of anthrax antibiotics.  Previously, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said that concerns over how long anthrax spores can survive in the body led to the decision to offer the vaccine as a treatment option.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Jeffrey Koplan said that people made their choice based on the perceived level of risk.  “The folks most likely to go for the vaccine felt they really had a significant exposure that merited this response,” Koplan said. 

Some researchers, however, said the small number of people choosing to be inoculated raised questions over how well the public had been informed. 

“We’ve not done the proper informational job to acquaint people with its safety and efficacy,” said Phillip Brachman, an anthrax expert at Emory University.  “That’s a major problem” (Ceci Connolly, Washington Post, Jan. 8).

U.S. postal workers, one of the main groups believed to be at risk, were among the most unwilling to accept the vaccine offer, according to the New York Times.  The lack of response from postal workers prompted CDC officials to consider a second study to examine their reasons for refusing the vaccine, but the idea was quickly dropped, the Times reported.

“There are some who look at this as the government experimenting on their members,” said CDC official Ben Schwartz.  “Because of some of those concerns, we were hesitant to initiate another study, which would require further consent.”

Today is the last day to enroll in the vaccine treatment program, said Bradley Perkins, the CDC’s chief anthrax expert.  “Given the context in which the vaccine was offered, and the way it was presented, I can understand the relatively low uptake,” Perkins said (Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times, Jan. 8).

Blood-Protein Treatment

Another anthrax treatment option under review is a protein taken from the blood of those inoculated, the Associated Press reported today.  The protein, called immune globulin, might combat the toxins produced by the anthrax bacterium, Perkins said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration would have to consent before immune globulin could be used on patients, according to the AP.  The type of treatment has worked for several other diseases, Perkins said.  If immune globulin was needed, discussions with the FDA have progressed enough that “we could rush this through,” he said.

The CDC is also planning a new study on anthrax vaccinations that would examine if a new inoculation method using fewer doses would be as effective, the AP reported.  The new study, which would begin this month, would test to see if three shots and a booster administered once every three years would be effective.  “Probably a three-dose regimen is going to be effective,” Perkins said (Lauran Neergaard, Associated Press/RealCities.com, Jan. 8).

Washington Detox

Environmental teams will begin cleaning up small traces of anthrax that still remain in the Ford House Office Building, the New York Daily News reported today.  The anthrax traces were likely brought into the building through “human traffic,” officials said. 

Engineers took samples from the Ford building and the Longworth House Office Building last week, according to the Daily News.  All tests for anthrax at the Longworth building came back negative; however, small traces were found at the Ford building.  The Hart Senate office building still remained closed, pending the result of further EPA testing after decontamination efforts (Kenneth Bazinet, New York Daily News, Jan. 8).

The Brentwood Road postal facility in Washington will not be reopened for at least several more weeks, Washington health officials said yesterday.  “I don’t know what I am talking about when it comes to time, but what I do know is the focus of the [Washington] Health Department is public health and public safety,” said Washington Health Director Ivan Walks.

Officials have looked at several decontamination methods for the anthrax-tainted mail-processing center, according to the Washington Times.  One is the chlorine dioxide gas fumigation method used to clean the Hart building.

“We need to learn the lessons learned from the Hart building,” said U.S. Postal Service spokesman Jerry Kreienkamp.  “Clearly, we are being as careful and deliberative [as we can] to make sure it gets done right.  Haste makes waste” (Mary Shaffrey, Washington Times, Jan. 8).

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