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Bush Administration Pushes for Anthrax Treatments
The Bush Administration hopes to order this summer enough units of a new anthrax vaccine to inoculate 25 million people in the United States, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, April 29). If the purchase occurs on schedule, the vaccine could be in government hands by 2005 and would be sufficient to provide protection against a large-scale bioterrorist attack, according to the Post. The treatment’s lifespan might be no longer than six years, but research would continue on longer-lasting vaccines, said Philip Russell, a Health and Human Services Department bioterrorism adviser. Russell also announced that the government is looking to buy a new treatment for people exposed to anthrax. Antibiotics are now used to treat anthrax victims, but do not always help those who are already sick, the Post said. A drug using antibodies, a protein created by the body to fight infection, could be more effective, scientists have said (Justin Gillis, Washington Post, June 8). Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first commercially available test that could diagnose anthrax infection in less than an hour, Reuters reported yesterday. The blood test detects antibodies, and can be used without special equipment or training. Immunetics Inc. of Boston produces the test kits, which cost about $480 and contain 96 disposable tests. The test has only a 1-percent possibility of making a false positive, and can be used to detect anthrax exposures through inhalation, skin contact or ingestion, Reuters said. “The approval represents a significant step forward in the public health community’s ability to diagnose anthrax,” Immunetics chief executive Andrew Levin said in a prepared statement (Susan Heavey, Reuters, June 7).
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