Anthrax shots

Maine’s congressional delegation is urging the Department of Defense to proceed cautiously with its anthrax vaccine, calling for hearings, or in the case of its House members, a suspension of the program. Without judging the scientific merits of the program, the lack of answers about Gulf War syndrome have provoked a general distrust of the military that can only hurt it further. A suspension of the vaccination program could give the Pentagon further time to answer questions about its safety and effectiveness.

The anthrax vaccine, developed in the 1950s and approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1970, has been used effectively for almost 30 years with few reported side effects on thousands of civilians and military personnel. The vaccination plan, however, would eventually reach 2.4 million active and reserve members of the military, and questions about its effectiveness for the kind of airborne or multiple-strain germ warfare agent have caused a couple hundred of them have refused to be vaccinated.

The military has good reason to be concerned with anthrax — nations such as North Korea and Russia may already have it stockpiled, it reportedly is an easy weapon to produce and is relatively stable, so can be carried some distance. Its dry spores, when inhaled, cause death within a couple of days.

The House Government Reform Committee held four hearings on the anthrax vaccine this year and concluded that the public needs more information about the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness and the manner in which it is being produced and stored. The single source for the vaccine is the Michigan-based Bioport Corp., which has suffered from renovation delays and subsequent cash problems. A bipartisan group of representatives want the National Institute of Health and the General Accounting Office to review the vaccine program.

Given the prolonged debates over the health effects of Agent Orange and, more recently, Gulf War Syndrome, and the military’s alternative of continued and even heightened doubting of the anthrax program, that’s a useful idea. Supported by Maine Reps. John Baldacci and Tom Allen, it could improve the program and help eliminate the persistent Internet-fueled rumors about its dangers. Holding further hearings in the Senate, as proposed by Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, might find the Armed Services Committee going over some of the same ground covered in the House, but that may be necessary to highlight some of the concerns of service personnel and the responses from the Pentagon.

This isn’t something that the Pentagon can ignore. Reports of servicemen failing to re-enlist or being discharged because of their refusal to be vaccinated eventually will harm morale, if it has not already. The strong national economy makes military recruiting a difficult job; the Pentagon has no reason to make it harder by raising questions with potential recruits. Instead, it has much to gain in safety, effectiveness and morale by cooperating with an independent review of the program.