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CDC: Fewer Anthrax Vaccine Shots Effective |
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by Mickey McCarter
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Thursday, 02 October 2008 |
Study indicates same immune response in less painful procedure
Researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have concluded that three shots of an anthrax vaccine could be just as effective as the four currently administered through the nation's sole vaccine provider, publishing the results in the Journal of the American Medical Association Wednesday.
Emergent BioSolutions Inc., based in Rockville, Md., manufactures BioTrhax, the only anthrax vaccine approved for use in the United States. The US Department of Defense requires soldiers and others entering potentially hazardous areas to receive the vaccine, which is administered in four shots under the skin.
But CDC scientists believe that three shots in an arm muscle would do the job and hurt less. The three arm muscle shots resulted in less swelling and discoloration than four shots under the skin and provoked the same immune response, their study found.
The study consisted of 1,005 people divided into five groups, which received either three BioThrax shots in an arm muscle or four under the skin. A complete program calls for additional shots at one year and then again after 18 months, but the study found that three-shot and four-shot groups were responding the same to the vaccine after the first seven months.
The results of the study could lead the CDC to make new recommendations on the use of the BioThrax vaccine, the agency said.
Emergent announced Tuesday that it received a contract from the Department of Health and Human Services to explore a new anthrax vaccine that includes a booster produced by Pfizer Inc. The federal government purchased its most recent round of BioThrax on Sept. 26, buying 19 million doses in a contract worth up to $448 million to Emergent.
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Mickey McCarter |
| About the author: |
| eNewsletter Editor/Senior Washington Correspondent,
is a journalist with more than a decade of experience in reporting
on
military affairs and information technology.
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