Why did the most important trial to have been conducted on anthrax vaccine safety (by CDC between 2002 and 2007, with 1564 civilian subjects) only publish an interim report, and never discussed the 229 serious adverse events reported in trial participants?  The trial tested serologic efficacy also.  The investigators published partial data in JAMA on…

I decided to just say briefly what happened yesterday at the NBSB conference call. Every member of the NBSB, with the exception of Iowa’s top public health officer, Patricia Quinlisk, MD, voted in favor of testing anthrax vaccine in children.  Kudos to Dr. Quinlisk for making clear that her public health background precluded agreement. Panel…

  From the Daily News:  Take our Poll Poll Results Do you think an anthrax vaccine should be tested on children? Yes 11% No 80% Not sure 8%

From the NY Times, adapted by Global Security Newswire: … The nation’s preparations for a biological strike face numerous challenges, according to more than 100 interviews with high-level officials at participating federal entities such the National Institutes of Health and the White House, as well as the the Health and Human Services, Defense and Homeland…

From the Palm Beach Post: … While he is legally prohibited from revealing much of what he learned and many of the court documents are sealed, Weisser said he was stunned by the lack of security at the lab. In court papers, the government conceded that before the attacks, Fort Detrick didn’t have cameras to…

From the NY Times, adapted by the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, U Minnesota: Oct 28, 2011 (CIDRAP News) – An expert advisory panel today approved a recommendation that the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) develop a plan to study the use of anthrax vaccine in children before an attack…

From the Scottish Press and Journal: Don’t panic, says Scottish government probe launched into drug batch Flu vaccine doses recalled in scare over side effects The Scottish Government is recalling thousands of flu vaccines over fears that the drug is making some people ill, the Press and Journal can reveal. About 300,000 doses of Preflucel…

According to the FDA: As of 2008, an estimated 50 to 60 percent of prescription drugs used to treat children have been studied in some part of the pediatric population. Still, the likelihood that a medicine has actually been studied in neonates—children less than a month old—is close to zero. So nearly a decade into…

The people on the NBSB could only come up with a recommendation to test anthrax vaccine on children if they were ignorant about the vaccine and/or the law’s requirements for testing children under 45 CFR 46.407.  I will have much more to say about this unfolding story over the next few days.  Here is Rob…

Greg Gordon and Stephen Engelberg continue their important series of reports for McClatchy and ProPublica, here focusing on the inadequate security at USAMRIID and potentially wide access to Ivins’ anthrax spores by 419 or more people: The Army laboratory identified by prosecutors as the source of the anthrax that killed five people in the fall…

From the Irish Herald: We need a jab inquiry The link between the Pandemrix swine flu vaccination and narcolepsy in at least 16 children has to be scrutinised. Manufacturers GlaxoSmithKline were indemnified by the State from any liability for side effects as the vaccine was rushed through. We need a full explanation from the Irish…

From the Infectious Diseases Society of America annual meeting comes this [WHO] discussion of how novel adjuvants affect the immune response, and how we can expect to see more of these adjuvants added to vaccines in the US: … Martin Friede, PhD, who heads the Technology Transfer Team within the Department on Innovation, Information, Evidence…

Barry Kissin’s Opinion piece at the Frederick News-Post Back on Aug. 29, 2008, The FNP published a column by Katherine Heerbrandt titled “If not Ivins …” Heerbrandt began with the viewpoint of Norm Covert, a well-known former Fort Detrick public affairs officer: “The anthrax in the mailings, he says, was ‘highly bred, weapons-grade … with…

The Washington Post calls for Congress to perform a definitive investigation of the anthrax letters attacks, adding to the impact of the NY Times’ editorial asking for the same 3 days earlier: BRUCE E. IVINS has been dead for three years, but questions still abound about whether he carried out the 2001 anthrax attacks that…

 What does $60 billion buy in terms of enhanced security?  From CIDRAP we get a detailed look at what our government’s bioterrorism establishment has been shopping for: If someone tried to kill Americans with Bacillus anthracis spores today, the nation would have a better medical tool chest for treating the sick and those potentially exposed than it…

Today’s NY Times wants to know if the FBI’s evidence — linking Bruce Ivins to the anthrax letters — really holds up.  Frontline/ProPublica/McClatchy last week informed us, after reviewing thousands of FBI documents obtained through FOIA, that the FBI misled us.  Ivins’ late-night hours at the lab in September-October 2001 were not really that different…

From Pro Publica: A senior Republican senator says it would take a powerful grassroots movement or startling new evidence to reopen the Justice Department’s investigation that branded a now-deceased Army researcher as the anthrax mailer who killed five people a decade ago. Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and…

David Willman continues to write stories designed to sell his book on Bruce Ivins, and buttress the FBI ‘s Ivins theory.  I thought journalists were required to at least make a stab at even-handedness, but this once-great journalist didn’t bother. Here’s an example:  Willman mentions, then tries to discredit, the paper of Hugh-Jones, Rosenberg and…

From the vaccinexchange website, on October 12, 2011 · Leave a Comment It seems that Emergent BioSolutions, the only manufacturer of the anthrax vaccine in America, has been working aggressively to promote its vaccine throughout our nation. Its efforts have paid off: according to MarketWatch.com, the company has been awarded a $1.25 billion contract to…

In case you were looking for a synopsis of the important parts of the Frontline anthrax letters program, here it is.  This piece was written by the TV show’s investigative team, and details important flaws in the FBI’s case.  Definitely worth a read, and maybe a reread, to feed your anthrax letters obsession.

See Part I of The Anthrax Files.  This terribly important 1 hour documentary uncovered new evidence in the case.  Additional videos related to the case are accessible at the site.  Enjoy.

From the LA Times: California Gov. Jerry Brown stepped into the middle of a debate over parental rights Sunday by signing legislation  giving children 12 or older the power to consent to medical care involving the prevention of sexually transmitted disease. Asssemblywoman Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) sponsored AB 499 with the aim of providing young…

David Zurawik at The Baltimore Sun writes about tomorrow’s important Frontline story on Bruce Ivins and the anthrax letters.  This will be the first episode. Nobody does investigative journalism on TV like Public Television’s “Frontline” — nobody, and week in, week out that includes “60 Minutes.” And Tuesday night at 9, the venerable series revisits…

William Broad and Scott Shane have written a very useful NYT piece on the anthrax letters.  It discusses a new academic paper by Martin Hugh-Jones, Stuart Jacobsen and Barbara hatch Rosenberg, which explores the meaning of the tin and silicon found in the anthrax spore preparation of the anthrax letters. A decade after wisps of anthrax…

From the LA Times: The phony campaign was aimed at helping find and kill Osama bin Laden, but the doctor involved now faces treason charges, and real immunization workers say Pakistanis don’t trust them. …Aid teams heading polio vaccination drives reported that more parents were refusing to allow their children to be vaccinated after news…

 From the University of Wyoming: …  “The scientific evidence clearly shows that the (anthrax) wasn’t produced in our laboratory (USAMRIID),” the two UW professors say. “The FBI based part of its case on unusual activity that took place in our lab for one week. There is no way he could produce that amount of spores…

Let’s do a back-of-the-envelope risk-benefit calculation on swine flu vaccine: In 2009-10, 44 Finns of all ages died of swine flu.  [With 5.3 million Finns, this is one death per 120,000 people of all ages.] About half the population of Finland received Pandemrix.  Had the vaccine been given before the pandemic struck (a near impossibility)…

From Agence France Presse: HELSINKI — The Finnish government and major insurance companies announced Wednesday they will pay for lifetime medical care for children diagnosed with narcolepsy after receiving the swine flu vaccine. “The compensation will provide much-needed financial assistance for the families, although it cannot take away the emotional distress caused by this condition,” Social…

From the Courant: October 5, 2011 After the World Trade Center was destroyed 10 years ago, death arrived once again — in the mail. Anthrax, a terrifying and deadly bacterium that multiplies rapidly when inhaled, began to appear in letters sent to a variety of places. Among these were the New York Post, the offices…

Read it an weep; each American is paying $4.00 for their share of this stockpile of poison. press release Oct. 3, 2011, 7:00 a.m. EDT Emergent Biosolutions Receives Award to Supply 44.75 Million Doses of BioThrax to US Government Over Five Years ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct 03, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Emergent BioSolutions Inc. /quotes/zigman/429174/quotes/nls/ebs EBS…

There is so much written that is dead wrong about this year’s flu vaccine,  another post is needed.  Here are some facts: 1.  This year’s flu vaccine is the same as last year’s vaccine.  If you are healthy and got the vaccine last year, you probably still have antibodies against all 3 strains. 2.  The…