Safety of Anthrax Vaccine

Re “The Unknown Factors of the Anthrax Vaccine,” by Leonard A. Cole, Opinion, March 8:

Anthrax is the primary biological warfare threat faced by U.S. forces today. The anthrax vaccine we are providing our troops is licensed and has been fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration since 1970. It has proved effective in protecting persons exposed to anthrax in occupational settings, and it has an excellent safety record.

Since the 1994 report cited by Cole, there have been expert scientific reviews of the vaccine and its use during the Gulf War. The Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of Defense do not believe the illnesses reported by some Gulf War veterans are the result of anthrax vaccine. While scientists from the Los Alamos National Laboratory did report recently on their ability to detect different genetic strains of anthrax, the study did not report any scientific evidence for strains of anthrax that are resistant to the licensed vaccine.

Anticipating criticism from people like Cole, I chose to be vaccinated against anthrax, as did Secretary of Defense William Cohen and chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Hugh Shelton. While we are unlikely to confront anthrax, Secretary Cohen, Gen. Shelton and I were not going to ask our troops to take a vaccine we were not prepared to take ourselves.

JOHN J. HAMRE

Deputy Secretary

of Defense

Washington