The anthrax vaccination is designed to protect against contracting the very serious disease anthrax, which results from exposure to the bacteria, Bacillus anthracis. Most often, people will be exposed to anthrax if they handle dead animals that had the disease, or if they were victims of accidental or purposeful direct exposure to the bacteria. The latter is thought more likely in terrorist attacks, which is why many countries have mandatory anthrax vaccination programs for members of their armed services. Unless other people, such as medical workers, go to an area where the bacteria might be present, most people don’t get vaccinated since the disease is relatively rare otherwise.
There are some treatments for anthrax including several antibiotics, but the disease in all three forms, skin, gastrointestinal, or respiratory, has to be treated extremely early for the best outcome. Someone who didn’t realize he had been exposed might succumb to respiratory failure quickly with respiratory anthrax, before treatment could be initiated. It is thus thought better not to hazard that risk by vaccinating those people who especially might face risk of the illness when it is used as a bioweapon.
To this end, many people who get the anthrax vaccine are members of armed services, and they will need to receive quite a few shots before being considered immune. The first series of shots is four vaccines given in about an eighteen-month period. After that, people need to receive anthrax vaccination boosters on a planned schedule, or the immunity doesn’t remain.
Many parts of the world do not utilize a live anthrax vaccination. This means that it doesn’t contain any living elements of the original infectious agent. This isn’t true everywhere, and in some third world countries, the vaccine may be made by live attenuation, which could increase risk of getting the actual disease.
There has been fear and concern about anthrax, but also about the anthrax vaccination. The decision for the US to make the vaccine mandatory for service members set off a firestorm of criticism, and many felt the mandate was specifically because the vaccine was so dangerous that service members wouldn’t have obtained it otherwise. Significant research on the vaccine suggests less than a 1% risk of complications, which may include gastrointestinal upset, severe allergic reaction, and soreness in the joints. Similar research suggests about 90% anthrax protection or greater with the immunization.
Warnings about the anthrax vaccination do exist for certain people. Since the vaccine has small amounts of rubber it may cause an allergic reaction in those allergic to latex. It is also not safe for use in pregnant women and may harm the fetus. As mentioned, most people won’t get this vaccine unless they situationally require it. In fact, some medical groups suggest it is not recommended for the general populace under the majority of circumstances.
