News & Perspective

Oct 25 (CIDRAP News) – Two studies published online by Nature this week help explain how anthrax toxin works, possibly paving the way for the development of drugs that could block the toxin's action. One group of researchers explains how it identified the cell-surface receptor that enables anthrax toxin to invade host cells, while another group describes the precise molecular structure of a key component of the toxin.

Nov 29, 2001 (CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded Acambis Inc. a $428 million contract to produce an additional 155 million doses of smallpox vaccine by the end of 2002, HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced Wednesday.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced seven new research grant programs to speed efforts to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases related to bioterrorism.

(CIDRAP News) – Because of a small theoretical risk that anthrax spores can hide in the lungs for up to 100 days and grow after antibiotic treatment is stopped, the anthrax vaccine and an extension of antibiotic treatment will be offered to people who may have been exposed in the recent anthrax attacks, federal health officials announced yesterday afternoon.

(CIDRAP News) – The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has released a 68-page report on its plan for expanding research on "Category A" bioterrorism agents: anthrax, smallpox, plague, tularemia, viral hemorrhagic fevers, and botulism.

A study indicates that the existing smallpox vaccine remains effective after being diluted five-fold and ten-fold, suggesting that the 15-million dose US stockpile can be stretched much further.

(CIDRAP News) – A clinical trial of the decades-old supply of smallpox vaccine held by Aventis Pasteur is in progress, and early signs are that the vaccine is still potent, according to a spokesman for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

(CIDRAP News) – About 900 adults who received smallpox shots in childhood are being revaccinated in a multicenter study to determine whether they still have any immunity to smallpox.

(CIDRAP News) – Federal health officials project that about half of the estimated 10 million health and emergency response workers targeted for the second round of smallpox vaccinations will refuse the shots.