News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Six new members have been appointed to the National Biodefense Science Board (NBSB), the expert committee that advises the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on preparing for bioterrroism and other public health emergencies, HHS officials announced yesterday.

The six new members replace six whose 3-year terms ended Dec 31, HHS said in a news release.

The new members are:

(CIDRAP News) – A comprehensive review of the nation's tools for reducing the impact of a biological weapons attack or other public health emergency—prompted in part by last fall's delays in delivery of the pandemic H1N1 vaccine—is due to get under way in the next few weeks with a pair of conferences.

(CIDRAP News) – The federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has opened the door to voluntary anthrax vaccination for first responders, revising an 8-year-old recommendation against that step.

(CIDRAP News) – Eighteen medical groups, led by the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Public Health Association (APHA), released a report at a recent conference in Washington, DC, that contains 53 recommendations for improving the nation's response to mass casualty events such as terrorist attacks, infectious disease outbreaks, and natural disasters.

(CIDRAP News) – In the 1960s, the rate of vaccinia virus transmission from people newly vaccinated against smallpox to nonimmunized people was low, but the rate could be higher today because of medical differences between populations then and now, according to a new analysis by smallpox experts.

(CIDRAP News) – Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy G. Thompson has named the 21 members of his Council on Public Health Preparedness, which will advise HHS on dealing with public health emergencies, including bioterrorism.

(CIDRAP News) – A lengthy report by an expert panel on anthrax generally echoes treatment and prevention recommendations made by federal health officials last fall while highlighting how little is known about the epidemiology of the disease, especially how many spores it takes to cause infection.

(CIDRAP News) – Three case reports from the recent anthrax outbreak published in the February 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrate that even patients without obvious anthrax exposure may be at risk, pointing up the need for heightened public health surveillance and increased public awareness.