News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Though the United States has improved its ability to respond to small-scale bioterror events, it is still unprepared to protect its citizens against large attacks, according to the latest assessment today from a bipartisan commission established to advise Congress.

(CIDRAP News) – Positioning supplies of antibiotics in communities has been proposed as the next step to prepare for a Bacillus anthracis attack, and state and local public health officials are in the best position to determine where and how they should be stored, an Institute of Medicine (IOM) expert group reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – A federal working group recommends that the US government assess the safety and immunogenicity of anthrax vaccine in children before an attack with Bacillus anthracis occurs rather than after, according to a presentation today before the National Biodefense Science Board (NBSB).

(CIDRAP News) – Two companies recently received contracts to advance the development of countermeasures against Bacillus anthracis attacks, a next-generation vaccine given as a nasal spray and an injectable antitoxin, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today.