Report on Anthrax Attack Antibiotic Staging

Report provides guidance to U.S public health officials to develop plans to pre-position antibiotics that can be distributed to public in case of anthrax attack.

A report released by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) provides guidance to U.S public health officials to develop plans to pre-position antibiotics that can be distributed to public in case of anthrax attack.

The report recommends that public health officials work with the federal government to assess the benefits and costs of strategies that pre-position antibiotics close to or in the hands of people who will need quick access to them should an attack occur. The goal is to get antibiotics to all individuals in need within 48 hours of a decision to dispense. The report recommends that each jurisdiction assess the benefits and costs of different strategies for storing antibiotics locally and determine which ones would be most appropriate for their communities.

Anthrax - Bacillus - Symptoms - Diagnosis - Treatment - FAQs
Anthrax is caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis and spreads when the anthrax spores are inhaled, ingested, or come into contact with the skin lesion on a host.

The committee came out against pre-positioning antibiotics in the home for the general public because this measure requires enormous outlays in terms of cost, along with an increased risk of inappropriate use, with fairly limited benefits in terms of access. However, communities may assess whether specific groups, such as cancer patients, those with mobility limitations, or first responders might benefit from pre-positioning. Read complete IOM report.

A key issue in the report is that the ethics framework is as central to the development of sound policy as are technical data and considerations.

"If you don't know what your goals or values are, then data on safety and efficacy don't really help you," said Dr. Powell. She noted that one particularly vital ethics issue for the committee was the stewardship of public health resources.

Anthrax-Preventing Antibiotics� Community Storage Must Be Determined by State
As part of preparations for a possible large-scale anthrax attack, public health officials on the state and local levels should determine where and how anthrax-preventing

"The need to provide appropriate stewardship of resources is a crucial ethics issue in this era of limited public health funds," Dr. Powell continued. "Public health entities today need to consider the benefit of every dollar they spend, and to know that it is best spent on one strategy to protect public health rather than another. The committee looked especially carefully at data that estimated the cost and added benefit of various strategies." Dr. Powell is also professor of clinical epidemiology & population health and of clinical psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

The report notes that different communities need to assess their values and preferences, along with the risk of attack and public health capabilities, in order to determine which strategies are most likely to benefit them.

Rare Anthrax Case in Minnesota Triggers Terrorist Act Scare
The FBI stepped in briefly as Minnesota health officials are investigating a rare case of anthrax inhalation linked to exposure to the dreaded bacteria in the natural environment.

Source-Eurekalert

Suitcase-Sized Device to Detect Anthrax on the Anvil
A suitcase-sized device to detect anthrax, which normally requires a full-sized lab and take days to detect, has been developed by researchers at Cornell University.