thedrifter
06-20-03, 06:43 AM
Defending Against an Unseen, Deadly Enemy
by Gunnery Sgt. Keith A. Milks
Marine Corps News
June 17, 2003
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- In the weeks following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against New York City and Washington, D.C., another terrorist attack raised the nation's consciousness against a new, yet long-standing threat. The delivery of anthrax-tainted letters to U.S. political leaders and media outlets via the U.S. Postal Service cross-contaminated thousands of other pieces of mail that, in the end, exposed thousands of unwitting persons to the deadly biological agent.
In the end, 18 people were confirmed to have contracted anthrax, and of these, five perished. To meet the threat this heinous weapon poses, the U.S. military has for years vaccinated its forward-deployed forces against anthrax. As the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) gears up for its next deployment, so too will its Marines receive the vaccinations that may one day prove the difference between life and death.
"The vaccinations are just as important as a Marine's flak jacket and helmet," said Staff Sgt. James Reilly, of Raymond, Maine, the MEU's nuclear, biological, and chemical protection chief. "They provide an additional layer of protection and gives a person a head start in defeating the [anthrax] organism once it has entered the body."
Reilly went on to say that anthrax is a naturally-occurring bacteria typically associated with cloven-hoofed livestock. However, the bacteria has in recent decades been cultivated and put to a more insidious use. Atlhough a Japanese religious cult's attempt to employ anthrax met with limited success in the mid-1990s (they used a strain non-lethal to humans), the incident underscored the agent's availability and willingness of dangerous minds to employ the substance.
According to Senior Chief Petty Officer Tammy Heap, the 22nd MEU's Navy Senior Enlisted Advisor and a corpsman with more than 18 years of service, anthrax is attractive to evil-doers because of its lethality, ease of production and weaponization (placement into bombs, missiles, and rockets), and its survivability. In fact, 40 years after the British experimented with anthrax on Gruinard Island near Scotland, the small isle was still uninhabitable.
"The anthrax vaccination is a six-shot series," said Heap, a native of Newton Falls, Ohio. "Each dose of the vaccine adds to the body's protection by stimulating the immune system, like walking up a set of stairs. The full series is needed to obtain maximum and ongoing protection."
After the first shot, vaccinations are given at the two and four week marks, and again at six, twelve, and 18 months. Marines or Sailors who began the vaccination at an earlier duty station but had the series interrupted for whatever reason, will pick up the vaccination where they left off. Following the initial six-shot series, booster shots are administered annually to ensure the body's level of anthrax defense remains high.
Heap said that some people, upon receiving the vaccination, will experience mild reactions such as redness, itching, swelling, and soreness at the injection site that can last one to three days. Other, less frequently seen, reactions include muscle and joint aches, low grade fever, chills, loss of appetite, headaches, and nausea.
These reactions are also common to other, more frequently administered vaccinations such as flu shots. Prior to receiving the vaccination, all those participating in the program must attend mandatory classes on the vaccine that underscores its importance and what to expect from the shots. In order to allay unwarranted fears and apprehension, the Marines and Sailors were encouraged to talk with the MEU's medical staff especially if they became concerned with their individual reactions to the shots.
The building blocks of anthrax protection include basic NBC warfare skills, the vaccination, and if necessary, the administering of antibiotics.
"Proper utilization of the field protective mask and chemical gear will protect us against the potential threat of anthrax exposure," said Reilly. "Antibiotics like Cipro have proven effective in combating anthrax, but they are aided greatly when the person is also vaccinated."
Anthrax vaccinations are among a slew of other preventive vaccinations the MEU employs to protect its Marines and Sailors. In addition to anthrax, the service members are vaccinated against influenza, hepatitis, polio, typhoid, tetanus, yellow fever, the plague, and eventually, smallpox.
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
by Gunnery Sgt. Keith A. Milks
Marine Corps News
June 17, 2003
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- In the weeks following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against New York City and Washington, D.C., another terrorist attack raised the nation's consciousness against a new, yet long-standing threat. The delivery of anthrax-tainted letters to U.S. political leaders and media outlets via the U.S. Postal Service cross-contaminated thousands of other pieces of mail that, in the end, exposed thousands of unwitting persons to the deadly biological agent.
In the end, 18 people were confirmed to have contracted anthrax, and of these, five perished. To meet the threat this heinous weapon poses, the U.S. military has for years vaccinated its forward-deployed forces against anthrax. As the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) gears up for its next deployment, so too will its Marines receive the vaccinations that may one day prove the difference between life and death.
"The vaccinations are just as important as a Marine's flak jacket and helmet," said Staff Sgt. James Reilly, of Raymond, Maine, the MEU's nuclear, biological, and chemical protection chief. "They provide an additional layer of protection and gives a person a head start in defeating the [anthrax] organism once it has entered the body."
Reilly went on to say that anthrax is a naturally-occurring bacteria typically associated with cloven-hoofed livestock. However, the bacteria has in recent decades been cultivated and put to a more insidious use. Atlhough a Japanese religious cult's attempt to employ anthrax met with limited success in the mid-1990s (they used a strain non-lethal to humans), the incident underscored the agent's availability and willingness of dangerous minds to employ the substance.
According to Senior Chief Petty Officer Tammy Heap, the 22nd MEU's Navy Senior Enlisted Advisor and a corpsman with more than 18 years of service, anthrax is attractive to evil-doers because of its lethality, ease of production and weaponization (placement into bombs, missiles, and rockets), and its survivability. In fact, 40 years after the British experimented with anthrax on Gruinard Island near Scotland, the small isle was still uninhabitable.
"The anthrax vaccination is a six-shot series," said Heap, a native of Newton Falls, Ohio. "Each dose of the vaccine adds to the body's protection by stimulating the immune system, like walking up a set of stairs. The full series is needed to obtain maximum and ongoing protection."
After the first shot, vaccinations are given at the two and four week marks, and again at six, twelve, and 18 months. Marines or Sailors who began the vaccination at an earlier duty station but had the series interrupted for whatever reason, will pick up the vaccination where they left off. Following the initial six-shot series, booster shots are administered annually to ensure the body's level of anthrax defense remains high.
Heap said that some people, upon receiving the vaccination, will experience mild reactions such as redness, itching, swelling, and soreness at the injection site that can last one to three days. Other, less frequently seen, reactions include muscle and joint aches, low grade fever, chills, loss of appetite, headaches, and nausea.
These reactions are also common to other, more frequently administered vaccinations such as flu shots. Prior to receiving the vaccination, all those participating in the program must attend mandatory classes on the vaccine that underscores its importance and what to expect from the shots. In order to allay unwarranted fears and apprehension, the Marines and Sailors were encouraged to talk with the MEU's medical staff especially if they became concerned with their individual reactions to the shots.
The building blocks of anthrax protection include basic NBC warfare skills, the vaccination, and if necessary, the administering of antibiotics.
"Proper utilization of the field protective mask and chemical gear will protect us against the potential threat of anthrax exposure," said Reilly. "Antibiotics like Cipro have proven effective in combating anthrax, but they are aided greatly when the person is also vaccinated."
Anthrax vaccinations are among a slew of other preventive vaccinations the MEU employs to protect its Marines and Sailors. In addition to anthrax, the service members are vaccinated against influenza, hepatitis, polio, typhoid, tetanus, yellow fever, the plague, and eventually, smallpox.
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: