Subject: [Anthrax-no] Comparison with new Lyme vaccine
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 21:28:50 -0400
From: Meryl Nass <mnass@igc.apc.org>
Reply-To: Anthrax-no@onelist.com
To: "Anthrax-no@onelist.com" <Anthrax-no@onelist.com>
CC: Ariana <lionhearted_@yahoo.com>
From: Meryl Nass <mnass@igc.apc.org>
Maybe an interesting counterpoint to anthrax vaccine:
Lyme Disease vaccine, FDA-approved in Dec 1998.
Here's what the Feb 1, 1999 Health News (published by NEJM, for laymen)
has to say:
1. There are 2 shots a month apart, and another 11 mos later.
2. "We don't yet know how long those three shots provide protection.
It's likely you'll need booster shots in the second and third
years...Moreover, we don't know the long-term effects of repeated doses
of the Lyme vaccine."
3. "The vaccine may not be safe for people AT RISK of developing
rheumatoid arthritis. It could trigger joint inflammation in at-risk
people...even if they had no previous signs of arthritis..." (Emphasis
added: since we don't know what causes rheumatoid arthritis, isn't
everybody "at risk" of developing it?)
4. "Being vaccinated may give you a false sense of security." "Two
shots gave people only 50% protection; three shots provided about 80%."
5. "Only people aged 15 to 70 participated in the clinical trials on
which FDA approval was based, so we don't know if it works (and it isn't
approved) for anyone younger or older."
6. They also say that even if vaccinated, if you get the rash, go get
antibiotics.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Why does FDA approve vaccines with so little data? (Of course, there is
much more data for this vaccine than for anthrax, but it really makes
you wonder about the approvals process.) Further, if Lyme vaccine is
only approved for the age groups in which it was tested, and no human
age groups participated in testing the anthrax vaccine, doesn't that
suggest that anthrax vax should not be approved for any age group?
Meryl
--
Meryl Nass, M.D.
Parkview Hospital, Brunswick, Maine 04011
email mnass@igc.apc.org
phone (207) 865-0875
fax (207) 865-6975
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