Military Anthrax Vaccination

Since the end of the Persian Gulf War, the United States along with the United Nations has struggled with Saddam Hussein to locate his “weapons of mass destruction”. Saddam’s persistence and dubious manner towards the United States military has raised concern for military protection. To combat biological threats, Secretary of Defense William Cohen implemented a mandatory military wide vaccination of all military members. Since the inception of the program, the program has been the subject of criticism by military members, Veteran Associations, Doctors, and many Senators on Capital Hill. The criticisms have stirred questions regarding the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. Questions that the military has not given clear answers to. Until the many questions regarding the vaccine are answered, service members should not be forced to undergo the vaccination program against anthrax.

Bacillus anthracis or anthrax is bacteria that infect thousands of people a year worldwide. Mostly found in the hinds and hair of grazing animals like cattle and sheep, the bacteria can stay dormant for years until contacted. Contact can occur through broken skin, eating infected meat, or inhaling infected dust from hides through the mouth or nostrils. Normal contact through the skin begins forming malignant skin ulcers that are dark black in appearance. If left untreated, the blisters lead to blood poisoning and eventually death. Eating contaminated meat not fully cooked can cause intestinal infection also leading to death. Surprisingly, many people survive contact of the skin and very few cases of intestinal infection exist. However, inhalation of infected dust or spores are much more deadly because the symptoms resemble a common cold...

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...anadian soldiers during the Gulf War were given the vaccine, excluding French troops. Surprisingly, French troops were the only ones to return without cases of GWS (Smith n.pag.).

Government distrust, vaccine effectiveness, and unknown long-term side effects are a few reasons why military members should refuse to take the vaccine. Violations of human rights and religious beliefs can also present a conflict. Unfortunately, military members have few rights when subjected to direct orders. However, until further research has been completed, and all issues resolved, many members will continue to challenge those orders. It becomes a question of how much right does the military have to place suspicious chemicals into a service member’s body. Time will only tell if the military will be responsible for the damage caused to the lives of 2.4 million service members.