Bioterrorism and Our Kids
Stephen Marini, D.C., PhD

The threat and fear of exposure to bioterrorist weapons looms ever so close since the deaths linked to pulmonary anthrax. Is the worry legitimate and what can we do for ourselves and the kids?

The prime disease candidates the terrorists can employ as weapons are anthrax and smallpox. Why these? They have worked in the past and new technology plus suicide messengers have improved on the success potential.

Anthrax is an animal bacterial disease, not a human infectious disease. We naturally can acquire the disease by inhaling, eating or exposing open sores to the anthrax spores from animal hides, wastes and meats. The weapons threat comes from refined, aerosolized anthrax. The death of 5 Americans resulted from the variant Ames strain which originated at the U.S.Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease at Fort Detrick, Maryland. (1) The technology dates back to the Japanese in the 1930's and the British-U.S. goal to blast German cities with anthrax fragmentation bombs during World War 2. The expectation was for 90-100% mortality from pulmonary anthrax. The Scottish island Gruinard remains uninhabitable as a result of anthrax soil contamination from the 1943 tests. (2)

As with all infectious disease, the risk of getting the disease depends upon the risk of exposure coupled with the status of one's immune system at the time of exposure. The mortality rate for skin anthrax is 10-20% but drops drastically with antibiotics. Inhalation anthrax mortality ranges from 50-90% even with antibiotics and about 50% for the gastrointestinal form. The anthrax spores can be inactivated by boiling, irradiation, or treating them with hydrogen peroxide or formaldehyde.

Smallpox on the other hand is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by the variola virus. Historically, smallpox ravaged populations for centuries. In the 1970's we ceased vaccinating against this disease and the World Health Organization declared it eradicated from the earth. The remaining smallpox virus had been kept in labs in the U.S. and Soviet Union. Reports have surfaced that Soviet scientists developed the capacity to produce large quantities of the virus adapted to spread by missile warhead.(3) God only knows which countries may have their hands on this and perhaps other genetically engineered strains of the variola virus. As a weapon, the virus infectivity in the natural environment can last from 24-48 hours after being aerosolized and not exposed to sunlight or ultraviolet light. (4) Worse yet, infected "suicide" carriers could silently transmit the disease by mixing with the general population. Individuals with smallpox are highly infectious just before they develop a rash about 10 to 14 days after infection, until all the pox lesions have healed and all scabs have fallen off. Clothing and personal items can transmit the virus that has been shed from the skin lesions. The mortality rate can range from 20-30%.

If you think things couldn't get much worse than that, consider the terror of a state-declared health emergency in the event of a biologic weapons attack. Legislation has been implemented which gives public health officials the power to use the state militia to enforce vaccination during any state-declared health emergency. (5,6) That means everyone gets vaccinated regardless of health status, contraindications to vaccination or personal objection. The militia will also be empowered to seize our homes, all private property, prescription drugs, and all roads .The ordinary citizen may think that this would be okay since the anthrax and smallpox vaccines are safe and effective. They are not! Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, says this about the current anthrax vaccine:

“Improved anthrax vaccines for humans are needed because the current vaccines are impure and chemically complex, elicit only slow-onset protective immunity, provide incomplete protection, and cause significant adverse reactions." (9)

If we get exposed to a genetically engineered strain of anthrax that is chemically different from the vaccine strain, the vaccine would be of dubious effectiveness at best. The current anthrax vaccine is a killed, whole bacterial cell vaccine containing aluminum hydroxide, formaldehyde and benzethonium chloride additives.

Reported reactions to the anthrax vaccine have ranged from mild to severe local reactions, fever, chills, and nausea that resolve without permanent damage to serious reactions resulting in permanent autoimmune and brain dysfunction, including chronic disabling fatigue, persistent headaches, severe joint pain and crippling arthritis, numbness and muscle weakness, severe memory loss, paralysis, seizures and death. The estimates of all those vaccinated against anthrax suffering mild to severe reactions range from 20 to 48%. (7) The patterns of serious anthrax reactions among the military have been referred to as "Gulf War Syndrome." I don't even want to speculate on the deleterious effect this vaccine would have on the children in the face of forced anthrax vaccination.

The smallpox vaccine consists of a live attenuated strain of the variola virus called vaccinia. Our stockpiles of the vaccine, known as Dryvax, contain polymyxcin B sulfate, streptomycin sulfate, chloretracycline, hydrochloride, neomycin sulfate, glycerin and phenol according to the Physician's Desk Reference. Dr. Stuart Isaacs of the University of Pennsylvania investigates ways of protecting against smallpox. He states that even if there were enough vaccine available, "the risk of the vaccine still outweighs the potential benefits." (8) This old live vaccinia virus for smallpox was never tested for safety or efficacy in controlled trials prior to mandates (9,10) We don't even know if the smallpox virus used in a bioterrorist attack was genetically engineered to resist immune responses generated by the vaccine.

Barbara Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center believes that, "unless the old vaccine for smallpox or a newly formulated vaccine is fully tested for safety and efficacy before being released for public use, legally and ethically the vaccine would have to be considered experimental and the mandated use of it a state-enforced national scientific experiment." (1)

Serious vaccine reactions of the type that would require administration of VIG (vaccinia immune globulin), would occur in 1 out of 4000 individuals. (4,10) The immune globulin serves to neutralize the vaccine virus to prevent the vaccine side effects of progressive vaccinia, eczema vaccinatum, and generalized vaccinia. The VIG does not manage postvaccinal encephalitis and estimates for this adverse vaccine reaction is between 1/81,000 to 1/345,000 persons receiving their first smallpox vaccination. (10,11). A Russian study reported a neurological complication rate of 1/3200 persons aged five years and older who received a first live vaccinia vaccination.(12)
Antibiotics are useless against this virus, however, antibiotics are useful in controlling skin infections resulting from smallpox. A promise for the future is the development of a monoclonal antibody which can be administered to neutralize the smallpox virus itself.

Helping our children maintain an optimal functioning immune system begins at home with positive energy, proper nutrition, exercise, and a nervous system free of interference. Nutritional values of garlic, wild oregano as potent antibiotics, antioxidants such as lipoic acid and glutathione ; homeopathic nosodes for anthrax and smallpox as well as other holistic approaches utilizing mind/body and non-local medicine have been receiving much attention recently in the hopes of dismantling the terror of biologic attack, dubious vaccines and empowering us and our children against the real and present dangers. (13, 14)

Reducing the terror of a bioterrorist attack will remain elusive. Reducing the terror of militia forced vaccinations for all can still be achieved on the state legislative level. Monitoring this process can be done on-line as well as remaining updated and informed from the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) at www.909shot.com.

Although our history and legal precedents regarding vaccine rights favor the notion that "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one", what little freedom of choice we did enjoy will be scratched during a state of emergency. No emergency justifies relinquishing our freedom to choose what is best for ourselves and our children and what risks we are willing to take. "Let's roll."

References available on line at:
www.icpa4kids.com/newsletter/references.html