New Anthrax Vaccine Delivers One-Two Punch

WASHINGTON -- Researchers say a new vaccine that delivers a one-two punch to anthrax could be a powerful weapon against bioterrorism.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston have created a vaccine that prods the immune system to attack both the anthrax bacterium and the toxins it makes.

Current vaccines target only the anthrax toxins. But the new vaccine, which is being tested in mice, also sensitizes the immune system to detect the coating that hides the anthrax bacteria, so that the body can destroy the bacteria itself.

Researchers injected mice with the vaccine, then 10 days later, they injected them with anthrax toxin. All the vaccinated mice survived the toxic challenge, while unvaccinated mice exposed to the toxin died within 24 hours.

"It worked like a charm," lead researcher Julia Wang said.

The findings are published in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Meanwhile, researchers reporting in Tuesday's issue of Annals of Internal Medicine said they now know how to diagnose anthrax quickly and efficiently.

While fever and cough are common in both anthrax victims and flu sufferers, people with anthrax also have mental confusion, dizziness, shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting. Runny noses and sore throats are more common in people with the flu.