Big bucks for bio-terrorism defense-but will it protect you?

It's called "Project Bioshield," and it's supposedly a comprehensive new plan to save you from biological attack. The President is asking for nearly $6 billion over the next 10 years. And for what? To speed the development of new vaccines against agents like anthrax, ebola, plague, and botulinum toxin.  

You'll notice there's no mention of any immediate measures that can protect you and your family. And there's no mention of the two diseases that spread from person to person rapidly enough to be real threats-smallpox and super lethal influenza.

No, that $6 billion will probably go directly to researchers laboring to develop new drugs and to "bring them to market."

And they may be new drugs like the "killer enzyme" being tested at the Rockefeller University in New York. Named PlyG lysine, it effectively eradicated anthrax bacteria in laboratory mice. It's what one scientist called "a very clever piece of work." But, mice are only mice-and work to date is a long way from proving this an effective treatment for those of us with only two legs.

There's a very real question here and for other "promising new drugs": Can they be studied, validated, and developed into vast quantities of usable medicines soon enough to make a difference? I wouldn't bet on it.

Consider this: On its first day, in the first state, the government's ambitious smallpox vaccination program targeting 500,000 civilian health care workers succeeded in inoculating a grand total of four (count 'em) physicians.

So what to do? For now, concentrate on getting your hands on enough amoxicillin (plus Benedryl and hydrocortisone for those allergic to antibiotics) to sustain every member of your family for the likely duration of a bio-terror crisis. And there are other things you can do, too. For the details, check out my bio-attack survival plan in the February 2003 issue of my Real Health newsletter.

As I said then: Be prepared. Don't count on the government to save you.   

Calling a spade a spade, 
William Campbell Douglass II, MD