The Killer Strain: Anthrax and a Government Exposed Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The Killer Strain: Anthrax and the Exposed Medicine
I am peruvian medical , and for some years , have been investigating anthrax in Peru, reason why caused to much interest for me the appearance of the book: The Killer Strain.
The book that narrates the events related to the first outbreak of bioterrorismo in the U.S.A., submerges to us in the interior of the scientific work during the epidemic , show some more than appears in the scientific journals . Although the author certainly has obtained much related information to this epidemic, probably, the lack of a biomedica formation, has taken it to an incomplete vision of the epidemic of anthrax. The book shows some mistakes that reflect the nonmedica formation of the author, as a sample : in the figures of the book, call as symptoms to the injuries of the skin,instead of use signs. Would had been ideal that some medical professional help in revising or writing the book.
Maybe , the great problem in analyzing this epidemic is that in the world exist few experts in anthrax As the same author recognizes in her book, many doctors what participated in the epidemic , never has been sight a case of anthrax. (1) For that reason many mistakes that exist during the epidemic maybe has been unnoticed. Some of these faults in the epidemic, can be justified by the low degree of scientific knowledge with respect to this pathology, maybe for example : not to diagnose inhalational anthrax.
Inhalation anthrax is the main clinical form in the bioterrorism scope given its high mortality, however early diagnosis (a time when treatment can be effective),(2) is rather difficult to achieve In their initial stage symptoms of inhalation anthrax are very similar to influenza .
Although the cutaneous form has low mortality rates and is thus, considered as less important in a bioterrorist attack, its diagnosis may serve as an epidemiological alerta and lead, indirectly, to the early search for possible inhalation anthrax cases. These difficulties in early recognition were observed in the recent bioterrorism event with anthrax in the United States. In the bioterrorism- related outbreak of anthrax , in october 2001, the first cases were not for inhalation, but cutaneos , the detection of these cases would likely iniate the epidemiological investigation more precociously and maybe diminished even more the mortality in this outbreak. Because of this, it is necessary for physicians to learn to recognize cutaneous anthrax at its early stage.
Contrary to what occurs with the inhalation form, cutaneous anthrax there are well defined clinical characteristics and is relatively easy to diagnose clinically, to however, the early stage of cutaneous anthrax often remains undiagnosed, probably due to many reasons: a) It is to rare pathology; b) The this physician associates pathology mainly with to annoys stage necrotic to ulcer and; c) Absence of pain in the cutaneous injury makes the patient recognize the cutaneous injury annoys and delay seeking medical attention clinical Emphasis on early recognition of cutaneous anthrax is highly used in anthrax endemic area in peruvians andens, as part of the traditional medicine knowledge developed by these communities due to the absence of physicians and it could be useful to the field of bioterrorism. In Peru, farmers emphasize the clinical recognition of cutaneous anthrax in an early stage and call it "waytacha" (A quechua term that means bad flower) (3).
In this outbreak , although is certain were errors of the government and of institutions, there were also medical mistakes, that are necessary to recognize them so that they do not repeat in the future. The most critical component for bioterrorism outbreak detection is the doctor ( 4 ), and the great medical mistake of this epidemic was not undiagnose anthrax by inhalation but not to diagnose the cases of cutaneous anthrax, the detection of these cases would also , of to be certain the relation between hijjackers and anthrax ( 5 ), also initiate the investigation related to hijjackers and maybe, help to prevent the tragedy of September 11.
This epidemic more than show a exposed government , show to an exposed medicine, exposed to anthrax , a disease that does not even manage to know nor to control.
David Salinas Flores
REFERENCES
1.Thompson. The Killer strain. Anthrax and a Government exposed. Harper Collins Publishers.2003. pg. 72-73
2.Mc Carthy M. Early and aggressive treatment saves US antrax victims. Lancet. 2001 ; 358 : 1703
3.Salinas D. Diagnóstico y Tratamiento del Antrax: Medicina Tradicional vs Medicina Científica. Revista Peruana de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Tropicales. 2001;1:157-164
4.Ashford D, Kaiser R, bales, M. et al Planning against biological terrorism.: Lessons from Outbreak investigations. Emerg Infect Dis . 2003 .9 :515
5.Report linking anthrax and hijackers is investigated. New York Times. 23 marzo 2002

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Killer Strain: Anthrax and a Government Exposed

Click here for more information about The Killer Strain: Anthrax and a Government Exposed

Read More...

The Anthrax Letters: A Medical Detective Story Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is the second book I've read on the anthrax attack. The first, The Killer Strain: Anthrax and a Government Exposed (2003) by Washington Post journalist Marilyn W. Thompson is a good book (with a different emphasis), but this is a better one. Written by Rutgers University Professor Leonard A. Cole, who is an expert on bioterrorism, The Anthrax Letters is both more extensive and goes into greater depth than Thompson's book.
Perhaps the most important thing (from my point of view) that Professor Cole does is argue convincingly against the FBI's disaffected loner theory of who did it. Instead Cole presents a lot of evidence that strongly suggests that Al Qaeda may indeed have been responsible.
First of all, the leading suspect, Attorney General John Ashcroft's "person of interest," Steven Hatfill, actually had an alibi. He was working in another state at the time some of the letters were mailed in Trenton, New Jersey. More importantly though, Cole sees a link between Iraq's known bioweapons program and Al Qaeda; he believes that the Ames anthrax strain in the Daschle letter was possibly purified and concentrated by "the Iraqi BW team." (p. 201)
Furthermore the fact that there were at least two types of "weapons" sent by mail suggests more than a lone perpetrator. Additionally, the mystery of why the tabloid people in Florida were targeted (and indeed how they became targets) is explained when one learns that two of the suspected 9/11 hijackers rented an apartment from Gloria Irish, the wife of Mike Irish, editor of the Sun tabloid, an American Media Inc. publication. One of the men, Marwan Akl-Shehhi, told her that he was a pilot and was taking flying lessons. (p. 42) And it is not to be forgotten that the Al Qaeda suspects were interested in learning to fly crop dusters. That alone makes it clear that they expected to have access to and intended to use either chemical or biological weapons. Finally, there is the unsettling fact that one of the hijackers was actually treated for a black lesion on his leg that could very well have been cutaneous anthrax.
Cole also suggests that it was no coincidence that the anthrax attacks began less than a month after September 11, 2001.
To all of this I would add the fact that the Bush administration has become entirely mute on this question, which may suggest that they know who did it but for reasons unknown to us are not telling. What could those reasons be? Originally I thought it was because the FBI had bungled the evidence and didn't have enough left to stand up in court, or that something about the perp or information he or she had would be embarrassing to the government. Now I think it is possible that Al Qaeda was indeed responsible but the Bush administration won't acknowledge that because it would have to reveal secret information about our counter-terrorism program, and also possibly because such information may work into the hands of Al Qaeda's desire to psychologically terrorize the US population.
Another interesting point that Cole brings up is the question of exactly how many cases of anthrax illness were caused by the mailed spores. He reports that there were eleven confirmed cases with five deaths. However, as noted in the final chapter, there is a twelfth case that the CDC would not confirm, that of postal inspector William Paliscak who had inhaled dust in which there were spores, and who had anthrax spores on his clothing and in his car. The problem is that the CDC was not able to culture anthrax from blood samples taken from Paliscak. Cole speculates that Paliscak and possibly others at the Brentwood postal facility did indeed contract anthrax, asking, "Could bacilli have been embedded in the brains of Bill Paliscak and others who were exposed to spores...?" He adds that there were eight deaths at Brentwood in the year following the anthrax attack when usually there are only two a year. Four of the people who died had inexplicably enlarged hearts. (p. 237)
Also significant is Cole's point that what we learned from the attacks is that we are not nearly as well prepared as we thought, and that the use of the postal service as a means of disseminating a bioterrorist weapon was greatly underrated. What was not realized prior to these attacks was that anthrax spores in the size of about three microns would easily slip through the 20-micron pores in a typical envelope resulting in cross-contamination of the mail. The two women, Kathy Nguyen and Ottilie Lundgren, who died of inhalation anthrax even though spores were never found in their homes or in their mailboxes, were probably the victims of cross-contamination. Cole posits that by the time the mailboxes were swabbed the spores had dissipated. In support of this idea Cole quotes Harvard microbiologist Matthew Meselson as saying, "a single organism [of anthrax] has a chance of initiating infection." (p.110)
This raises the question of how many other people died because of their exposure to the bacterium, cases that were either not reported or unrecognized as anthrax killings.
This leaves me with an idea. Cole reports that how the perps got the very, very fine and slippery weapons-grade anthrax spores into the envelops without getting some into the air and eventually into their lungs is not known. With Al Qaeda's complete disregard for human life, they may not have warned their operatives of the dangers. Perhaps the FBI ought to look for some dead Al Qaeda operatives in the US and double-check the cause of death.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Anthrax Letters: A Medical Detective Story

Get 29% OFF

Click here for more information about The Anthrax Letters: A Medical Detective Story

Read More...