Anthrax immunisation was given to many thousands of personnel during the Gulf Conflict. Has anthrax vaccine caused illness amongst Gulf Veterans?
A. Thousands of people, including Service personnel and civilians such as vets and laboratory workers, have been immunised against anthrax over the years. There is no clinical evidence to suggest that any have suffered any long-term ill effects as a result. Research published in 1999 [“Health of UK servicemen who served in the Persian Gulf War” by Unwin et al, The Lancet, Vol 353, 16 January 1999, pp 169-178] suggested a weak statistical association between anthrax immunisation and the occurrence of some of the ill-health reported by Gulf Veterans, though this was not found to be associated with a decrease in physical functioning. However, more recent work [“Role of vaccinations as risk factors for ill health in veterans of the Gulf War: cross-sectional study” by Hotopf et al, British Medical Journal, Vol 320, 20 May 2000, pp1363-1367] has failed to confirm such an association. This research, undertaken by separate groups at Kings College and Manchester University, looked at the possib
