Advances in medical biological defense technology

No single medical countermeasure will meet the needs for defense against all biological threats in all possible scenarios (civilian, military, clinical, and environmental). As the threat of genetically engineered organisms rises and the risk increases that these organisms might escape detection and successful treatment, it will be necessary to use advances in bioengineering to combat these new threats. This article presents several novel approaches taken by the DoD in collaboration with industry partners and other federal laboratories to produce improved biowarfare vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments. In the future, the United States must remain on the cutting edge of biotechnology and continue to predict the next areas of research necessary to maintain protection for the state-of-the-art warfighter on the battlefield.

A field-expedient algorithmic approach to the clinical management of chemical and biological casualties

Warriors on the modern battlefield face considerable danger from possible attack with chemical and biological weapons. Aggravating this danger is the fact that medical resources at the lowest echelons of care, already likely to be strained to capacity during modern conventional combat, are at present inadequate to handle large numbers of chemical or biological casualties. Complicating this problem further is the austere nature of diagnostic modalities available at lower echelons. With this in mind, and given the urgency required to adequately manage chemical and biological casualties, it is likely that such casualties will initially require significant empiric care in the absence of a definitive diagnosis. Such care under field conditions, often rendered by relatively inexperienced medical personnel, might best be provided using an algorithmic approach. We have developed such an algorithm.

Immunization against potential biological warfare agents

The intentional release of biological agents by belligerents or terrorists is a possibility that has recently attracted increased attention. Law enforcement agencies, military planners, public health officials, and clinicians are gaining an increasing awareness of this potential threat. From a military perspective, an important component of the protective pre-exposure armamentarium against this threat is immunization. In addition, certain vaccines are an accepted component of postexposure prophylaxis against potential bioterrorist threat agents. These vaccines might, therefore, be used to respond to a terrorist attack against civilians. We review the development of vaccines against 10 of the most credible biological threats.

Natural history of the eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome

OBJECTIVE

To describe the natural history and disease progression of the eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome and to assess the therapeutic effects of orally administered steroids on the disorder as of October 1990.

DESIGN

Case-series analysis. A cohort of 45 patients with the eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome was followed prospectively by periodic telephone interviews and medical examinations for an average of 14 months after onset of illness.

SETTING

Washington state.

PATIENTS

The cases of 47 patients were reported to the Washington State Department of Health from 1 July to 12 December 1989. Two patients were unavailable for follow-up, and the remaining 45 completed the study.

MAIN RESULTS

Patients were predominantly non-Hispanic white women (87%) with an average age of 49 years. Symptoms typically progressed from early onset of myalgia and fatigue to later development of neurologic and scleroderma-like skin changes. Six (13%) patients recovered completely within 2 to 5 months of symptom onset. After 14 months of illness, over half of the patients who initially presented with myalgia, fatigue, or scleroderma-like skin changes remained symptomatic. The average severity of each major symptom was measured using interviews and patient self-reports and has improved subjectively by at least 40%. Statistical analyses showed no significant difference in long-term symptom duration or severity between patients treated and those not treated with prednisone.

CONCLUSIONS

The eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome is a long-term illness characterized by progressive improvement during the first 25 weeks after symptom onset, followed by a protracted phase of symptom resolution. We could not show a clear-cut benefit of prednisone in reducing the long-term severity or duration of the disease.