Survivors of the 2001 anthrax attacks have said they continue to suffer from lingering physical symptoms and psychological effects that interfere with their daily lives, the Baltimore Sun reported today (see GSN, Sept. 5).

“Some days I get up, and after an hour and a half I have to lie back down,” said David Hose, who became infected while working at a U.S. State Department mail-handling facility.

Tyler Cymet, head of family medicine at Baltimore’s Sinai Hospital, has conducted telephone interviews with five of the anthrax survivors every three months since late 2001, according to the Sun.  He has found they all continue to report similar symptoms, such as weakness, memory problems and low-grade fever.

“It’s tough to ferret out what’s psychological, what’s physiological and what’s post-traumatic stress disorder,” Cymet said.

Some of the families of the anthrax survivors have complained that Washington has “forgotten” those affected by the attacks.

“These guys are also victims of terrorism,” said Ramesh Patel, whose wife, Jyotsna Patel, a New Jersey postal worker, survived inhalation anthrax but still has lingering symptoms.  “I would say they should be treated like anyone who was at the World Trade Center or the Pentagon.  But they’ve been completely forgotten,” Patel said (Scott Shane, Baltimore Sun, Sept. 18).

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