Researchers at Harvard University have developed a new anthrax vaccine that causes the immune system to fight both the anthrax bacterium and the toxin it produces, United Press International reported Monday (see GSN, Aug. 19).

The vaccine, which was created by combing two anthrax molecules to serve as antigens, was found to have offered protection to animals that were later administered anthrax toxin, according to UPI.  The new vaccine could also be used as a postinfection treatment, according to researchers (United Press International/Washington Times, Sept. 1).

NIAID Scientists Learn More About Immune Response to Anthrax

Meanwhile, scientists at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases have discovered new information on how immune systems respond to anthrax infection, the National Institutes of Health announced yesterday.

In a large-scale study, NIAID scientists injected hundreds of mice with anthrax lethal toxin and examined how various organs and immune systems responded, according to the NIH press release.  The scientists found that there was no link, contrary to previous belief, between the effects of the toxin and an increase in chemicals called cytokines, which are released by immune system cells after an infection.  The new information could lead to new approaches in developing drugs to counter anthrax, said NIAID Senior Investigator Stephen Leppla, head of the study (U.S. National Institutes of Health release, Sept. 2).

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