 |
| |
 | | Prevention | |
- Administer a preexposure vaccination to persons at high risk of work exposure.
- Administer postexposure antibiotic prophylaxis and vaccine to persons who have been exposed to anthrax during a biological attack.
|
|
Administer a preexposure vaccination to persons at high risk of work exposure.  |
- Administer preexposure vaccination to:
- Persons working with concentrated quantities of B. anthracis and those involved with activities with a high potential for aerosolization
- Persons working with imported hides, furs, bone meal, wool, or animal hair in settings where workplace standards and restrictions are not adequate to prevent exposure to anthrax spores
- Military personnel if exposure to a biological attack is likely
- Administer 0.5 mL of anthrax vaccine , an inactivated cell-free product, subcutaneously at 0, 2, and 4 weeks with boosters at 6, 12, and 18 months and then once every year thereafter.
- Counsel vaccinated persons on safety, side effects, and contraindications to the use of the anthrax vaccine as discussed on the CDC anthrax Web site.
- Vaccinate pregnant women against anthrax only if the potential benefits of vaccination outweigh potential risks to the fetus.
- Note that contraindications to the anthrax vaccine include a history of anthrax infection and anaphylaxis to a previous dose of anthrax vaccine.
| Background | Back to top
|
Administer postexposure antibiotic prophylaxis and vaccine to persons who have been exposed to anthrax during a biological attack.  |
- Administer postexposure antibiotic prophylaxis to persons with a known exposure to anthrax or who are in a high-risk group for exposure during a biological attack with B. anthracis.
- Administer oral ciprofloxacin initially for postexposure prophylaxis during a biological attack and use ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, or amoxicillin depending on the susceptibility profile of the B. anthracis strain.
- Administer antibiotics for at least 60 days.
- If available, administer 0.5 mL anthrax vaccine at 0, 14, and 28 days to all patients receiving postexposure antibiotic prophylaxis.
- Monitor patients for side effects to antibiotics and vaccine.
- See table Drug Treatment for Anthrax.
| Background | Back to top
| | | FAQs |
|
| Barbara Robinson-Dunn, PhD has no financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, or health-care related organizations. Demetrios N. Kyriacou, MD, PhD, editorial consultant, has no financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, or health-care related organizations. Niklas Mackler, MD has no financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, or health-care related organizations. Sandro Cinti, MD has no financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, or health-care related organizations. |
|
|
|
The information included herein should never be used as a substitute
for clinical judgment and does not represent an official position of
ACP. Because all PIER modules are updated regularly, printed web pages
or PDFs may rapidly become obsolete. Therefore, PIER users should
compare the date of the last update on the website with any printout
to ensure that the information being referred to is the most current
available.
|
PIER is copyrighted (c) 2008 by the American College of Physicians,
190 N. Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106-1572, USA.
|
|
|
Anthrax
