Sunday, May 19, 2013

Health

Tularemia

By U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Posted 3/29/06

Page 2 of 2

Treatment

All forms of tularemia can be successfully treated with antibiotics, including streptomycin, gentamicin, or doxycycline.
The choice of antibiotics is determined by the patient's age and health and the availability of the drug when weighed against the number of cases in an area.
Physicians prefer the injection of antibiotics for more effective results.

Vaccine

An investigational vaccine for tularemia was developed but is currently unavailable. When it was in use, it was in limited distribution, mainly to lab workers.
The vaccine is not useful for people who have already been exposed to tularemia.
The current vaccine does not fully protect against inhalational tularemia.
Research continues on a next-generation vaccine for inhalational tularemia; more information is available at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases website (www2.niaid.nih.gov/biodefense).

Prevention

Avoid contact with dead animals that may be infected.
Decontaminate yourself with soap and water if you have come into contact with the bacteria.
Decontaminate surfaces using solutions that are a combination of bleach and alcohol.

Assessing the Risk

Although the disease can occur naturally, it is rare, so the bacteria are only moderately available.
Tularemia bacteria are minimally stable, since even moderate heat and disinfectants can kill the organism.
Terrorists would have to be highly skilled to use tularemia in an attack because the bacteria are difficult to process and stabilize into a form that can do great harm. A waterborne attack would require too great of an amount of the bacteria to poison the water, since chlorine added to most drinking water would kill the bacteria.
When treated with antibiotics, tularemia has a low lethality.

More information on disasters and emergencies is available at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's website: http://www.hhs.gov/emergency