§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision she has made for the treatment bf, or vaccination against, penicillin-resistant anthrax.
§ Mr. SackvilleAnthrax vaccine creates protective immunity to the toxin produced by the anthrax bacillus. The vaccine is, therefore, effective against all strains of anthrax, irrespective of their antibiotic sensitivity.
The anthrax bacillus is sensitive to a number of common antibiotics and these would be available for treatment in the rare event of penicillin-resistant strains.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment her Department has made of the extent to 79W which naturally occurring strains of anthrax are resistant to penicillin; and if she will make a statement on penicillin-resistant anthrax.
§ Mr. SackvilleOnly three cases of penicillin-resistant anthrax have been described in the world literature. One of these occurred in 1974 in the United Kingdom and this was verified at the Public Health Laboratory Service's centre for applied microbiology and research. The other two reports were from Bosnia and Japan, but it has been impossible to verify these. With these exceptions, natural strains of anthrax are not resistant to penicillin.