MMI Undergraduate Club Meeting Minutes, Wednesday, February 1, 2006

Announcements:

• Clothing Drive '06!
  • T-shirts
  • Polo's
  • Sweatshirts
    
    All proceeds go to MMI Club.  Order form will be sent via email and posted in MMI Club website.  Orders due April 14 in MMI Dept. Office, 436 SMI.
    
    
• Should there be some meetings on Thursdays or Tuesdays this semester?  (no opposition)
• Dues:  $5/semester.  Drop box is in MMI Dept. Office.

Tonight's speaker:  Joe Cordova, of the WI division of public health of state health department.

• Experience in military public health.
• Many bioterrorism experts hired after 9/11/01 => more funding for defense programs.
• Study microorganisms & try to understand how they could be used as weapons.
• Few microorganisms could really be used as weapons; they are hard to control and precisely manipulate.
• Anthrax spores:  much study on both "sides" during Cold War, USSR also developed smallpox bioweapons before the end of the Cold War.
• Good book relating to this:  The Cobra Event by Richard Preston, who also wrote The Hot Zone. 
• After 9/11, lots of $$ was given to the CDC and states for anti-terrorism; state labs, logistics and local public health response plans.
• Here in WI, local jurisdiction (village, town, etc.) has final say over law; this makes the logistics of handling federal money and mandates much more complicated. 
• What would happen in the event of an antrax spore attack in WI? 
  • High exposure a concern
  • Treatment: can vaccinate or give antibodies
  • Military personnel vaccinated.  Leads to internal conflict because vaccine has lots of side effects and requires six doses to be effective. 
• Smallpox:  also an old vaccine with bad side effects
  • If vaccinate within 4 days of exposure, can easily sidestep full effects of disease.
  • Some evidence that smallpox was used in Iraq during the 1^st Gulf War
  • Currently 600 doses of vaccine available in WI
  • If a single case of smallpox is reported anywhere in the country, CDC will ship vaccine to states, enough for every citizen ( in WI, six million doses).  Same for anthrax. However, logistical concerns: would need to vaccinate everyone in the state within four days.
• CDC has programs in place at the airports to help contain incoming oversees infections.
• Vaccine shortages–a problem for many diseases
• Recently, a pertussis vaccine was approved for use by adolescents. 
• Avian Flu:  a coming pandemic?
  • Keeping tabs on vaccines can be difficult because made by several companies, both public and private.
  • Not many vaccine manufacturers (not a very lucrative business, compared to other pharmaceuticals.)
  • Public health workers and other emergency personnel (firefighters, police, doctors, nurses) would be vaccinated first.
• The military has USAMRAD base for research, plus the CDC facilities; work closely together.  Many civilian scientists employed.
• Military research:  can also fund and rely on results from private industry research.
• Other bases:  Bethesda Naval hospital (Maryland) & Ramstein base (Germany).
• Less of a need to write grants, but must be able to defend the spending and display results; always susceptible to auditing.
• Red tape–lots of concerns with funding.
• Caches of vaccines are usually within one hours of major population centers.
• Another good book:  The Demon in the Freezer also by Richard Preston.
• Antibiotic resistance education programs.