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on Sun, Oct 21, 2001 at 06:02:17PM -0700, David Honig ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote:
> At 02:56 PM 10/21/01 -0700, Karsten M. Self wrote:
> >The media hype also tends to ignore the fact that anthrax is, in the
> >forms detected to date, largely treatable. Gross attempts at
> >containment (expensive) are less advisable than identification and
> >treatment of exposed individuals (less expensive).
>
> Once the person has enough symptoms to seek treatment, I think they're
> toast. We'll see. Maybe all USPO workers will be given 60 days of
> Cipro. If they're the only ones to survive, the species is fucked.
You clearly can't to wait for individuals to be symptomatic, you have to
detect eposures. The point, however, is that exposure itself isn't a
high risk given appropriate, timely, treatment.
The Economist is now reporting on "instant screening":
http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=821937
Biological weapons
Testing times
Oct 18th 2001
From The Economist print edition
Instant screening for anthrax is now possible
[...]
Unfortunately, the two established methods for identifying anthrax
and other microbial contaminants involve time-consuming laboratory
techniques. One is to try to culture an organism from the powder,
and then subject it to a barrage of chemical tests to identify it.
The other is to amplify and identify its DNA . The first takes days,
and the second is a sophisticated technique that few laboratories
are yet able to manage. So, even if the result is negative, chaos
may already have been caused and the act of terrorism rewarded.
A better solution would be to screen on the spot. And technology to
do this is now available. It uses a test strip, costing $20, that
looks like a pregnancy-detection kit.
The Guardian Bio-Threat Alert System is a joint development by
Alexeter Technologies, based in Wheeling, Illinois, and Tetracore,
of Gaithersburg, Maryland. It takes 15 minutes to react to the
presence of anthrax, and it is the only rapid field test now
available.
[...]
Apologies if this was already posted here. Search of my inbox doesn't
turn it up.
Peace.
- --
Karsten M. Self <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://kmself.home.netcom.com/
What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand? Home of the brave
http://gestalt-system.sourceforge.net/ Land of the free
Free Dmitry! Boycott Adobe! Repeal the DMCA! http://www.freesklyarov.org
Geek for Hire http://kmself.home.netcom.com/resume.html
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