Antibiotics cure anthrax in animal models
In the absence of early antibiotic treatment, respiratory anthrax is fatal. The 2001 bioterrorism attacks in the US killed four people, out of 22 infected (10 of them with respiratory anthrax), despite massive antibiotic administration, probably because therapy did not begin until the disease had reached the fulminant stage. But a multi-agent prophylaxis initiated within 24 hours post-infection prevented development of fatal anthrax respiratory disease, and treatment combining antibiotics with immunization with a protective antigen-based vaccine conferred long-term protective immunity against reestablishment of the disease, according to a study in the April 2011 issue of the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. This study is the first to characterize the severity of respiratory anthrax that can be cured.