# Anthrax

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthrax/158105>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 28, 2003, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthrax/158105 "2003-02-28T12:35:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthrax/158105/1 "2003-02-28T12:35:53Z")

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I was just wondering, why is the vacination for anthrax considered “unsafe” by some? I don’t know much about virology and I’m wondering if there’s a basic answer (that my dumb butt could understand) as to why the measels vaccine is considered safe, but there is a controversy involving anthrax (I heard a little blurb on the radio this morning).

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**Author:** ![Jammers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@Jammers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jammers)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthrax/158105/2 "2003-02-28T12:56:15Z")

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My WAG would be that the mild form of measles that they inoculate with might give you a bit of a headache, but a mild form of anthrax might be a considerable amount worse. I don’t know, though

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**Author:** ![Yeah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/dbc845/32.png) [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthrax/158105/3 "2003-02-28T23:34:46Z")

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Both are considered safe by experts and unbiased observation backs that up. Nevertheless, there are people who claim that either or both are unsafe.

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**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthrax/158105/4 "2003-03-01T02:27:24Z")

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I believe the current vaccine is made from cell antigens not the entire bacterium. It doesn’t infect you with the disease, rather it causes the immune system to produce antibodies that disable the bacteria by latching onto that particular antigen.  
Some are concerned that the vaccine may have contaminating parts of cells in it while others have mentioned the preservatives possibly causing side effects. I’ve not seen anything so far that clearly demonstrates either of those problems.