My husband had an anthrax shot in the army a few years ago, could it have caused him to now be infertile?

Question

PLEASE RESPOND....I am desperate for answers, I am only 24 and we want a child desperately but have had no luck...

Answer 1

Yes

Answer 2

There was a letter sent out to some enlisted personnel some time ago telling them that the anthrax vaccine could make them sterile. However my husband did not receive one of those letters and he has had 4 or 5 anthrax shots over his Army career. We have two children so there hasn't been any sort of problem with him. I do know one soldier who received the letter and he just recently found out that his girlfriend is pregnant.

How long have you been trying to conceive? If it has been a year you can go to your PCM and they will refer you and your husband for fertility testing. There could be many other possibilities other than the anthrax shot causing your problems. My advice is.....if it hasn't been a year, relax as stress can wreak havoc with your cycle and his swimmers, and keep trying.

Spookerguy has given a fantastic answer.....you should try all those things if you haven't already. Best of luck to you and God Bless.

Answer 3

The anthrax shot your husband received is a dead version of the anthrax bacteria. If it were alive and virulent, your husband would be dead. To the best of my knowledge, anthrax vaccines do not cause infertility.

Let me give you a suggestion on the fertility issue.

1.)Go to a fertility clinic.

2.)Go take a class on natural family planning. Most Catholic churches offer courses on the subject and their methodologies are EXTREMELY effective at achieving conception.

3.)If you do not follow steps 1 or 2, here is a crash course in achieving conception naturally:

If your cycles are regular, try to have intercourse (or more intercourse) about 17-14 days before you start your period. This is the 'usual' time that most women ovulate. Also, check your cervical mucus when you use the restroom to urinate. After you wipe yourself, you can check the mucus left on the tissue. If your mucus is slippery-stretchy like the texture of egg-white, you are likely in the fertile time of your cycle. If your cycles are not entirely 'regular', the mucus method will still give you a fairly accurate idea of when you are ovulating. You may want to avoid intercourse in the days before this 'fertile' time, as this maximizes the amount of sperm available for fertilizing an egg,

Hope this helps. Best of luck to you.

Answer 4

There are many soldiers and government officials who received these vaccinations and man since them have had families. I would suggest you go to fertility clinic and make sure that he is really the one with the troubles (no offense). Or it may be neither of you has any true problem. My dad had a kid from his first marriage with no problem, when he and my mom got married they wanted a kid (me) but after quite a while they decided to visit clinic, both were found to be very healthy and no reason found why they weren't able to conceive. Then after I was born mom had tubes died because they didn't want kids, she still got pregnant over 5 years later with my little sister, according to statistics this is nearly impossible, so don't worry things happen in their own time no matter how much we might try to force them quicker

Answer 5

Possible but highly unlikely. First you need a professional to determine if he's infertile; then you would have to pursue the question of cause and might not ever get a coherent answer.

In the meantime - tell hubby to avoid any tight-fitting underpants, and also to avoid hot showers and hot tubs. Keep 'the boys' reasonably cool and you may find the problem solving itself. Good luck!

Answer 6

A federal district judge ruled Monday that the Defense Department could not compel members of the armed forces to be vaccinated against anthrax without their consent.

The judge, Emmet G. Sullivan, issued a preliminary injunction that prohibits Pentagon officials from "inoculating service members without their consent."

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The judge found that the vaccine in question, intended to protect military personnel against the potentially deadly effects of inhaled anthrax, was "an investigational drug," being used for an unapproved purpose.

"The women and men of our armed forces put their lives on the line every day to preserve and safeguard the freedoms that all Americans cherish and enjoy," Judge Sullivan wrote. "Absent an informed consent or presidential waiver, the United States cannot demand that members of the armed forces also serve as guinea pigs for experimental drugs."

Administering the vaccine without the consent of those who receive it "amounts to arbitrary action," the judge said.

A Pentagon official said that more than one million people had received the anthrax vaccine from the Defense Department since 1998. They include active-duty personnel, members of the National Guard and employees of military contractors.

Under federal law, scientists are generally supposed to obtain consent before giving anyone an investigational or unapproved drug. Another federal law says the president may waive this requirement for certain members of the armed forces if he determines, in writing, that obtaining consent is not feasible or "not in the interests of national security."

Judge Sullivan said President Bush had not issued such a waiver. Moreover, the judge said, if the Bush administration finds that compulsory vaccinations are truly imperative, "then obtaining a presidential waiver would be an expeditious end to this controversy."

The judge gave the government until the end of January to file a response. A Pentagon official said the Justice Department was reviewing the decision. Defense Department officials will meet soon to determine "the appropriate next steps," he said.

Other Pentagon officials said it was not immediately clear if the department would have to stop giving the vaccine to service members while legal proceedings continue. The officials said they did not know when that decision would be made.

On its Web site, the Defense Department, in explaining the rationale for its anthrax vaccination policy, said, "Inhaled anthrax is 99 percent lethal in an unprotected, unvaccinated population, left untreated." Under Saddam Hussein, it said, Iraq had the ability to wage biological warfare, as "thousands of pounds of anthrax agent were loaded into missiles, aerial bombs and spray tanks." So far, neither military personnel, nor special teams of inspectors searching in Iraq have found any stocks of anthrax or other biological agents.

The Pentagon said the armed forces had "a long history of compulsory vaccination," including requirements for soldiers to be vaccinated against tetanus, typhoid and yellow fever in World War II.

"We fight and win as teams," the Defense Department said. If several members of the military fall victim to anthrax, it said, "they could jeopardize the lives of other team members."

Federal officials told the court that the anthrax vaccine posed a minimal risk of serious adverse reactions. Only 105 such reactions were reported among the first 830,000 people who received the vaccine from military authorities, they said.

But Judge Sullivan said, "It is impossible to tell with any certainty what the long-term effects of the vaccination will be." Moreover, he said, the effectiveness of the vaccine against inhaled anthrax has not been demonstrated by "adequate and well-controlled studies."

The case was filed by six people who had been ordered to appear for anthrax shots; Three had already begun the series of inoculations.

Answer 7

my husband has had several series of anthrax shots since he got in 4 years ago and we have two kids after the fact but i guess it effects everyone differently

Answer 8

I dont know, But I can tell you that I have had an Anthrax shot and am still fertile

Answer 9

exactly..you are 24. what's the rush?! how long have you been married? how long have you been trying? if it's only been a year, give it time. If you really want some answers..then each of you need to get a complete physical.

Answer 10

I can't see anyway that it could. However, you should go check with a fertility clinic. If he is infertile, I think it might be another cause.