Gulf War 1 - what were YOU injected with?
 

Just sorting out loads of old paperwork from the loft, I found my old Personal Medical Record (B/Med/27 (Rev)).

I found the record that I was injected with Anthrax and Pertussis on 14 Jan 91 . . .

I had to Google Pertussis and it turns out to be Whooping Cough vaccine.

NAPS went down the toilet in theatre as blinding headaches and the sh1ts were not conducive with flying long days.

Has anyone got any different injections? I never went back for the next lot. Wonder how they mixed with all the Yellow Bombers we were taking.

Just curiosity and I'm not 'doing' anything about it, but am interested.

The Pertussis was used as an adjuvant, and is very probably one of the causes of some of the 'Gulf War Syndrome' symptoms. Several articles have been published in the scientific journals indicating that it can lead to increased and prolonged intestinal hypersensitivity.

IIRC Yersinia pestis vaccine (Bubonic plague) was also offered along with cholera, meningitis, rabies, tetanus, typhoid fever and botulinum.

The 'yellow bombers' were Temazepam, taken in order to gain undisturbed sleep.

I remember having the first anthrax jab, probably about the 14th Jan too. I wasn't expecting to have it and wasn't totally convinced about it so didn't have the next two doses. I took the NAPS for a while as they didn't cause me any problems. I don't know about the Pertussis. I don't have my medical record.

Also something called 'cutter'.

Took the injections that were on offer, and didn't have any problems with NAPS.

I kept my Personal Medical Record (B/Med27) on discharge in case I developed a condition attributable to these injections having had them all. So far no adverse reactions.

I did find that I was injected with what appears to be 'Haurix A UHA066A6' in October 1992. Anybody know what this might be?

In my B/Med27 I also found a chit that we had to carry certifying that 'he is not suffering from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome'. The Saudis must have been a bit paranoid about AIDS.

Havrix is a vaccine against Hepatitus A

All US citizens who entered the gulf area received the following vaccinations:
yellow fever, typhoid, cholera, hepatitis B, meningitis, whooping cough, polio, tetanus

Most troops (including pilots) also received Anthrax and many Botulinum toxoid vaccinations.

There's lots of research ongoing on the link between Gulf War syndrome and vaccinations. There is currently insufficient data to either link or rule out vaccinations as a causal factor of Gulf War Syndrome.

Thanks Ken, I watch with interest . . .

That may well be the case specifically with linkage to GW1, but there is a whole raft of published data going back at least a decade before the conflict showing that multiple vaccinations of live inactivated or heat killed whole bacteria over a short period of time causes numerous symptoms and may, in the worst cases, overwhelm the host immune system.

Anthrax, Pertussis and Botulism appear on my records too. NAPS didnt have any effects on me (My friends got quite some wind of it though and we renamed it Not A Pleasant Smell!) BATS was a short-lived thing 'cos I saw what it was doing to others.

With my degree background I took one look at what they were trying to do with the vaccinations and told the medics to foxtrot oscar in fully fine pitch!

They tried hauling me over the coals until pointed out that they didn't have a leg to stand on and that they should peruse QRs.

Tamazepam just ****** me up, I got no sleep, just bad dreams, a headache and the shakes, so that was a no no.

NAPS - ah yes, gave me the squits, shakes, and a hangover type headache. After a few days I decided that a few beers could give me the same (if lessor) symptoms, so they got chucked down the loo!

They were very paranoid - thousands of liberalised westerners, male and female, entering their pure and clean land. A relative was a deployed RAF Sgt medic and given the task of meeting Saudi's request of giving everyone entering the country an "AIDS test". Given the potential social and career implications of a random test coming back positive, his test was simply to ask everyone he saw "Have you ever had AIDS? Yes/No? Next".....

I should add that was for Op Granby.

I got one in each limb in Aug 90, all at the same time. Cutter, Anthrax, Cholera and Tetanus plus a Polio sugar lump. It took time to find out what Cutter was. Initially I was told it was classified but I pointed out to the doc he had just stuck Anthrax in my other leg so how bad could it be? Cutter was Bubonic Plague.

I suspect Gulf War syndrome may have come from the total overload of vaccines; I was lucky...I hope.

Prior to a deployment to Iraq post GW1 I was required to have Hep B and cholera jabs. I had the Hep B but the SMO advised he wold rather treat cholera than give the jab, just don't drink the water! I'm sure at Butterworth in the 60s we had a cholera jab every six months.

As a 7 year old I had quite a few needles poked into my arms before travelling to Malaya where my father had been posted. The pain did not end there. A year later in Malaya, I tripped and cut myself on some rusty piece of metal. I was treated to a second tetanus vaccine. Unlike the jabs in the UK, the Royal Air Force medic in Malaya administered that one posteriorly.

Happily none of jabs stunted my growth.

Remember on a Tristar flight deck talking with Brize's SMO who asked me how was my experience with NAPS.

I told him I'd flushed them down the toilet, he informed me it was a court-marshal offence. I replied okay, but either I fly or I sit on the bog with a headache and besides he'd need to court marshal most of the aircrew I knew as they'd all done the same. I didn't hear any more regarding THAT subject.

As time goes on, I'm convinced that flushing them away and refusing all other injections was the correct course of action. As an aside, when I read accounts of the Hooligans in the Gulf, they too had done the same.

Thanks for your responses.

PS The chap that sent me a PM with a suggestion, noted Chris, thanks.

At Ice Station Kilo I recall asking for information on any possible side effects from having the anthrax jab. That information was not forthcoming so i refused point blank to have it, I recall I was one of many who refused.

When I went to work in Saudi in 1990, an AIDS test was mandatory. Don't know if they still do.

Most of the above. I asked the SMO if anybody had calculated the cumulative effect? He said no.