Plague vaccine

General information

Plague vaccine is a suspension of the formaldehyde-killed encapsulated form of Yersinia pestis . Primary immunization involves three doses given intramuscularly.

The Working Group on Civilian Biodefense has developed consensus-based recommendations for measures to be taken by medical and public health professionals following the use of plague as a biological weapon against a civilian population [ ]. They concluded that an aerosolized plague weapon could cause fever, cough, chest pain, and hemoptysis, with signs consistent with severe pneumonia 1–6 days after exposure. Rapid evolution of disease would occur in the 2–4 days after the onset of symptoms and would lead to septic shock with a high mortality if early treatment was not instituted. They advised early treatment and prophylaxis with streptomycin or gentamicin or one of the tetracycline or fluoroquinolone classes of antimicrobials.