By:Rebecca Shalomoff
Cipro, the main antibiotic to treat inhalation anthrax, is in high demand around local pharmacies, after the media reported that a case of the deadly disease was confirmed in New York City, and as jittery Five Towners prepare for more terror attacks.
Brett Polow, a Hewlett resident who works near the NBC building where a package tainted with anthrax was discovered, rushed out to buy the drug Friday afternoon. An assistant to NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw was diagnosed with anthrax after she opened a letter, with a Trenton postmark, addressed to Brokaw.
I was freaked out. It happened so close to where I work. So, I bought them just in case,he said.
Since then other cases have been reported in New York City and elsewhere. As a result of Friday's outbreak, people have been lining up at nearby pharmacies to pick up prescriptions for Cipro.
Every other phone call is about Cipro,said Bob Weinstein of Caliber Pharmacy in Hewlett, where only 10-day supplies of the drug are available because it became instantly hard to get by this past weekend.
I tried to get a prescription during the weekend, but I couldn't find a drug store that had it,Meri Khan, a Woodmere resident, said.
On Monday morning, Sangiv, a pharmacist at CVS in Lawrence, was waiting for his shipment of Cipro to come in, since it was sold out by Friday evening.
A prescription of 60 500-mg tablets costs more than $300 and the recommended dose after anthrax exposure is two tablets a day for two months. Symptoms of anthrax, a powdery white substance, are flu-like in the initial stages, but if left untreated could be fatal. In its deadliest form, it could be inhaled, or it could be ingested or absorbed through the skin. Only those with direct contact to the pathogen face a risk, officials said.
Anthrax is more common in developing countries or countries without veterinary public-health programs. The acute infectious disease is caused by spore-forming bacteria commonly occurring in wild or domestic animals. It can sicken humans who touch or inhale spores from infected animals or tissues from infected animals.
The manufacturer of the drug, Bayer AG, announced plans to reopen a plant in Germany and increase production of Cipro by 25 percent.
But medical authorities are warning consumers not to take preventative antibiotics, Cipro, penicillin and tetracycline, if they don't need them. Unnecessary ingestion of these drugs may lead to developing resistance to them. Possible side effects are also a concern, health experts said.
The sale of Cipro is going up because the media is making people scared,a pharmacist at the CVS in Cedarhurst said. It's important not to panic.
Government officials are also urging residents to stay calm and not overreact in the wake of reports of these cases of anthrax.
For more information on anthrax, you may visit the following Web sites: www.cdc.gov, www.webmd.com, www.ciprousa.com or www.anthrax.osd.mil.
For more information regarding public-health actions being taken in New York City, call (877) 817-7621.
