Evaluation of anthrax vaccine safety in 18 to 20 year olds: A first step towards age de-escalation studies in adolescents

Anthrax vaccine adsorbed (AVA, BioThrax®) is recommended for post-exposure prophylaxis administration for the US population in response to large-scale Bacillus anthracis spore exposure. However, no information exists on AVA use in children and ethical barriers exist to performing pre-event pediatric AVA studies. A Presidential Ethics Commission proposed a potential pathway for such studies utilizing an age de-escalation process comparing safety...