Treatment for Anthrax


Most treatments for anthrax include antibiotics. Drugs including penicillin, doxycycline, and ciprofloxacin are especially effective in treating anthrax in its early stages. Dosages are prescribed for seven to ten days in such cases and the goal of such medication is to destroy the infection and prevent further complications.

Inhalational anthrax cases may require a combination of antibiotics administered orally and intravenously. Medication is generally prescribed for 60 days as it takes that long for spores of the anthrax bacteria to germinate inside the body and develop into an infection.

In case of a bioterrorism attack, there is a vaccine that exists to treat anthrax. However, this vaccine is not available to the public for any other cases of anthrax. Since anthrax is a high risk disease, state health agencies have to be notified whenever a case of anthrax is diagnosed. These state health bodies are also better equipped to categorize the type of infection and determine the proper course of treatment.