November 9, 2004

Congressman Donating His Antibodies to Prevent Flu

After Getting Flu Shot, Wants to Help Those Who Voted for Him

More than 5,000 people unable to obtain flu shots have signed up to receive the antibodies of a Louisiana congressman who got his flu shot from a special allotment of the scarce vaccine given to members of Congress.

The office of Beau L. Regard, a Democrat who represents Louisiana's 198th congressional district, said that the antibody shots will be given free of charge to constituents who sign an affidavit attesting that they voted for the congressman's re-electon. Antibody recipients must also swear on a King James Bible, Democrat Edition, that they voted for him.

The shots will be given by medical volunteers at a series of clinics in the 198th district during Thanksgiving weekend.

"It's my way of saying thank you to my loyal constituents," Regard said in a news release. "I was instructed by the chief physician of the Congress to receive a shot as a matter of national security. I searched for a way to share my flu shot with the citizens of the Great State of Louisiana and giving away my antibodies seemed like the right thing to do."

Regard and his staff have been close-mouthed about what method is being used to gather the congressman's antibodies and how injecting them into another person might prevent the recipient from getting the flu.

"The congressman is giving blood several times week and we are working with a California biotech firm to isolate the appropriate antibodies," a member of Regard's staff said. "I can't reveal more than that, but I can tell you that various medical experts have said the injections will be safe and should protect those who receive them from a case of the flu during the coming flu season."

Staff members said Regard is giving blood three times a week and that he is eating a special diet of bananas, crawfish, and roasted bayou grass to stimulate production of flu antibodies in his blood and to keep his energy up.

A spokesman at the Food and Drug Administration declined to comment, saying that the agency had no jurisdiction over members of Congress.

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