In recent weeks, fears about bioterrorism have led the Bush administration to request $1.5 billion to fight germ attacks, and some members of Congress are arguing for as much as $7 billion in new spending.
It pointed out that children's minds and bodies can respond differently than adults' do to chemical and germ attacks and to the medicines given to treat them, and that children were more susceptible than adults to some airborne agents because they breathe faster or because the agents tend to collect closer to the ground.
After World War II, Americans learned that Japan had conducted extensive germ attacks and experiments on humans, mostly in Japanese-occupied areas of China.
In the early 1990's, Aum Shinriko, a Japanese cult, launched germ attacks in and around Tokyo that were meant to kill millions.
Since 9/11, governments and the health care industry have been trying to prepare for a smallpox or other germ attack with steps like cataloging and bolstering the inventories of isolation rooms and filter masks.
Also recommended by the Department of Homeland Security are face masks for use in a germ attack or to filter out dust and debris from an explosion and potassium iodide in the event radiation is detected from a nuclear bomb or a reactor.
An Administration official said that the Defense Department's 10new National Guard biological response units would help police, fire and public health officials in towns and cities cope with a germ attack.
The smallpox vaccine alone is estimated to cost more than $509 million, and the administration wants to spend another $643 million to expand the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile, a cache of medicines and supplies to be used after a germ attack.
And, he said, he was not afraid of a germ attack even though his job theoretically made him vulnerable, like the postal employees who contracted anthrax.
In her paper, Dr. Rosenberg said she believed that the culprit's motive was not necessarily to kill but to stir public fear and so highlight the importance of building up defenses against germ attack.
