December 10, 2003*        

Vaccine-related

November 1, 2002 - The Victim Friendly National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Act: You've Got to Be Kidding! - by Stanley P. Kops, Esq. - The Litigation Report - www.harrismartin.com via www.redflagsdaily.com - "Anyone who has yet to engage in practice governed by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Act, a step required for all current vaccine injury and death claims as a condition precedent to litigation in a private forum, should proceed with great caution. Though the Congressional intent was to create a victim-friendly statute which provided just and fair compensation quickly and without the uncertainties and proof problems inherent in civil actions, frequent practitioners under the Act are in virtually universal agreement that the program, as it has evolved during the past decade and a half, is a perversion of the Congressional intent."

December 10, 2003 - Vaccines caused my three children's neuro disorders (letter) - The Illinois Leader - "The pharmaceutical companies are so large and almighty that bringing them down is a challenge but one that I and many other parents are slowly doing...I'm not anti-vaccine. I am for safe vaccines - vaccines without known neurotoxins such as thimerosal, and other additives such as aluminum, aborted fetus cells, and formaldehyde."

December 10, 2003 - A shot in the dark - The U.S. military requires troops to take controversial anthrax shots and court-martials them if they refuse. But critics say the vaccine is too dangerous -- and with Saddam's bioweapons nowhere to be found, needless. - www.salon.com

December 10, 2003 - Nasal Spray Flu Vaccine Could Take Off, Boosting Maker - USA Today via www.immunizationinfo.org - "The demand for influenza vaccine has increased due to an outbreak of a strong strain of flu, and Aventis and Chiron have shipped all their inventory of flu shots. This could turn into opportunity for MedImmune, which manufactures the FluMist nasal spray vaccine and whose sales so far have been slow. FluMist's launch was hindered by a number of factors, including its higher price, its limited approval for patients, and the fact that it must be kept frozen. However, MedImmune's marketing partner, Wyeth, has started a freezer distribution program, and higher demand could push sales."

Comment: Is all this a coincidence?  For more on this, go to New Campaign To Market Tough-Sell FluMist® - by Sherri Tenpenny, DO - Online Vaccines Conference @ www.redflagsdaily.com

November 28, 2003 - A shot for the flu, with mercury too - Canadians are getting a dose of something unexpected with their flu shots this season: mercury. - Capital News Online - "Provincial and territorial governments use an influenza vaccine that contains the mercury compound thimerosal as a preservative. They buy it because it's less expensive than vaccines without mercury."

December 6, 2003 - 700 senior citizens in Singapore get enhanced flu jabs to combat new flu virus strain - Channel News Asia - "Managing Director of Pacific Biosciences, Lloyd Soong, said: 'The elderly are a little different from us healthy adults, so their immunity system is a little different. So if you give the normal flu vaccines then maybe you're protected about 90 percent for healthy adults like us, but for the elderly if you use the so-called normal flu vaccines probably about 30 to 40 percent of the elderly are protected only.'...But while Fluad is also suitable for adults, it is not recommended for young children. They're better off with an ordinary flu vaccine."

December 2003 - Flu vaccination could mean extra doctor trips - Study reports a high rate of healthy infants who would require and additional visit to receive influenza vaccine. (requires registration) - journal article (Infectious Diseases In Children) - "An important drawback of the recent decision by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to move to a full universal influenza recommendation for healthy young infants in the fall of 2004 is the possibility that the requirement will prompt the need for additional medical visits."

December 10, 2003 - U.S. May Secure Flu Vaccine From Extra Supplies Overseas - Wall Street Journal via www.immunizationinfo.org

December 7, 2003 - No more vaccine, say flu shot makers - AP via The Star

December 6, 2003 - Sars vaccine on the horizon - (registration required) - News 24 South Africa

December 7, 2003 - Doc: Vaccine can help protect against flu virus - The Star

December 8, 2003 - Washington State's Supply Of Flu Vaccine About To Run Out - www.kirotv.com

December 6, 2003 - Flu Shots Still Available In Louisville - www.wave3.com

December 6, 2003 - Flu vaccine supply OK: Health Canada - CBC News

December 6, 2003 - Run on flu vaccine sparks global shortage - 2003 The Straits Times

December 6, 2003 - Flu fears drain stock of vaccine - The San Diego Union-Tribune

December 6, 2003 - Get your flu shot, health officials urge - Bend Bulletin

December 6, 2003 - State: Vaccine shortage won't affect flu season - www.kobtv.com

December 6, 2003 - S.C. getting more flu vaccine - AP via www.thestate.com

December 8, 2003 - CDC: Vaccine Offers Some Protection From Potent Flu Strain - Dow Jones Newswire via www.immunizationinfo.org

December 9, 2003 - Pocket of Opposition to Vaccine Threatens Polio Eradication - New York Times via www.immunizationinfo.org

December 9, 2003 - Shortage of Flu Shots Prompts Rationing - Washington Post via www.immunizationinfo.org

December 15, 2003 - Health: Get the Shot, Not the Flu - Parents should be sure to immunize their children before themselves. Those who act now can still get protected - Newsweek via www.msnbc.com

December 6, 2003 - U.S. Moves to Manage Remaining Flu Shot Supplies - Health Day News via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

December 6, 2003 - County health officials report adequate supplies of flu vaccine - King County Journal

December 6, 2003 - The well runs dry on flu vaccine - Its two makers say unexpected demand wiped out supplies. - The Sacramento Bee

December 6, 2003 - Supply of flu vaccine is dwindling - The Seattle Times

December 6, 2003 - Flu shot production done - Los Angeles Times via Sun-Sentinel

December 7, 2003 - Mayor: We Have Enough Vaccine -  New York Post

Ongoing need for influenza immunization - During the third week of October, health officials in Texas reported school outbreaks in the Houston area caused by isolates identified as A (H3N2) strains. (requires registration) - journal article (Infectious Diseases In Children)

December 10, 2003 - A Childhood Killer Once Vanquished Is Returning - USA Today via www.immunizationinfo.org - "Before a vaccine was developed to prevent whooping cough, or pertussis, up to 10,000 people died every year from the disease, particularly infants. Today, the disease is making a dangerous comeback, again striking infants, many of whom may be contracting the illness from teenagers and adults who have lost immunity against whooping cough. Experts say that the best protection could come from immunizing infants at an earlier age, or from giving teenagers booster shots against pertussis; however, there is no vaccine designed for either of those uses, so doctors are left without a system for protecting the very young."

Trends in Pertussis Among Infants in the United States, 1980-1999 - journal article (JAMA) - "Context:  Reported cases of pertussis among adolescents and adults have increased since the 1980s, despite increasingly high rates of vaccination among infants and children. However, severe pertussis morbidity and mortality occur primarily among infants.^"

December 7, 2003 - Cell Genesys Reports Interim Clinical Data From Phase 2 Trial of GVAX(R) Leukemia VaccineUpdated Phase 1/2 Clinical Data from GVAX(R) Myeloma Vaccine Also Reported - (subscription required)  www.zawya.com

Autism-related

December 10, 2003 - FDA mercury warnings come under further fire - Knox News - "The Food and Drug Administration has drafted a health advisory to pregnant women and children that isn't strong enough to prevent brain damage from eating mercury contaminated fish, particularly canned tuna, environmental and consumer groups said Tuesday."

Comment:  As for the problem with injecting an adult-sized mega-dose into the tiny bodies of infants via vaccines - it doesn't pass the "straight-face test" to suggest doing so could be in any way benign.

December 5, 2003 - EPA's Mercury Proposal: More Toxic Pollution for a Longer Time - NRDC - "The proposal, an early Christmas gift to the Bush administration's friends in the energy industry, speaks volumes about the administration's unspoken policy toward America's children. Toxic mercury emissions from power plants put 300,000 newborns each year at risk for neurological impairment. But not only children suffer from mercury exposure. Adults also are threatened. Mercury exposure can damage adult cardiovascular and immune systems, and 8 percent of American women of childbearing age have mercury in their blood above EPA's "safe" level. That's nearly 5 million women."

"Vaccine-preventable" disease-related

December 10, 2003 - Hong Kong Child Gets Avian Flu - Wall Street Journal via www.immunizationinfo.org - "A five-year-old Hong Kong boy was recently diagnosed with a kind of influenza common in poultry but rare in humans. The influenza A strain called H9N2 was the cause of his illness, a development that health officials considered serious, though it is not believed that he transmitted the disease to any other humans. The boy has since recovered from the illness after a brief hospital stay."

December 7, 2003 - Jittery Colorado parents try to cope with flu outbreak - AP via Star Tribune

December 6, 2003 - Local hospitals see many cases of flu - Texarkana Gazette

December 7, 2003 - Experts wonder how bad flu season will be - AP via Tallahassee Democrat

December 6, 2003 - Behind the heads: Susan Bowler: How bad is this flu season? - Steamboat Pilot & Today

December 6, 2003 - Experts brace for bad bout with flu - AP via Tribune Chronicle

December 7, 2003 - Experts fear mutant flu strain will be deadly - Several children have already died, vaccines are in short supply, hospitals filling up - AP via  www.thestate.com - "The last time there was a flu strain mutation similar to the one sickening thousands of Americans this year, nearly 65,000 died...And that was only five years ago...Flu experts say it’s clear this flu season will be much worse than in the past few years, but they are not ready to predict it will be one of the deadliest in modern times."

December 7, 2003 - Ministers' U-turn on foot and mouth strategy - Independent, UK

Other diseases/conditions (some already in the vaccine pipeline)

Summer 2003 - The SARS Epidemic: Are Viruses Taking the Rap for Industrial Poisons? - by Jim West for The Weston Price Foundation

Epidemiology of a killer coronavirus - SARS had a sudden onset and a quick departure from the public stage, but it left behind a lasting impression. (requires registration) - journal article (Infectious Diseases In Children)

December 9, 2003 - Targeted Genetics Targets AIDS - Seattle Times via www.immunizationinfo.org

December 4, 2003 – New Scanner May Find Cancer Earlier Than Mammogram - Reuters Health via Yahoo!

December 3, 2003 - Study Questions Some PSA Prostate Tests - AP via Yahoo! - "Almost a third of men over 75 undergo laboratory blood tests each year to check their prostate health, but a new study questions the value of using the PSA test to screen men that old for prostate cancer (news - web sites)...'There is no evidence that screening men of this age would be beneficial to them, so this may not be the best use of health care resources,' said Dr. Siu-Long Yao, a genital-urinary oncologist at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick, N.J. He is senior author of the study appearing this week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (news - web sites)."

Comment:  That's certainly an understatement.  If "there is no evidence that screening men of this age would be beneficial to them", why have they been doing it?

December 4, 2003 - To defeat the enemy - LaJolla Light - ""Most cancer treatments in the past were based on therapy that was destructive," Deisseroth said. 'Cut it out, burn it with radiation or administer intravenous or oral toxins that would not only kill the cancer cells, but would also damage normal tissue.'...What the cancer center is trying to do is to distinguish what is different about cancer tissue."

Big pharma, research conduct, conflict of interest, ethics

December 10, 2003 - NIH to launch ethics review - Zerhouni promises comprehensive look at lucrative consulting payments to top officials - The Scientist - "The Los Angeles Times on Sunday (December 7) reported that several high-level NIH scientists and officials had received more than $2.5 million in fees and stock options from drug companies for consulting outside of their government work over the past 10 years."

Miscellaneous

December 6, 2003 - Thompson Inspects U.S.-Kenya Health Partnerships - Tours Kenyan clinic and inaugurates new administration building - U.S. State Department via www.allafrica.com

December 2003 - Infectious Diseases in Children - Table of Contents (requires registration)

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