December 17, 2003 - A question of faith - The MMR debate is now just noisy overkill. I'd rather wallow in ignorance than hear another word of it - The Guardian, UK - "The trouble is that the vaccination question is not merely personal but political. Your Country Needs You to vaccinate your child in order to protect other, vulnerable children in the community, runs the official argument. But you won't get the whole truth when doctors are paid incentive fees to vaccinate and drug companies are involved, goes the counter-spin. This is not so much a discussion as a race for moral high-ground, each side wielding childhood death and damage statistics like light sabres in the dark."

December 17, 2003 - Flu: What is all the hoopla? - by Randall Neustaedter, OMD - The Natural Health Newsletter - "'First SARS, then monkeypox, now the flu. How far can the media go in stirring up public hysteria and fear of diseases? Answer: as far as drug companies tell them. “Jump,” say the drug companies. “How high?” say their media cohorts. “High enough to sell all our new flu vaccine.'”

December 17, 2003 - Docs Fury Over MMR Show - Daily Record, UK

December 17, 2003 - Bill would allow right to free single jabs for MMR - The Herald, UK - "PLANS to give parents the right to free single vaccinations for MMR were presented yesterday by the Scottish Socialists...Carolyn Leckie, SSP list MSP for Central Scotland, who is also a midwife, unveiled a proposed back-bench bill to go before the Scottish Parliament encouraging worried parents to choose single vaccinations instead of the all-in-one MMR jab, which has been suspected by some health experts of being the cause of the rising incidence of autism...Although Ms Leckie's move is unlikely to become law because of executive insistence that there is no scientifically proved case against the single vaccination, it is certain to provoke heated debate at Holyrood."

December 16, 2003 - Flu Experts Feared Vaccine Shortage - AP via www.wafb.com

December 16, 2003 - SARS vaccines ready for clinical test in China: watchdog - Three kinds of vaccine for the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are ready for clinical testing after passing an upcoming experts evaluation, according to China's medical authority. - People's Daily, China

December 16, 2003 - More Fujian flu vaccine to be available - www.thestar.com.my

December 16, 2003 - US buys 375,000 more flu shots - AP via The Seattle Times

December 16, 2003 - State works with MedImmune to distribute FluMist - (subscription required) - The Daily Record

December 16, 2003 - Run on Flu Vaccine Highlights Vaccine Woes - Reuters, UK - "The current run on influenza vaccine in United States highlights the neglected status of vaccines in general, health experts said on Tuesday -- but efforts are under way to improve vaccine technology and supply...The group also advised stronger liability protections for manufacturers; a requirement that manufacturers give advance notice if they are leaving the marketplace; and a national campaign to emphasize the safety and benefits of vaccines...'We don't value prevention in this country," said Dr. Paul Offit of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a leading vaccine expert.'"

Comment: By "prevention", of course, Dr. Offit means vaccination, not practicing good health practices like breastfeeding, washing your hands, eating properly, exercising, drinking quality water, getting enough sleep, etc.  And what this article fails to mention is that while some may consider Dr. Offit an "expert", others remain more circumspect about his credentials, given that he is paid by the vaccine manufacturers to teach doctors that vaccines are safe, as well as a vaccine developer.  (See FACA: Conflicts of Interest and Vaccine Development: Preserving the Integrity of the Process)

December 17, 2003 - Vaccinating against disaster - The Washington Times - "Parents are in a panic about getting their kids immunized as a flu epidemic spreads rapidly across America. But if Democrats (and some Republicans) get their way, the vaccine shortages will soon spread to medicines for other diseases...    That's because Democrats want to apply the policies that produced the shortages — federal bulk purchase and distribution of old vaccines at government-controlled prices, combined with a refusal to pay for new technology in the name of cost containment — to every drug used for every disease, no matter how fatal."

December 17, 2003 - Rationing for Vaccine for Meningitis - The New York Times - "pot shortages of a vaccine to prevent meningitis in babies have led the American Academy of Pediatrics to notify its members that the vaccine is being rationed and that if a widespread shortage occurs the vaccination schedule will be changed...The vaccine is Prevnar, made by Wyeth. It is not the same as the meningitis vaccine recommended for young adults living in college dormitories or barracks."

December 17, 2003 - MSP bid for single MMR - The Scotsman

December 16, 2003 - Congress seeks $150 million to upgrade flu vaccine production - CNN

December 16, 2003 - Parents Told To Nurture Autistic Kids - www.brudirect.com

December 16, 2003 - Poll finds 30 percent of families have children with learning disorders - Sripps Howard News Service via www.islandpacket.com - "One in every three American families has had to cope with a child with a learning disability or a mental illness and most people believe such problems are increasing, according to a poll by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University...In a national survey of 1,054 people, 65 percent said they believe learning disabilities are becoming more common and 72 percent said mental health problems are becoming more common...Thirty percent of poll respondents said they have had a child under age 18 in their family - a brother or sister, son or daughter, niece or nephew, grandchild or first cousin - diagnosed with a learning disability. Eight percent said they have had more than one child diagnosed with a learning disability."

December 16, 2003 - Evidence of chemical effects on children mounts - Scripps Howard News Service via The Albuquerque Tribune - "Across the nation, evidence of a growing number of children diagnosed with attention, learning, behavioral and emotional disorders have perplexed doctors and researchers and worried teachers and parents...The disturbing conclusion some experts are reaching is that a significant share of these conditions may be caused by environmental toxins that interfere with brain development in children beginning in the womb and which may be lowering the intelligence of the population at large...Epidemiologists caution that personal observations or even documented trends in diagnosis are not proof that any of these disorders is increasing in children. Only a national study that investigates and tracks tens of thousands of children - something that has never been done in the United States - would be able to determine the true prevalence of these problems and whether they are actually increasing...Over the years, scientists have repeatedly lowered their estimates of how much mercury people can tolerate. The same is true for lead, which has been known for over a century to cause brain damage."

Comment: What, no mention of vaccines?

Comment:  And, pray tell, given the alarming rise in the number of children with developmental disabilities, why has "a national study that investigates and tracks tens of thousands of children...never been done in the United States"? 

December 16, 2003 - Edwards proposes new tracking system for flu, other diseases - N.C. Senator Wants To Prevent This Year's Crisis - AP via www.nbc17.com

December 17, 2003 - Flu scientist calls for new technique - 'Reverse genetics' method still needs government approval - Rocky Mountain News - "An experimental method called reverse genetics could have been used to create a flu vaccine to protect against the Fujian strain, which sparked this fall's early and intense outbreak in Colorado and other Western states, said Dr. Linda Lambert of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases...'The technology was there to make a Fujian vaccine candidate you could have given to the manufacturers,' Lambert said...But the technique, which targets individual influenza genes, hasn't been approved by regulatory agencies. Patent issues and financial roadblocks could further slow the adoption of reverse genetics and other emerging vaccine technologies."

December 16, 2003 - Deadly Bird Flu Spreads to Ducks - Korea Times

December 16, 2003 - Health: What to do when the flu hits children - AP via The Charleston Gazette

December 16, 2003 - China confident it can control SARS, although virus remains mystery - AFP via www.channelnewsasia.com

December 16, 2003 - Panel urges fresh focus on terror - Says push to protect US has waned since '01 - AP via Boston Globe

December 16, 2003 - China confident if SARS returns - AFP via www.abc.net.au

December 16, 2003 - USFDA Lauds Akunyili's fight Against Fake Drugs - This Day via www.allafrica.com

December 16, 2003 - Why Tonsils Can Be a Pain in the Neck - Newsday - "Once upon a time, getting your tonsils out was almost a rite of passage in childhood...Today, however, opinions about these two little clumps of tissue are changing. Doctors aren't so quick to remove them. And researchers are discovering that the tonsils are actually front-line guards in the defense against bacteria, viruses and other pathogens making their way into the body."

Comment:  How many of our children's immune systems were unnecessarily permanently impaired by the well-meaning, but misinformed removal of tonsils?  How many of our children's immune systems are being unnecessarily permanently impaired by current often well-meaning, but arguably equally misinformed, one-size fits all, "mandatory" vaccination policies?

*Note:  Starting December 10, 2003 news will be posted in the "daily news" pages based on when it was posted on this website, not by publication date.