December 20, 2003 - The great vaccination debate - With polio vanquished and other deadly diseases in decline, many parents are saying no to the needle. But as more children go unprotected, could some lethal illnesses be poised for a comeback? - Globe and Mail - "Vaccines have become modern-day suits of armour, protecting humanity from deadly pathogens that used to cut us down in great numbers. But with many common illnesses now apparently vanquished, some parents question the need for vaccinating their children, fearing the potential side effects of the shots more than the diseases themselves...In part, the anti-vaccination movement has been fuelled by a growing tendency to question traditional medicine and embrace alternative therapies."

December 19, 2003 - African adventure begins with some scary shots - Chicago Sun-Times - "Despite all the reports of shortages, it's still possible to get a flu shot in Chicago. You just have to be on your way to somewhere else. Somewhere really far away."

December 19, 2003 - Rough flu season highlights economic problems of vaccine industry  - AP via www.canada.com - "This year, the drugmaker again produced 43 million doses - 35 per cent more than were ordered - and it sold out. It isn't supposed to be this way. The flu vaccine business is supposed to be predictable: Customers place orders so manufacturers know how much to produce and they don't lose money throwing away unwanted product."

December 19, 2003 - Use of rubella vaccine is growing worldwide, but more work remains -  Pan American Health Organization via www.eurekalert.org

Comment: For another perspective on the advisability of widespread use of rubella vaccine to prevent congenital rubella sydrome, go to Scandals: Is Rubella Vaccination Playing A Role In The Rise In Autism?

December 18, 2003 - Okayama University to test new cancer vaccine - The Japan Times

December 20, 2003 - Fear of litigation hits supply of flu vaccine - Financial Times - "These factors represent a combination of American dilemmas. Tort liability limits the number of vaccine makers. The profit potential in the vaccine market is often too low to overcome concerns over liability for illnesses that could be traced back to vaccination. And disagreements exist over the appropriate level of government involvement...Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader from Tennessee, last week told a television audience that one cause for shortages was the 'high cost of litigation - the frivolous lawsuits that come from these little, tiny vaccines'."

Comment: "Little, tiny vaccines".  What harm could they possibly do?  Itsy-bitsy atoms.  What harm could they possibly do?  How reassuring.

December 20, 2003 - A Mercury Non-Policy - Washington Post editorial - "Or maybe both federal agencies should take a lesson from the District: Determine what is really hazardous, be clear about it, resist pressure to hush it up -- and then get the cleanup going."

Comment: Sounds like a plan.

December 18, 2003 - Ex-teacher arrested in mercury spill incident - AP via The Enquirer - "A former biology teacher at Sacred Heart Academy was arrested for allegedly trying to clean a small amount of mercury that spilled without alerting school officials...When mercury is spilled in a classroom, the students are supposed to be evacuated and the room sealed off, school and health officials said."

Comment:  But inject huge doses into tiny babies?  Not to worry.  It's the good kind of mercury, the kind that can't hurt you, that we've been injecting into them.

December 18, 2003 - Love and despair: Ohio families struggle to provide medical treatment for their children - Families of sickest kids crushed by soaring costs and state aid cuts - Lancaster Eagle-Gazette

December 19, 2003 - Governor decides not to slash aid to disabled - Plan was a mistake, Schwarzenegger says - The Mercury News - "A month ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, long an advocate of programs for the developmentally disabled, shocked backers of these services when he announced he was slashing millions in aid to those with autism, cerebral palsy and mental retardation...Thursday, Schwarzenegger, whose Kennedy family in-laws started the Special Olympics, confirmed he had made an about-face and decided not to trim the aid, saying it was all a mistake.

December 18, 2003 - Parents, schools bear high cost of autism - The Sacramento Bee - "Jackson's tutoring sessions teach him communication and behavioral skills that are intuitive to non-autistic children -- sessions that put him and thousands of other autistic children at the center of a growing dilemma for California. Experts say these intensive treatments are the only technique proven effective in giving autistic children the skills they need to live independent lives...Yet with the state's autistic population doubling in the past four years, the success of these life lessons and their high costs -- as much as $60,000 a year per child -- threaten to overwhelm school districts already struggling to balance their budgets."

December 20, 2003 - CDC Activates Center to Deal With Flu - AP via Newsweek

December 20, 2003 - Flu Experts: Worst Yet to Come - http://kfab-amhealth.ip2m.com

December 20, 2003 - Health officials declare flu an epidemic - Newsday via The Seattle Times - "The nationwide sweep of influenza now has been classified by federal health officials as an epidemic in the wake of 42 youngsters' deaths and 36 states reporting widespread flu...The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is urging people not to overwhelm emergency rooms because most influenza infections can be treated successfully at home...The number of flu cases technically has not surpassed the threshold to declare an official epidemic in the United States...But CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding, who long had avoided using the "e" word, yesterday called the nationwide influenza outbreak a bona fide epidemic. 'From a practical perspective, given the number of people affected, it's fair to characterize it as an epidemic,' she said."

December 20, 2003 - Flu has killed 42 children, teens, CDC says - Washington Post via www.azcentral.com - "Because the federal government doesn't usually collect statistics on flu cases and deaths, Gerberding said it remains unclear whether more children are dying this year than in previous years. But the fact that the agency has taken the unusual step of collecting the data this year and for the first time released a tally is a sign of concern among federal health officials."

December 19, 2003 - Polio prevalence in West Africa is at crisis point - GNA via www.ghanaweb.com

December 20, 2003 - U.S. Offers Advice on When to Seek Flu Care - The New York Times - "'We want to reassure people that the vast majority of people who encounter influenza — and that's about 10 to 20 percent of us every year — do perfectly fine and there are no special health concerns other than the annoyance of having an illness for a few days,' Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, the centers' director, said in a teleconference with reporters."

Comment:  Remind me, then, why just about everyone is supposed to get a flu shot?  Who, exactly, does this benefit, other than the vaccine manufacturers and those with financial ties to them?

December 20, 2003 - Specter of Flu Outbreak Haunts Doctors - AP via The Herald-Sun - "Some U.S. hospitals are already struggling to deal with the current flu outbreak. But that is nothing compared to what would happen if a powerful new flu strain exploded into a worldwide flu outbreak, known as a pandemic...Patients would overwhelm hospitals, and the overflow would have to be housed elsewhere, such as schools -- which would already be closed. Nurses, already in short supply, could not possibly get to everyone. And there would be even fewer doctors and nurses once they, too, started getting sick...There would not be enough antiviral drugs or ventilators to take care of the elderly, who are most at risk of dying from flu."

December 20, 2003 - Woman bitten by rabid squirrel - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - "For the first time in a quarter-century, Allegheny County officials have discovered a rabid squirrel...The squirrel met its end Monday after being caught by a dog in Highland Park...But in its waning moments of life, the squirrel bit back."

December 18, 2003 - Fighting flu not a priority - Knight Ridder via The Miami Herald - "The flu kills 36,000 Americans a year, but the federal government spends only about half as much money on research to fight it as it spends to attack the boll weevil, a pest that eats cotton."

December 19, 2003 - Rabies victim bit nurses in despair - The Scotsman

December 19, 2003 - Wash Hands Often, Sanitize Surfaces To Prevent Flu - www.wave3.com

December 18, 2003 - Talk to your pharmacist to find the best remedy - The Modesto Bee

December 20, 2003 - Taiwan to Release 12 From SARS Quarantine - The Herald-Sun - "Taiwan's health authorities said Saturday they would release 12 more people from home quarantine, saying they have shown no symptoms of SARS since coming in contact with a medical researcher infected with the potentially deadly virus...Meanwhile, doctors said the researcher, identified only as Lt. Col. Chan, was in stable condition Saturday."

December 19, 2003 - SARS may be mammal-bird merger - Genetic shuffle might have allowed human infection. - Nature

December 19, 2003 - A pair of discoveries helps unravel complex genetics of inflammatory bowel disease - Scientists find first gene involved in causing ulcerative colitis - Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions via www.eurekalert.org

December 19, 2003 - Hospitals told to share infectious disease data - Gulf News

December 18, 2003 - China Researchers to Turn in SARS Samples - AP via Yahoo!

December 18, 2003 - Country Faces Disease Challenges - The Times of Zambia via www.allafrica.com

December 18, 2003 - HealthBeat: RSV - www.keloland.com

Deember 20, 2003 - Accusations of bias prompt NIH review of ethical guidelines - (registration required) - Nature Drug Discovery

December 18, 2003 - Violative Advertising and Promotional Labeling Letter -Haemophilus b Conjugate (Meningococcal Protein Conjugate) and Hepatitis B (Recombinant) Vaccine, Comvax (Merck & Co, Inc) - FDA/CBER

December 20, 2003 - U.S. orders probe into Pap smears - State will check Magee-Womens - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - "The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has asked the state health department to investigate charges by a former pathologist at Magee-Womens Hospital that the hospital falsified "hundreds of thousands" of Pap smear reports and destroyed medical records."

December 20, 2003 - Women's reactions mixed to doctor's accusation on Pap smears - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - "Some women expressed shock and disbelief about two lawsuits, filed this week, charging that doctors at the two health organizations had put their electronic signatures on the reports, thus misleading patients into thinking their Pap smears had been reviewed by physicians, when in fact they had not been."

December 19, 2003 - Eli Lilly Prozac UK Fact Sheet: "Not Recommended" for Children - PMDD Withdrawn in UK - AHRP - "The Alliance for Human Research Protection has obtained copies of two Eli Lilly documents that were sent to all physicians in the UK yesterday...A letter informs doctors in the UK that Prozac is no longer authorized for use in (so-called) premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). And Eli Lilly's new Prozac Fact Sheet sent to UK physicians--but not to US physicians--states that Prozac is NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN for any indication."

December 20, 2003 - Agencies Lack Tools to Track Nurses - The Herald-Sun - "A nurse suspected of killing patients in two states was able to keep his license, even after he was fired from several jobs, because hospitals, prosecutors and state regulators didn't share information."

December 19, 2003 - Ahhhh! Better Than Red Wine Or Green Tea, Cocoa Froths With Cancer-preventing Compounds, Cornell Food Scientists Say - Cornell University via ScienceDaily

December 19, 2003 - Dean Elementary gets clean bill of health - Manassas Journal Messenger - "For several months, the school's elevated mold levels had plagued some students and staff members. The school will send letters to parents today informing them that the mold levels are no longer elevated."

December 19, 2003 - Study: 1 in 100 long-haul fliers may get blood clots - Reuters via CNN - "Up to one in 100 long-haul fliers could develop blood clots, and wearing compression stockings, taking aspirin and travelling business class may not help, a study showed on Friday."

December 20, 2003 - The Lancet, Table of Contents

*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.