December 22, 2003*
Vaccination News
Breaking News Archives - each day's breaking news from December 1, 2003 (check here for breaking news you might have missed and breaking news that didn't ever hit the "front page")
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Vaccine-related
December 22, 2003 - Dr. Andrew Wakefield Is Being Blamed for the Decline In Measles, Mumps and Rubella Vaccination in the UK. - But That's Not What Really Happened. The Trend Started Years Before He Published His Initial Research On Regressive Autism. - by RFD columnist Dr. F. Edward Yazbak - Online Autism Conference @ www.redflagsdaily.com
December 21, 2003 -
Teens to get whooping cough booster - www.abc.net.auComment: Has the whooping cough vaccine now been approved for adolescent use?
October 2003 - Caring for Kids: Influenza Vaccine - Canadian Paediatric Society
December 2003 - Influenza vaccination options to prevent hospitalization - journal article (Paediatrics & Child Health)
December 16, 2003 - Vaccines -- How They are Made, Supplied, and Monitored for the Health and Safety of our Children - (registration required) - www.medscape.com
December 22, 2003 - Aventis Submits Application to FDA for Menactra - Dow Jones Newswire via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)
December 20, 2003 - Canada, Taiwan Agree to Cooperate in Search for SARS Vaccine - AFP via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)
December 20, 2003 - CDC Finds More Flu Vaccine - Akron Beacon Journal via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)
December 19, 2003 - Health
Experts Warn Parents: Get Flu Shots for High-Risk Kids - Vancouver Sun via
www.immunizationinfo.org
(abstract)
December 19, 2003 - West
Africa a Threat to Global Eradication of Polio - AFP via
www.immunizationinfo.org
(abstract)
December 22, 2003 - Aventis Submits Application for FDA Approval of Menactra(TM), First Candidate Quadrivalent Conjugate Meningococcal Vaccine - Aventis on Track to Submit Four New Products for Approval In 2003 - PRNewswire-First Call via Yahoo!
December 21, 2003 - Specialists urging action in wake of vaccine shortage - Sun-Sentinel
December 22, 2003 - Scandals: Senator Frist Frivolously Dismisses Vaccine Damage by Sandy Mintz - Vaccination News
December 22, 2003 - MEMORANDUM OPINION - John Doe #1 et al, Plaintiffs v. Donald H. Rumsfeld et al, Defendants - Decision re: forced anthrax vaccinations in the military
December 22, 2003 - Judges Halt Forced Military Anthrax Shots - AP via Newsday - "
The Pentagon must stop forcing servicemen and women to take the anthrax vaccination against their will, unless President Bush signs a special order, a judge ruled Monday...Millions of shots have been given and hundreds of service members have been punished for refusing them since the mandatory vaccinations started in 1998...The judge ruled that the anthrax vaccinations fell under a 1998 law prohibiting the use of certain experimental drugs unless people being given the drug consent or the president waives the consent requirement."Comment: !!!!!!!
December 15, 2003 -
Marching toward a better flu vaccine
The
60-year-old formula in use today isn't keeping pace. New methods could soon put
an end to shortages and create more effective protection. - The LA Times
December 2003 - Respiratory Syncytial virus vaccine: Is it coming? - journal article (Paediatrics & Child Health)
Autism-related, developmental/behavioral issues
December 21, 2003 - Abilities Unlimited staff settling into new facility - Jonesboro Sun
December 19, 2003 -
Raw account of autism an essential read - (book review - Riddle Child) - Cape Argus - "It's hard to believe that this is a work of fiction, so real and raw is this account of the agony of 'the task of steering a riddle child through life'...The cold cruelty and abhorrent indifference that greets the daily and nightly battle of Ingrid to find answers to the tragedy that is her young son Alexander, is difficult to bear."December 19, 2003 - Kids Count urges more training and awareness of autism - In that way, youngsters can be diagnosed and treated earlier which, one expert says, "will produce much better outcomes for these children later on." - The Providence Journal
December 20, 2003 -
Group stresses importance of early autism diagnosis - www.thestar.com.my - "One in every 120 children born is affected by autism and early diagnosis is important for them to be trained as a near-normal person."December 21, 2003 - Federal effort could help those dealing with autism - AP via www.startribune.com
December 22, 2003 - Tracking Autism - West Virginia's registry of patients, the nation's first, will aid in research - AP via www.indystar.com
December 21, 2003 - 'American Idol' Star Clay Aiken Graduates - AP via Sun-Sentinel
"Vaccine-preventable" disease-related
December 2003 - Metapnuemovirus and its place in childhood - - journal article (Paediatrics & Child Health)
December 15, 2003 -
Spotlight shifts to flu drugs -
As vaccine supplies dwindle, doctors say antiviral medications can cut illness
short or even prevent onset. - LA Times (requires registration)
December 20, 2003 - CDC examines Colorado flu cases -Two new deaths believed linked to outbreak; more vaccinations urged - Denver Post
December 20, 2003 - CDC asks states to report all child flu deaths in likely epidemic - AP via www.news24houston.com
December 20, 2003 - Drug injectors still sharing equipment - The Guardian, UK
December 20, 2003 - Mounting CDC Flu Concern: Kids - "The child deaths from flu are very sobering and very worrisome" CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding - AP via www.cbsnews.com
December 20, 2003 - U.S. health officials worry about nation's readiness for pandemic - AP via The Mercury News via www.bayarea.com
December 20, 2003 - Flu blamed for dip in blood donations - AP via Casper Star Tribune
December 20, 2003 - Anti-flu measures in effect - Aberdeen, Bowdle and Gettysburg among medical facilities taking action - American News via www.aberdeennews.com
December 21, 2003 - Bird flu will not harm humans - The Weekend Australian
December 21, 2003 - Flu pandemic could cripple U.S. health care - 'Function of society' could be disrupted in a crisis, doctor says - AP via www.detnews.com
December 21, 2003 - With Flu in Air, Civility Is Grounded - The Washington Post via The Tampa Tribune
December 21, 2003 - Number of flu cases declines in Texas - AP via Abilene Reporter-News
December 20, 2003 - Flu virus continues rapid spread - Danville Register Bee
December 20, 2003 - Is US flu worse than usual? - At least 40 per cent of the children who died had other medical conditions that made them vulnerable, such as asthma or cerebral palsy - www.itv.com
December 22, 2003 - CDC Steps Up Efforts to Track Flu in Children - Wall Street Journal via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)
December 18, 2003 - LG Develops Next-Generation Hepatitis-B Drug - Korea Herald via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)
December 21, 2003 - Hepatitis rarity in U.S. makes it dangerous - Virus more common where sanitation is poor, but that builds resistance to it - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Comment: For more on the impact of over-cleanliness on the immune system, go to Scandals: Prescription For Disaster - Is Vaccine Policy A "House of Cards"?
December 22, 2003 - Spread of bird flu forces Seoul into emergency action - www.smh.com.au
December 21, 2003 - Fighting the Flu in Hand-to-Hand Combat - Officials Urge the Public to Limit Physical Contact and Wash, Wash, Wash - Washington Post
December 22, 2003 - Health Canada says flu within 'expected range' - While the influenza season hit early this year, particularly in B.C. and Ontario, it's not out of control, officials say - The Vancouver Sun via www.canada.com
December 18, 2003 - Prejudice, Poverty, And Polio Palaver - (book review) - Daily Trust (Abuja) via www.alllafrica.com - "In his new book 'Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor,' published in April 2003, Paul Farmer, Boston-based medical doctor and Harvard professor of anthropology, gives us a rare, passionate, eloquent and profound understanding of how global inequality creates massive diseases and large scale death in poorer countries of the world."
December 2003 - Infection control and paediatric tuberculosis: A practical guide for the practicing paediatrician - journal article (Paediatrics & Child Health)
December 2003 - Community-aquired pneumonia in children - journal article (Paediatrics & Child Health)
December 2003 - Use of Birth Certificates and Surveillance Data to Characterize Reported Pertussis amoung Texas Infants and Young Children, 1995 to 2000 - journal article (Southern Medical Journal)
Other diseases/conditions (some already in the vaccine pipeline)
December 2003 - Prophylaxis of respiratory syncytial virus in Canada in 2003
- journal article (Paediatrics & Child Health)December 2003 - For coughs, colds and SARS, wear a mask - journal article (Paediatrics & Child Health)
December 2003 - SARS and the maternal neonatal unit - What is SARS? - journal article (Paediatrics & Child Health)
December 2003 -
The SARS outbreak and
community paediatrics - journal article (Paediatrics
& Child Health)
December 21, 2003 - SARS scientist's contacts cleared - The 20 people who were seated near Lieutenant Colonel Chan on his flight to Taiwan have finished their checks but his father and wife are still under - Taipei Times
December 21, 2003 - Beating Sars - The Straits Times, Asia
December 20, 2003 - Taiwan Says Scientist Likely Got SARS in Lab Slip - Reuters
June 4, 2003 - Scientists starve malaria parasite - Scientists have discovered a way to kill the malaria parasite - by targeting its sweet tooth. - BBC
December 21, 2003 - New Hope for Chronic Illnesses - Benjamin Franklin Literary and Medical Society via http://mentalhelp.net - "Advances in human gene therapy and stem cell transplants offer new hope for people suffering from a wide variety of chronic illnesses. Research at the Indiana Center for Vascular Biology and Medicine under the helm of Elliot Rosen, Ph.D., may pave the way to better treatment for the thousands of people suffering from abnormal bleeding disorders, such as hemophilia."
December 21, 2003 - Primary care and primary immunodeficiencies - American Family Physician via http://mentalhelp.net
December 21, 2003 - Cease-Fire Opens Sudan War Zone to Health Workers - Washington Post via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)
December 22, 2003 - Blood transfusion linked to mad cow disease death - First UK case of variant CJD from blood. - Nature - "It is not possible to tell whether the patient caught the fatal disease - called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) - from the transfusion or contracted it by eating infected meat. But the incident is the first case of "possible transmission" through transfusion - something that scientists have long known to be a possibility."
December 20, 2003 - California puts restrictions on state cattle - California puts restrictions on state cattle - AP via Billings Gazette - "California's requirement -- imposed statewide -- requires all sexually intact Wyoming cattle 18 months and older to show a negative brucellosis test result within 30 days of entry into California, along with a certificate of veterinary inspection and an entry permit."
December 20, 2203 - Putting public health on the map - People know prevention is key, new minister says Plans to create federal agency for public health - Toronto Star
December 22, 2003 - Stress Found to Weaken Resistance to Illness - Washington Post - "Scientists are gaining new insights into the role of temperament in making some people vulnerable to physical disease through studies exploring how stress influences the immune system, weakening disease-fighting cells and creating fertile environments for pathogens...Although the connection between emotion and disease has long been suspected -- physicians as early as the 2nd century A.D. observed a link between "melancholy" and physical illness -- researchers are finally pinpointing networks of biological systems that connect temperament with the progression of illness."
December 16, 2003 - The common cold as cancer fighter? SLU prof's lifetime work moving into clinical trial - Saint Louis University researchers receive a patent after decades of research. - Saint Louis University via www.eurekalert.org
Big pharma, research conduct, conflict of interest, ethics, FDA, oversight, approval process, warnings
December 22, 2003 - GPs give sick notes to healthy patients - The Herald, UK - "Doctors are helping healthy people to take extended leave from work by operating a "sick note on demand" service, according to a new report published today...The report has revealed that some Scottish GPs issue certificates to any patients who ask for them, even though they are fit for work."
Mandatory vaccines, parental/health rights, legal
Miscellaneous
December 16, 2003 - FDA to list studies on obesity drug label - AP via USA Today
December 17, 2003 - Keeping fit has long-term benefit - Keeping fit when young pays long term dividends by cutting the risk of a heart attack or stroke in middle age, US research suggests. - BBC
December
17, 2003 -
Kids -
Turn Off the TV and Eat an Apple! -
Pediatrics via Ivanhoe
December 15, 2003 - Contraceptive, Folic Acid May Reduce Birth Defects - Reuters Health via Yahoo!
December 22, 2003 - Got Hormones? - The simmering issue of milk labels boils over when an agrochemical giant sues small farmers in Maine - www.time.com
December 21, 2003 - Make stress work for you - http://biz.thestar.com.my
Redflagsdaily.com - www.redflagsweekly.com
Breaking News Archives - each day's breaking news from December 1, 2003 (check here for breaking news you might have missed and breaking news that didn't ever hit the "front page")
More News - all the news most recently posted on this website
All the News - a running tab of everything posted on this website since October 29, 2003
Top Stories Archives - daily breaking and other important news stories
Daily News Archives - all the news posted on this website each day (from April 2001)
*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.
Return to Vaccination News Home Page (for best results, right click to "open in new window")
DISCLAIMER: All information, data, and material contained, presented, or provided here is for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as reflecting the knowledge or opinions of the publisher, and is not to be construed or intended as providing medical or legal advice. The decision whether or not to vaccinate is an important and complex issue and should be made by you, and you alone, in consultation with your health care provider.