►December 24, 2003 - When it comes to vaccines, let soldiers call the shots - Commentary, Chicago Sun-Times - "Soldiers must obey orders. Normally that would begin and end our thinking regarding the U.S. military's desire to inoculate its troops against anthrax...But the military, which has performed so skillfully and admirably during warfare, has a terrible record when it comes to guarding the health of its personnel off the battlefield, and has lost the right to dictate, unquestioned, what troops should be required to automatically undergo."

►December 27, 2003 - New flu vaccine easier to get: No doc OK needed - Boston Herald - "As the flu's grip on Massachusetts continued to spread, Bay State public health officials this week agreed to allow pharmacists to administer a new influenza vaccine without a prescription...'It's another way of trying to maximize the availability of the flu vaccine,'' said Dr. Alfred DeMaria, director of the state Department of Public Health's communicable disease bureau."

►January 5, 2004 - Flu vaccine stampede offers preview of pandemic - State health departments scrambled to connect those in need of a flu shot with dwindling supplies. - www.ama-assn.org - After the panic caused by last fall's severe and early flu outbreak, people may in future years place a higher priority on rolling up their sleeves for that annual pre-Thanksgiving shot, thus providing manufacturers a more predictable market and cutting down on the estimated 36,000 deaths attributed to the flu each year..."'We've tried to scare people for years to get them to get their flu shots. But they didn't respond until this year,' said Richard Raymond, MD, chief medical officer for the Nebraska Health and Human Services System."

►December 29, 2003 - Haj pilgrims told to get vaccinations, undergo check-ups - www.dubaiinteract.com

►December 8, 2003 - Unexpectedly high incidence of persistent itching nodules and delayed hypersensitivity to aluminium in children after the use of adsorbed vaccines from a single manufacturer - journal article (Vaccine) - "The itching was intense and long-lasting. So far, 75% still have symptoms after a median duration of 4 years."

►December 29, 2003 - Kwara Health commissioner berates critics of oral polio vaccines - www.dailytimesofnigeria.com

►December 27, 2003 - A local man says his business is caught in the middle of a dispute between the state of Georgia and a Houston medical company, over the flu vaccine.

►December 29, 2003 - This Year's Flu Vaccine Likely To Be Much Less Potent Than Usual - AP via www.wavy.com - "The flu shot available this year was formulated to protect against three strains of the virus. But the strain actually circulating this year is somewhat different from those three, and it is probably too late to develop a new formula...Even though one of the three is a close cousin of this season's bug, whether that will be enough to help people ward off the flu is simply unknown. Some experts expect the level of protection to be 50 percent or less."

►December 29, 2003 - A dose of restraint ordered for Pentagon - Opinion, The Virginia-Pilot - "Air Force Gen. Richard Myers said of the vaccine, 'It’s not experimental. It has been approved by the FDA.'...Yes, but only for cutaneous anthrax...And one attorney who worked on the case told The Washington Post that the only thing Pentagon officials received from the FDA to bolster their claim was the personal opinion of a political appointee, not full agency sanction that the shot can be used against both types of anthrax.

►December 29, 2003 - Brain damage link to flu in pregnancy - www.theage.com.au - "According to the guidelines, the benefits of immunisation in preventing flu in pregnant women during the second or third trimester outweigh the risks, which can include miscarriage."

►January 5, 2004 - Advocate for vaccines, but not for candidates - How should you counsel parents opposed to childhood vaccinations? - www.ama-assn.org - "In fact, when rates of coverage for certain diseases reach a certain high level, a resistance of the community to disease attack might occur because a large portion of the population is immune. This is what is known as herd immunity and allows for limited numbers of individuals to avoid vaccination, yet take advantage of vaccine protection...But parent refusal of vaccination without personal exemption status poses serious moral and legal problems that put public health at risk.

Comment: To read an overview which addresses many of the arguable points made in this article, click here.  And for another perspective on "herd immunity", go to Scandals: Is the theory of "herd immunity" flawed?

►December 27, 2003 - Airing anthrax - Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune - "The question of whether anthrax vaccine used during the first Gulf War caused or contributed to the set of ailments referred to as Gulf War Syndrome is unresolved. Up to 20,000 veterans of that conflict continue to suffer memory loss, fatigue, rashes and muscle and joint pains and still are trying to get compensation from the Department of Defense for their medical expenses. So it is easy to see why today's troops balk at taking the vaccine when so many questions remain unanswered."

►December 26, 2003 - For Biotech Firms, A Booster Flu Points To Need For New Vaccines  - Hartford Courant via www.ctnow.com - "Scientists at Protein Sciences Corp. in Meriden and other biotechnology companies say the technology now exists to quickly produce vaccines as effective or better than the current flu vaccine. Producing the current vaccine requires about six months and tens of millions of fertilized chicken eggs...If the public maintains its healthy fear of flu, then new vaccines may be on their way, said Dan Adams, president and chief executive officer of Protein Sciences."

►December 29, 2003 - The Politics of Autism - Lawsuits and emotion vs. science and childhood vaccines. (requires registration) - The Wall Street Journal - "Vaccine makers stopped using thimerosal a few years ago, but the autism lawsuits threaten those companies with enough damage that their ability to supply vaccines is in jeopardy."

Comment:  Until and unless the Wall Street Journal produces credible scientific evidence of the cause(s) of autism, now epidemic in incidence, it should refrain from dismissing a known neurotoxin as a possible contributor.  They also might consider trying to get their facts straight - for one, even the CDC,  as well as Johns Hopkins University's Institute for Vaccine Safety and at least one flu vaccine manufacturer (Aventis Pasteur) acknowledge the continued presence of thimerosal in vaccines.

Comment:  To write the Wall Street, please send your emails to wsj.ltrs@wsj.com.  The fax number for The Wall Street Journal is 212-416-2255.

Additional comment: Apparently the Wall Street Journal is not concerned about the CDC's own early  recognition of a connection between thimerosal and autism, and the ostensible later cover-up, as described by Congressman Dave Weldon, MD in a letter to the new CDC head, Julie Gerberding.

►December 29, 2003 - Look more deeply into autism (letter) - The Times-Picayune

►December 28, 2003 - Lifesaving clues found in drop of baby's blood - Expanded testing of infants pays off - Chicago Tribune - "Had Noah O'Connell been born four months earlier, his brain probably would have begun to disintegrate from a genetic defect that turned food into poisonous wastes...But he was spared mental retardation and possibly early death because of Illinois' recently expanded newborn screening program that picked up his disorder in time for him to be put on a brain-saving diet."

►December 29, 2003 - Compounds stop anthrax toxin: studies - www.cbc.ca - "Researchers have discovered a way to stop a deadly anthrax toxin in tests on cells. They say it could lead to new ways of treating the disease...Rather than vaccinating whole populations, a therapeutic combination of antibiotics and protease inhibitor drugs would need to be used only in actual cases, Cantley said."

►December 29, 2003 - Meningitis victim was sent home by hospital - N.H. teen lacked 'classic' symptoms - The Boston Globe - "The mother of an 18-year-old New Hampshire woman who died Saturday of meningitis said she took her ill daughter to a Peterborough, N.H., hospital on Christmas Eve, the same day the state issued a meningitis warning, but the emergency room doctor diagnosed the teenager with the flu and sent them home."

►December 27, 2003 - Bird flu gives South Koreans a case of `chicken flesh' - AP via Taipei Times

►December 27, 2003 - Louisiana one of five states to avoid flu outbreak - AP via www.nola.com

►December 28, 2003 - Flu suspected in death of second Wisconsin child - Pioneer Press - "State officials wouldn't provide any other details on the children. Haupt said the deaths should not cause alarm. 'It happens every year,' he said."

Comment:  Why the media hysteria, then?  And while some might argue that little harm can come from encouraging widespread use of flu vaccines, regardless of the circumstances, given that since 1990 and prior to any widespread use there were almost 18,000 adverse vaccine-associated reactions reported to VAERS, drawing such a conclusion would seem to be premature at best, foolish at worst.

►December 28, 2003 - The Next Generation of Diseases Are in Hiding, Somewhere (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times

►December 27, 2003 - UNRWA needs $193 million for emergency relief in 2004 - (subscription required) - www.zawya.com

►December 28, 2003 - Pot belly 'is alarm call for GP tests' - The Observer, UK via The Guardian, UK

►December 28, 2003 - Official: shocking scale of crisis in Britain's health - The Observer, UK via The Guardian, UK - "The full scale of the health timebomb caused by Britain's descent into lazy lifestyles is to be exposed in a landmark report by the Government's Chief Medical Officer...Sir Liam Donaldson will spell out for the first time how two-thirds of Britons are now so inactive - with most people, particularly women, failing to do even the minimum recommended amount of 'moderate' exercise - that they are at risk of getting cancer, diabetes and heart disease."

►December 28, 2003 - 'Bad breath' clue to lung disease - People with lung diseases have bad breath, according to scientists in the United States. - BBC

►December 28, 2003 - Cancer spread 'could be halted' - Scientists have uncovered more evidence of a "switch" which allows breast cancer to grow and spread. - BBC

►December 29, 2003 - U.S. Scientists' Deals With Drug Firms Under Review Director of the National Institutes of Health may increase disclosure of consulting payments. (requires registration) - LA Times - "Zerhouni's letter, dated Tuesday, added: 'Our mission is too important to the public health of the nation to have it undermined by any real or perceived conflicts of interest…. I believe that the public's interest is best served by complete transparency, full disclosure, independent review, and proactive management and monitoring of all outside relationships.'"

►January 5, 2004 - AMA vows united voice in battle for tort reform - Medical courts and state legislative action were also on the medical liability agenda at the AMA Interim Meeting. - www.ama-assn.org

►December 29, 2003 - Worried Pain Doctors Decry Prosecutions - Washington Post - "Jeri Hassman, one of Tucson's busiest pain doctors and a specialist in rehabilitation, was getting ready to inject a patient with a pain-killing treatment one day in March when federal officials burst into her Calmwood clinic, took off her jewelry, put her in handcuffs and led her to jail...Hassman was stunned. She does not deny that she prescribed a lot of powerful drugs to many patients, but she insists she was following good medical practice when she did."

►January 5, 2004 - Physician shortage predicted to spread - The AMA becomes the latest of many expressing concern that there might not be enough physicians to go around, now or in the future. - www.ama-assn.org

*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.