►December 19, 2003 - Confronting Influenza: Prevention Strategies That Work - (registration required) - CME via www.medscape.com

►December 29, 2003 - Opt-Out Military - Hysteria leads to judicial overreach — and national-security danger. - National Review Online - "In fact, extensive epidemiological studies have shown that Gulf vets are just as healthy as matched vets who didn't deploy and healthier than matched civilians. They are somewhat less likely to have died thannon-deployed vets and are dying at less than half the rate of the general population. This is not only the case here, but in the U.K. as well. There is no GWS."

►December 28, 2003 - Parents must make sure children are immunized - Abilene Reporter-News

►December 29, 2003 - FDA Warns Against Unauthorized Flu Shots - Los Angeles Times via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►December 29, 2003 - No Anti-Rabies Vaccine at Hindu Rao Hospital - Times of India www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►December 27, 2003 - New Flu Vaccine Easier to Get - Boston Herald via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►December 26, 2003 - Nigeria: Health Minister Assures on Safety of Polio Vaccines - BBC News via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►December 21, 2003 - Specialists Urging Action in Wake of Vaccine Shortage - Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►December 30, 2003 - Looking forward to 2004: HIV vaccine prospects - www.aidsmap.com

Comment: What if, as some believe (1,2), AIDS has nothing to do with HIV?

►December 30, 2003 - Money Recovered from Flu Vaccine Scam - www.wtvm.com

►December 29, 2003 - Troop anthrax shots in question - North County Times - "At least two local Marines remain in legal limbo as federal officials and a Washington district court judge wrangle over whether the military can force members of the armed services to take anthrax vaccinations...The two Marines refused to take mandatory inoculations a year ago and have since faced stiff punishment for refusing direct orders. One claims to have suffered intimidation and even a death threat from his superiors for refusing the vaccine."

Additional comment: Given the propensity for serotypes to change, and the possibility that vaccination can drive such changes, perhaps there is marginal benefit in exposing people to any possible risks of meningitis vaccine.  (There have been 644 adverse meningitis vaccine-associated reactions, representing in all likelihood between 6,440 and 64,400 cases, reported to VAERS so far.)  For more on the this problem, go to Scandals: Changing Disease Epidemiology Via Vaccines - Are We "Robbing Peter To Pay Paul"?

►December 30, 2003 - Flu shots didn't exist, dealer says - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

►December 30, 2003 - Flu vaccine still starts out in the egg - The Salt Lake Tribune

►December 30, 2003 - Reps And the Polio Vaccine Controversy - Daily Trust (Abuja) via www.allafrica.com - "The House on August 19, mandated the committee to carry full-blown investigations into the allegations that the vaccine contains anti-fertility agents and causes cancer among others, to allay people's fears and lay the lingering controversy to rest...The current row on the polio vaccine has its roots in assertions made by the chairman of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria, Dr. Datti Ahmed on July 26 that the vaccine has been contaminated with anti-fertility agents and should therefore not be administered on children until full investigations were conducted."

►December 30, 2003 - Edgecombe baby dies from flu - Rocky Mount Telegram via Rocky Mountain News - "The flu crept into the Edgecombe County home of Charles Evans and Travoya Richardson, claiming North Carolina's seventh young victim on Dec. 23...Kamahriun received five immunizations on Dec. 16 and was given amoxicillin, an antibiotic, at Pitt county Memorial Hospital pediatric center in Greenville for a possible ear infection, Evans said."

Comment:  What immunizations did this infant receive?  Why did this infant receive vaccinations when sick enough to need an antibiotic?  What role, if any, did the vaccinations and/or antibiotic play in this child's death?  If this child received the flu vaccine, did he die in spite of, or because of, the vaccine?

►December 30, 2003 - Experts Seek New Effort to Control Hepatitis A - The New York Times - "the wake of recent food-borne hepatitis A outbreaks, scientists and medical experts are urging the federal government to intensify its efforts to quash the disease...Now more than ever, some argue, there is a need for widespread vaccination against hepatitis A."

►December 30, 2003 - EPA Led Mercury Policy Shift - Agency Scuttled Task Force That Advised Tough Approach - Washington Post - "For nearly 21 months, a government task force steadily moved toward recommending rules that within three years would force every coal-fired power plant in the country to reduce emissions of mercury, which can cause neurological and developmental damage to humans."

►December 29, 2003 - Child's autism inspires creation of support centre - Precious Minds will get permanent home/Mothers' venture fills demand in rural areas - Toronto Star

►December 30, 2003 - In-Home Autism Program Eliminated - www.wbay.com - "Three hundred-fifty families across Wisconsin are looking for backup since a Fond du Lac clinic they relied on for their children is no longer an option. After the first of the year, the State is cutting back funding for an in-home therapy program for autistic children."

►December 30, 2003 - Story is laborious testament to mother's love (book review - The Boy Who Loved Windows: Opening the Heart and Mind of a Child Threatened With Autism) - The Boston Globe

►December 30, 2003 - Reaching out to the autistic child - Ahmedabad Newsline via cities.expressindia.com

►December 30, 2003 - Bill would help autistic kids - Proposal would tack surcharge on fines for drunken driving - Rocky Mountain News

►December 29, 2003 - Mixed reaction to Bush mercury rules in Minnesota - AP via www.kaaltv.com

►U.S. Marines Press Release - Marine Corps News - "At first glance Savine and Jacob look like any ordinary six and four year old, but their normalcy runs only skin deep because of a disorder they both have: autism...One Miramar Marine quickly learned that autism affects every aspect of the entire family's life."

►December 30, 2003 - Officials Hope Break Brings Flu Downturn (requires registration or subscription) - AP via The New York Times

►December 30, 2003 - Health Official Plays Down Reports of Measles Epidemic - IRIN via www.allafrica.com

►December 29, 2003 - New drug could beat anthrax poison - UPI via Washington Times - "A U.S. discovery could produce a drug to counter the deadly effects of the anthrax toxin, the BBC said Tuesday...Experts from Harvard Medical School have found six chemicals which they believe could stop a toxin called "lethal factor" getting into cells. In the journal Nature Structural Biology, they say a drug could be more useful than mass vaccination."

►December 30, 2003 - Meningitis Cases Have Unrelated Strains - AP via The Herald-Sun

►December 28, 2003 - Woman dies from meningitis; fifth case suspected - AP via www.boston.com

►December 28, 2003 - Flu taking its toll on children - Plenty of rest, fluids can help fight infection - The Post-Crescent

►December 28, 2003 - Hepatitis blame won't kills suits, lawyers say - AP via Knoxville News Sentinel

►December 29, 2003 - Teenager Dies From Meningitis in 1 of 5 Cases in New Hampshire - New York Times via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►December 28, 2003 - U.S. Has New Concerns About Anthrax Readiness - New York Times via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►December 26, 2003 - Measles Outbreak Kills 29 Central African Children - Agence France Presse via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►December 30, 2003 - Scientists disagree on cause of infection - Seattle PI - "Drowned out by calls for more testing and regulation to protect against mad cow disease are major disagreements over what causes the illness, how it is transmitted and even what parts of a contaminated cow may be unsafe to eat."

►December 18, 2003 - WHO post-outbreak biosafety guidelines for handling of SARS-CoV specimens and cultures - WHO

►December 29, 2003 - Update on suspected SARS case in Southern China - WHO, Western Pacific Region

►December 28, 2003 - Health expert to aid China in possible SARS case - CNN

►December 28, 2003 - Chemical Company Studies Brain Cancer Rate - AP via The Herald-Sun

►December 30, 2003 - USDA Stands by Mad Cow Detection System- AP via The Herald-Sun

►December 29, 2003 - No symptoms from 42 people in contact with south China SARS suspect -  AFP via www.channelnewsasia.co

►December 28, 2003 - Blood test may detect breast cancer - Los Angeles Times via Sun-Sentinel

►December 27 - Mad cow’s cost could hit billions - AP via Lincoln Courier

►December 2003 - Childhood Adversity and Later Mortality in an Urban African American Cohort - American Journal of Public Health via http://mentalhelp.net

►December 28, 2003 - Liaisons fueling AIDS in Africa - Washington Times

►December 29, 2003 - China Grapples With Possible SARS - Wall Street Journal via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►December 29, 2003 - Imaging Study Pinpoints Brain's Myelin Insulation as a Key to Alzheimer's - UCLA Health Sciences

►December 29, 2003 - Africa is dying of Capitalism, not AIDS - www.khilafah.com - "The problem lies with the fact that American drugs companies have developed a treatment program for AIDS, spending enormous resources in research and development under the protection of the patent. Their reasons for doing this are simply financial; they intend to recoup their expenditure by selling the treatment at a massive profit."

Comment:  And what if, as some believe, it is AIDS medications, not "AIDS", which are killing people?

►December 30, 2003 - Health:- In 2004, health for all remains the goal - Vanguard, Nigeria - "In developing countries like Nigeria, communicable diseases still represent seven out of the 10 major causes of child deaths."

►December 30, 2003 - Scientist's work may aid testing - The Tallahassee Democrat - "A Florida State University researcher has spent her career developing ways to detect unwanted food products. Peggy Hsieh's now-patented work can help identify banned beef parts in feed that could lead to mad cow disease."

►December 22, 2003 - UK Drug Watchdog Set to Reject Lilly's Evista - (registration required) -Reuters via www.medscape.com

►December 29, 2003 - Gender specific medicine - Approach acknowledges differences between women, men - The Courier-Journal - "Put simply, gender-specific medicine is the science of how normal human biology differs between men and women and how those differences affect — or should affect — diagnosis and treatment of disease."

Comment:  While vaccination policy continues to sacrifice untold healthy infants and children to its "one-size-fits-all" approach to "prevention", evidence continues to mount that recognizing and allowing for individual differences is paramount to the success of drugs and other biological products. 

►December 24, 2003 - New understanding of why brain cells die after stroke will lead to development of new treatments - University of Toronto via www.eurekalert.org

►December 23, 2003 - UK Tests "Panic Button" for Health Staff - (registration required) - Reuters via www.medscape.com

►December 28, 2003 - Heartening news about food content - The Edmonton Journal via www.canada.com

►December 31, 2003 - Vitamin A deficiency in half of Pakistani children - Daily Times, Pakistan - "Dr Mehnaz emphasized the need for integrating children’s Vitamin A supplement programme with routine immunisation to ensure optimum effect."

*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.