December 30, 2003*
Vaccination News
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Vaccine-related
►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."
►December 30, 2003 - Retired doctor fights polio - Nikolai, wife, 200 Rotarians to head to India - Marshfield News-Herald - "As a part of a world polio eradication campaign known as PolioPlus, Nikolai, his wife, Hilda, and about 200 other Rotarians from the United States and Canada will leave for India in late February and early March."
►May 2000 - CDC Refuses to Deny Conflict of Interest on Vaccine Policy Committee - AAPS Newsletter - "Government witnesses were not so forthcoming in admitting bias or conflict of interest. Dr. Paul A. Offit, a pediatrician who receives money from vaccine manufacturers to give pro- mandatory vaccine presentations across the country, is a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the CDC-the supposedly "independent" government group which makes recommendations on national vaccine policy. His official statement only acknowledged his "collaboration on the development of a rotavirus vaccine." When pushed by a question submitted to Rep. Burton by Ms. Serkes about his financial ties to Merck & Co., Dr. Offit would only admit an "apparent conflict- of-interest." [Dr. Offit pushed mandatory vaccines at a symposium underwritten by Merck at the August meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council in Nashville, attended by Dr. Orient and Ms. Serkes; Dr. Orient was refused a place on the panel.] "
►December 30, 2003 - Pocatello woman helps stop mandatory anthrax vaccinations - Idaho State Journal - "A Pocatello woman helped influence the decision when she refused to take the anthrax vaccine last March. Sarah Holder, a former soldier at Fort Lewis, Wash., and Pocatello native, took a general discharge under honorable conditions Nov. 29 ending her five-year military career in communications...Holder, who now lives in Portland, Ore., told the Seattle P-I Tuesday she might try to have her discharge upgraded to honorable."
►January 2004 - Concerns continue over mercury and autism (Letter to the editor) - by Mark F. Blaxill, Director Safe Minds - journal article (American Journal of Preventive Medicine) via www.elsevier.com - "Stehr-Green et al.[1] have misrepresented my work and confused the debate over autism and mercury exposure with ecologic data from Sweden and Denmark. Their report has many flaws. Four stand out."
►January 2004 - Authors' reply to Mr. Blaxill's "concerns continue over mercury and autism" (Letter to the editor) - by Paul Stehr-Green DrPH, MPH - journal article (American Journal of Preventive Medicine) via www.elsevier.com
Comment: The letters above refer to this article: August 2003 - Autism and thimerosal-containing vaccines*1 - Lack of consistent evidence for an association - by Paul Stehr-Green DrPH, MPH et al - journal article (American Journal of Preventive Medicine) via www.elsevier.com
January 2004 - Effect of age on immune parameters and the immune response of dogs to vaccines: a cross-sectional study - journal article (Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology)
►December 30, 2003 - FDA Says Anthrax Vaccine Safe for Troops - Reuters - "The anthrax vaccine is safe for use in protecting U.S. troops against inhaled exposure to the potentially deadly bacteria, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday...'The FDA-approved labeling for the anthrax vaccine does not specify the route of exposure, and the vaccine is indicated for active immunization against Bacillus anthracis, independent of the route of exposure,' it said in a statement...It also said an expert panel put together by the independent Institute of Medicine had found the vaccine to be safe."
Comment: It is hard to believe that the plaintiffs could have argued, and the judge would have accepted, that the vaccine was only approved for cutaneous use, if the labeling, in fact, did "not specify the route of exposure". Stay tuned.
►December 30, 2003 - Genital Herpes Vaccine to Be Tested - HealthDayNews via Atlanta Journal-Constitution
►December 31, 2003 - 80,000 health workers not paid for 4 months - The Daily Star - "The mismanagement has also created uncertainty about the scheduled National Immunisation Day (NID) programmes on January 14. Funds are still not available for payment of about Tk 6 crore to about 60,000 volunteers and porters to be engaged in the drive."
►December 30, 2003 - Court To Rule On Marines' Anthrax Vaccinations - One Marine Court-Martialed, Another Awaits Trial - www.nbcsandiego.com
►January 5, 2004 - No longer a threat (Editorial) - AirForceTimes.com - "The Defense Department’s mandatory anthrax vaccination program has been snakebit from its inception...Now, in the face of a U.S. District judge in Washington who ordered the Pentagon to stop forcing service members to take the anthrax shots, the Pentagon has backed down. For now."
►December 29, 2003 - Meningitis victim was sent home by hospital - N.H. teen lacked 'classic' symptoms - The Boston Globe - "Greenblatt said the 15-year-olds appear to have spread the disease to one another, but health officials had found no links between the other cases. Ells, Gilman, and Perry all contracted a strain of the disease that cannot be prevented by vaccination. Health officials were testing to determine whether the Colebrook boy had the same strain, and suspect the Concord-area boy did, as well....'If all of the strains of the bacteria match, and certainly if there are more cases, that would be more concerning," Greenblatt said. "It would mean that there is potentially more risk from a new strain that has entered the area.'"
►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."
Autism-related, developmental/behavioral issues
►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 - North Coast firm reduces tuna mercury - The Ukiah Daily Journal - "Albacore caught off the Humboldt County coast are smaller than those caught mainly by foreign boats, and haven't accumulated much mercury. By singling out the smallest of the fish that are caught, Bill Carvalho of Carvalho Fisheries of McKinleyville has canned a product that falls below even stricter European standards for mercury."
►December 30, 2003 - Schafer Autism Report
►December 29, 2003 - Schafer Autism Report
"Vaccine-preventable" disease-related
►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 - Anthrax Toxin Inhibitor Identified; Findings Could Lead To More Effective Therapy For Deadly Agent - Harvard Medical School via ScienceDaily
►December 30, 2003 - Ark. Limits Info Regarding Flu Deaths - Ark. Officials Limit Sharing Information About Flu Deaths, Citing New U.S. Medical Privacy Law - AP via ABC News
Comment: What's that about?
►December 30, 2003 - Smallpox attack simulation uncovers critical communications problems: report CP via Health Canada Network - "Thank God it was only a simulation...A multi-country bioterrorism exercise held earlier this year highlighted critical weaknesses in intergovernmental communications capabilities and national response capacities, a report on a mock smallpox attack reveals."
Other diseases/conditions (some already in the vaccine pipeline)
►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
Comment: On the other hand, there is convincing evidence that it is not sex, but the use of re-usable needles that is largely fueling "AIDS" in Africa (1,2).
►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 - New Tests Ordered for Man in China Tied to Possible SARS (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times
►December 30, 2003 - Agriculture Secretary Announces New Rules for Safety of Beef - The New York Times - "Effective immediately, she said, the Agriculture Department will ban all sick, or "downer," cattle from the human food chain. She also announced bans on the use of small intestines and head and spinal tissue from older cattle for human consumption."
Comment: Better late than never....
►December 30, 2003 - Trinity Scores With HIV Test - The Motley Fool - "Yesterday morning, Ireland-based Trinity Biotech (Nasdaq: TRIB) said it received FDA approval to market its Uni-Gold Recombigen HIV test in the U.S. Since the announcement, its shares have been on a tear, climbing 57% to $5.14 yesterday, and another 22% to $6.30 by early this afternoon...The 10-minute, one-step test is for the detection of HIV antibodies in human serum, plasma, or whole blood, and is the only test approved for use in all three sample types. Trinity's test is also approved for use in the World Health Organization's HIV testing program in Africa, where the company sells four million tests per year."
►Bizarre Mad Cow Games - Even a child would understand that the official explanation of the cause of the disease is irrational - by Mark Purdey at the Online Mad Cow Disease Conference @ www.redflagsdaily.com
►2003 - Transmissable Encephalopathies: Speculations and Realities (pdf) - by Dr. Laura Maneulidis - journal article (Viral Immunology) via www.redflagsdaily.com
►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."
Big pharma, research conduct, conflict of interest, ethics, FDA, oversight, approval process, warnings
►December 29, 2003 - Pharmaceutical companies find new ways to reach anxious parents -- go direct (Editorial) - www.sfgate.com
►November/December 2003 -Yet Another Government Scandal - Breast Cancer Action Newsletter
►November/December 2003 - Conflicted Science: How Industry Corrupts Research - Breast Cancer Action Newsletter - "It's worse than you think."
►December 22, 2003 - UK Drug Watchdog Set to Reject Lilly's Evista - (registration required) -Reuters via www.medscape.com
►December 30, 2003 - U.S. Bans Dietary Supplement Linked to Number of Deaths (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times
►December 30, 2003 - Ephedra Ban Comes Too Late; FDA Should Have Acted Much Sooner - Statement of Dr. Sidney Wolfe, Director of Public Citizen's Health Research
December 19, 2003 - The Milky Way of Doing Business - www.hipmama.com - "At issue is a letter dated November 3rd that Dr. Johnston sent to Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Tommy G. Thompson, officially expressing the AAP’s concern over the “negative approach” of the federal agency’s soon-to-be-released, pro-breastfeeding advertising campaign. What Dr. Johnston didn’t mention in his letter, however, was that he had developed this sudden and seemingly urgent interest in this issue not via a last minute clinical review of the scientific literature, or even after consulting with the AAP’s own recognized lactation science experts...In fact, his concern came immediately after aggressive, personal lobbying by representatives of one of the AAP’s biggest financial contributors, the $3 billion U.S. infant formula industry. Within days of a New Orleans meeting with worried formula industry reps, Johnston hurled the considerable credibility and persuasive impact of the esteemed American Academy of Pediatrics into an explicit effort to stifle the most ambitious initiative ever undertaken to promote breastfeeding in the United States."
Comment: The American Academy of Pediatrics is apparently making a habit of confusing the interests of the children it is charged with protecting and those of industry. For evidence of its considerable conflict of interest with vaccine manufacturers, go to Scandals: "There are no secrets that time does not reveal" - What time and the legal system are beginning to reveal about what vaccine manufacturers and the CDC know.
Mandatory vaccines, parental/health rights, legal
Miscellaneous
►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."
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.
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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.