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June 27, 2003
INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS
Japanese Encephalitis Outbreak Kills 24 in
China, More Than 300 Infected
Health officials and state media in southern
China report that an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis in the region has claimed
nearly 24 lives and infected over 300 people. Medical experts say the Guangdong
province has recorded the highest number of infections, with 287 cases reported
and 23 deaths confirmed. Encephalitis kills nearly 10,000 people annually in
Asia and is usually fatal in 30 percent of cases, according to the World Health
Organization. Sun Lianying, director of the Immunization Program at the Hainan
Infection Disease Control Center, credits an infant immunization program for
tempering the spread of the disease in China.
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"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"