November  6, 2003                    

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Part 3: Autism and Informed Inoculation - Detroit Now News - "There are a few things on which everyone agrees, like the dangerous toxicity of mercury. Yet, for years, it has been injected into children and adults, as an additive that preserves and sterilizes vaccines...Why?..So vaccine makers can save what we're told may be a dollar a dose by not having to produce the vaccines in sterile conditions, and to extend shelf life. Yet, this additive called Thimerosal could be leading to lasting harm."

A further dose of MMR - Letters to the Editor - The Guardian, UK - "The MMR debate (Epidemic fear, October 31) comes down to one thing: the medical establishment's ideological belief in the MMR jab in particular, and vaccines in general...The real debate needed is over the value of vaccines in dealing with the childhood diseases."

Women to be offered MMR vaccine - New mothers and women hoping to become pregnant are to be offered the MMR jab because supplies of the single rubella vaccine have run out.  - BBC - "Immunising against rubella has meant virtually no babies are now born with the syndrome. " - For a different perspective on this, go to Scandals: "Does rubella vaccination prevent congenital rubella syndrome?"

'Major measles epidemics likely' due to MMR rates - www.doctorupdate.net

Flu jabs urged for young and old as cases rise - The Scotsman - "Health experts were today urging people to get vaccinated after an early rise in flu cases...The call came after it emerged three children aged between two and eight have already died from flu in Scotland in the last two months." - Has something happened to our children's immune system to make them more vulnerable to the flu?

Flu season lurks in the shadows - Burlington Union on www.townonline.com - "A vaccination isn't guaranteed to prevent the flu, but most health care practitioners believe an individual is likely to have much milder symptoms about two weeks after getting a flu shot."

Wyeth Halts Shipments of Prevnar Vaccine - Reuters - "Wyeth on Thursday said it has temporarily delayed shipping its blockbuster Prevnar vaccine against childhood pneumococcal infections because of the need to upgrade company quality-control processes...Wyeth spokesman Doug Petkus declined to give further details, but said the company decided on its own to upgrade its quality-control systems for Prevnar and had not been asked to do so by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration."

Vaccination Against Hepatitis A: New Study Finds Universal Vaccination Against Hepatitis A Would Prevent Disease and Save Lives - www.healthnewsdigest.com

New TB vaccine shows promise in HIV infection - www.eurekalert.og

Breast Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise - Early Results Show Vaccine May Help Prevent Breast Cancer Recurrence - WebMD

Acambis Commences First Human Clinical Trial of West Nile Vaccine - Acambis Press Release via Yahoo!

SARS vaccine trial could start in a few months – WHO - UN News Center - Are they sure that they even know what SARS really is?

WHO hails Oman vaccination programme - Gulf News Online

New Vaccine Targets Common Disease - The Nation - http://allafrica.com

Autism, Diet, and Inflammatory Bowel Disease - Redflagsdaily.com Online Autism Conference

Alliance of MetroWest helps families of autistic children - Dover-Sherborn Press - "Ten years and lots of programs later, the Autism Alliance of MetroWest now has 345 on its mailing list, along with a newsletter, Web site and a resource center at the Morse Institute Library in Natick which includes books, journals, audio and videotape on autism. The Alliance serves several MetroWest communities, including Sherborn."

A Woman's Life Versus an Inept Press - The ACLU Supports a 'Constitutional' Death by Starvation - The Village Voice - "The letter to The New York Times signed by Max Lapertosa, staff counsel, Access Living in Chicago—told of '14 national disability organizations that filed a friend-of-the-court brief to support keeping Terri Schiavo alive.' Lapertosa objected to a Times editorial calling for Terri to go gently into that good night because, said the moral philosophers of the Times, 'true respect for life includes recognizing . . . when it ceases to be meaningful.'... Max Lapertosa reminded Gail Collins's board of oracles at the Time's editorial page that 'many would lump into this category [of meaningless lives] people with severe autism, multiple sclerosis or cerebral palsy who, like Mrs. Schiavo, are nonverbal and are often described as being "in their own world."'" - Have the supporters of Michael Schiavo's brazen efforts to end Terri's life no shame?
 

AIDS epidemic should be treated as a disaster - www.eurekalert.org

Findings Published From Large U.K. Trial Of Marijuana Derivatives To Treat Symptoms Of Multiple Sclerosis - National Multiple Sclerosis Society (pdf)

Handle with care - Scientists are rushing to defend a colleague charged with mishandling samples of the plague bacterium. But they must be careful not to send the message that microbiologists are blasé about the need to protect public health. (requires payment) - Nature

Labeling on Herbal Products Differs Widely: Study - Reuters Health via Medline

Drug Companies Settle 7 Suits for $1.6 Billion - The New York Times

ClinicalTrials.gov - website for searching clinical trials

CBER Biological Product Shortages - FDA

Brain Hard-Wired for Empathy: Study - Reuters via Yahoo! - "The next step, according to Rizzolatti, will involve studies of schizophrenia and autism to see to what extent malfunctioning in the ability to mirror the emotions of others is to blame for difficulties in establishing meaningful relationships with other people."

Schafer Autism Report - November 5 & 6, 2003 (Double Issue)

Redflagsdaily.com - www.redflagsweekly.com