►February 9, 2004 - Autism and Links to Vaccines Containing Mercury To Be Re-examined by Independent Experts at the Institute of Medicine - Medical Expert Jeff Bradstreet M.D., Presenting His Findings at the Panel Held by the IOM, and Parents of Autistic Children Available to Comment - press release - Autism Recovery Consortium via PRNewsire - "Dr. Bradstreet will introduce new information on possible links between autism (a rapidly rising epidemic among children throughout the United States), the mercury preservative thimerosal, and the Measles Mumps Rubella (MMR) vaccine. Dr. Bradstreet, who is also the father of a child recovering from autism, has the largest patient population of children with ASD (autistic spectrum disorder) in the U.S."

►February 9, 2004 - Vaccine debate simmers - USA Today - "A long-running debate over what role, if any, vaccines play in causing autism or other developmental disorders continued Monday with a series of new studies that did little to settle the question."

►February 9, 2004 - CDC Vaccine Safety Data Leads Scientists To Shocking Discovery - press release - National Autism Association

►February 9, 2004 - CDC Orders Premature IOM Meeting on Vaccine Autism Link - CDC Conflict of Interest Hinders Scientific Research on Autism - press release - Safe Minds via PRNewswire

►February 9, 2004 - Confidence the key in fight against bird flu - China Daily - "As the highly contagious bird flu virus spreads across Asia, the affliction has become embedded in the popular lexicon through media reports and ordinary conversation...The new crisis appeared when many in the region were still reeling from the bitter memories of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), and it has unavoidably triggered public panic in some places."

►February 9, 2004 - China official threatens HK media over flu reports - Reuters AlertNet - "A Chinese official has threatened to take legal action against Hong Kong's journalists over their reporting of bird flu outbreaks on the mainland, newspapers here reported on Monday...Zhong Yangsheng, executive vice governor of China's southern Guangdong province, also insisted there was no outbreak in the province's Chaoan county although it has been confirmed by the central government."

►February 8, 2004 - Wyeth says warnings hurt flu drug sales - Financial Times - "Wyeth has blamed the US authorities in part for the poor performance of FluMist, its flu vaccine...Robert Essner, chief executive of Wyeth, said warnings by the government and health groups had triggered 'folklore' that the weakened, but live flu virus used in FluMist could be transmitted to other people, causing sickness. He said Wyeth was conducting a comprehensive review of its strategy for the product."

►February 8, 2004 - No human-to-human link, says WHO - Follow-up tests on Vietnamese sisters show no human genes in virus, meaning it has not mutated to a more lethal form - The Straits Times

►February 16, 2004 - New TB vaccine advances - www.ama-assn.org - "A new vaccine, made with several proteins from the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, will soon enter the first phase of human testing. It is the first TB vaccine tested in the United States in more than 60 years...A recombinant vaccine, it combines two TB proteins known to stimulate strong human immune responses. The proteins were initially identified by screening blood taken from volunteers who never became ill with tuberculosis despite long-term infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The TB proteins were fused and then combined with adjuvants."

►February 8, 2004 - Mercury damage 'irreversible' - USA Today - "Scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health have found that methyl mercury contamination of seafood can cause heart damage and irreversible impairment to brain function in children, both in the womb and as they grow...'If something happens in the brain at development, you don't get a second chance,' says lead researcher Philippe Grandjean."

►February 9, 2004 - WHO says Vietnam flu is not new - Taipei Times - "The WHO said the bird flu that killed two people in Vietnam was not a new, more contagious strain, and officials here rejected claims that pigs now have the virus...Meanwhile, China has confirmed three more outbreaks among birds...The UN agency said on Saturday that 'reassuring' test results from the two Vietnamese sisters, who died earlier this month, show 'both viruses are of avian origin and contain no human influenza genes.'"

►February 3, 2004 - Inquiry Launched into Meningitis Death of Toddler - The Scotsman

►February 3, 2004 - Vail Man Dies From Meningitis-Like Disease - Fleishman Dies At Middlebury College In Vermont - AP via www.thedenverchannel.com

►February 4, 2004 - Whooping Cough (Pertussis) Outbreak Continues (requires subscription) - County Health Department provides information on prevention and treatment - The Putnam County News and Recorder

►February 3, 2004 - Measles Outbreak in Cape Mount - Immunization Campaign Launched - www.allafrica.com

►February 3, 2004 - BioSante and U.S. Army Co-Developing Ricin Vaccine for Biodefense - Business Wire

►February 3, 2004 - Ferret shortage may cause a 'bottleneck' in pandemic vaccine production: WHO - Canadian Press via www.canada.com - "Efforts to create a prototype vaccine to protect humans in the event of a H5N1 influenza pandemic may be facing an unusual problem: a shortage of flu-free ferrets...The head of the World Health Organization's global influenza program says efforts to create what's called the viral seed for a pandemic vaccine are moving along at the expected pace, but there's been a delay in getting the ferrets needed to test whether the genetically altered virus is safe to work with."

►February 4, 2004 - Life-saving vaccine runs short - The Mercury

►February 4, 2004 - Deadly strain of avian influenza spreads to Indonesia - Growing Threat: Indonesian authorities said they had detected the H5N1 strain of bird flu in poultry, while health experts in Rome sought strategies to fight the outbreak - Reuters And AP via Taipei Times

►February 3, 2004 - Anxiety Over Fugen A Type Influenza and Bird Flu Combination - donga.com

►February 3, 2004 - Central African Republic: Anti-Polio Drive Planned for Southwestern Province - www.allafrica.com

►February 3, 2004 - Vice-premier urges more efforts against bird flu - Xinhuanet via China View

►February 3, 2004 - China confirms another bird flu outbreak - The Hindu

►February 3, 2004 - Asia should change lifestyle to avoid bird flu: WHO - Xinhuanet via China View

►February 3, 2004 - China acting to stop bird flu spreading via vehicles - Xinhuanet via China View

►February 3, 2004 - Vietnam Bird Flu Cases Climb to 13 - WHO Confirms Three More Cases of Bird Flu in Vietnam, Bringing Total to 13 - AP via ABC News

►February 3, 2004 - Asia Bird Flu Spreads; 7-Year-Old Dies in Thailand - Reuters

►February 3, 2004 - WHO tries to calm bird-flu fear - AP via www.news24.com

►February 3, 2004 - FBI still looking for a suspect in 2001 anthrax attacks - Miami Herald

►February 3, 2004 - Special syringes at govt clinics - The Times of India - "The health department of the Delhi government has bought about three lakh auto-disposable syringes to be used at the city’s 175 state government dispensaries. The syringes will be used for immunisation purposes...Senior health department officials said that the move was prompted by ‘‘persistent reports of re-use of syringes’’ in hospitals and dispensaries, especially in the far-flung areas of Delhi...The move, he added, would provide additional safeguards against possible transmission of viruses like HIV and those of hepatitis B and C. It could prove to be of immense help in the state government’s initiatives to control the spread of these diseases."

Comment:  For more on the re-use of syringes and the spread of so-called "vaccine-preventable" disease, go to Scandals: "But Faith, fanatic Faith, once wedded fast To some dear falsehood, hugs it to the last." - Thomas Moore (Scandals - update and "flashback")

►February 3, 2004 - Baby and mother touch for the first time - The Mercury

►February 3, 2004 - Inquiry underway into death of baby - RTE News - "The Midland Health Board says an internal inquiry is underway at the Longford-Westmeath General Hospital in Mullingar into the death of 16-month-old baby Cormac Nevin...Cormac died from meningitis at the hospital yesterday. Just nine hours earlier he had been discharged following a series of tests which did not indicate a possible case of meningitis."

►February 3, 2004 - Suspected New Meningitis Case - Express and Echo News

►February 3, 2004 - Smallpox vaccine study is seeking volunteers - Local researchers hope to get 80 participants for national study. - The Wichita Eagle

►February 3, 2004 - Indonesia confirms avian influenza virus as H5N1 - Xinhuanet via China View

►January 30, 2004 - Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Cambodia - A report via OIE, confirming the recent outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Cambodia. - Poultry News via www.thepoultrysite.com

►February 3, 2004 - WHO - Avian influenza A(H5N1) - update 15 - www.medicalnewstoday.com

►February 3, 2004 - Limited evidence that flu drugs can treat bird flu: CDC doctor - www.channelnewsasia.com

►February 2, 2004 - Public health expects fewer vaccines next year - The Gillette News-Record

►February 3, 2004 - China promotes bird flu vaccine for poultry - Japan Today

►February 3, 2004 - Q: Can polio recur in adult hood? - The Boston Globe

►February 3, 2004 - Undoing Salk, World Premiere About Polio Conqueror, Begins Feb. 3 in Pittsburgh - Playbill, Inc.

►February 3, 2004 - Judge will weigh Feds' plea for delay in lawsuit over anthrax death - South Florida Sun-Sentinel

►February 2, 2004 - Pathogenic Profiles and Molecular Signatures of Antinuclear Autoantibodies Rescued from NZM2410 Lupus Mice - journal article (Journal of Experimental Medicine)

►February 2, 2004 - Immune Molecule Blocks SARS Infection - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences via www.betterhumans.com

►February 2, 2004 - Immune Protein Might Fight SARS - Scientists say "good fortune" led to a promising therapy against the killer virus. - HealthDay via www.healthcentral.com