►February 11, 2004 - Viral pneumonia reported from 27 provinces and cities - Vietnam News Agency

►February 11, 2004 - Researchers Closer To Answers About Vaccines And Autism - www.kirotv.com - "Scientists disagree on a link between vaccines and autism. While some studies suggest there's no connection, one report just out concludes mercury may interfere with brain activity in a way that could cause autism...Still Ricci King is doubtful the panel will bring her and other parents closer to the answers they need...'What will resolve the issues for parents is to see adequate funding directed toward the cause of autism how to treat it. How we as parents and families are to support our children for you know, a lifetime,' said King."

Comment:  Indeed, how are they to care for them?

►February 11, 2004 - A free shot at health - Clinic to provide free, required immunization vaccinations as student deadline nears - The News-Review

►February 11, 2004 - Plague Debunked As Link to AIDS Immunity - HealthDay via www.14wfie.com

►February 11, 2004 - Spinoff of vaccine firm raises doubts on flu plan - Canadian Press via the Toronto Star - "The backbone of the federal pandemic flu plan, which will be released Thursday, is a contract to buy enough vaccine to inoculate all Canadians. But a question mark is hanging over the future of the vaccine manufacturer, leaving some to wonder how firm that backbone really is...A crucial feature of the federal plan is that Canada has secured a domestic supplier of vaccine, Shire Biologics of Laval, Que. Having a domestic supplier ensures flu shots bought, paid for and destined for Canadian arms couldn't be nationalized by another government desperate to protect its own citizens from an influenza pandemic sweeping the globe...But the British company that owns Shire Biologics is in the process of divesting itself of the vaccine manufacturer, a move that has drawn purchase offers from a number of other companies. That situation is prompting questions about how iron-clad the procurement contract is."

►February 11, 2004 - Americans Advised to Cut Salt, Follow Thirst - Report Lowers Recommended Salt Intake, Eases Water Rules - WebMD Medical News

►February 11, 2004 - Obesity Immunity Bill - AP via www.wtol.com

►February 11, 2004 - Whooping Cough Comeback - www.wivb.com - "When was the last time you heard of someone with whooping cough? The disease became nearly non-existent with the vaccine but as News 4's Victoria Hong reports, the childhood killer has started making a comeback...It is extremely contagious and though anyone is susceptible, it is most dangerous in infants 6 months and younger because they haven't been completely immunized...Though treatable with anti-biotics, the push is on for a vaccine for teens and young adults. That, Dr. Judelsohn says would rid us of whooping cough for good and help keep babies like Sam and Nick healthy."

Comment:  Although it is true that the DTP/DTaP vaccine(s) are not recommended before two months old, the fact is that whooping cough is simply more dangerous to babies than to older children, vaccinated or not.  And while it may be a laudable goal to rid the world of whooping cough (depending on the other health consequences of doing so), where is the data to support the notion that vaccinating teens and young adults would rid the world of the disease for good?

►February 11, 2004 - Meningitis scare hits Ottawa County Jail - www.kode-tv.com

►February 11, 2004 - Countries with bans on US poultry due to bird flu - Reuters AlertNet

►February 11, 2004 - UD poultry specialists collaborate with authorities on avian flu - University of Delaware Daily

►February 12, 2004 - 3 more anthrax cases reported in Masvingo - The Zimbabwe Herald Online

►February 11, 2004 - Mercury pollution reduction bills introduced in five Midwestern states - Waste News

►January 5, 2004 - Nasal Flu Vaccine Safe for Kids - HealthDay via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - "Here's some good news for parents who have to drag their kids kicking and screaming to get their annual flu shot...It turns out an influenza virus vaccine delivered as a nasal spray protects healthy children against certain strains of influenza, says a report in the January issue of The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine...Doctors at the Scott & White Memorial Hospital and Clinic in Temple, Texas, found children who received the nasal vaccination were protected against influenza infection during the 2000 flu epidemic."

Comment:  Note that the results of this study do not mean the nasal flu vaccine was protective against this year's flu.  Nor, in all likelihood, was it protective against this year's flu.  (Why they failed to make sure parents understood this, is beyond me.)

►January 15, 2004 - Jury Still Out On Flu Vaccine - HealthDay via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - "The CDC is still urging flu vaccination, especially for such high-risk persons as children and older people, because history shows that the vaccine probably is preventing the disease in many cases and reducing the incidence of complications in those who develop the disease, says Dr. Nidhi Jain, a CDC epidemiologist..."Remember, there are three different strains in the vaccine," Treanor says. "One of those strains could pop out later this year...And the record of past years in which there was a mismatch between the virus used for the vaccine and the most common strain in the population shows that the vaccine did reduce the number of infections and the potentially life-threatening complications in those who developed influenza, Jain says."

Comment:  Even though the CDC says "This study does not provide data that permits an assessment of the effectiveness of TIV (trivalent inactivated vaccine) against laboratory-confirmed influenza and its complications. Additional studies to provide such data are under way. Because TIV was effective against laboratory-confirmed influenza and influenza-related complications in previous years in which it was not effective against ILI (8,9), and because influenza B and influenza A (H1N1) viruses might cause serious illness later this season, influenza vaccine continues to be recommended for persons at increased risk for influenza-related complications, their household contacts, and health-care personnel.", it is still difficult to see how the CDC can continue to recommend this vaccine.  This is particularly true given that their own preliminary studies confirm that it appears the vaccine is not likely to be protective.  (After all, it is not as if there are no adverse flu vaccine-associated reactions reported to VAERS.  Between 1990 and now there have been 20,174, probably at a minimum representing over 200,000.) That is, it is hard to fathom unless they view their primary job to be protecting the vaccine manufacturers rather than the public.   And unless they have conducted studies comparing those who were vaccinated to those who were not vaccinated against the flu (breaking it down by "never vaccinated" and all the various vaccine combinations), there is simply no basis for the argument that a mismatched flu vaccine offers at least some protection against the flu.

►February 11, 2004 - Black Death Not Reason for Anti-HIV Gene Mutation - Nature via Reuters Health - "People with a genetic variation in a receptor on immune cells, called the CCR5-delta-32 mutation, are resistant to infection with HIV. The mutation is much more common in people of Northern European descent than in other populations, and it seems to have arisen some 800 years ago...Researchers have suggested that it became so common as a result of selective pressure by the Black Death plague in the Middle Ages, meaning that people with the mutation were more likely to escape the contagion...As plausible as the theory seems, it's apparently unfounded, researchers conclude in an article in this week's issue of the science journal Nature."

►February 11, 2004 - Flu Vaccine in Short Supply in Hampton Roads - www.wavy.com

►February 11, 2004 - No Consensus on Salt Restriction - press release - The Salt Institute via US Newswire

►February 11, 2004 - Salt and Water Intake: Press Release - Institute of Medicine via Newsday

►February 11, 2004 - Obesity turning into major threat for nation's kids - The Seattle Times via Fort Wayne News Sentinel

►February 11, 2004 - Survey Shows Impact of Psoriasis is More Than Skin Deep - Self-confidence, Relationships, Work/School, and Social Interactions Affected - PRNewswire via Yahoo!

►February 12, 2004 - Call for bird vaccinations - Chickens may get the jab to stop spread of bird flu. - Nature

Comment:  But if a recent article in New Scientist is correct, vaccinations may be part of the problem, rather than part of the solution.

►February 11, 2004 - FDA Grants Orphan Drug Designation for Altastaph (Staphylococcus aureus Immune Globulin (Human), for Protection against Staph aureus infections - Nabi Biopharmaceuticals via Doctor's Guide

►February 12, 2004 - Bird flu 'far from conquered' - AP via The Australian

►February 12, 2004 - Thai govt's bird flu insurance - AFP via www.news.com.au

►February 11, 2004 - Mercury spills in classroom - www.wtnh.com

►February 11, 2004 - Four HK sisters test positive for type-A influenza - Xinhuanet via China View

►February 11, 2004 - WHO cautions Pakistan against avian influenza - Xinhuanet via China View

►February 11, 2004 - Avian Influenza - Advice from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Travel VideoTelevision News

►February 11, 2004 - Free typhoid vaccine plan hits roadblock - The Times of India