February 19, 2004                   

Comment:  Without seeing the raw data, it is difficult to know what this study is demonstrating.  But unless they can show that "developmental disorders" went down about the same amount as autism went up, this study does not prove that changing diagnostic practices are "a major cause" for the rise in diagnosed autism.

►February 18, 2004 - Asia's toll from bird flu rises to 22 - AP via The Globe and Mail

►February 18, 2004 - Thailand, Vietnam Report More Bird Flu Deaths - AFP/AP via Voice of America

►February 19, 2004 - Babies at risk of pneumococcal - Herald Sun - "THOUSANDS of Victorian babies have been left exposed to the deadly pneumococcal disease as a global shortage of preventative jabs worsens...Vaccine-maker Wyeth said last month that babies who had begun the three-shot immunisation course would be able to finish the program...But worried parents have now been told supplies are no longer available, and they will have to wait at least four months before their children can resume the course...The delay will not negate the effect of the shots already administered, but those children do not have complete protection against the killer disease...Parents have been advised not to use an older pneumococcal vaccine."

►February 18, 2004 - Canadian discovery promises new MS treatments - Researchers hope enzyme will serve as target for multiple sclerosis drugs - The Medical Posting

►February 18, 2004 - FDA to review S.D. firm's lupus drug - The San-Diego Union Tribune via SignsOnSanDiego.com

►February 18, 2004 - Viragen Launches Multiferon Sales And Marketing Program In Mexico - press release - Viragen, Inc. via PRNewswire-FirstCall via Yahoo!

►February 18, 2004 - Dissemination of information on viral pneumonia accelerated nationwide - Vietnam News Agency

►February 18, 2004 - DynPort Vaccine Company Selects Finjan's Mirage Solution to Provide Precise Control over FDA Regulated Processes and Documentation - Digital Rights Management Tool to be Used for Conducting Research, Studies and Clinical Trials - press release - Finjan Software via PRNewswire via Yahoo!

►February 18, 2004 - New Partnership Introduces Pioneering Approach To Treatment Of Heart Disease And Diabetes In the UK - press release - Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust (TPCT) and Pfizer Ltd via Business Wire

►February 18, 2004 - Origen Therapeutics Receives SBIR Grant Aimed at Furthering Human Polyclonal Antibody Development in Chickens - press release - Origen Therapeutics, Inc, via Business Wire

►February 18, 2004 - Australian HIV Vaccine Boosts Immune System - The Gay Financial Network

►February 18, 2004 - Beaverton clinic urges parents to have their children revaccinated - The Oregonian via www.oregonlive.com - "A Beaverton clinic will begin mailing notices today to the parents of about 3,000 babies and toddlers who received a vaccine that might not be effective because it was improperly stored."

►February 18, 2004 - Hygiene concern at GP's practice - An inquiry has been launched into how unsterilised equipment was used for internal medical examinations on women. - BBC - "Last year, the medical practice operated by Dr Tahira Idrees was investigated over out-of-date vaccines."

►February 18, 2004 - Japan declares end to its first bird flu case - Reuters AlertNet

►February 18, 2004 - Ancient approach targets hepatitis C symptoms - Santa Cruz Sentinel - "Firmage and her classmates are in their third week of learning the ancient Eastern approach to treating hepatitis C through acupuncture and herbs...While the method dates back hundreds of years, teaching acupuncture specifically for hepatitis C is new for Five Branches Institutes, the Santa Cruz college of traditional Chinese medicine."

►February 18, 2004 - SciClone Reports Data: 41% of Hepatitis C Non-Responder Patients Test HCV RNA Negative after 24 Weeks of ZADAXIN Triple Therapy - press release - SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc.via Business Wire

►February 18, 2004 - Elan Corporation, plc: Elan Reports Fourth Quarter 2003 and Full-Year Financial Results - press release - Elan Corporation via Business Wire

►February 18, 2004 - International Egg and Poultry Review By the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service - This is a weekly report looking at international developments concerning the poultry industry, this week following the latest news in the Avian Influenza outbreak. World Reaction to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza - Poultry News via www.thepoultrysite.com

►February 18, 2004 - Mercury from big fish could make you sick, doctor warns - Monterey Herald

►February 18, 2004 - Seek healthcare experts' advice on vaccine information - opinion - The Miami Herald - "I am further troubled that the author does not provide evidence or references to substantiate her claim about the alleged danger of vaccines while her message contributes to misinformation about vaccines. Readers should beware of journalists who play doctor and instead entrust the care of their children to qualified and trained healthcare professionals."

Comment:  How often do MDs provide evidence or references to substantiate their claim when writing an opinion piece in a newspaper?  Did this MD substantiate his claims using references in this letter? (No.)

►February 18, 2004 - Health NW: Healthy travels - Blue Mountain Eagle

►February 18, 2004 - Bird flu in Vietnam a threat to marine life: WWF - AFP via www.channelnewsasia.com

►February 18, 2004 - Professor Studies Asthma, Antioxidants - Cornell Daily Sun

►February 18, 2004 - Bill makes meningitis information mandatory - Colorado State Collegian - "A bill has been introduced to the Colorado General Assembly that would require all Colorado institutions of higher education to provide information about meningitis and the available vaccine to students living in campus housing...Students living in the residence halls have a slightly increased risk of contracting bacterial meningitis, an infection of fluid in the spinal cord and brain, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention completed in 2000...Up to 125 cases of bacterial meningitis occur on college campuses around the country, 10 to 15 of which have been deadly, said Lisa Duggan, immunization specialist at the Hartshorn Health Service...'It's not a huge number,' Duggan said. 'But it's tragic considering it is a preventable disease.'"

►February 18, 2004 - Theories on autism - Capital News 9 - "This is what seems to be baffling the medical community. It is not clear if more children have autism, or doctors simply have a clearer understanding of what autism is."

►February 18, 2004 - Japan confirms new bird-flu outbreak - Spread: The Agriculture Ministry said the virus had been found in dead chickens on the country's main island, while Thai authorities cracked down on cock fighting - Reuters via Taipei Times

►February 18, 2004 - Turkmenistan: National immunisation programme proceeding well - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs via www.irinnews.org

►February 18, 2004 - Group wants medical cards for polio survivors - www.online.ie - "support group for polio victims has called on the Government to provide financial assistance to people who contracted the disease in Ireland between the 1930s and 1960s."

►February 19, 2004 - After Bird Flu, Dengue (requires registration) - editorial - The Jakarta Post - "Doctors' confirmation on Tuesday of suspicions a new, previously unknown sub-variant of the dengue virus is responsible for a virulent outbreak accross the country adds to the graveness of a situation already rated "extraordinary" by the government. This is all the more so because the Asian bird flu has yet to be brought fully under control...What led the government -- in this case, the Ministry of Health -- to issue the "extraordinary situation" rating was the dengue death rate, which by mid-month reached more than 1 percent of the number of patients treated. Dengue cases during the past few weeks were more than twice the number recorded over the same period last year."

Comment: Are people becoming less capable of fighting off these illnesses?  If so, why is that?

►February 18, 2004 - Bird flu: don't eat chicken if there's an outbreak - Utusan Malaysia Online

►February 18, 2004 -  Scientists confirm healthfulness of pasta as good carbohydrate - In Response to Low-Carb Diet Fad, Leading Health and Food Authorities Update and Confirm Health Benefits of Pasta Meals - press release - Oldways Preservation Trust via PRNewswire via Yahoo!

►February 18, 2004 - How Now, Mad Cow? - Common Dreams News Center - "Common Courage Press has just released the first paperback version of our 1997 book Mad Cow USA, the book that predicted the emergence of the deadly human and animal dementia disease in the United States. When Mad Cow USA was first published in November 1997, it bore the subtitle, 'Could the Nightmare Happen Here?' We used a question mark because we thought mad cow disease was possible but still preventable in the United States, if the meat industry and government regulators adopted adequate safety measures...Our book received favorable reviews at the time from some interesting publications such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, New Scientist, and Chemical & Engineering News. Otherwise, it went largely ignored and unheralded. It sold briskly but briefly during the infamous Texas trial of Oprah Winfrey for the alleged crime of "food disparagement," and then slid into obscurity until December 2003, when the 'nightmare' in our subtitle arrived and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman announced that mad cow disease has been found in the United States."

►February 18, 2004 - Seattle Genetics to Present at BIO CEO & Investor Conference - Seattle Genetics, Inc. via Business Wire

►February 18, 2004 - Meeting Addresses Childhood Killer: Measles - American Red Cross - "Among the attendees was Dr. Samuel Katz, inventor of the measles vaccine...Each year, a disease barely remembered by most Americans kills nearly one million children, a half million of those in Africa alone."

Comment:  Measles in developing nations is deadly.  Historically, it has not been deadly in developed ones.  The fact that measles is deadly in developing nations is not a reason to hype the deadliness of measles in developed nations. For more on measles go to What Is Wrong With This Picture?;  More confusing disease stats;   Playing With Fire - It's Not EASY To Fool Mother Nature;   Don't Worry, Be Happy;  Measles In The Vaccination Age:  Is It Now Deadlier?;   Why We Won't Take No* For An Answer  (*No relationship between MMR and autism);  and Shoot First, Don't Ask Questions Later.  

►February 18, 2004 - Embrex Statement Regarding Avian Influenza - press release - Embrex via PRNewswire-FirstCall via Yahoo! 

►February 18, 2004 - Chicken Pox Vaccine Study (includes video) - www.woai.com

►February 18, 2004 - Exclusion Day: No Shots, No School - www.koin.com

►February 18, 2004 - Appeal to end horse mutilations - Horse and Hound

►March 2004 - Inactivated Influenza Virus Vaccines in Children - journal article (Clinical Infectious Diseases) - "In conclusion, the data show that killed influenza vaccines in children are safe, immunogenic, effective, and potentially cost-saving."

Comment:  Note that this is an Aventis Pasteur study.  Among their many products are vaccines, including one for influenza.

►March 2004 - Nasopharyngeal Carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae by Adults and Children in Community and Family Settings - journal article (Clinical Infectious Diseases)

►February 2004 - Obesity and asthma in children - journal article (Journal of Pediatrics) - "We currently do not know whether there is or is not a real association between obesity and asthma in children. Further studies in pediatric populations with better measurements of obesity are highly desirable."

►February 2004 - Is obesity associated with asthma in young children? - journal article (Journal of Pediatrics) - "Conclusion This study suggests that there is no statistical association between obesity and asthma among Canadian children age 4 to 11 years. "

►February 2004 - Predicting the supply and implementation strategies needed to immunize children and adolescents against influenza - journal article (Journal of Pediatrics) - "Between 5 and 10 million individuals aged 6 months to 17 years have conditions (predominantly asthma) that indicate influenza vaccination."

Comment:  Recent research confirms that hemorrhages in the retinas and other widely accepted signs of shaking can result from other things.  For more on this and other problems re: so-called Shaken Baby Syndrome, go to the Online SBS Conference at www.redflagsdaily.com.  You can also and read Alan Clementson MD's (Professor Emeritus, Tulane University Medical School) excellent letter titled Was the Baby Shaken?, sent to and published in the Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients.

►February 17, 2004 - Big rise in multiple birth rate - The proportion of multiple births has increased by 20% in the last decade, figures for England and Wales show. - BBC 

►February 17, 2004 - Asia's Bird Flu Death Toll Rises to 21 - Asia's Death Toll From Bird Flu Rises to 21 People After Boy in Thailand Dies - AP via ABC News

►February 2004 - Hearing and vision screening program for school-aged children - journal article (American Journal of Preventive Medicine)

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