►February 20, 2004 - Mild Strain of Bird Flu Found in Texas - Reuters

►February 20, 2004 - WHO Sees No New Threat from Bird Flu in Cats - Reuters - "Confirmation that bird flu has jumped the species barrier and killed two cats in Thailand should not signify any increased danger to humans from the killer disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday...Furthermore, there was no reason that this would help trigger a feared mutation in the virus making it more of a threat to people, it added.

►February 20, 2004 - Redistribution Plan Aids Anthrax Spread - Mail & Guardian via www.allafrica.com

►February 21, 2004 - US office sealed after Anthrax powder was found in Indian passport - www.newindpress.com

►February 20, 2004 - Vadodara wakes up to immunisation before exams - Times of India

►February 20, 2004 - Get-fit program fights diabetes - "They think twice before they want to buy pop or chips" - Nunatsiaq News

►February 20, 2004 - FWP Seeks Comments On Proposed Chronic Wasting Disease Action Plan - Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks

►February 20, 2004 - Aspirin-Induced Asthma More Common Than Thought - HealthDay via Atlanta Journal-Constitution

►February 20, 2004 - Journal regrets running MMR study - The medical journal that published a controversial study linking MMR to autism says, with hindsight, it would not have published the paper. - BBC

►February 20, 2004 - West Africa mobilizes for final assault against polio - 63 million children to be immunized across 10 countries as Nigerian outbreak threatens African success story - press release - WHO/UNICEF/Rotary International/CDC via www.who.int

►February 20, 2004 - WHO Plans Mass Polio Vaccinations in W.Africa - Reuters via Yahoo!

►February 20, 2004 - WHO Launching Anti-Polio Campaign in 10 African Nations - Voice of America

►February 20, 2004 - Anti-polio vaccination programme to target Africa's 63m children - www.4ni.co.uk

►February 20, 2004 - Workshop on Polio held at Dormaa - GNA via www.ghanaweb.com

►February 21, 2004 - African States launch massive immunization drive to stop polio this year - UN News Service

►February 21, 2004 - Anti-rebel drive slows measles mission - www.inq7.net

►February 20, 2004 - Uije: American Company 'Forever Living' Opens Offices - Angola Press Agency via www.allafrica.com

►February 20, 2004 - Care urged after bird flu infected feline found - China Daily

►February 20, 2004 - Bird flu kills house cats, raising fears infected pets could pass it to owners - Canadian Press via www.canada.com

►February 20, 2004 - FAO experts say China able to contain bird flu - Xinhuanet via China View

►February 20, 2004 - Avian flu spreads to house cats in Thailand - AP via International Herald Tribune

►February 20, 2004 - Chinese farmers urged not to slacken anti-bird flu efforts - Xinhuanet via China View

►February 20, 2004 - Two bird flu outbreaks confirmed - Xinhuanet via China View

►February 20, 2004 - WHO Sees No New Threat from Bird Flu in Cats - Reuters via Yahoo!

►February 20, 2004 - Two new bird flu outbreaks in China - Times of India

►February 20, 2004 - Asia's bird flu crisis deepens with new outbreaks in Thailand, China  - AFP via www.channelnewsasia.com

►February 20, 2004 - Are pigs carrying flu superbug? - The Avian flu that has claimed 22 lives in the Far East has now been found in pigs. Because the animals are vulnerable to both bird and human flu, scientists fear the virus could mutate inside them into a superstrain like the one that killed up to a fifth of the world's population in 1918 - Times Online, UK

►February 20, 2004 - Drug effective against avian flu - A drug used to treat flu has been shown to be effective against the avian strain of the disease sweeping Asia. - BBC

►February 20, 2004 - Health NGO Launched in Lagos - This Day via www.allafrica.com

►February 20, 2004 - Nurse meets Cherie Blair at 10 Downing Street - Waltham Forest Guardian

►February 20, 2004 - Idea of the Week: American Center for Cures - New Democrats Online

►February 20, 2004 - Region trails state in vaccinations - Area schools are admitting students who haven't had required shots - Sarasota Herald-Tribune

►February 20, 2004 - WHO Plans Mass Polio Vaccinations in W.Africa - Reuters

►February 20, 2004 - Four more people suspected of having contracted viral pneumonia - Vietnam News Agency

►February 20, 2004 - Kidney Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise - HealthDay via Yahoo!

►February 20, 2004 - Vaccine 'could block lung cancer' - Experts have developed a vaccine which could be used to block the progress of lung cancer. - BBC

►February 20, 2004 - FDA to add new strain to flu vaccine - www.am850.com

►February 20, 2004 - FDA Adds Potent Strain to New Flu Vaccine (requires registration) The Los Angeles Times

►February 20, 2004 - CCISD: 3,000 need shots - Kids who lack 2nd hep A dose will stay - Corpus Christi Caller-Times

►February 20, 2004 - USA loses top autism columnist - The Los Angeles Times via www.awares.org

►February 20, 2004 - Executive Bid to Improve Health in Deprived Areas - Scottish Press Association via The Scotsman

►February 20, 2004 - Will ‘fat tax’ help fight our flab? - www.edp24.co.uk

►February 20, 2004 - Campaign to improve asthma treatment in rural communities - The World Today via www.abc.net.au

►February 20, 2004 - Pocket of resistance - The Engineer via www.e4engineering.com - "The solution to HIV diagnosis in the third world could be provided by a portable protein detector powered by a nine volt battery...The cost-effective Pocket uses a combination of silver-based chemistry, a diagnostic chip, and an optical sensor to do the same job as bulky, expensive and resource-hungry hospital machinery - at a fraction of the time and cost. "

►February 20, 2004 - Bat Bite Rabies Risk 'Very Low' - Scottish Press Association via The Scotsman

►February 20, 2004 - Region in brief - Students excluded for shots - Statesman Journal

►February 20, 2004 - Meningitis bill passes committee - Arizona Daily Wildcat

►February 20, 2004 - Firm takes on anthrax and more - Colonie-based Sabre tackles cleanup of buildings affected by bioterrorism - Times Union

►February 21, 2004 - Hepatitis C worsens in one in three infected - Gut via Health and Age

►February 18, 2004 - Delivering Small Babies Raises Future Stillbirth Risk - HealthDay via Yahoo! - "Women whose first baby was small, especially if it was delivered early, have a higher risk of having a stillborn baby on subsequent deliveries...Even among these high-risk women, however, the odds of a stillbirth were low. 'Ninety-eight times out of 100, the next pregnancy had a live-born baby,' says Dr. Mark A. Klebanoff a researcher at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. 'The absolute risk is not horribly high. It's not so high that somebody should necessarily be discouraged.'"

►February 19, 2004 - Hopes rise in battle to foil incurable killer - The Globe and Mail

►March 2004 - Monitoring poverty and social exclusion 2003 - journal article (Child Care Health and Development)
 
►March 2004 - Child health indicators for Europe. A priority for a caring society - journal article (Child Care Health and Development)

►February 18, 2004 - Effectiveness Over Time of Varicella Vaccine - journal article (JAMA)

►February 2004 - Diagnosis and Testing in Bronchiolitis - A systematic review - journal article (Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine)

►February 2004 - Body piercing: A patient safety issue - journal article (Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing)

►February 20, 2004 - Thai scientists find deadly bird flu in tiger, leopard, domestic cats - AFP via  www.channelnewsasia.com

►February 20, 2004 - Japan halts Canada poultry imports due to bird flu - Reuters AlertNet

►February 20, 2004 - Bird flu in cat, cattle investigated - Borneo Bulletin via www.brunei-online.com

►February 20, 2004 - Home cooked food is the best answer to autism - Indo-Asian News Service via Hindustan Times

►February 19, 2004 - Meningitis Death Frightens Parents - Teen Worked With Kids At YMCA - www.nbc10.com

►February 19, 2004 - Heart deaths analyzed - Georgia high in fatalities before the age of 65 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

►February 20, 2004 - Why MS Patients Experience Fatigue - Archives of Neurology via Ivanhoe - "New research shows nerve fiber damage may help explain why many patients with multiple sclerosis suffer from fatigue...MS is a chronic disease of the central nervous system that is characterized by abnormal sensation, tremors, slurred speech, difficulty moving, and pain. Up to 87 percent of MS patients suffer from fatigue. According to researchers, fatigue is a major reason many MS patients are forced to give up working."

►February 19, 2004 - Avian influenza strains vary, but all pose potential risk to human health - Canadian Press via www.canada.com - "The discovery of avian influenza in a B.C. chicken flock is no reason to push the panic button, but it does require quick action to protect poultry stocks and human health, experts say...The H7 strain found at the farm on B.C.'s Lower Mainland is 'leaps and bounds different from H5N1, where there's high lethality, not only in chickens but also in humans,' influenza expert Dr. Danuta Skowronski of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control said Thursday. The H5N1 strain has swept through Asia..."But what we want to do - always, whenever there's an avian outbreak - is contain it and minimize human exposure.''

►February 19, 2004 - Avian Influenza Detected in British Columbia - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency via Canada NewsWire

►February 19, 2004 - British team develops ‘Black Death’ vaccine - The Times, UK - "BRITISH scientists have made a crucial breakthrough in the war on terrorism by developing a vaccine to counter bubonic plague, the bacteria that caused the Black Death...A vaccine for the bubonic plague, which killed millions in the Middle Ages and is now one of the deadliest bio-terrorism agents, may be available within a year as a result of a breakthrough at the Ministry of Defence’s laboratory at Porton Down.

Comment:  Antibiotics are effective against the plague if given within 24 hours of the first symptoms, according to the CDC.  (Although there apparently is some concern about growing resistance of the plague to antibiotics.)

►February 19, 2004 - Healthcast: Vaccines For Lung, Prostate Cancers - G-Vax Stimulates Immune System - www.theindychannel.com

►February 19, 2004 - Meningitis inoculations recommended for college students - The Johnson County Sun via www.zwire.com

►February 20, 2004 - China sees 3 new bird flu cases; Asia urged to boost war on virus - www.etaiwannews.com

►February 20, 2004 - Tests Confirm Two Thai Domestic Cats Killed by Bird Flu - Reuters

►February 20, 2004 - Bird flu may be like SARS epidemic: experts - The China Post

►February 20, 2004 - Baby hope for meningitis victim - The Scotsman

►February 19, 2004 - DMV gets anthrax scare - A package containing a letter and an unidentified white powder was delivered to the temporary offices of the Division of Motor Vehicles Tuesday, prompting DMV employees to call police. - The Pawtucket Times via www.zwire.com

►February 19, 2004 - Local activists attend legislative hearing on Lyme disease - According to one of its co-founders, the Greater Hartford Lyme Disease Support and Action Group is the only such group in the country - one that not only advocates, but makes a concrete effort to put a brighter spotlight on the tick-borne disease from which they all claim to suffer. - Farmington Valley Post via www.zwire.com

►February 20, 2004 - Birdflu vaccine seen top priority to stop pandemic - Reuters AlertNet

Comment:  But what if concerns raised in New Scientist are true, that vaccinations may be what is at least partly responsible for the current flu problem?

►February 20, 2004 - Vaccine 'boosts cancer survival' - Scientists have developed a vaccine which could protect kidney cancer patients against the disease returning. - BBC

►February 20, 2004 - Kidney Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise in Trial - Reuters

►February 20, 2004 - World Briefing: Africa (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times

►February 19, 2004 - Bird Flu Claims More Victims, U.N. Renews Warning - Reuters

►2004 - Jab alert as city's mumps cases soar - Glasgow is at the centre of an alarming rise in mumps among teenagers. - Evening Times

►February 19, 2004 - Schools enforce vaccination deadline - The Bulletin via www.bendbulletin.com

►February 19, 2004 - Varicella Vaccine Most Effective During First Post-Vaccination Year Then Loses Some Efficacy Over Time - JAMA via Doctor's Guide

►February 19, 2004 - Church link probed in hepatitis outbreak - Tri-Town Transcript via www.townonline.com

►February 19, 2004 - Flu Vaccine To Get Makeover - AP via CBS News

►February 19, 2004 - Bird flu case reported in British Columbia - Reuters AlertNet

►February 19, 2004 - Yamaguchi bird flu virus capable of infecting humans: Japanese institute - The bird flu virus that killed chickens in Japan's Yamaguchi Prefecture is capable of infecting humans, but its virulence is weak, the Japanese National Institute of Animal Health said Thursday - People's Daily

►February 19, 2004 - Canadian Officials Find Bird Flu on Farm - AP via Newsday

►February 19, 2004 - Avian flu found in B.C. chicken flock - Milder strain not a threat to humans: officials - CP via The Province via www.canada.com

►February 19, 2004 - The Western Regional Public Health Unit of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) would use a total of about 1.5 million dozes of Oral Polio Vaccines (OPV) for the first round of the 2004 Immunization against Polio that would take place in the region between February 27 and 29. - GNA via www.ghanaweb.com

►February 19, 2004 - Polio Immunization Drive Set for Africa - AP via The Guardian, UK

►February 20, 2004 - 'No polio case reported so far' - Times of India

►February 19, 2004 - Nigeria: Muslim suspicion of polio vaccine lingers on - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs via www.irinnews.org

►February 19, 2004 - Those who obstruct immunisation will be punished - GNA via www.ghanaweb.com

►February 19, 2004 - Biosecurity key to limiting bird flu spread in Pennsylvania - Penn State University via http://live.psu.edu/

►February 20, 2004 - True Sars toll may have been lot higher - The Standard

►Anthrax FAQs - Information From The Centers For Disease Control - www.wesh.com

►February 20, 2004 - Bird Flu Found in Cats in Asia; Canada on Alert - Reuters - "Two domestic cats in Thailand have died of the same bird flu that has killed at least 22 people in Asia, a veterinarian said on Friday, a day after Canada announced its first case of a different strain of the virus...The discoveries have alarmed scientists who now fear the disease can spread as easily between species as it has between countries."

►February 19, 2004 - Exclusion day: 215 Albany district students sent home - Albany Democrat-Herald

►February 19, 2004 - Judge Approves Mediation in Hepatitis A Outbreak - 7 News via www.wtrf.com

►February 19, 2004 - New: $2.5 million federal grant to aid UTHSC asthma study - San Antonio Express News

►February 19, 2004 - Student Dies from Meningitis - Students at Upper Darby High School are coming to terms with the death of a popular junior. - WPVI.com via http://abclocal.go.com

►February 20, 2004 - India ready to prepare bird-flu vaccines - Sify News

►February 19, 2004 - Valley Fever Vaccine 'at Hand' - Valley Fever Vaccine Project via AScribe Newswire

►February 19, 2004 - Protein helps immune system mount ’instant strike’ against deadly flu viruses - Discovery suggests that a ’live virus’ vaccine may offer best defense against avian flu - University of Rochester Medical Center via Innovations Report

►February 20, 2004 - Parents 'don't trust' vaccine - Parents choose not to immunise their children because they distrust official pro-vaccine information, according to new research. - The Dominion Post via www.stuff.co.nz - "They say the parents were highly educated and had collected information about immunisation from a wide range of sources before making their decisions...Most were worried about possible side effects from immunisation. Just under 60 per cent of parents thought immunisations were given too early and would weaken, rather than strengthen, their children's immune systems. They believed children would develop better immunity if they caught diseases naturally."

►February 5, 2004 - Cuba - New vaccine. - Latin America Press

►February 19, 2004 - Premiums put Medicaid kids at risk - opinion - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

►February 19, 2004 - Anxious advisers vote on new flu vaccine - Reuters via Forbes

►February 18, 2004 - Coaches inoculated against hepatitis - Precaution taken against hepatitis A - Valley Morning Star

►February 19, 2004 - Computerized Disease Registries Offer Physicians Key to Improving Chronic Disease Care - California HealthCare Foundation via Business Wire

►February 19, 2004 - B.J. Surhoff, Michael Phelps Promote Autism Awareness - Sports Greats Promote Pathfinders For Autism Resource Center - www.thewbalchannel.com

►February 19, 2004 - Polio Immunization Drive Set for Africa - AP via Newsday

►February 19, 2004 - Inactive Flu Vaccine May be Safe for Kids - UPI via Comtex via www.wtopnews.com

►February 19, 2004 - Lung Cancer Vaccine Study Produces 'Exciting' Results - PA News via The Scotsman

►February 19, 2004 - Influenza B Virus Strain for 2004-2005 To Be Confirmed In March - FDA Advisory Committee

►February 19, 2004 - Vaccinations urged for West Nile Virus - The Navajo Times

►February 20, 2004 - HIV immunity may stem from ancient smallpox - Gannett News Service via The Arizona Republic

Comment:  That's all well and good.  But what if having immunity to HIV doesn't really mean much?  What if HIV has nothing to do with AIDS, as some believe?