►January 5, 2004 - Anthrax ruling a victory for local mom - Missoula woman says judge's decision isn't end of fight over vaccine - Missoulian Online - "'I went looking on the Internet for something that was not hysterical, not emotional; I wanted facts,' says Hubbell, who runs a public relations firm out of her Missoula home. 'I found that when I came across the site sponsored by Maj. Sonnie Bates.'...Bates, Hubbell says, is the highest-ranking officer to refuse the anthrax vaccine, costing him his military career...'His letter to his commanding officer explaining why he would not take it had a military precision to it,' she says. "'t was just fact, fact, fact, fact. It convinced me there was a real problem here, and I had to get involved. The people this is affecting can have their pay docked, be demoted, be court-martialed. They can't speak up, so I figured it's up to the parents to do it.'

►January 6, 2004 - Needle-free vaccines may cause more harm than good: study - AEDT via www.abc.net.au - "Professor Alan Baxter says the onset of auto immune diseases accelerated when the patches were tested on mice...This can lead to inflammation of the pancreas or brain."

►January 12, 2004 - Insurers to cover nasal flu vaccine - An early, brutal flu season and a demand for injectable vaccine that exceeded supply has convinced some insurers to cover the more expensive FluMist. - www.ama-assn.org

►January 2004 - Effect of thimerosal, a preservative in vaccines, on intracellular Ca(2+) concentration of rat cerebellar neurons. - journal article (Toxicology) - "Results indicate that thimerosal exerts some cytotoxic actions on cerebellar granule neurons dissociated from 2-week-old rats and its potency is almost similar to that of methylmercury."

►January 5, 2004 - Smallpox vaccine elusive - Public demand for vaccination has subsided.  Concerns about side effects may outweigh fear of disease. -  The Morning Call Online - "Even a potentially safer experimental vaccine against the deadly disease being tested by the National Institutes of Health has insufficient takers. After a year, program officials have enrolled 130 of the 185 participants needed."

►January 5, 2004 - MMR ‘scare stories’ are not putting parents off - This is Guernsey

►January 2004 - Identification and Recall of Children With Chronic Medical Conditions for Influenza Vaccination - journal article (Pediatrics)

►January 5, 2004 - Hope For New Meningitis Vaccine - University of Surrey via www.innovations-report.com - "The Surrey researchers used genetic engineering technology to make a mutant group of the meningococcus that was incapable of causing disease in mice. The mutant was made in a C group of the meningococcus. However, mice that were inoculated with the mutant group developed antibodies that killed not only C groups but also B and A groups. It appears that, by inoculating with the disabled group, the mice have effectively been immunised against all groups."

►January 4, 2004 - More families have children with learning disorders - Alameda Times-Star Online - "One in every three American families has had to cope with a child with a learning disability or a mental illness and most people believe such problems are increasing, according to a poll by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University."

Comment:  What's it going to take for the "experts" to take seriously that vaccines may well be involved in this devastating public health problem? 

►December 23, 2003 - Does the risk of cerebral palsy increase or decrease with increasing gestational age? - journal article (BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth)

►January 1, 2004 - Low dose radiation in infancy may affect intellect - BMJ via www.eurekalert.org

►January 2, 2004 - Scans 'may damage infant brains' - Doctors have been urged not to use powerful CT scans to assess possible brain injuries in young infants. - BBC Health News

►December 30, 2003 - Special needs child wins Dubai's women cultural centre Holy Quran competition - Dubai, UAE via www.zawya.com

►December 31, 2003 - Love opens new doors for Chris - The Courier-Mail, Australia

►December 31, 2003 - Police believe body is that of missing Arlington man - The Daily Herald - "Schoellhorn was not equipped with a Project Lifesaver bracelet. The bracelets contain 1-ounce transmitters that allow search and rescue personnel to dial in a specific frequency to track the person...The bracelets are designed to help people who suffer from Alzheimer's, autism or other medical conditions that can cause them to wander."

►January 1, 2004 - 'Overwhelmed and overloaded' - Moms of Children with Special Needs looks to provide support - Log Cabin Democrat - "Mothers of special needs children know there are lots of problems that go along with the joys...Hope Guidry of Conway, mother of an autistic child, described it as 'living a nightmare, and you don't know what to do'."

►December 31, 2003 - Appleton schools begin fund to honor teacher - The Post-Crescent

►January 2, 2004 - Repligen Announces Conference Call to Discuss Phase 3 Study Results of Secretin for Autism - PRNewswire-FirstCall via http://interestalert.com

►January 2, 2004 - Loxahatchee riding center offers therapeutic program for the disabled - Sun-Sentinel

►January 2, 2004 - Evanston bus accident - There were some scary moments in the north suburbs Friday afternoon when a mini bus filled with a dozen teenagers and adults with special needs crashed into a parked truck. It happened on Main Street near Fowler in Evanston. - http://abclocal.go.com

►January 1, 2004 - Dance and disabilities - Sun Current via www.mnsun.com

►January 2, 2004 - Districts put to the test - The Sacramento Bee via The Modesto Bee - "Experts say these intensive treatments are the only technique proven effective in giving autistic children the skills they need to live independent lives...Yet, with the state's autistic population doubling in four years, the success of these lessons and their high costs -- as much as $60,000 a year per child -- threaten to overwhelm school districts already struggling to balance budgets."

►January 4, 2004 - 'Epidemic' of autism: Parents turn to alternative cures as number of cases skyrockets - Oakland Tribune - "THE day care center workers first noticed the problem with Kaleb...At the Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto, a child's piercing scream filled the air. The other children rushed over, concerned and alarmed. Their classmate sobbed indignantly: Someone had stepped on her hand...Only Kaleb, nearly 3, was unfazed. He continued to sit by himself, as usual, preoccupied with carefully lining up toy cars in a pin-straight row."

►January 4, 2004 - A sampling of the 375 bills set for debate - www.centralmaine.com - "An Act to Ban the Sale of Novelties Containing Batteries with Mercury."

Comment:  But inject mercury into the bodies of infants?  No problemo.

►January 5, 2004 - Appeal to SAARC Summit in Islamabad on Autism - "Autism is on the rise in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives - the countries within the SAARC region...There are 30,000 autistic people in Sri Lanka, according to international experts there will be a massive rise in 5 years time - in Sri Lanka and all over the SAARC region...Scientists are still divided as to the causes of autism - parents are still asking the question - is ithe MMR, is it genetic, is it caused by foetal distress at birth. Asian parents need answers to these pressing questions on Autism."

Comments:  As do we all, as do we all.

►January 5, 2004 - Update 2 - Repligen autism treatment not effective in trial - Reuters

►January 5, 2004 - National Journal Article Reveals Admission From CDC, Latest Vaccine Study Data Contained Many Children Too Young To Be Diagnosed As Autistic - Official Accepts Critics' Charge, Parents Say Data Was Manipulated To Cover Up Hidden Dangers Of Mercury Additive, Congressman Weldon Asks Data Be Shared With Outside Researchers - Safe Minds Press Release via PRNewswire - "An article released by National Journal reveals disturbing new information about a Vaccine Safety DataLink (VSD) study by the Centers for Disease Control published in November's Pediatrics. A journalist for the National Journal, Neil Munro, reports that Frank DeStefano, a CDC official and co-author of the latest VSD study, admitted the study contained many children too young to be diagnosed as autistic. The article quotes DeStefano as stating, 'This is true.'"

►December, 2003 - Meet Them Where They Are: Chiropractic & Special-Needs Patients - Journal of the American Chiropractic Association via http://mentalhelp.net

►January 5, 2004 - Phase 3 Study of Secretin for Autism Fails to Meet Dual Primary Endpoints - Development of Secretin for Schizophrenia to Continue - Repligen Press Release via PRNewswire-FirstCall via Yahoo!

►January 5, 2004 - Q&A: Carolyn Lott - Carolyn Lott says help is available for people with autism and their families - delmarvanow!.com via www.dailytimesonline.com

►December 31, 2003 - Federal officials want better tracking of virus -  The San Diego Union-Tribune

►January 2, 2004 - Flu Season Haunted by Ghost of the Tuskegee Experiment - The Wilmington Journal

►January 4, 2004 - Greater awareness of smallpox threat advocated - Star-Telegram - "The risk of a smallpox attack may have waned in the public's eyes. But some still regard smallpox as a credible bioterrorist threat, and they have criticized the health care community's weak response."

►January 1, 2004 - As Coach Dies of Meningitis, People Seek Antibiotics - (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times

►January 2004 - The Effect of Hospital Volume of Pediatric Appendectomies on the Misdiagnosis of Appendicitis in Children - journal article (Pediatrics)

►December 2003 - Low Breastfeeding Rates and Public Health in the United States - journal article (American Journal of Public Health)

►December 30, 2003 - GeneThera, Inc. Announces Live Blood Test Now Available for Mad Cow Disease - Wheat Ridge, Co - Market wire via http://interestalert.com

►December 30, 2003 - Invasion of the Virtually Indestructible Protein - Newsday - "Mad cow disease belongs to a small group of lethal disorders, caused by an infectious agent that is impervious to heat, ultraviolet light and an array of caustic chemical compounds...These agents, bizarre proteins known as prions, have been the subject of two major government investigations within the past year. Just last month, the Institute of Medicine, a division of the National Academies, released a report and recommended increased government funding to study these disorders."

Comment:  Not everyone agrees that mad cow is caused by prions.  (For more on this, go to the Online Mad Cow Conference at www.redflagsdaily.com.)

►December 30, 2003 - Plagues of 2003 - Sun Media via http://chealth.canoe.ca

►December 31, 2003 - The Year in Review: Top 10 Taiwan Stories - SARS outbreak kills 37 people in Taiwan - Taipei Times

►December 30, 2003 - Cow likely born before feed ban took effect - The Seattle Times

►December 30, 2003 - U.S. weighs faster, automated mad cow tests - Europe, Asia can get results in mere hours - Knight Ridder Newspapers via Detroit Free Press

►December 31, 2003 - Experts: Pets Probably Safe From Mad Cow - AP via Times Leader

►December 31, 2003 - Mbeki Upbeat, But Stresses the Social Challenges for 2004 - Business Day (Johannesburg) via www.allafrica.com

►December 31, 2003 - Bush Administration Acts to Reassure Public on U.S. Beef - Agriculture secretary announces enhanced safety measures - USINFO

►December 31, 2003 - Antiviral drug, valacyclovir, reduces genital herpes transmission - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center via www.eurekalert.org

►December 31, 2003 - China checks drains, sewers in search for source of suspected SARS -  AP via Canadian Press

►January 2, 2004 - Potential For Pathogens To Evolve Missing From Emerging-disease Models - University of Washington via ScienceDaily - "Tracking the evolution of pathogens is not a new concept, but mutations are usually not taken into account in the models used to assess the emergence of infectious disease."

Comment:  Nor is the role vaccines might play in the emergence of mutant disease.

►January 1, 2004 - Prevalence of Multidrug-resistant Bacteria Rising - Reuters Health via www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus

►January 1, 2004 - CDC Releases New Guidelines For Infection Control In Dental Care Settings - U.S. Centers for Disease Control And Prevention via ScienceDaily

►January 2, 2004 - Warning over immigrant HIV tests - Ministers have been urged against introducing mandatory HIV tests for every immigrant arriving in the UK. - BBC News

►January 4, 2004 - Chinese researcher says China's suspected SARS patient definitely has disease - AP via San Fransisco Chronicle

►January 4, 2004 - From SARS to cows, jittery year on medical front  - An opinionated look at the year's top 10 health stories - San Francisco Chronicle

►January 5, 2004 - Mad cow disease Q&A - Morris News Service via The Topeka Capital-Journal

►January 4, 2004 - Government says feed restrictions are enough to protect consumers, but some leading scientists disagree - The San Diego Union-Tribune

►January 5, 2004 - Latest test shows link to civet cats - The viral genetic sequences are similar but this finding does not indicate that the patient has Sars - The Straits Times

►January 5, 2004 - Immune boost 'widens cancer fight' - Scientists may have found a way to harness the immune system and strike at hidden tumours throughout the body. - BBC - "Animal tests suggest that a treatment given to just one tumour produces an immune response that targets secondary growths in other places...Researchers from Chicago University now hope the same effect can be reproduced in humans with cancer...If so, it could offer a way to tackle cases where more advanced cancers have a foothold in many parts of the body."

►January 3, 2004 - Toxins lead to healthier lives? - 'Revolutionary' research suggests billions can be saved in cleanup costs - Insight Magazine via www.worldnetdaily.com - "Hormesis, the scientific theory that humans actually need small amounts of poison in their diets, could be the most important environmental event of the 21st century if proved valid. Billions of dollars could be saved in environmental cleanup costs, say researchers, while at the same time improving the health of all organisms, including humans...But at first examination, hormesis appears kooky. The knee-jerk reaction is to reject this phenomenon as pseudoscience or propaganda by polluters, and a few uninformed observers have done just that."

►December 30, 2003 - Removing brain metals may aid Alzheimer's - www.palmbeachpost.com

►January 3, 2004 - Chinese tea 'may cure jaundice' - A herbal tea used widely in China to treat jaundice could soon be used by doctors in the West. - BBC

►January 5, 2004 - Ward off those winter ailments - The Telegraph, UK - "Who gets them (colds)? Almost everybody. Adults suffer an average of two to five a year and children seven to 10 a year. Because we produce antibodies each time we have a cold, we get fewer as we grow older."

Comment:  Vaccines are given under the assumption that they trick the body into producing antibodies and react otherwise similarly to what occurs naturally.  But is that actually the case?  And what are the ramifications if it is not?

►January 5, 2004 - Mad Cow Forces Beef Industry to Change Course (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "The financial motive that drove the industry to defend practices like selling downers has been turned on its head by the discovery of mad cow disease. Now, in an attempt to rescue the market for American beef, the industry is being forced to accept regulation it has long fought."

Comment:  They were clearly "penny-wise, but pound foolish".

►January 5, 2004 - Health Officials Warn of China's Plan to Kill Cats Over SARS (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times

►January 5, 2004 - Not all cirrhosis caused by alcohol - www.azcentral.com

►January 5, 2004 - Study: HIV advances quicker in shy people  - www.planetout.com - "Feeling jumpy, nervous or shy on a regular basis may affect your immune system, according to a newly released study of gay men with AIDS."

►January 5, 2004 - Drug Stops Herpes - New England Journal of Medicine - via Ivanhoe

►January 5, 2004 - Treating Brain Aneurysms - Neurosurgery - via Ivanhoe

►January 5, 2004 - Best Early Treatment for Stroke - Neurosurgery - via Ivanhoe

►January 5, 2004 - Midlife Brain Activity Predicts Alzheimer’s - Neurobiology of Aging - via Ivanhoe

►January 5, 2004 - Needless appendix surgery cited - The Boston Globe - "Surgeons needlessly remove the appendixes of thousands of children who don't have appendicitis -- a problem most acute at hospitals that perform the operation infrequently -- according to a new study that raises difficult questions about improving pediatric care."

►January 5, 2004 - Good bugs getting more notice - Probiotics: Researchers say friendly bacteria can improve intestinal functioning and may be a source of treatment for a range of diseases. - www.sunspot.net

►January 2004 - Infectious and uterus related complications during pregnancy and development of atopic and nonatopic asthma in children - journal article (Allergy)

►December 2003 - Childhood illnesses and the use of paracetamol (acetaminophen): a qualitative study of parents' management of common childhood illnesses - journal article (Family Practice)

►December 31, 2003 - Secondhand Smoke Affects Sickle Cell - Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine via Ivanhoe

►January 2004 - Implementing and Using Quality Measures for Children’s Health Care: Perspectives on the State of the Practice - journal article (Pediatrics)

►January 2004 - Measuring the Quality of Children’s Health Care: A Prerequisite to Action - journal article (Pediatrics)

►January 2004 - Quality Measures for Children’s Health Care - journal article (Pediatrics)

►January 2004 - Risk Adjustment for Pediatric Quality Indicators - journal article (Pediatrics)

►February 2003 - PopMod: a longitudinal population model with two interacting disease states -  journal article (Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation)

►December 2003 - Comprehensive approaches to school health promotion: how to achieve broader implementation? - journal article (Health Promotion International)

►December 1, 2003 - The association between state income inequality and worse health is not confounded by race - journal article - (International Journal of Epidemiology)

►December 1, 2003 - Effect of zinc supplementation on growth in West African children: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial in rural Burkina Faso -  journal article (International Journal of Epidemiology)

►January 4, 2004 - A Suicide Side Effect? - What parents aren't being told about their kids' antidepressants - www.sfgate.com - "'If there was a warning that said 'Caution: this drug may cause suicide in some people,' then doctors are going to know about it,' Farber says...Instead of warning people, Farber charges, Glaxo-SmithKline tried to hide the true numbers. 'They cooked the books,' says Farber during a recent interview. 'They cheated on the results. And the FDA is part of this.'"

Comment:  Sound familiar?

►December 28, 2003 - Editorial: Deals with scientists taint NIH research - San Antonio Express- News - "National Institutes of Health scientists are damaging the credibility of their work by receiving consulting fees, stock options or other types of pay from drug companies whose products they research for the federal government...The Los Angeles Times this month exposed the disturbing trend among senior NIH scientists of moonlighting for biomedical companies and legally being able to keep that information from the public...The situation isn't fair to American taxpayers, and the potential conflicts of interest are phenomenal."

►January 2, 2004 - Biotech Has a Merry December - ... and the Burrill Biotech Select Index Ends the Year Up a Whopping 66% - PRNewswire via http://interestalert.com

►January 5, 2004 - The Ephedra Ban Is Not Enough (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times

►January 5, 2004 - Computerized ordering cuts medication errors - www.tennessean.com

►December 29, 2003 - Public Health And the Limits of Private Rights - The Providence Journal via Healthy News

►January 3, 2004 - Meadow faces GMC over evidence given in child death cases - journal article (BMJ)

►January 2, 2004 - Infant formula milk contains dangerous bug - Traces of a bacterium that can cause serious illness in newborns has been found in each of four infant formula milk factories tested...A study, published in the Lancet, looked for the presence of a bug called E. sakazakii, which can cause meningitis or severe gut infections...Several outbreaks among premature babies have been recorded, and in this vulnerable group, mortality is high - between 40% and 80%...Cases have not emerged among babies more than a few weeks old unless their immune systems have been already weakened by other conditions...Some premature babies cannot breastfeed, or are deliberately given specially enriched formula feed from birth in an effort to maximise weight gain in the first weeks of life."

Comment:  Call me crazy, but maybe even premature infants who "cannot" breastfeed could be fed breast milk.  And perhaps the notion that infants need to  "maximise weight gain in the first weeks of life" should be reexamined if the method for accomplishing that is to feed formula rather than breastmilk.

►January 2, 2004 - VA Revises Priority for Doctor Visits - AP via www.sunspot.net

►December 31, 2003 - Kids and depression - Archives of General Psychiatry via Ivanhoe

►January 2004 - Length-of-Stay Policies and Ascertainment of Postdischarge Problems in Newborns - journal article (Pediatrics)

►January 2004 - Childhood abuse as a risk factor for psychotic experiences - journal article (Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica)

►January 3, 2004 - A tough time for paediatricians - journal article (BMJ)

►January 1, 2004 - Pregnancy May Weaken Teens Bones: Study - Reuters via Yahoo!

►December 30, 2003 - Government enacts measures to end "health tourism" - AFP via Yahoo! - "The government announced new measures to fight a practice dubbed "health tourism" in which foreign visitors avail themselves of Britain's free public hospitals costing the country hundreds of millions of pounds each year."

►December 30, 2003 - Annual checkup: From obesity to drug imports - St. Petersburg Times

*Note:  Starting December 10, 2003 news will be posted in the "daily news" pages based on when it was posted on this website, not by publication date.