January 12, 2004*          

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Vaccine-related (including autism)

►January 12, 2004 - Increasing Flu Vaccine in High-Risk Children - Pediatrics via Ivanhoe - "A simple reminder call significantly increases the number of children with a high-risk medical condition who receive a flu vaccine, according to new research. The study used billing data to identify children with high-risk conditions and evaluated whether a phone call could increase the number of children with a high-risk condition who actually get the flu vaccine."

 

►January 12, 2004 - Vaccine link to Gulf War syndrome - AFP via The Australian - "GULF War syndrome was probably caused by vaccines administered to soldiers before their departure to the region, according to a medical report whose findings are published in today's edition of The Times newspaper...The confidential report by senior army specialist Lieutenant Colonel Graham Howe, who examined a British soldier who suffered osteoporosis and depression after the Gulf War, found that 'secret' injections he received before his expected deployment to the Gulf 'most probably led to the development of autoimmune-induced osteoporosis'...The theory has extra credibility because the soldier in question, ex-Corporal Alex Izett, did not end up going to the Gulf. His regiment, based in Germany, was not deployed there."

►Mass Vaccination Clinics - California Distance Learning Health Network - Thursday, March 18, 2004

►January 12, 2004 - A Day at the Beach--Sun, Surf, Vaccine - Advertiser (AU) via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract) - "The vaccination tents will move along the coastline, providing vaccinations to beachgoers, explains Onkaparinga Council environmental health team leader Tony Pearson. 'This was a strategy to bring the immunization clinic to the beach, where we could actually access some of the kids who couldn't access it in other areas,' he adds."

►January 12, 2004 - For Health Officials, Flu Shot Is an Annual Gamble - Washington Post via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►January 11, 2004 - Faster Ways to Make Vaccine Needed Ahead of Pandemic - Austin American-Statesman via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►January 11, 2004 - Polio Cases in West Africa May Thwart WHO Plan - New York Times via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►January 12, 2004 - West Africa: Who Calls Meeting Over Fresh Polio Cases in Benin, Cameroon - IRIN via www.allafrica.com

►January 9, 2004 - BioPort Wins $245 Million Contract to Supply Anthrax Vaccine - AP via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►January 9, 2004 - Whooping Cough Vaccination Program Aimed at Teenagers - Victoria Times Colonist via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►January 12, 2004 - Jabs linked to Gulf War Syndrome - A Ministry of Defence doctor has said a cocktail of vaccines may be to blame for a range of debilitating illnesses known as Gulf War syndrome. - BBC - "Mr Izett, 33, who now lives in Bersenbruck, near Bremen in Germany, was inoculated like other troops against anthrax, botulism and other biological agents...He said he went public with the confidential report, dated September 22, 2001, so that other soldiers vaccinated with the same 'secret' injections could claim compensation for the physical and mental illness they may have suffered as a result."

►January 2004 - “DoD and the Anthrax Vaccine” - message from William Winkenwerder, Jr., MD, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs - www.anthrax.mil - "I want to address the recent controversy created by a U.S. District Court decision December 22 to order a preliminary injunction against our anthrax program and the subsequent lifting of that injunction, January 7. Although the litigation has not been finally resolved, we are pleased the Court lifted the preliminary injunction. DoD is now vaccinating service members again to protect them against the threat of anthrax. The facts, the best medical science, and the FDA’s December 30 final rule, fully support all of DoD’s actions and speak for themselves."

►January 12, 2004 - Safety of flu vaccine questioned - www.wthr.com

►January 12, 2004 - Lambo to Meet Kano Health Officials Over Polio Vaccine - Vanguard (Lagos) via www.allafrica.com

►January 12, 2004 - Burkina Faso: Trial of Malaria Vaccine Makes Encouraging Start - IRIN via www.allafrica.com

►January 19, 2004 - Researchers step up battle against ongoing anthrax threat - Early detection, quick treatment and a new-generation vaccine are all part of a multipronged effort to disarm the deadly bacterium. - www.ama-assn.org

►January 12, 2004 - Chiron delivers additional vaccine doses - East Bay Business Times - "Emeryville drug maker Chiron Corp. has delivered an additional 363,200 doses of its Fluvirin flu vaccine to U.S. health regulators in an effort to address vaccine shortages in the midst of a nasty flu season."

Comment:  Whoa.  That's a lot of vaccine to suddenly come up with.

►January 12, 2004 - Florida Health Officials Say More Flu Vaccines On The Way - State To Receive 17,000 Doses Next Week - www.nbc6.net - "State Health Department officials said the vaccine will arrive just in time for the peak of Florida's flu season. Last week the state received an extra 8,000 doses of flu vaccine for infants and young children...Once you get the shot, it takes about two weeks for the vaccine to provide protection...State health officials say it is not too late to get your flu shot now. Florida's flu season usually peaks in February and March."

Comment:  What of suggestion, including from the CDC, that it may have already peaked in many places?  And what if interest has also peaked?

►January 12, 2004 - Fury as doctor denies MMR autism link (editorial) - The Ham & High - "A ROYAL Free doctor has provoked a storm of protest after defending the controversial MMR vaccine in the Ham&High...A flood of letters in response to last week’s article – including several from the USA – accused Professor Brent Taylor of bias in casting doubt on a link between an increase in autism and bowel disease with the Measles Mumps and Rubella vaccine."

►January 12, 2004 - Official report links vaccine to Gulf War syndrome (requires registration or subscription) - www.timesonline.com - "For 13 years, the Ministry of Defence has denied that the vaccines , some of which were classified as “secret”, could be blamed for the wide range of debilitating diseases...A copy of the report, dated September 22, 2001, but never made public, has been handed to The Times by Mr Izett, who won a landmark ruling at a war pensions appeals tribunal in July last year which awarded him a 50 per cent disability pension. ..The MoD did not appeal against the ruling but maintained that the vaccines could not be the cause of any Gulf War syndrome of illnesses.

Comment:  How many secrets are we going to have to discover before realizing we have not been told the truth about vaccines?  For a recent letter from a Congressman concerning a possible CDC cover-up, click here (pdf).

►January 13, 2004 - Troops' illness linked to vaccines - Herald Sun - "VACCINES administered to Australian troops before their departure to the first war against Iraq may have caused long-term symptoms known as Gulf War Syndrome...A British medical report has found a link between a pre-deployment immunisation program and long-term medical problems...Australian Gulf War Veterans Association yesterday seized on the British report as evidence that Australian troops also suffered permanent side-effects from their vaccination program."

►January 12, 2004 - Bangladesh received 30 million doses of Oral Polio Vaccine from Japan - www.matamat.com

Comment:  For a comparison of oral polio vaccine and inactivated polio vaccine, go to Scandals: Wanted: Dead or Alive? Is IPV really safer than OPV?

►January 12, 2004 - Parents' anger over MMR threat to GPs - Leeds Today - "Doctors used to receive bonuses for achieving targets on vaccinating children with the triple measles, mumps and rubella jab...But now, a new policy set down by the Commission for Health Improvement (CHI), states that GPs will LOSE money if they fail to convince enough parents to have the inoculation."

►January 12, 2004 - Lack of flu shots spurs fake vaccines - Los Angeles Times via Knox News

►January 12, 2004 - For Health Officials, Flu Shot Is an Annual Gamble - Washington Post - "This winter marks only the second time in 15 years that the flu vaccine given to tens of millions of Americans does not specifically protect against the strain of flu circulating in the population...In that sense, this year's flu shot -- ironically, one of the more sought-after injections in years -- is a failure. How big a failure the shot is, and how many people may pay for the failure with their lives, will not be known for a while. The country could still get lucky. It might turn out a vaccine that is technically "wrong" may be right enough for the real world."

►January 12, 2004 - War on mumps to protect pupils - Gulf Daily News

►January 10, 2004 - $24,000 Lost for CCISD - Corpus Christi Caller-Times via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

Autism-related, developmental/behavioral issues

►January 11, 2004 - Spirit of giving at historic Soquel home transcends the ages - Santa Cruz Sentinel - "As legend has it, Daubenbiss opened her family’s 1,100-acre homestead to whomever needed a place to lay their head or fill their empty stomachs in the mid- to late 1800s...Today, the lavender-colored home that sits on a half acre above Soquel Village is still serving the public in the form of a nonprofit that caters to children with special needs."

►January 11, 2004 - Autism's full spectrum - USA Today - "When researchers study autism today, they are studying a more broadly defined spectrum of disorders than was once recognized...People with autism spectrum disorders can be severely impaired — mute, retarded, caught up in a world of obsessive and seemingly meaningless behaviors — or they can be so intelligent and verbal that they appear merely quirky to an untrained observer."

►January 12, 2004 - POISONOUS VAPORS: EPA cleaning up mercury spill - Levels of mercury inside house six times greater than what is considered safe - Las Vegas Review-Journal - "An Environmental Protection Agency emergency response team began cleaning up a liquid mercury spill Sunday at a house on Saylor Way where a 17-year-old boy inhaled the poisonous vapors...EPA officials spent Sunday trying to save the family's dog, Snowball, who was seriously sickened by the mercury exposure."

Comment:  Do not inhale.  But feel free to inject? Right...

"Vaccine-preventable" disease-related

►January 12, 2004 - More anthrax cases continue to surface - www.theherald.co.zw (Zimbabwe)

►January 10, 2004 - Two new cases of whooping cough found in Janesville students - GazetteXtra

Other diseases/conditions (some already in the vaccine pipeline)

►January 12, 2004 - 4th Possible SARS Case Reported in Southeast China Province (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times

►January 12, 2004 - New Possible Case Of SARS Arises In Southern China - Wall Street Journal via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►January 12, 2004 - Rochester Start-up Offers Groundbreaking Discover In HIV Research - Silicon Valley Biz Ink via www.prnewswire.com

Comment:  What if, however, as so many believe, HIV has nothing do with AIDS?

►January 12, 2004 - Mad cow test options plentiful - But experts say live animal assay is far off, if attainable at all - The Scientist

►January 11, 2004  - Is there anything left that we can safely eat? - www.scoop.co.nz

►January 12, 2004 - KaloBios and Celscia Therapeutics Announce Merger - Merger Creates Human Antibody Therapeutics Company, Combines Rapid Human Antibody Generation Technology with Experienced Product R&D Team and Expands Antibody Pipeline - PRNewswire via http://interestalert.com  

►January 12, 2004 - Doctors don't refer possible cases of CJD - Human form of mad cow disease may go undetected until surveillance improves - Akron Beacon Journal

►January 12, 2004 - Serologicals Patents Process That Inactivates 'Mad Cow' Prions - Business Wire via http://money.iwon.com

►January 12, 2004 - Many Latino children well on their way to diabetes, heart disease - USC studies show nine in 10 Latino pre-teens have at least one risk factorfor type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease - University of Southern California via www.eurekalert.org

►January 11, 2004 - Amid Mad-Cow Fear, Worries in Md. Death - Lack of Autopsies Hampers Research - Washington Post

►January 11, 2004 - Assessing Risks of Mad Cow - Other Animals Likely Infected, Scientists Say - Washington Post

►January 12, 2004 - Guess what's coming in dinner - Mad cow disease scare, salmon warning have consumers wondering what on their plates is safe to eat - Tri-Valley Herald Online

Comment:  As well they should.  But what about showing the same concern for what is injected into their bodies?

►January 12, 2004 - China Hunts Source of SARS - 3rd Possible Case Reported as Officials Investigate Outbreak - Washington Post

►January 9, 2004 - Monkeypox may complicate bioterror efforts - Similarity to smallpox could make detection of deadlier disease tricky - www.jsonline.com

►January 9, 2004 - New device can help defend against novel biological agents - Vanderbilt University via www.eurekalert.org

►January 12, 2004 - Cutting-edge science - www.palmbeachpost.com - "Scripps holds a patent on another promising technology: 'pharming,' or implanting human genes into corn and other crops so their tissues will contain disease-fighting antibodies."

►January 11, 2004 - Researchers prevent spread of flesh-eating virus - www.israel21c.org

►December 8, 2003 - A Step Past Chemotherapy - Cancer: The five-year survival rate for all cancers is 62 percent. Specially-targeted drugs hone in on cancer cells, leaving healthy cells untouched - Newsweek via MSNBC

►January 11, 2004 - Reasons to live - Suffering from AIDS - The Jackson Citizen Patriot

►January 10, 2004 - Bouncing Back! - www.people.co.uk - "Brave toddler Cody Chapman has battled back after being struck down by a rare cancer which left him with a tumour the size of a beach ball."

►January 11, 2004 - Finding may lead to better asthma treatment - Researchers have found a compound that blocks the production of excessive mucus, which could point the way to better treatments for asthma, chronic bronchitis, cystic fibrosis and other diseases. - AP via CNN

►January 12, 2004 - The blame game - The strategies for reducing HIV rates in Australia seemed to be working. But now, Jock Cheetham reports, the experts are wondering what went wrong. - The Sydney Morning Herald - "HIV rates are rising again after years of decline, dragging NSW into line with many other states and international trends. The AIDS Council of NSW is searching for the best response after years of safe sex messages that may have missed their targets."

Comment:   But what if, as many believe, HIV has nothing to do with AIDS.

►January 11, 2004 - Sobering statistics on cancer in Marin - Marin Independent Journal

Big pharma, research conduct, conflict of interest, ethics, FDA, oversight, approval process, warnings

►January 11, 2004 - Researchers Try to Cut New Path to the Pharmacy - Wall Street Journal via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►January 12, 2004 - Researchers try to cut new path to pharmacy (requires subscription) - Wall Street Journal via www.healthleaders.com  - "A growing number of universities and hospitals are moving beyond basic science and into limited drug development in an attempt to generate interest from risk-adverse drugmakers."

►January 5, 2004 - The Vietnam Example, Guinea Pigs and Systemic Abuse - Axis of Logic via World Crisis Web

►January 12, 2004 - Push for patient safety honors writer - The Boston Globe - "More than nine years after Boston Globe health columnist Betsy Lehman died from a chemotherapy overdose, state officials will memorialize her today by opening a center dedicated to reducing medical errors."

►January 11, 2004 - Ambiguous Gifts: When Patients Give and Doctors Take (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "A LAWSUIT last week evoked a distressing image of the former Beatle George Harrison, weak and exhausted, near the end of his life, being coerced into signing autographs by the doctor who was treating his cancer...Dr. Gilbert Lederman of Staten Island University Hospital has denied through a spokesman that any coercion took place, saying that he and his patient had become close and that Mr. Harrison had freely autographed a guitar belonging to Dr. Lederman's son."

►January 11, 2004 - Today's research, tomorrow's revolution - (registration required) - Jerusalem Post

►January 11, 2004 - Finding the right chemistry - Biotechnology seen as boon to FGCU, Southwest Florida - The News-Press

►January 11, 2004 - MSU gets $10.5 million to find bioterror drugs -- fast - Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Mandatory vaccines, parental/health rights, legal

►January 9, 2004 - Magee-Womens petitions court to dismiss suit on Pap smears - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - "Attorneys for Magee-Womens Hospital have asked a Common Pleas judge to throw out a lawsuit filed last month by two local women who say the hospital endangered them and thousands of others by falsely making it appear that a physician had reviewed their Pap smear reports...In a preliminary objection and supporting brief filed yesterday, Magee's attorneys say the lawsuit has no basis because the women were not harmed, nor did they show the reports were improperly reviewed."

►January 9, 2004 - Doctors to march on Capitol - In February, they will meet here to press for changes in Virginia's malpractice laws - Times Dispatch - "Virginia doctors are blaming huge increases in malpractice premiums and policy cancellations for a growing erosion of patient services and access to care...In a rare public demonstration next month, hundreds of white-coated physicians will march on Richmond and argue for changes in the state's medical-malpractice laws, once regarded as among the country's most protective of doctors."

►January 19, 2004 - Medical liability reform -- let's do it together now! (opinion) - www.ama-assn.org

Miscellaneous

►January 9, 2004 - Data show states return millions to feds instead of spending it on schools - www.signonsandiego.com

►January 12, 2004 - The Power of Movements - www.oneworld.net - "Successful movements have internal leadership, a powerful voice for the perspectives of those most affected, and a strong people’s role in agenda setting and decision making. These are intrinsic components of what makes movements successful and their results sustainable...This is not to suggest that we do not develop new vaccines and other scientific solutions to some very serious development issues. Of course we should. But those “solutions” will work only in combination with social movement processes."

►January 11, 2004 - Turning the tide: Power of friendship gets local surfer back on the waves - Santa Cruz Sentinel

Redflagsdaily.com

 

Breaking News Archives - each day's breaking news from December 1, 2003 (check here for breaking news you might have missed and breaking news that didn't ever hit the "front page")

More News - all the news most recently posted on this website

All the News - a running tab of everything posted on this website since October 29, 2003

Top Stories Archives - daily breaking and other important news stories

Daily News Archives - all the news posted on this website each day (from April 2001)

 

*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.    

Return to Vaccination News Home Page (for best results, right click to "open in new window")

DISCLAIMER:    All information, data, and material contained, presented, or provided here is for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as reflecting the knowledge or opinions of the publisher, and is not to be construed or intended as providing medical or legal advice.  The decision whether or not to vaccinate is an important and complex issue and should be made by you, and you alone, in consultation with your health care provider.