January 17, 2004*          

Vaccine-related (including autism)

►January 17, 2004 - Hepatitis sufferers win appeal and state redress - The Japan Times - "The Sapporo High Court ordered the government Friday to pay a combined 16.5 million yen to three people who said they contracted the hepatitis B virus in their childhood through then-mandatory vaccinations...Presiding Judge Kenji Yamazaki said in handing down the ruling that it is reasonable to believe the inoculations caused their infections. The ruling overturned a lower court ruling dismissing the claim...'The government naturally was able to predict the risk of such infections but failed to take preventive measures,' he said."

►January 16, 2004 - Are fears over polio vaccine valid? - The World Health Organisation (WHO) is accusing Nigeria of frustrating efforts to eradicate polio. - BBC - "Join the BBC's Africa Live debate Wednesday, 21 January at 1630 & 1830GMT."

►January 16, 2004 - State Health Director Redirects Funds For Use For Immunizations - Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment - "Colorado's 15 local health departments recently received nearly $400,000 in additional funds to help enhance their efforts to provide immunizations to children to protect them from childhood diseases...Douglas H. Benevento, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said that he directed that the funds, which were to have been used for other public health purposes, be used instead to improve and expand immunization programs across the state."

►January 16, 2004 - China: Killer Inspires Drive Against Hepatitis Bias - Los Angeles Times via www.aegis.org - "Zhou Yichao, rejected for a public servant job in Jiaxing because he tested positive for hepatitis B, killed one official who denied his application and seriously wounded another. The plight of Zhou - now on death row - has inspired a national movement against discriminatory hiring practices and lack of legal redress...More than 120 million people in China - about 10 percent of the population - are chronic carriers of hepatitis B. Many, like Zhou, show no symptoms and should not pose a threat to co- workers. Hepatitis B is spread through the exchange of bodily fluids and cannot be contracted through casual contact such as shaking hands. Hepatitis B can lead to liver failure and death. More than a million people die from it every year, about a third of them Chinese...Hepatitis B is incurable but preventable with a vaccine."

Comment:  For a different perspective on hepatitis B incidence and severity, go to Scandals: The CDC and “The New Math”, where 1 + 1  does not equal 2.  To learn more about why hepatitis B has spread in developing nations, and why vaccination against it is an arguable strategy, go to Scandals: "But Faith, fanatic Faith, once wedded fast To some dear falsehood, hugs it to the last." - Thomas Moore (Scandals - update and "flashback").

►January 16, 2004 - Japan to introduce vaccinations against future bird flu epidemic - China View

►January 19, 2004 - Snapshot | Do you believe that the benefits of vaccines... - The Scientist

Comment:  With the benefits of vaccines overstated, and the risks either ignored or dismissed, it is a myth that we know anything, really, about whether or not the benefits of vaccines (far) outweigh their risks.  For an overview on this, click here.  You can also go to the Online Vaccines Conference at www.redflagsdaily.com and read Scandals to learn more.

►January 19, 2004 - Litigation Could Make Vaccines Extinct - Congress must act--it has the legislative model in hand (requires registration) - The Scientist - "Vaccines have eradicated some killer diseases and protected against others. But they face eradication themselves--by litigation. As the United States rushes to defend itself against bioterrorism by developing vaccines against biological agents, Congress must pass legislation to ensure that vaccines themselves do not become extinct...All vaccines carry risks, including side effects such as encephalitis. For example, severe allergic reactions, such as breathing problems and shock, can occur in less than one in a million doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine.^1"

►December 2003 - Effect of mass immunization against influenza encephalopathy on mortality rates in children - journal article (Pediatrics International)

►January 17, 2004 - Fanatics declare war on vaccines - The Daily News - "Northern Nigeria has been swept by a wave of Islamic fundamentalism. Muslim clerics have been urging people not to take the polio vaccine, which they say makes girls sterile...They also allege that the vaccine is contaminated by HIV, all as part of an American-abetted plot to control the population of the Third World and especially the number of Muslims...Much of this is driven by sheer anti-U.S. spite. Several Muslim leaders told a Boston Globe reporter they knew nothing was wrong with the vaccine but were willing to risk crippling children because they hated the United States so."

►January 17, 2004 - Institute plans to develop vaccines based on avian flu viruses - The Japan Times Online

Comment: Would that they would apply the same high standards of scrutiny to the alleged proof that an MMR/autism link had been disproved.

Autism-related, developmental/behavioral issues

►January 17, 2004 - Tuna could soon carry mercury warning - Naples Daily News - "As the federal government mulls slapping a mercury advisory on tuna, Southwest Florida seafood retailers say some customers are concerned that the food they thought was healthy could be hurting them...Experts say there's cause for concern, particularly for pregnant women and young children."

►December 2003 - Supporting children on the autism spectrum in peer play at home and school - journal article (Autism)

►February 2004 - Rapid improvement in academic grades following methylphenidate treatment in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder - journal article (Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences)

"Vaccine-preventable" disease-related

►January 16, 2004 - Officials Puzzle Over Flu Deaths Among Children - Newhouse News Service - "A first-ever federal analysis of influenza-related deaths among children has surprised public health experts, who are trying to understand why nearly half of young victims had no underlying medical conditions...Also notable, experts said, is the flu's high toll on older children, who have more mature disease-fighting immune systems than infants and toddlers."

►January 17, 2004 - Health Services to help fight flu - Central Michigan Life

►January 14, 2004 - Animals Play Key Role in Flu Pandemics - Reuters via Yahoo!

►January 14, 2004 - Kids' Immune Systems Unfamiliar With Flu Strain - HealthDay via Yahoo!

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

►January 16, 2004 - Action Needed To Prevent Spread Of vCJD - BMJ via www.intelihealth.com - "Dr Sheila Bird argues that the death of the first probable victim of vCJD from a blood transfusion means that steps must be taken to define the rights and responsibilities of those at risk, as well as the general public...Because there is no way of testing blood for vCJD, people who have received products that may be contaminated need to be managed as if the disease had been diagnosed."

►January 16, 2004 - Fine-featured foes are for the birds - Daily Record - "As if we didn't have enough to worry about!...Carbon monoxide, radon, asbestos, mad cow disease, global warming, interest rates that may soar, a stock market that's anything but cheap...Now you can add bird droppings to the list. And three culprits in particular: pigeons, starlings and English sparrows. (Lesser felons: crows and gulls.)"

►January 15, 2004 - London Britain debuts deer feeder program - In an effort to help prevent Lyme Disease, London Britain embarks on a very personal battle. - Avon Grove Sun via www.zwire.com

►January 15, 2004 - Old Bridge zoners question cell tower Nearby residents rallying in opposition to its construction - http://suburban.gmnews.com - "Amboy Road neighbors Kevin Pruneau and Luis Medeiros have studied scientific research and believe the only way to avoid harmful effects of radiation from a cell tower is to move away from it...That’s something they hope they and their neighbors are not forced to do...Concerned about long-term health risks, residents in the vicinity of Amboy, Disbrow and Doyle roads and Van Ethel Drive are trying to stop the proposed construction of a cell tower at a storage facility on Route 34."

►January 14, 2004 - How does the immune system work? - The immune system is the body's silent but powerful defense mechanism against "foreign invaders". - Arizona City News via www.zwire.com - "How do we build the immune system? There are several factors involved in building and maintaining a super immune system. These include exercise, rest, mental attitude and optimal immune system nutrition. Americans and their animals are generally weak in all four areas."

Comment:  It's nice to see an article in the mainstream press that deals with the true cause of illness, and doesn't buy into the pill and/or vaccine for every ailment.  But if sickness is due to the absence of immunization, then we're "in like Flint"!

►January 15, 2004 - Couch Potatoes Can Start Young - HealthDay via Yahoo!

►December 2003 - Aminoglycoside and vancomycin serum concentration monitoring and mortality due to neonatal sepsis in Saudi Arabia - journal article (Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics)

►January 16, 2004 - Cot death sleeping advice changed - Sharing a bed with a baby who is less than eight weeks old may increase the risk of cot death, research has found. - BBC

►January 2004 - Primary cardiac tumors in infancy - journal article (Journal of Pediatrics)

►January 16, 2004 - Fish Oil for Mom May Prevent Allergies in Baby - Reuters Health via Yahoo!

►January 15, 2004 - Consumer Groups Want More Cattle Testing - AP via Yahoo!

►January 15, 2004 - New Study Reinforces SIDS Prevention Guidelines - HealthDay via Yahoo! - "The risk is greatest for babies who sleep on their stomach; whose mothers smoke; who are covered with bedding; and who sleep in the same bed as the mother. The researchers found six of 10 SIDS cases were attributable to babies lying on their stomachs or their sides. As for sleeping in the same bed as the mother, 77 percent of those SIDS cases involved a mom who was a smoker."

►January 16, 2004 - FDA Sees Rebound In Approval Of Innovative Drugs In 2003 - FDA via www.intelihealth.com

►January 17, 2004 - London hospital to face High Court for allegedly refusing to resuscitate disabled girl - journal article (BMJ) - "A hospital's alleged "unlawful refusal" to resuscitate a disabled 10 year old girl with severe breathing difficulties is to be challenged in the High Court in London. The case, which has far reaching implications for the NHS, could become a test case for the rights of disabled people to have the same life preserving treatment as those who are able bodied.

Miscellaneous

►December 2003 - Graspability and object processing in infants - journal article (Infant Behavior and Development)

►December 2003 - Complications of home parenteral nutrition in a large pediatric series - journal article (Transplantation Proceedings)

►January 17, 2004 - Autopsy after termination of pregnancy for fetal anomaly: retrospective cohort study - journal article (BMJ)

►January 2004 - Physical Activity Levels and Patterns of 9- and 15-yr-Old European Children - journal article (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise)

►November 2003 - Comparison of Fecal Flora following Administration of Two Antibiotic Protocols for Suspected Maternofetal Infection - journal article (Biology of the Neonate)

►January 14, 2004 - Pediatricians and parents key to improving quality of children's health care - University of South Florida Health Sciences Center via www.eurekalert.org

►January 14, 2004 - Yes, We Want a Doctor to Look Like One - Reuters via Yahoo!

►January 2004 - Continuity of Medical Care, Health Insurance, and Nonmedical Advice in the First 3 Years of Life - journal article (Medical Care)

►January 17, 2004 - The real reason women smokers are at greater risk - The Globe and Mail - "Should cancer of the lung be added to the list of health risks women face just because they are women?...A study presented recently at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago showed that women who smoke are twice as likely to develop lung cancer as their male counterparts. As a risk factor for smokers, female gender appears to outweigh age and amount smoked. Some researchers point fingers at the female hormone estrogen, but there is strong evidence implicating a more likely culprit: the bottling up of emotions, particularly anger."

►January 16, 2004 - Doctors disagree over boy's illness - North Lake Tahoe Bonanza - "Controversy and disagreement are as endemic in the medical field as in any other. One recent example is the recent diagnosis of Incline Elementary School fourth-grader Nathan Shuey."

►January 16, 2004 - U.S. Official Examines Relief Strategies at Cuba Transition Conference - Says humanitarian response in Cuba will be shaped by many factors - USINFO

►January 16, 2004 - Hajj preparations in full swing - The Muslim News

►January 16, 2004 - Guinn: The nitty-gritty details of MSG - Carolina Morning News

►January 15, 2004 - Measures of healthcare quality are of little use to patients - BMJ via www.eurekalert.org - "The researchers conclude that the shortage and inadequacy of the data available means that consumers cannot yet choose between providers on the basis of quality."

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