►January 24, 2004 - 10 years away from a vaccine - The Times of India - "If ever India needed a wake-up call on the reality of HIV/Aids in here, it has come from one of the pioneering doctors battling against the disease."

►January 22, 2004 - Flu Vaccine Didn't Curb Symptoms, Study Says - www.newsday.com

►January 22, 2004 - Little interest shown for small pox vaccines - The small pox inoculation is coming up small among first responders, according to the Montgomery County health department. - The Mercury

►January 2004 - MMR And Nurseries - BBC Radio - "Day nurseries may be considering excluding children if they haven't had the MMR vaccine. Some parents whose children are not yet old enough for the vaccine are worried that mixing with children who are not immunised may be putting their babies at risk. The director of public health in the North West, John Ashton, and Magda Taylor from the Informed Parent helpline discuss parents are right to consider immunisation as a factor when choosing childcare."

►January 23, 2004 - Many dogs lack rabies vaccinations - www.montereyherald.com - "An estimated 87,000 dogs live in Monterey County, as calculated using U.S. Census figures and a formula from the 2002 U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook...By state law all of them must be vaccinated against rabies. Since vaccinations are needed every three years, on average, 29,000 county dogs should be vaccinated every year. But veterinarians only reported issuing about 6,500 rabies certificates in the county in 2003."

►January 23, 2004 - Zim anti-polio vaccines dwindle - The Zimbabwe Independent - "STOCKS of anti-polio vaccine BCG have begun to dwindle at a number of government-run medical centres in the country which has forced the government to scout for international bidders to supply the medicine, it emerged this week."

Comment:  The problem is, BCG is the anti-TB vaccine.

►January 23, 2004 - India News: India, Pakistan to collaborate on drive to end polio - Kerala News - "Among six trouble spots for the crippling and often fatal polio disease, India and Pakistan are discussing a joint programme to check the spread of the disease across the border. 'The genetic sequencing data shows that the polio in India and Pakistan is of different type and that there is no cross border transmission. Still we are discussing ways to see that this does not happen,' S. Sarkar, deputy commissioner of child health in the health ministry, told IANS."

►January 23, 2004 - Avian flu raises vaccine questions - Jab could take months to make, say experts. - Nature - "Researchers eyeing the outbreak of bird flu in Asia are stepping up efforts to ready a vaccine - but the process could take months, they warn...The vicious strain of avian flu called H5N1 has killed five people in Vietnam, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Another two cases were reported in Thailand on Friday. These patients - both children - are still alive."

►January 25, 2004 - Irish grant to fund new MMR vaccine refuels safety fears - Sunday Herald, UK - "The Irish government has given a leading scientist around £482,000 to develop a safer measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab...The grant to a head virologist at Trinity College Dublin has prompted claims that confidence in the controversial vaccine, which has been linked to bowel disease and autism in some children, is waning at the highest level."

►January 21, 2004 - Colo. last in giving kids shots - Data: Whooping-cough rate triple U.S. average - The Denver Post

►January 21, 2004 - Colorado whooping cough rate soars; poor vaccination rate blamed - AP via www.9news.com - "Colorado children are nearly three times more likely to get whooping cough than children nationwide, and the state's poor vaccination rate is to blame, experts said...'We've got a serious problem in Colorado,' said Dr. James Todd, chief epidemiologist at The Children's Hospital in Denver. 'There is a correlation between low vaccine rates and actual disease.'...Only 62.7 percent of Colorado children got timely vaccinations for whooping cough and other childhood diseases in 2002, the lowest rate in the nation, federal authorities said last summer."

Comment:  Not everyone agrees with this assessment.  For more on this, read a letter from NVIC rep, Cindy Loveland, to the governor of Colorado.

►January 23, 2004 - Pediatrician John Cohen - www.thebostonchannel.com - "Should parents worry about giving children the MMR vaccine because of worry over autism?...The fact of the matter is that the study was done years ago and was actually recanted by the doctor that did it. The MMR vaccine is safe and doesn't cause autism and people should pay attention to their doctors."

Comment:  This issue has hardly been settled.  To get a taste of some of what has been happening, click here.

►January 23, 2004 -New Date for 2004 National Adult Immunization Awareness Week (NAIAW) - 18th Annual NAIAW to Take Place September 26 - October 2, 2004 - "NAIAW's new date allows immunizers and the general public to better prepare for the start of influenza vaccination season, which typically begins October 1."

►January 22, 2004 - Long illness takes life of CB 8's Katz - Times Ledger via FreshMeadowsTimes.com via www.zwire.com - "Katz, who lived in Jamaica Estates, was a community leader and a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher at PS 131 for 25 years before she retired in 1991. Three years later she developed Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare neurological disease that causes impermanent paralysis, after taking a flu shot."

►January 23, 2004 - Advice on Influenza and Pneumococcus Vaccinations for Diabetic Children Varies in Untied Kingdom - BMJ via www.docguide.com

►January 24, 2004 - Pakistan Committed To Eradicate Polio By 2004 - www.paknews.com

►January 23, 2004 - CDC plans biodefense testing -  www.govexec.com

►January 24, 2004 - Shots Have Healthy Repercussions Smallpox Vaccination Effort Helped Officials Learn How To Prepare For Disaster, Doctors Say - The Hartford Courant - "A year ago today, with the impending war with Iraq as a backdrop, three Connecticut doctors rolled up their sleeves and kicked off the nation's smallpox vaccination program...Anxiety about a smallpox attack and the vaccination program itself have almost disappeared. In retrospect, say those who were involved, it wasn't the vaccination effort that was important but the act of preparing for disaster."

►January 22, 2004 - Scientific, Lay Press Starting to Label Autism "Epidemic" - Schafer Autism Report

►January 22, 2004 - Future looks bright for Mariposa School - The Cary News - "The Mariposa School, for children with autism, was in danger of closing its doors in 2002. But the school is still open, making a difference and planning to expand...The school has 15 students enrolled in the building and its staff consults with six other children. Cindy Peters, executive director, said that Mariposa has been fortunate to have the support of many people. When the school was running low on funds in 2002, doing everything possible to publicize it helped pull Mariposa out of trouble."

►January 16, 2004 - Officials fear closure of program - Coshocton Tribune - "For some 30 years, the Hopewell School has been at the forefront of public education for the area's most severely disabled students...That will change at the end of the school year if the community again rejects the proposed 2.8 mill levy, according to Hopewell Superintendent Heather Kendall."

►January 15, 2004 - Finding their own rhythm - Daily Journal

►January 23, 2004 - Emotional connection - A play-oriented approach helps autistic children learn how to socially interact - Mail Tribune

►January 20, 2004 - The price of structure and stability - The Salt Lake Tribune - "Few have been able to penetrate Carson Smith's world since he was 22 months old...That's when he stopped talking, became compulsive about seemingly random objects and lost his social skills...A year later came the diagnosis: autism, a developmental disorder characterized by language difficulties, compulsive behavior and social incompetence."

►January 23, 2004 - Groups sue over taconite plant mercury rules - Duluth News Tribune

►January-February 2004 - Sleep problems as possible predictors of intensified symptoms of autism - journal article (Research in Developmental Disabilities)

►January 22, 2004 - Scientists fear bird flu may become pandemic - USA Today via The Desert Sun

►January 24, 2004 - Thais Infected With Bird Flu; Virus Spreads (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "Human cases of avian influenza, contracted from birds, have turned up in a second Asian country, Thailand, showing the virus has spread in recent weeks. The announcement, made by the Thai government on Friday, has deepened fears of a global epidemic if the virus combines with another that can be transmitted from person to person."

►January 23, 2004 - WHO Expert: Bird Flu's Rapidly Changing Genetic Makeup Likely Behind Its Rapid Spread - AP via www.intelihealth.com

►January 23, 2004 - Human Bird Flu Cases Confirmed in Thailand - Reuters - "But the World Health Organization was clearly alarmed...It said in a statement the near simultaneous bird flu outbreaks in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and now Thailand and Cambodia were 'historically unprecedented' and it was worried a new, virulent strain of influenza could sweep around the world.  

►January 21, 2004 - Scientists identify cell defects that limit immune system's impact on late-stage tumors - Cedars-Sinai Medical Center via www.eurekalert.org

Comment:  Note that there was no mention of possible problems with using vaccines  to "blindly attack" microbes.  This is particularly telling in light of the recent admission that 'the virus has to change to escape that immunity...' in reference to the development of antibodies to a particular virus.

►January 24, 2004 - Rethinking management of chronic diseases - journal article (BMJ)

►January 23, 2004 - France: Impact of a Patient Education Program on Adherence to HIV Medication - A Randomized Clinical Trial - Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes via www.aegis.org

►January 23, 2004 - Health Highlights: - Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay: - via www.lifeclinic.com

►January 22, 2004 - Panel Says Zoloft and Cousins Don't Increase Suicide Risk (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "Adding to the debate over using antidepressant drugs for depressed teenagers and children, a group of prominent researchers issued a report yesterday saying that Zoloft and similar medicines did not increase children's suicide risk...The group, drawn from members of the American College of Neuro- psychopharmacology, also found that the drugs were effective in treating children's depression...Critics pointed to weaknesses in the report...Critics of the medicines noted that 9 of the 10 task force members had significant financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry, although such ties are common among prominent researchers. The panel said no industry money financed the report."

Comment: Give me a break.  9 out of 10 have financial ties but "no industry money financed the report".  What do they think we are, stupid?

►January 24, 2004 - Rx for Growth - Merck is moving to bolster its pipeline and forge alliances. Its stock looks cheap (requires subscription) - The Wall Street Journal -"Although rivals like GlaxoSmithKline are working on similar vaccines, Rubin thinks Merck might get there early. She says the product could be especially big if it were required for admissions from middle-school through college, as other vaccinations are already. In fact, some analysts put potential annual sales at $4 billion."

Comment:  Nothing like forcing a product on consumers to spell big sales for a company!

►January 24, 2004 - Whistleblower vows to fight on  - journal article (BMJ) - "A Canadian haematologist at the centre of a cause célèbre over academic freedom and research funded by a drug company vowed this week to continue her crusade after failing in her attempt to challenge the European marketing authorisation granted for the thalassaemia drug deferiprone.^"

►December 2003 - Prescription Drugs - OxyContin Abuse and Diversion and Efforts to Address the Problem (pdf) - GAO

►January 23, 2004 - Trials 'do not benefit patients' - There is little proof that taking part in clinical trials alone is enough to improve outcomes for cancer patients, research has found.  - BBC

►January 24, 2004 - "Let food be thy medicine..." - editor's choice - journal article (BMJ)

►January 24, 2004 - Study Links Some Hair Dyes to Kind of Cancer (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "Scientists have found more evidence for a possible link between non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and long-term use of dark hair dye. A study of more than 1,300 women in Connecticut shows that those who began coloring their hair before 1980 increased their chance of developing the disease by 40 percent."

►January 22, 2004 - Actors and poet give their support to Christian Aid report on Corporate Social Responsibility  - www.christianaid.org.uk

►January 2004 - Down syndrome and epilepsy: a nutritional connection? - journal article (Med Hypotheses)

►January 23, 2004 - UI scientists study effects of alcohol on immune system - The Daily Iowan - "In ongoing efforts to study the effects of chronic alcoholism on the human immune system, which makes users more susceptible to infectious diseases, UI Hospitals and Clinics scientists have conducted the first successful experiments in the country using mice for research involving long-term alcohol use."

►January 24, 2004 - Is folic acid the ultimate functional food component for disease prevention? - journal article (BMJ)

►January 24, 2004 - Plan and Prepare for Pregnancy - When is the best time to prepare for pregnancy? - UAB Health System

►January 23, 2004 - Healthy Habits Big Part of Home Schooling - HealthDayNews via www.healthfinder.gov

►January 24, 2004 - Emergency medical team gets portable hospital - The Globe And Mail