►January 26, 2004 - Governor Denies Vaccine Report - Arab News - "Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed has denied the report that a group claiming to be members of the Health Ministry medical team was providing contaminated vaccines to children. “There is no such gang in Jeddah and the report is totally false,” the governor said. Prince Abdul Majeed said the report had caused panic among Saudis and expatriates in the city. He urged Saudi newspapers to depend on official sources for their reports."

►January 25, 2004 - Ohio National Guard Member Charged For Refusing Anthrax Vaccine - AP via www.wcpo.com - "An Ohio National Guard member has been charged by the Army with disobeying a lawful order after he again refused to take the anthrax vaccine...Hickman could go to jail and be discharged if convicted...Pfaff said the charge is separate from Hickman's court martial in Ohio last month."

►January 26, 2004 - Autism Skyrockets In Quebec: A Secret No More - by RFD Columnist, F. Edward Yazbak, MD, FAAP in the Online Autism Conference at www.redflagsdaily.com

►January 26, 2004 - More and More Autism Cases, Yet Causes Are Much Debated (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "Over the years, a host of other environmental factors have also been nominated as culprits, including a variety of infections, like German measles in pregnant mothers; the sedative drug thalidomide; the drug Pitocin, used to induce labor; synthetic compounds like plastics and PCB's; and food additives."

Comment:  Perhaps it is not just rubella (or German measles), but the rubella vaccine, which can cause autism.  For more on this go to Scandals: Is Rubella Vaccination Playing A Role In The Rise In Autism?

►January 26, 2004 - India remains one of last polio outposts - The Times of India

►January 26, 2004 - Taiwan suspects mild avian flu as bird deaths mount - Reuters AlertNet

►January 26, 2004 - New bird flu outbreak in South Korea - www.theage.com.au - "A new suspected case of bird flu has been reported in South Korea, prompting massive quarantine efforts after a two-week lull, officials said today."

►January 26, 2004 - Timeline: Bird flu crisis unfolds - Since South Korea confirmed a bird flu outbreak in December, authorities have been scrambling to crack down on a disease which has already resulted in human deaths and is ravaging chicken farms in Asia. - CNN

►January 26, 2004 - Wary Japan extends bird flu ban - Japan's agriculture ministry says it has suspended imports of chickens and chicken products from Indonesia and Cambodia due to outbreaks of the avian influenza virus in the two countries. - Reuters via CNN - "The ban will remain in force until the two countries confirm the disease is under control, the ministry said."

►January 26, 2004 - Aggressive action helps HK stave off bird flu -  The Standard, China

►January 26, 2004 - Doctors Fear Untreatable Russia Tuberculosis Boom - Reuters

►January 25, 2004 - Winnipeg expert excited by findings of investigation of Chinese SARS cases - Canadian Press via www.canada.com - "Maybe CBS ought to contemplate yet another spinoff of its hugely popular CSI: Crime Scene Investigation franchise. They could call it CSI: Winnipeg...That's because Health Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg is the base for Dr. Heinz Feldmann, virologist and expert in the environmental sources of infectious disease transmission."

►November 2003 - Quality of Life in Children with Pityriasis Rosea: A Prospective Case Control Study - journal article (Pediatric Dermatology)

►January 21, 2004 - Experts demand 'cowboy cloners' ban - Maverick scientists attempting to clone humans should be outlawed across the world, a leading expert has said. - BBC

►January 25, 2004 - Montana lab studies clues to mad cow - www.montanaforum.com

►January 26, 2004 - Physicists to provide solution to BSE? - Ways for industry to avoid losing billions of euros and dollars through mad cow disease could find their solutions in maths and physics, claim researchers at the university of California. - NOVIS via www.foodnavigator.com

►January 26, 2004 - Health: WHO links SARS virus to animals - Daily Times, Pakistan

►January 26, 2004 - U.S. Venture Aids Haiti Health Care - AP via www.intelihealth.com

►January 26, 2004 - Anti-Clotting Drug May Be More Effective Than Aspirin In Preventing A Third Stroke Or Heart Attack - American Heart Association via www.intelihealth.com

►January 22, 2004 - Agent Orange study finds raised cancer risks - Air Force veterans exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War have a higher-than-average risk of prostate and skin cancer, military researchers reported on Thursday. - Reuters via CNN

►January 23, 2004 - Self-assembling scaffold for spinal-cord repair - 'Liquid' bridge could help severed nerve cells grow. - Nature

►January 26, 2004 - Recipe for Recovery - Rita Myers fought cancer by returning to the Garden of Eden - The Daily Times

►January 25, 2004 - Fears Grow as Drug Firms Quit Antibiotic Research - Reuters - "With 'superbugs' stalking hospitals and old killers such as tuberculosis re-emerging, the world badly needs more powerful antibiotics...Yet the pipeline of new treatments is drying up as drug firms -- citing poor financial returns -- focus instead on chronic conditions, such as high cholesterol, where medicines are taken for years rather than curing patients in one or two weeks...The shrinking of the medical armory is a growing worry for healthcare officials and has sparked a debate between regulators and pharmaceutical companies over ways to kick-start investment."

Comment:  Is it really poor financial returns which are keeping the pharmaceutical industry from developing new antibiotics?  Or is it the knowledge that we will make it worth their while if they balk at doing so?

*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.