►January 28, 2004 - Difficult to find new vaccine soon - Search is getting complicated, say scientists - The Straits Times

►January 27, 2004 - UN urges Nigeria to resume immunization after polio spreads to seventh country - www.un.org - "With poliovirus now confirmed in a seventh previously polio-free country, the United Nations health agency called on Nigeria today to resume at once the immunization campaigns it suspended last August lest outbreaks of the paralyzing and sometimes fatal disease spread across west and central Africa."

►January 28, 2004 - Rise in mumps cases prompts call to use triple MMR vaccine - The Herald, UK

►January 28, 2004 - MMR jab uptake rises for first time in a year - Independent, UK

►January 27, 2004 - More children given MMR vaccine - The number of children having the MMR jab has increased for the first time in over a year, statistics have shown.  - BBC

►January 27, 2004 - More children receiving MMR vaccine - icBerkshire.co.uk

►January 27, 2004 - 6 months needed to formulate bird flu vaccine: WHO - www.chinaview.cn

►January 27, 2004 - Concern over rise in mumps cases - Parents in Glasgow have been warned about a rise in the number of mumps cases in the city.  - BBC

►1993 - Aluminum as an adjuvant in vaccines and post-vaccine reactions - journal article (Rocz Panstw Zakl Hig)

►January 27, 2004 - Rise in MMR jab take-up - Wales has seen the highest increase in young children receiving the controversial measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab. -  BBC

►dayAfterday - An original pop opera from writer and director Steve Allen - www.poac.net - "The Story- "Day After Day is a pop opera written and directed by Steven Allen about people affected by autism.  It shows the everyday lives of the families of three children with autism, each with a very different case. "

►Autism - The Vaccine Education Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia via http://about.com

►Year 2003 Tax Benefits for Parents of Children with Learning Disabilities - www.schwablearning.org

►January 23, 2004 - Brain imaging provides a window on speech and learning problems (requires subscription) - The Wall Street Journal

►January 26, 2004 - Pay-as-you-go therapy - Trenton Times via www.nj.com - "Priscilla Purnick of West Windsor thought things couldn't be much harder than having a disabled daughter...Now she's dealing with that plus the prospect of having to stop her 2-year-old daughter's therapy, which previously was provided through the state's Early Intervention Program."

►January 27, 2004 - State might have seen worst of flu for this season - But experts say threat remains until spring - The Detroit Free Press

►January 27, 2004 - An ounce of prevention: Why bird flu has put health officials on alert - The Washington Post via The Seattle Times - "The metaphor that public-health officials invoke when talking about a global flu epidemic is the same one that lies at the heart of the scariest horror movies...It is the idea of a small and deadly thing that is poking and prodding for a weak spot in whatever is protecting its intended victims. It is patient because it knows it will eventually succeed. When it does, a horrible metamorphosis makes it huge and unstoppable."

►2004 - Smallpox fear at cemetery - Fears have been raised that rotting coffins contained in a South London cemetery may contain traces of smallpox - ic SouthLondon

►January 27, 2004 - WHO - Unprecedented spread of avian influenza requires broad collaboration - www.medicalnewstoday.com

►January 27, 2004 - Appeal for Aid to Fight Growing Bird-Flu Threat in Asia (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "China said late today that avian influenza had been found in fowl in three regions, and three international agencies issued a global appeal for donor nations to help bankroll Asia's fight to forestall a lethal flu epidemic in humans."

►January 28, 2004 - China Finds Birds With Virulent Strain of Flu in 3 Provinces (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times

►January 28, 2004 - Blood Transfusion Suspected in New Mad Cow Case in Britain (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "A Food and Drug Administration policy announced on Monday banning the feeding of cattle blood to calves was partly based on a new case of mad cow disease in which a Briton may have been infected through a blood transfusion, a Food and Drug Administration official said on Tuesday...At a Senate hearing, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, questioned why the food agency had instituted the ban when, he said, scientific evidence indicated that infectious particles that are believed to cause mad cow disease, misfolded proteins called prions, had never been found in blood."

►January 27, 2004 - Malaysia adopts SARS measures to keep out bird flu - www.channelnewsasia.com

►January 26, 2004 - Bush Speech in Arkansas on Medical Malpractice - Center for Justice and Democracy - "Today, President Bush is holding a roundtable discussion at Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, with 'area medical leaders' to call for limiting the legal right of patients injured by medical malpractice, saying such laws will lower health care costs.  This is a blatant misrepresentation of facts."

►January 27, 2004 - New brain disease could be affecting many thousands - New Scientist - "A newly discovered neurodegenerative disease could be affecting tens of thousands of men around the world, say researchers...The disease closely resembles Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and senile dementia, but appears to be caused by a genetic defect linked to fragile X syndrome. Until now carrying the defect was not thought to be harmful."

►January 28, 2004 - Some Migraines Linked to Brain Disease - Reuters via The New York Times - "Researchers have identified brain lesions in some victims of migraines, a finding that could indicate that those severe headaches can be a symptom of progressive brain-damaging disease, a new study says...The research, which has possible implications for treatment, involved 295 Dutch adults 30 to 60 years old, some of whom had migraines along with vision problems while the others had migraines without any such problems. They were compared with 140 similar people who were migraine-free."