Vaccination NewsLetter: Top Stories - posted January 12-18, 2004

Vaccination NewsLetter: Top Stories - posted February 16-22, 2004

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Notes

Previous newsletters

Picks of the week - updated 2/26/04

The Newsletter is now linked to the new Hot Topics section here and to specific categories and sub-topics below

Alternatives

Alternative treatments/prevention

►February 19, 2004 - Yoga Good for the Young Too - The New Straits Times via Healthy News - "Children with Down's Syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, attention deficit disorder and learning disabilities can enjoy the benefits of yoga."

►February 18, 2004 - Ancient approach targets hepatitis C symptoms - Santa Cruz Sentinel - "Firmage and her classmates are in their third week of learning the ancient Eastern approach to treating hepatitis C through acupuncture and herbs...While the method dates back hundreds of years, teaching acupuncture specifically for hepatitis C is new for Five Branches Institutes, the Santa Cruz college of traditional Chinese medicine."

►February 17, 2004 - Stem cells found in adults may repair nerves - University of Washington via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 17, 2004 - Key advance reported in regenerating nerve fibers - Two-pronged approach synergizes growth - Children's Hospital Boston via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 16, 2004 - Looking to the East for health - Scripps Howard News Service via www.polkonline.com - "Chu, a specialist in rehabilitative medicine, knows Western science has not measured chi, a Chinese concept that translates roughly as "energy," or even demonstrated that it exists. Still, he is so certain of the health benefits from practicing tai chi that he gives virtually free weekly classes in his Roseville, Calif. office."

Breastfeeding (vs. formula)

►February 21, 2004 - FAO/WHO meeting warns of contamination of powdered infant formula - journal article (BMJ)

►February 12, 2004 - Breastfed Baby Exposed to Smallpox Vaccine Virus - Reuters via Yahoo! News 

►February 17, 2004 - Breast-Feeding At Work - ADHS Promotes And Practices Policy - Arizona Capitol Times - "As a site supervisor and nutritionist with the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, Ms. Ogden is determined to erase the stigma associated with breast-feeding in the workplace. She’s not alone...The Arizona Department of Health Services has initiated a breast-feeding program to address issues and increase the practice though education, awareness and policy change. The program promotes breast-feeding as the superior method of feeding infants and young children in order to build their immunity to disease and help form strong, straight teeth."

Comment: Kudos the Ms. Ogden and the Arizona Department of Health!

Nutrition/diet

►February 20, 2004 - Home cooked food is the best answer to autism - Indo-Asian News Service via Hindustan Times

 

►February 18, 2004 -  Scientists confirm healthfulness of pasta as good carbohydrate - In Response to Low-Carb Diet Fad, Leading Health and Food Authorities Update and Confirm Health Benefits of Pasta Meals - press release - Oldways Preservation Trust via PRNewswire via Yahoo!

 

Big pharma

Conflict of interest/ethics

►February 12, 2004 - Medicare for lobbyists - editorial - Palm Beach Post - "Rep. Billy Tauzin delivered a $540 billion prescription-drug benefit for Medicare. Now, the Louisiana Republican is leaving Congress for a $2 million-a-year job in the drug industry. When it comes to exposing your principles, Rep. Tauzin makes Janet Jackson look coy."

►February 17, 2004 - The link between funding and the disclosure of clinical trial results - www.vidyya.com - "There have been several conflicting reports in the medical literature about whether industry funding influences research findings and conclusions...In this week's issue of CMAJ, Bhandari and colleagues reveal the results of a study of 332 randomized trials published between January 1999 and June 2001 that show that industry-funded trials were more likely to be associated with statistically significant pro-industry findings. They state this conclusion is not limited to trials of medical treatments -- it applies to trials of new surgical interventions as well."

Drug development

►February 17, 2004 - The future of drug development - Public Library of Science via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 17, 2004 - Two for Whom? - Combo Pills May Help Patients -- and Are Sure To Help Drug Firms (requires registration) - Washington Post - "Two, two, two drugs in one...If pharmaceuticals were marketed like breath mints, that slogan might begin appearing more often. Responding to market pressures, drug makers have returned to a bygone era of combining two or more medications into one easy-to-take pill. And this time around, judging by initial reactions, the idea may be a bigger hit." 

Funding/money matters

Pharmaceutical industry

►February 19, 2004 - Pfizer Cuts Supplies to Canadian Drugstores - Sales Are Halted To Reimporters Of Bargain Drugs (requires registration) - Washington Post 

Pharmaceutical industry/FDA oversight

►February 17, 2004 - Despite F.D.A. Ban, Ephedra Won't Go Away (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times

►February 19, 2004 - FDA Looks to Chips to Thwart Drug Counterfeiters -  Voluntary Plan Envisions Manufacturers Adopting Electronic Track-and-Trace Technology by 2007 (requires registration) - Washington Post 

►February 13, 2004 - FDA boss rumored to be in line for new post - San Diego Union-Tribune via SignOnSanDiego.com - "The head of the Food and Drug Administration, who has been on the job for a little over a year, appears to be the Bush administration's front-runner to lead the agency that runs Medicare...The speculation is being met with mixed emotions by many in the drug industry who recall waiting about two years for President Bush to fill the FDA post...During that leaderless period, drug companies complained bitterly that the lack of FDA leadership resulted in slower approval times for experimental drugs and unexpected rejections of some new drug applications."

►February 18, 2004 - DynPort Vaccine Company Selects Finjan's Mirage Solution to Provide Precise Control over FDA Regulated Processes and Documentation - Digital Rights Management Tool to be Used for Conducting Research, Studies and Clinical Trials - press release - Finjan Software via PRNewswire via Yahoo!

PR/advertising

Research conduct

 

Conferences, workshops, seminars, courses

►February 20, 2004 - International Conference on Women and Infectious Diseases Feb. 27-28 - CDC via U.S. Newswire - conference alert

 

Diseases and their vaccines (current and in the pipeline)

AIDS/HIV/AIDS vaccine

►February 20, 2004 - Pocket of resistance - The Engineer via www.e4engineering.com - "The solution to HIV diagnosis in the third world could be provided by a portable protein detector powered by a nine volt battery...The cost-effective Pocket uses a combination of silver-based chemistry, a diagnostic chip, and an optical sensor to do the same job as bulky, expensive and resource-hungry hospital machinery - at a fraction of the time and cost. "

►February 20, 2004 - HIV immunity may stem from ancient smallpox - Gannett News Service via The Arizona Republic

Comment:  That's all well and good.  But what if having immunity to HIV doesn't really mean much?  What if HIV has nothing to do with AIDS, as some believe?

►February 18, 2004 - Researchers Study Long-Term AIDS Drugs Use - UPI via COMTEX via www.wtopnews.com - "A decade ago a diagnosis of HIV, which causes AIDS, meant a life expectancy of about two years. Now highly effective drug cocktails are keeping people alive far longer and doing it so well researchers are looking at the side effects long-term use of these medications may create."

Comment:  If HIV really has nothing to do with AIDS, and people are being given these highly toxic "AIDS" drugs prior to developing any symptoms (based solely on the presence of HIV in their blood), what, then, of the side effects?  Is ignorance an excuse?

►February 17, 2004 - German Scientists to Test HIV Vaccine on Humans - Scientists in Germany are for the first time preparing to conduct human trials on a new vaccine designed to prevent HIV infection as well as slow the spread of AIDS in the developing world. - Deutsche Welle 

►February 18, 2004 - Australian HIV Vaccine Boosts Immune System - The Gay Financial Network

January 2004 - THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF AIDS - The Central Villain Is Not A Virus. It Is Poverty. And The Critical Cure Is Not Medicine. It is Justice. (free for a time) - by Brian K Murphy - www.redflagsdaily.com - "This warning is at the heart of the issue. Root-Bernstein noted that 'AIDS may continue to plague modern society, just as other preventable infections...plagued our forebears, because of the closemindedness of the very physicians whose job it is to diagnose, treat and prevent these diseases. A century ago, they let patients die by denying that germs had anything to do with diseases. Today they may be letting them die by insisting that the germ is everything.'"

►February 16, 2004 - Germany Launches HIV/AIDS Vaccine Trial - Germany Launches First HIV/AIDS Vaccine Trial, a Yearlong Program to Involve Up to 50 Subjects - AP via ABC News 

►February 17, 2004 - New insight into HIV vaccine development - University of Wisconsin-Madison via Medical News Today

►February 17, 2004 - HIV exhausts the immune system through chronic non-specific activation - Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine via Medical News Today

►February 16, 2004 - Germany Begins its First AIDS Vaccine Trial, Partnering with IAVI - press release - International AIDS Vaccine Initiative via PRNewswire via Yahoo!

►February 16, 2004 - Germany Launches HIV/AIDS Vaccine Trial (requires registration) - The Kansas City Star

►February 16, 2004 - Studies offer new insight into HIV vaccine development - University of Wisconsin - Madison - "Mutations that allow AIDS viruses to escape detection by the immune system may also hinder the viruses' ability to grow after transmission to new hosts, scientists at UW-Madison announced this week in the journal Nature Medicine...The discovery may help researchers design vaccines that exploit the notorious mutability of HIV by training the immune system to attack the virus where it's most vulnerable."

►February 17, 2004 - Nationwide H.I.V. Reporting to Bring Trends Into Focus (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times

►February 15, 2004 - Batch of New HIV Drugs Looks Promising - Medicines, Including Some That Attack the Virus in New Ways, Are Ready to Be Tested (requires registration) - Washington Post 

Alzheimer's disease/vaccine

►March 2003 - Mercury-What is its role in Autism and Alzheimer's Disease? - video presentation by Boyd Haley, Ph.D. 1 hour 27 seconds -  www.nomercury.org 

►February 16, 2004 - Possible mechanism for link between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease discovered -  Joslin Diabetes Center via www.eurekalert.org

►February 15, 2004 - New study may explain how fats damage neurons in Alzheimer's patients - Scientists propose ways diet, hormones, exercise might delay disease - American Association for the Advancement of Science via www.eurekalert.org 

Anthrax/anthrax vaccine/Gulf War Syndrome

►February 21, 2004 - Govt misled troops about anthrax vaccinations: Opposition - www.abc.net.au - "Senator Evans says dozens of troops were sent home for refusing the anthrax vaccinations and while most agreed to the injections, many did so reluctantly...'Clearly the attitude of some of the troops may have been different if they had known about the severe adverse reactions by earlier troops to the inoculations,' Senator Evans said."

►February 21, 2004 - Australian government keeps mum about side effects of anthrax vaccine - AP via www.whnt19.com - "The Australian government is admitting it kept silent about possible side effects of the anthrax vaccine."

►February 21, 2004 - Anthrax Shots Made Australian Troops Sick - Reuters

►February 21, 2004 - Australian troops not told of anthrax vaccine concerns - AP via USA Today

►February 21, 2004 - Australian troops fall ill following anthrax vaccinations - AP via www.newsobserver.com

►February 21, 2004 - Vaccine effects 'kept secret' - AAP via The Australian

►February 22, 2004 - ADF denies keeping anthrax vaccine effects secret - www.abc.net.au

►February 18, 2004 - Vaccination order criticized - The Baltimore Sun via Fort Worth/Dallas Star-Telegram - "The U.S. Army has sent at least four soldiers to Iraq who refused to be vaccinated against anthrax, despite the Pentagon's long-held insistence that the vaccine is mandatory for all service members assigned to areas of combat or probable terrorism...The deployments by base commanders in Indiana, Kentucky, New York and Wisconsin has led Pentagon critics to question the seriousness of the anthrax threat and the fairness of penalties meted out earlier for scores of service members nationwide who refused the vaccine."

►February 21, 2004 - Anthrax vaccine serious side-effects kept from soldiers who were vaccinated - Medical News Today

►February 22, 2004 - Australian troops slipped dangerous vaccinations - New Zealand National Business Review - "According to The Australian, so many Afghanistan-bound personnel suffered temporary reactions to the vaccine that the anthrax vaccination program was suspended for two months in November 2001."

►February 22, 2004 - Aus troops in dark about anthrax - One News via http://onenews.nzoom.com

►February 18, 2004 - A soldier's grim homecoming - Questions: A World War II veteran wonders if Iraq played a part in the apparent suicide of his grandson, Spc. Jeremy S. Seeley. - The Baltimore Sun - "Ray Seeley, a hale 78, has heard about the suicides of those who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. To some, his grandson's death fits a disturbing pattern of soldiers making it out of Iraq only to die after coming home...The Army says 21 soldiers have killed themselves in Iraq or Kuwait since the war began last March, a rate officials concede is higher than that in the overall Army population. But the figure does not include nearly 70 suicides in the United States after a tour in Iraq, according to the National Gulf War Resource Center, a veterans advocacy group."

►February 21, 2004 - Anthrax shots made troops sick - www.abc.com.au - "THE SAS and other Australian forces sent to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban suffered severe side effects from the anthrax vaccine, according to confidential Defence documents...The documents also reveal that 97 crew aboard HMAS Darwin in the Gulf last year reported ill after being given the controversial vaccine...Only a year earlier, the temporary side effects of the anthrax vaccine among troops bound for Afghanistan were so severe that the entire vaccination program for the 1550-strong deployment was suspended for two months...However, the Howard Government did not disclose this to the troops bound for Iraq last year, who were also required to have the anthrax vaccination."

Comment:  Will our media report this critically important news?

►February 17, 2004 - Hepatitis Drug May Help Anthrax Victims - Study - Reuters via Yahoo! News 

►February 17, 2004 - U.S. Army Makes Exceptions To Anthrax Shots Rule (requires registration) - The Hartford Courant - "The U.S. Army has sent to Iraq at least four soldiers who have refused to be vaccinated against anthrax, despite the Pentagon's long-held insistence that the vaccine is mandatory for all service members assigned to areas of combat or probable terrorism...The deployments by base commanders in Indiana, Kentucky, New York and Wisconsin has led Pentagon critics to question the seriousness of the anthrax threat and the fairness of penalties meted out by the armed services earlier for scores of service members nationwide who refused the vaccine."

►February 16, 2004 - Approved drug blocks deadly anthrax toxin - University of Chicago Medical Center via www.eurekalert.org - "In the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team led by Wei-Jen Tang of the University of Chicago shows that in vitro adefovir dipivoxil (sold as Hepsera®) can effectively reduce the effects of edema factor, one of the two deadly toxins produced by anthrax...'These toxins pack a one-two punch that makes inhalational anthrax extremely harmful,' said Tang, an associate professor in the Ben May Institute for Cancer Research at the University of Chicago. 'For the first time, we have a clinically approved drug that, at least in tissue culture, completely eradicates half of that toxic team, and does it at non-toxic doses.'"

►February 16, 2004 - Worker files $12 million anthrax claim against government - AP via The Daily Press

Asthma/allergies

►February 19, 2004 - One in five asthmatics are highly sensitive to aspirin - One in five asthmatics are highly sensitive to aspirin - Systematic review of prevalence of aspirin induced asthma and its implications for clinical practice - BMJ via  www.eurekalert.org

►February 22, 2004 - Many factors in that deadly itch - As a country develops, so does the incidence of allergies grow. A conference opening today will examine this problem. - New Straits Times

►February 20, 2004 - Aspirin-Induced Asthma More Common Than Thought - HealthDay via Atlanta Journal-Constitution

►February 17, 2004 - the allergy riddle ; It's a modern plague - but why DO so many suffer? In this provocative analysis, one writer offers his own uncomfortable explanation - Daily Mail, London via http://i-medreview.subportal.com - "THIS is a plague like no other. By 2015, half of the population may be afflicted...Thirty years ago these conditions were rare, so something must have changed dramatically in our lifestyle or environment. But the figures suggest there is no single underlying cause...But are we really to believe that half the country will be allergic in a few years' time?..Maybe GPs' waiting rooms will, indeed, be full of allergy sufferers. But then again, they might just be full of those who are suffering from the oldest illness in the medical dictionary: hypochondria."

►February 2004 - Obesity and asthma in children - journal article (Journal of Pediatrics) - "We currently do not know whether there is or is not a real association between obesity and asthma in children. Further studies in pediatric populations with better measurements of obesity are highly desirable."

►February 2004 - Is obesity associated with asthma in young children? - journal article (Journal of Pediatrics) - "Conclusion This study suggests that there is no statistical association between obesity and asthma among Canadian children age 4 to 11 years. "

►February 17, 2004 - Pay more attention to food allergies, local expert urges - Kalamazoo Gazette via www.mlive.com - "Dr. James Breneman, a retired Galesburg allergist and an internationally recognized authority on food allergies, is one of a number of physicians who think food allergies are more common and less easy to define than most doctors think."

►February 14, 2004 - Prevalence of asthma and allergy in schoolchildren in Belmont, Australia: three cross sectional surveys over 20 years - journal article (BMJ)

►February 17, 2004 - Hygiene hypothesis questioned - Previous exposure to influenza A virus increases predisposition to asthma - The Scientist

►February 18, 2004 - No asthma exacerbation help from children's flu vaccination - Today in Vidyya

►February 16, 2004 - Food fright - The Washington Times - "'It is fatal unless you use the EpiPen,' Mrs. Cole says about the shot of epinephrine she has on hand to stop symptoms of allergic reaction. 'Until it hit home with me, I had no idea of the severity and risk of fatality involved. It's startling when you first learn about it.'"

Comment:  What is the incidence of allergy among infants allowed to breastfeed on demand, particularly those that are allowed to wean themselves or nurse until toddler age and beyond?  And, of course, what is the incidence among the vaccinated compared to the never vaccinated?  And if the vaccinated are more allergic, is there some protective effect of breastfeeding among the vaccinated?  (For more on the possible relationship between vaccination and allergies, go to Out of Control: "Childhood vaccinations and the risk of asthma"  - a CDC study.

►February 15, 2004 - Study finds link between stronger immunity, exposure to dogs (requires registration) - KRT Wire via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via The Kansas City Star - "Infants who have a certain gene and live with a dog have stronger immune systems than those who don't and are less likely to develop allergies or eczema, a University of Wisconsin-Madison research study shows...However, the authors warn that the results are still preliminary and say that parents shouldn't introduce pets into the household just to try to prevent potential allergies."

►February 16, 2004 - Flu illness 'may bring on asthma' - Catching flu early in life may actually increase the chances of a child developing asthma later, say experts. - BBC - "Their finding, in a study of mice, contradicts the suggestion that early infections have a protective effect...Writing in the journal Nature Immunology, the team from Stanford University say that flu boosted the body's allergic responses."

Autism

►February 4, 2004 - Amendment to immigration Bill 'could bar people with autism from entering Ireland' - Autism Cymru via www.awares.org

►February 18, 2004 - Autism claims attention at schools - Educators respond to increased cases among students - Atlanta Journal-Constitution - "Gwinnett County Public Schools has seen an unexplained explosion in the number of students like Danny, now an eighth-grader at Shiloh Middle School in Snellville...In the early 1990s, fewer than 50 students with autism were enrolled in county schools. This year, 689 are receiving services here — a more than tenfold increase in 10 years. Teachers are serving 150 more students with autism than they did last year, which makes these students one of the fastest-growing segments of the district's booming special education population."

►February 18, 2004 - Theories on autism - Capital News 9 - "This is what seems to be baffling the medical community. It is not clear if more children have autism, or doctors simply have a clearer understanding of what autism is."

►February 18, 2004 - Rise in autism due to change in diagnostic practice? - Pharmacotherapy via Medical News Today - "In the early 1990s, boys with diagnosed developmental disorders were infrequently diagnosed with autism. In the later 1990s, such boys more often were diagnosed with autism....CONCLUSION: A major cause of the recent large increase in the number of boys diagnosed with autism probably is due to changing diagnostic practices."

Comment:  Without seeing the raw data, it is difficult to know what this study is demonstrating.  But unless they can show that "developmental disorders" went down about the same amount as autism went up, this study does not prove that changing diagnostic practices are "a major cause" for the rise in diagnosed autism.

►February 16, 2004 - For the Love of a Child - www.the-signal.com - "Emily Iland said her son was not diagnosed with any condition until the age of 13.  She said they both cried every day for years because no one knew how to help him."

►February 16, 2004 - Autism: Looking for answers to a growing problem - Looking for answers to a growing problem - Scripps Howard News Service via Courier & Press - "It's one of the worst nightmares a parent can imagine - without warning, a child is abducted from his bed in the middle of the night, never to return...Now, imagine that instead of taking the whole child, only his mind is stolen and his body - the hollow shell of his being - is left behind."

►February 16, 2004 - Scientists theorize a new form of autism may be emerging - Scripps Howard News Service via Courier & Press - "
About half of all children with autism are mentally retarded, but many autistic children have normal or even superior intelligence. The share of autistic children who are not mentally retarded appears to be increasing, causing some scientists to theorize that a new form of the disorder is emerging...The societal costs are staggering. The average child with autism will require $4 million in lifetime supervision and care."

Autism Growth and Incidence Graphs - Fighting Autism

►February 14, 2004 - His world is worth knowing - Times Union - "Turns out he once had wanted to be a journalist, perhaps a sportswriter, but he couldn't do it...Because if he had to interact with people every day, something might be said that would cause his head to flail and his mouth to clamp onto his arm as he tried to regain control of himself...So Cohen, a 46-year-old Boston University graduate, can't work...He has Asperger syndrome, a form of autism that causes him to have difficulty socializing, to read more than an English Ph.D., and to experience occasional emotional outbursts, which occur infrequently now that he's older and on medication."

Autism and vaccines (mercury/thimerosal, MMR, in general) - was three different groups

*For more on the Wakefield conflict of interest story, click here.

►February 21, 2004 - Lawmakers push for tougher regulations on mercury - Green Bay Press-Gazette via Post-Crescent via www.wisinfo.com

►February 21, 2004 - Two drugs for autism - Ivanhoe via News 8 Austin

►February 21, 2004 - Marshall program helps autistic children attend college - AP via The Charleston Gazette via www.wvgazette.com
►February 23, 2004 - Autism; New research suggests link between vaccine ingredients and autism, ADHD - Health & Medicine Week via www.newsrx.com and www.newsrx.net via www.mhnet.org - "According to new research from Northeastern University pharmacy professor Richard Deth and colleagues from the University of Nebraska, Tufts, and Johns Hopkins University, there is an apparent link between exposure to certain neurodevelopmental toxins and an increased possibility of developing neurological disorders including autism and attention deficiti hyperactivity disorder...The research - the first to offer an explanation for possible causes of two increasingly common childhood neurological disorders - will be published the April 2004 issue of the journal Molecular Psychiatry."

►February 21, 2004 - Calls for Inquiry on 'Flawed' MMR Research - PA News via The Scotsman - "Health Secretary John Reid today called on the General Medical Council to investigate claims that controversial research linking the MMR vaccine to autism in children was 'flawed'...Dr Reid urged the GMC to mount an inquiry 'as a matter of urgency' after the medical journal, The Lancet, admitted that the report should never have been published...However the Liberal Democrats said that an investigation by the GMC was 'insufficient' and called for a full independent inquiry."

►February 22, 2004 - MMR doctor: I stand by my research on autism link - The Telegraph, UK - "The British doctor who claimed to have identified a link between the MMR vaccine and autism last night angrily rejected claims that the research was 'flawed' as parents of children involved in the original study accused his critics of a 'witch-hunt.'...Dr Wakefield spoke out after allegations yesterday that his 1998 study of 12 children was flawed because he had also been working on a separate project to seek evidence to support a legal action by parents claiming that the MMR jab had harmed their children. He said: 'That was a completely separate study. We took children according to clinical need. There was no selective recruitment.'"

►February 21, 2004 - Lancet was wrong to publish MMR paper, says editor - The Telegraph, UK - "A leading medical journal admitted yesterday that it was wrong to publish the paper that started the MMR vaccine scare six years ago...The editor of the Lancet said the British researchers who linked the triple jab to autism and bowel disease in a group of 12 children had 'a fatal conflict of interest'. But Dr Andrew Wakefield, lead author of the study at the Royal Free Hospital, London, repudiated the journal's statement."

Comment:  You know that there is something fishy going on when there has been no similar righteous indignation about all the studies allegedly refuting Wakefield's claims that were funded at least partly by the vaccine manufacturers.

►February 20, 2004 - Journal regrets publishing MMR study - Reuters - "The journal said Wakefield had not told editors he was carrying out a study for the Legal Aid Board on behalf of parents who believed the vaccine had harmed their children...'In my view, if we had known the conflict of interest Dr. Wakefield had in this work, I think that would have strongly affected the peer reviewers about the credibility of this work, and in my judgement it would have been rejected,' Horton told BBC News on Friday...Wakefield told the BBC on Friday he stood behind his findings. 'They have now been confirmed independently by reputable physicians and pathologists,' he said."

►February 20, 2004 - MMR Vaccine: Five Years of Claims and Counterclaims - PA News via The Scotsman

►February 20, 2004 - Autism Focus of New Study - University of Alabama at Birmingham via Newswise

►March 2003 - Mercury-What is its role in Autism and Alzheimer's Disease? - video presentation by Boyd Haley, Ph.D. 1 hour 27 seconds -  www.nomercury.org 

►February 21, 2004 - 'Lancet' backs away from MMR controversy - The Independent, UK

►February 21, 2004 - Reid Calls for Inquiry into MMR Claims - PA News via The Scotsman

►February 22, 2004 - Journal admits vaccine report error - AFP via www.abc.net.au

►February 21, 2004 - Controversy swirls around British MMR vaccine study - Reuters AlertNet

►February 21, 2004 - MMR jab: Your views - The journal that sparked the row about the safety of the MMR vaccine has said, with hindsight, that it should not have published the research. - BBC

►February 21, 2004 - New twist in MMR row - www.iccoventry.co.uk

►February 21, 2004 - Research that led to MMR autism link, inquiry called for in UK - Medical News Today

►February 21, 2004 - Inquiry demanded over vaccine scandal - Associated News Media via www.femail.co.uk

►February 19, 2004 - Congressmen Question Industry Role in EPA Mercury Rule-Making - www.bushgreenwatch.org - "In a letter sent last week to EPA Administrator Michael Leavitt, Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Tom Allen (D-ME) called for an explanation of reports that portions of the EPA's proposal to regulate mercury generated by electric power plants were copied verbatim from industry lobbying materials.[1]"

►February 20, 2004 - Childhood Vaccine Controversy www.ksbh.com - "There is growing controversy over the safety of childhood vaccines...Some say there is a link between a substance in the vaccines and the mental disorder known as autism...NBC Action News reporter Kevin Petrehn took a closer look at the facts surrounding the vaccine controversy."

►February 22, 2004 - Families defend anti-MMR doctor against 'witch-hunt' - Claims that expert 'cherry picked' cases to support a link between the vaccine and autism have been rejected by parents and colleagues, reports Michael Day - www.telegraph.co.uk

Comment:  What does it mean to cherry-pick in this context?  If there are children with gut issues and autism who had recently received the MMR vaccine, examining those children is not cherry-picking, it is examining those children and attempting to understand what is going on.  The fact that there may be children who do not have autism and/or gut issues and/or recently received the MMR vaccine does not detract from the fact that there may be children who do. 

►February 23, 2004 - Journal repents over vaccine-autism link - Reuters, Washington Post via www.smh.com.au

►February 22, 2004 - 'GMC to investigate MMR doctor' - The doctor at the centre of the furore over "flawed" research linking MMR to autism in children will be investigated by the General Medical Council. - "It has been proposed that my role in this matter should be investigated by the GMC. I not only welcome this, I insist on it" - Dr Andrew Wakefield - www.itv.com

►February 23, 2004 - Lead researcher defends MMR study - The doctor at the centre of research linking autism with the MMR jab has rejected claims the work was "flawed". - BBC

►February 22, 2004 - MMR storm: Wakefield welcomes probe - Health Secretary demands inquiry after doctor who linked triple jab with autism accused of conflict of interest - The Sunday Herald, UK - "Last night, opposition politicians and autism campaigners joined the call for a public inquiry into the safety of the MMR vaccine. In a statement, the Autism Research Campaign for Health, a group of parents pressing for more research, said: 'It is vital that there is a public inquiry into the safety of MMR, and that it examines the growing number of studies showing the presence of measles RNA in the blood, gut and spinal fluid of autistic children.'...It added: 'The government insists MMR is safe. But they will only publish epidemiological research and ignore clinical findings. A public inquiry would address all sides of the debate.'"

►February 22, 2004 - Defiant Doctor Demands Probe into MMR Claims - PA News via The Scotsman

►February 22, 2004 - Focus: MMR: The truth behind the crisis (requires subscription) - The Times, UK

►February 22, 2004 - Statement from Dr. Andrew Wakefield - "Health Secretary John Reid has called for a public enquiry. I welcome this since I have already called for a public enquiry that addresses the whole issue in relation vaccines and autism."

►February 21, 2004 - Inquiry demanded over vaccine scandal - http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk - "Its editor Richard Horton told BBC News: 'If we knew then what we know now, we certainly would not have published the part of the paper that related to MMR, although I do believe there was, and remains, validity to the connection between bowel disease and autism, which does need further investigation, but I believe the MMR element of that is invalid.'"

Comment:  It is quite a stretch to go from the possibility that there might have been conflict of interest to believing that a connection between MMR and autism is invalid, particularly given that it is being confirmed by other investigators.  And if the journal editor believes such a conflict is reason to believe the results of a study are invalid, why do they trust even one study which has been paid for or otherwise influenced by vaccine manufacturers?  Yet, despite the fact that virtually all research into the safety of vaccines is so conflicted, there is not one meaningful iota of concern being expressed re: the validity of those studies.  Quite the contrary - when the issue of such conflicts is raised, they are either dismissed as irrelevant or ignored outright.

►February 22, 2004 - Maverick view that sparked panic over the triple vaccine - Despite fellow doctors' doubts, Andrew Wakefield's claims won uncritical media coverage. Jane Fineman asks how - The Observer via The Guardian, UK

►February 22, 2004 - We do enjoy a good health scare - opinion - www.telegraph.co.uk - "The reason that there will be rejoicing at the egg on The Lancet's face is that the tone of its editorial commentary is so unrelentingly sanctimonious that it makes the late Ayatollah Khomeini seem positively broadminded. Its piety is, however, without the excuse of religious belief. Relentlessly castigating the pharmaceutical companies for their venality, lecturing the medical profession upon its duty to the Third World, and adopting as its own every tenet of political correctness while brooking no debate, it has been well and truly caught with its trousers down. The research about MMR and autism that it now wishes it had never published started a health scare that might have done real damage to the public health about which it has been hectoring us poor doctors for years."

►February 2004 - Neurologic and cardiovascular effects of methylmercury -  journal article (Journal of Pediatrics) - "In this issue of The Journal, Grandjean et al and Murata et al report on the effects of methylmercury exposure after 14 years of follow-up in a cohort of children from the Faroe Islands. They report that intrauterine exposure to higher levels of methylmercury may lead to irreversible neurotoxic effects as well as decreased sympathetic and parasympathetic modulation of heart rate variability."

►February 18, 2004 - Mercury emissions rules challenged - Environmental groups demand lower levels (requires registration) - The Times-Picayune via www.nola.com

►February 17, 2004 - EPA Failing to Protect Americans from Chlorine Plant Mercury Emissions - Groups sue over Clean Air Act violations - press release - Earthjustice via Environmental Media Services

►February 17, 2004 - Canadian says vaccine-autism study is overblown - U.S. research linking preservative to brain disorders called wild over-extrapolation (requires registration) - The Medical Posting

Comment:  Dr. Ward, the McGill researcher cited in this study, is known to have admitted to significant conflicts of interest (see disclosure list).

►February 16, 2004 - Models help estimate children's exposure to toxins - Stanford University via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 17, 2004 - UK Food Standards Authority speaks out the mercury in Fish debate - Port Focus Asia Pacific - ""Some types of fish contain more mercury than others. The amount of mercury we get from food isn’t harmful for most people, but if a woman takes in high levels of mercury during pregnancy this can affect her baby’s developing nervous system...In fact, if a woman is pregnant, breastfeeding, or intending to become pregnant, she should avoid eating shark, swordfish and marlin. She should also limit the amount of tuna she eats to no more than one tuna steak (weighing about 140g when cooked or 170g raw) or two medium-size cans of tuna a week (with a drained weight of about 140g per can). This means about six rounds of tuna sandwiches or three tuna salads."

►February 17, 2004 - Don't wait to attack mercury pollution - editorial - The Indianapolis Star - "Our position is: Indiana should follow the example of states that are not waiting for a federal solution to mercury poisoning."

►February 17, 2004 - Mercury rising - editorial - The Boston Globe - "A NEW, more accurate measure of mercury levels in newborns has doubled the Environmental Protection Agency's estimate of how many might have dangerous amounts of the toxin in their bodies. The new data strengthen the case for requiring coal-burning power plants and manufacturers to reduce sharply the amount of mercury in their emissions."

Comment:  As usual, no mention of or concern about mercury in vaccines.

►February 17, 2004 - States acting on their own to reduce mercury emissions - Gannett News Service via Zanesville Times Recorder - "'There's a concern about mercury because it's such a toxic substance. States have chosen not to wait,' said Larry Morandi, who follows the issue for the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Comment:  Sadly, that concern does not extend to mercury injected via vaccines. 

►February 16, 2004 - Doc's appeal fails - Harrow Times - "DR David Pugh has lost his bid to be reinstated by the General Medical Council, despite evidence which he claimed proved his controversial single vaccinations for measles, mumps and rubella were safe...He was banned from practising in October after allegations by Hertsmere Primary Care Trust that 40,000 children, many from Harrow, treated at his private clinic in Elstree were at greater risk of catching the diseases because doctors did not follow manufacturers' guidelines for administering the jabs.

►February 16, 2004 - Recycling rate of mercury 'just laughable' - Portland Press Herald - "Nearly three years after Maine lawmakers mandated that mercury-containing thermostats be recycled, the program is stuck at a dismal recycling rate of 2 percent."

►February 16, 2004 - Act Fast on Mercury Threat - editorial - (requires registration) - The Los Angeles Times - "Environmental Protection Agency scientists reported a striking finding this month: About 15% — twice the rate previously assumed — of the roughly 4 million babies born annually in the United States may be exposed to potentially harmful levels of mercury in the womb. Although the estimate is preliminary, based on an analysis by EPA scientist Kathryn Mahaffey, it should prompt fast action by the EPA to require power plants to reduce mercury emissions — and by the Food and Drug Administration to better warn consumers about foods that may contain high concentrations of mercury."

Comment:  No mention of vaccines, or the fact that at least one vaccine being recommended for infants (the flu vaccine) can contain the same amount of mercury in it that used to routinely be found in many infant vaccines.

►February 16, 2004 - Tuna and autism for unborn child - link? - Medical News Today - "Pregnant women have been warned that there could be a link between eating tuna (and swordfish) and autism in the unborn child (the baby in the pregnant mother could be at higher than normal risk of autism)...The researchers from the USA say that levels of mercury in tuna and swordfish (oily fish from the sea, not rivers) could be contributing to the rise in childhood autism today."

►February 17, 2004 -  Autism and Vaccines (The Wall Street Journal)

►February 17, 2004 - Unpublished letter from an MD in response to: Autism and Vaccines (The Wall Street Journal) - "As a physician for 30 years, a strong advocate for vaccines, a conservative Republican and supporter of tort reform, I must say you missed the boat in this article."

►February 9, 2004 - Presentations made to the IOM Immunization Safety Review Committee - www.nomercury.org

►February 9, 2004 - Statement of Congressman Dave Weldon, M.D. - presented to the IOM - www.nomercury.org

►February 9, 2004 - Presentation by Mark Geier, M.D. and David Geier, B.A. - presented to the IOM - www.nomercury.org

►February 9, 2004 - Slide Presentation by Mark and David Geier - presented to the IOM - www.nomercury.org

►February 9, 2004 - Slide Presentation by H. Vasken Aposhian, Ph.D.  - presented to the IOM - www.nomercury.org

►February 9, 2004 - Slide Presentation by Boyd Haley, Ph.D.  - presented to the IOM - www.nomercury.org

►February 9, 2004 - Presentation by Jeff Bradstreet, M.D.  - presented to the IOM - www.nomercury.org

►February 9, 2004 - Slide presentation by Jeff Bradstreet, M.D.  - presented to the IOM - www.nomercury.org

►February 9, 2004 - Statement of Alan D. Clark, M.D.  - presented to the IOM - www.nomercury.org  

►February 16, 2004 - Vaccines' Link To Autism Unclear (Risk Assessment) - Researchers present conflicting evidence over role of preservative - Chemical & Engineering News via http://pubs.acs.org - "There has been a long-running debate in the U.S. over whether vaccines routinely given to infants contribute to the development of autism.  In particular, some people believe that thimerosal -- sodium ethymercurithiosalicylate--until recently used as a preservative in most pediatric vaccines, may cause autism...On Feb. 9, researchers presented findings on the subject to the Immunization Safety Review Committee of the Institute of Medicine (IOM).  The information did not resolve the dispute."

►February 16, 2004 - Autism and Vaccines - Activists wage a nasty campaign to silence scientists. (requires registration or subscription) - The Wall Street Journal - "We felt someone ought to point out that nothing currently exists in the medical world to justify this furor--that thimerosal has never been credibly linked to autism, and that recent studies in leading medical journals have also failed to find a link. That research is one of many reasons the medical community remains solid in its belief that vaccines are safe...A few have harassed our secretaries and threatened an editorial writer."

Comment:  There is simply no excuse for intimidation.  None whatsoever.  The wrong-minded actions by others, however, do not absolve the Wall Street Journal of its own responsibility for publishing unscientific reports masquerading as self-righteous fact.  In spite of, or maybe because of, their smug indignation, the following question must asked:  Why does the WSJ continue to assume industry sponsored research is credible and simply deny the existence of any and all research that contradicts it?

►February 16, 2004 - Mercury in oily fish may lead to autism - Sunday Telegraph via The Age - "Pregnant women who eat tuna could be putting their unborn children at risk of developing autism, according to research by US scientists...At a hearing in Washington, researchers said they believed high levels of mercury in oily fish, including tuna and swordfish, could be behind the rising incidence of child autism."

Comment:  This misguided (and perhaps self-serving) notion that the mercury in vaccines is somehow safer than the mercury in fish, has been dealt perhaps a fatal blow by the recent Deth et al research, where it was found that "the form of mercury in vaccines can disrupt chemicals that are key to the developing brain".

Autism therapies/education/medicine (including the cost of care)

►February 20, 2004 - Home cooked food is the best answer to autism - Indo-Asian News Service via Hindustan Times

►February 17, 2004 - Parents reroute efforts to get their son's test - A Lecanto teacher says she and her husband dropped their FCAT lawsuit but will work to reform state law. - St. Petersburg Times - "In October, Castillo and her husband, Joseph, who live in Brooksville, filed a legal action seeking the release of her son's results on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Since her son Jordan is autistic and children with autism have trouble with language, Castillo argued that in order to help her son improve his score, she needed to know what he was asked and how he answered...A month after the lawsuit was filed, Department of Education officials told the Castillos that the department would not release the test and that, if the Castillos didn't drop their lawsuit by this week, they could be ordered to pay the state's legal fees."

►February 10, 2004 - Some autistic kids getting harmful treatments - Researchers find many families are turning to alternative medicine (requires registration) - The Medical Posting

Comment:  When I registered, I was given the option of receiving emails from Pfizer, noted to be a supporter of the site.

Autoimmunity/autoimmune disease (in general)

►February 11, 2004 - Induction of lupus autoantibodies by adjuvants - BioMedNet - "The ability to induce lupus autoantibodies is shared by several hydrocarbons and is not unique to pristane. It correlates with stimulation of the production of IL-12 and other cytokines, suggesting a relationship with a hydrocarbon's adjuvanticity. The potential to induce autoimmunity may complicate the use of oil adjuvants in human and veterinary vaccines."

Comment:  Lupus has been reported as a vaccine-associated reaction at least 137 times to VAERS and has been reported in the medical literature as well. (The list of articles in the literature includes only systemic lupus erythematosus, i.e., SLE)

Behavioral disorders, chronic disability

Bioterror-related, other than smallpox and anthrax

►February 19, 2004 - British Team Develops 'Black Death' Vaccine - Times, UK via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►February 19, 2004 - British team develops ‘Black Death’ vaccine - The Times, UK - "BRITISH scientists have made a crucial breakthrough in the war on terrorism by developing a vaccine to counter bubonic plague, the bacteria that caused the Black Death...A vaccine for the bubonic plague, which killed millions in the Middle Ages and is now one of the deadliest bio-terrorism agents, may be available within a year as a result of a breakthrough at the Ministry of Defence’s laboratory at Porton Down.

Comment:  Antibiotics are effective against the plague if given within 24 hours of the first symptoms, according to the CDC.  (Although there apparently is some concern about growing resistance of the plague to antibiotics.)

►February 17, 2004 - Bioterror simulations back targeted treatment - New Scientist 

Cancer/cancer vaccines

►February 19, 2004 - Researchers: New Vaccine Can Stop Lung Cancer (requires registration) - Washington Post 

►February 20, 2004 - New Lung Cancer Treatment Shows Promise - Injection Kills Disease In Some Patients - SeattleInsider via www.kirotv.com

►February 20, 2004 - Vaccine 'could block lung cancer' - Experts have developed a vaccine which could be used to block the progress of lung cancer. - BBC

►February 19, 2004 - Lung Cancer Vaccine Study Produces 'Exciting' Results - PA News via The Scotsman

►February 20, 2004 - Vaccine 'boosts cancer survival' - Scientists have developed a vaccine which could protect kidney cancer patients against the disease returning. - BBC

►February 17, 2004 - Aspirin May Lower Risk of Hodgkin's - Regular Use of Aspirin May Lower Risk of Hodgkin's Disease, Scientists Say - AP via ABC News 

►February 17, 2004 - Targeting cell fusion as possible way to repair organs, deliver cancer vaccines - Mayo Clinic via www.eurekalert.org

►February 16, 2004 - Long-term use of antibiotics possibly linked with increased risk of breast cancer - JAMA and Archives Journals Website via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 16, 2004 - Study links antibiotics and breast cancer, doubling risk for some women - AP via www.sfgate.com - "A study suggests antibiotics might increase the risk of developing breast cancer, but researchers said the data should not stop women from taking the medication...Women who took the most antibiotics -- who had more than 25 prescriptions, or who took the drugs for at least 501 days -- faced double the risk of developing breast cancer over an average of about 17 years, compared with women who didn't use the drugs, the study showed."

►February 14, 2004 - Medicare Law Hurts Cancer Patients - Some Find It Harder To Get Chemotherapy (requires registration) - Washington Post

►February 16, 2004 - 'Timebomb' vaccine fights cancer - A delayed-release system could help produce more effective vaccines against a number of diseases, including cancer. - BBC

Cardiac

►February 19, 2004 - Heart deaths analyzed - Georgia high in fatalities before the age of 65 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

►February 17, 2004 - Evaluations: Routine Heart Tests Challenged - The New York Times - "Three of the most common screening tests for heart disease should not be used unless the patients have known risk factors or symptoms, according to a statement released yesterday by the government panel responsible for reviewing research on preventive medicine...The panel, the Preventive Services Task Force, concluded that problems associated with the procedures — electrocardiograms, stress tests and scans for calcium buildups in arteries — clearly outweigh their benefit. The statement was published in The Annals of Internal Medicine."

►February 17, 2004 - Gum Disease Linked to Heart Disease & Stroke; You Need More than an Apple a Day Stay Healthy; 30,000 Plus Dentists Converge on Chicago - Chicago Dental Society via U.S. Newswire

►February 16, 2004 - Cheap four-drug combo saves heart patients' lives - Ninety percent cut in death risk from aspirin, beta blocker, ACE inhibitor and statin - University of Michigan Health System via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 16, 2004 - Cord Blood Cells Proven to Differentiate Into Heart Muscle, Brain Cells - AScribe Newswire - "Scientists at the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center have scientifically validated for the first time that stem cells in umbilical cord blood can infiltrate damaged heart tissue and transform themselves into the kind of heart cells needed to halt further damage...Clinical proof of this principle has existed for a decade, as Duke physicians have used cord blood to correct heart, brain and liver defects in children with rare metabolic diseases. But until now they lacked the molecular evidence to prove that cord blood stem cells were the root of a cure."

Chickenpox/chickenpox vaccine

►February 17, 2004 - Chickenpox Vaccine Less Effective After First Year - Reuters Health via Yahoo! - "The effectiveness of the vaccine against chickenpox, or varicella, decreases significantly after the first year, new research indicates. Moreover, the vaccine is less effective in the first year in children younger than 15 months old than in older children. However, cases of breakthrough infection are usually mild."

►February 17, 2004 - Effectiveness of chickenpox vaccine decreases after one year - JAMA and Archives Journals Website via www.eurekalert.org

►February 18, 2004 - Research Shows Chicken Pox Vaccines Loses Its Punch - www.waff.com 

►February 17, 2004 - Chicken Pox Vaccine Still Works After All These Years - HealthDay via www.14wfie.com - "The chicken pox vaccine still provides protection after eight years, although immunity to the disease is strongest during the first year, new research shows."

►February 17, 2004 - Study Finds Chicken Pox Vaccine Effective Overall - Reuters

Comment: Note the wildly divergent headlines between the first three articles on chickenpox and the next two.

Diabetes

►February 17, 2004 - Antioxidants Appear to Protect Against Diabetes - Reuters via Yahoo! News 

►February 16, 2004 - Possible mechanism for link between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease discovered -  Joslin Diabetes Center via www.eurekalert.org

►February 23, 2004 - Asian-Americans don't have to be heavy to develop diabetes - Body mass index charts may not be relevant for assessing actual risk in this racial group. - www.ama-assn.org

Comment:  More possible evidence against any "one-size-fits-all" approach to health or disease.

Diphtheria/diphtheria vaccine

Ebola/ebola vaccine

Flu/flu vaccine

►February 21, 2004 - Maryland Orders Poultry Farms to Test Chickens for Avian Flu before Processing - The Baltimore Sun via www.miami.com

►February 22, 2004 - Bird flu in China comes under gradual control: official - Xinhuanet via China View

►February 22, 2004 - Asia urged to step up bird flu fight - One News via www.nzoom.com

►February 21, 2004 - Eastern US Poultry Industry Worries About Avian Influenza Outbreak - Voice of America

►February 22, 2004 - The next big threat: killer influenza - The Times of India

►February 22, 2004 - Bird flu in cats poses no risk for humans: WHO - Daily Times

►February 22, 2004 - Killer flu: Could the world cope? - It is only a matter of time before a major outbreak of potentially deadly flu, according to scientists. Could the world cope? - BBC

►February 20, 2004 - FluMist failure makes MedImmune rethink the vaccine business - Maryland Gazette - "The research chief of MedImmune told a House committee last week that the company may get out of the flu vaccine-production business, following disappointing sales of its nasal-spray vaccine this flu season...The Gaithersburg company, one of only three in the nation that manufacture flu vaccines, plans to destroy nearly 4 million of its 5 million doses of FluMist, said James Young, president of research and development for MedImmune. Young said it took the company 30 years and $1 billion in research and development to produce the spray...'It's hard to justify staying in the business, if we are hemorrhaging left to right,' Young said...He noted that the company even tried giving away up to 1 million doses to local jurisdictions, but there were no takers."

Comment:  I wonder if they did pre-development market research to see if there was demand for a product like this?

►February 21, 2004 - Mild Avian Flu Strain on Texas Chicken Farm Believed Not Harmful to Humans - The Washington Times via www.miami.com

►February 21, 2004 - Canadians ill after bird flu alert - Herald Sun - "FIVE people on a farm in British Columbia on Canada's west coast, where bird flu was discovered this week, had fallen ill with flu-like symptoms, government officials said today...But they stressed the public should not worry because the strain of avian influenza - confirmed to be a low pathogenic H7 strain - was mostly harmless to humans, unlike the H5 strain that has killed 22 people and forced the slaughter of millions of chickens in Asia...'These are five individuals who had intensive exposure to sick chickens. This is not a virus with a propensity to spread from human to human,' said David Patrick, of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control."

►February 20, 2004 - FDA Adds Potent Strain to New Flu Vaccine (requires registration) The Los Angeles Times

►February 19, 2004 - Inactive Flu Vaccine May be Safe for Kids - UPI via Comtex via www.wtopnews.com

►February 20, 2004 - Birdflu vaccine seen top priority to stop pandemic - Reuters AlertNet

Comment:  But what if concerns raised in New Scientist are true, that vaccinations may be what is at least partly responsible for the current flu problem?

►February 19, 2004 - Yamaguchi bird flu virus capable of infecting humans: Japanese institute - The bird flu virus that killed chickens in Japan's Yamaguchi Prefecture is capable of infecting humans, but its virulence is weak, the Japanese National Institute of Animal Health said Thursday - People's Daily

►February 20, 2004 - Bird Flu Found in Cats in Asia; Canada on Alert - Reuters - "Two domestic cats in Thailand have died of the same bird flu that has killed at least 22 people in Asia, a veterinarian said on Friday, a day after Canada announced its first case of a different strain of the virus...The discoveries have alarmed scientists who now fear the disease can spread as easily between species as it has between countries."

►February 19, 2004 - Protein helps immune system mount ’instant strike’ against deadly flu viruses - Discovery suggests that a ’live virus’ vaccine may offer best defense against avian flu - University of Rochester Medical Center via Innovations Report

►February 19, 2004 - Avian influenza strains vary, but all pose potential risk to human health - Canadian Press via www.canada.com - "The discovery of avian influenza in a B.C. chicken flock is no reason to push the panic button, but it does require quick action to protect poultry stocks and human health, experts say...The H7 strain found at the farm on B.C.'s Lower Mainland is 'leaps and bounds different from H5N1, where there's high lethality, not only in chickens but also in humans,' influenza expert Dr. Danuta Skowronski of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control said Thursday. The H5N1 strain has swept through Asia..."But what we want to do - always, whenever there's an avian outbreak - is contain it and minimize human exposure.''

►February 20, 2004 - Bird flu kills house cats, raising fears infected pets could pass it to owners - Canadian Press via www.canada.com

►February 20, 2004 - Are pigs carrying flu superbug? - The Avian flu that has claimed 22 lives in the Far East has now been found in pigs. Because the animals are vulnerable to both bird and human flu, scientists fear the virus could mutate inside them into a superstrain like the one that killed up to a fifth of the world's population in 1918 - Times Online, UK

►February 20, 2004 - Drug effective against avian flu - A drug used to treat flu has been shown to be effective against the avian strain of the disease sweeping Asia. - BBC

►February 20, 2004 - Mild Strain of Bird Flu Found in Texas - Reuters

►February 20, 2004 - WHO Sees No New Threat from Bird Flu in Cats - Reuters - "
Confirmation that bird flu has jumped the species barrier and killed two cats in Thailand should not signify any increased danger to humans from the killer disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday...Furthermore, there was no reason that this would help trigger a feared mutation in the virus making it more of a threat to people, it added.►February 18, 2004 - This winter's flu season turns out to be moderately severe despite early vaccinations - AP via Alaska Journal of Commerce

►February 18, 2004 - Meanwhile: Echoes of panic over global disease - International Herald Tribune - "These 1838 remarks might cause us to ask whether in the age of SARS and bird flu alarms it is not time to subject the statements of certain virologists, headline writers and health bureaucracies to critical analysis by those trained in other disciplines."

Comment: Interesting article.

►February 18, 2004 - Report finds inactivated influenza virus vaccines effective in children - Infectious Diseases Society of America via www.eurekalert.org - "Every winter inevitably brings with it the flu season, but kids don't inevitably have to contract the flu, according to an article in the March 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online. The report, which reviews the results of multiple studies on the effects of influenza vaccine on children, indicates that 'killed' influenza vaccine is a safe and effective method to reduce the rate of influenza in children as young as 6 months old."

Comment:  This is the study listed yesterday which was paid for by Aventis Pasteur, an influenza vaccine producer.

►February 19, 2004 - Imperfect flu vaccine leaves expert uncertain (requires registration) - Minneapolis - St. Paul Star Tribune - "This winter's flu season turned out to be only moderately severe despite an early start and a vaccine that didn't include the strain that caused most illness, according to government data presented Wednesday...Preliminary results of a CDC study of 50- to 64-year-olds in Colorado found those at particularly high risk from influenza got little if any protection. But a study of the families of 114 Air Force personnel who caught the flu suggests the vaccine was 40 percent effective."

►February 18, 2004 - U.S. Experts Struggle with Flu Vaccine Questions - Reuters Health via Yahoo! - "Various studies show the vaccine had effectiveness ranging from none at all to 60 percent -- statistics that confounded experts trying to decide how best to protect the public from the highly contagious virus...'It's hard to make sense of it,' Dr. Bruce Gellin, director of the Health and Human Service Department's National Vaccine Program Office, told reporters...'We really need to have a system in place year to year that tracks the efficacy of the vaccine.'"

►February 19, 2004 - Government isn't sure how good the flu vaccine was - AP via www.kesq.com

►February 18, 2004 - Officials Hope Next Flu Vaccine Works Better - Flu Vaccine to Change -- but No Bird Flu Protection Yet - WebMD - "Even in a good year -- when the flu vaccine is a perfect match with the flu virus that actually circulates -- the vaccine is not 100% effective. In such years, the flu vaccine offers 70% to 90% protection. Healthy adults get the best protection, while the elderly and children vaccinated for the first time usually get somewhat less protection."

►February 2004 - Predicting the supply and implementation strategies needed to immunize children and adolescents against influenza - journal article (Journal of Pediatrics) - "Between 5 and 10 million individuals aged 6 months to 17 years have conditions (predominantly asthma) that indicate influenza vaccination."

Comment:  This recommendation is particularly interesting in light of recent findings that there is No asthma exacerbation help from children's flu vaccination.

►February 2004 - Prevalence and characteristics of children at increased risk for complications from influenza, United States, 2000 - journal article (Journal of Pediatrics)  - "Results Approximately 5.2 to 10.0 million children aged 6 months through 17 years (7.4%-14.2%) had high-risk conditions indicated for influenza vaccination. Asthma accounted for the majority of conditions."

►March 2004 - Inactivated Influenza Virus Vaccines in Children - journal article (Clinical Infectious Diseases) - "In conclusion, the data show that killed influenza vaccines in children are safe, immunogenic, effective, and potentially cost-saving."

Comment:  Note that this is an Aventis Pasteur study.  Among their many products are vaccines, including one for influenza.

►February 18, 2004 - Bird flu: don't eat chicken if there's an outbreak - Utusan Malaysia Online

►February 18, 2004 - Japan declares end to its first bird flu case - Reuters AlertNet

►February 18, 2004 - Asia's toll from bird flu rises to 22 - AP via The Globe and Mail

►January 28, 2004 - Official blasts study showing flu shot falls short - Influenza vaccine is at least partially effective, Health Canada doctor says (requires registration) - The Medical Posting

►February 17, 2004 - WHO optimistic on flu - Avian bug not 'major concern' for humans - AFP via International Herald Tribune

►February 17, 2004 - UN: Eradication of Bird Flu Virus May Be Impossible - Reuters - "
The United Nations food agency's director of animal health said Tuesday it may be impossible to eradicate the spiraling bird flu virus that has ravaged the Asian poultry sector and killed 20 people...Samuel Jutzi, director of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) animal health department, said some 80 million birds had been culled or died from the disease and that experts were still not sure of the source of the epidemic."
►February 17, 2004 - Delaware Finds No New Bird Flu Cases - Reuters

►February 18, 2004 - Latching On to a Horror - Scientists fear a pandemic if the deadly avian flu virus, which hooks into victims' cells, mutates and spreads between humans. (requires registration) - The Los Angeles Times

►February 18, 2004 - Flu Vaccine to Change Next Year (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "Next season's vaccines for the United States are expected to include the Fujian strain that has caused most of this season's flu cases here and in Europe. The Fujian strain will replace the strain known as A/Moscow...Next season's vaccine will also substitute the B/Shanghai strain for the B/Hong Kong strain. The new vaccine will still include the A/New Caledonia strain."

►February 12, 2004 - WHO Confirms No Human-to-Human Bird Flu Infection - Reuters via  www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►February 17, 2004 - Hygiene hypothesis questioned - Previous exposure to influenza A virus increases predisposition to asthma - The Scientist

►February 18, 2004 - No asthma exacerbation help from children's flu vaccination - Today in Vidyya

►February 16, 2004 - A flu jab for all toddlers? - The Scotsman

►February 16, 2004 - State to determine whether avian flu outbreak involved live virus (requires registration) - AP via www.pennlive.com

►February 16, 2004 - Parents pay up for jabs - Evening Mail via icBirmingham.co.uk

►February 16, 2004 - What are dangers of the bird flu? (registration required) - United Features Syndicate via The Post and Courier

►February 16, 2004 - Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Thailand -This is a Follow-up report (No. 1) via OIE on the recent outbreak of Avian Influenza in Thailand. - Poultry News via www.thepoultrysite.com

►February 16, 2004 - Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in the US - This is a report via OIE on the recent outbreak of Avian Influenza in America. - Poultry News via www.thepoultrysite.com

►February 16, 2004 - A hint of the flu - The Globe and Mail - "Health experts fear that somewhere in the world today -- perhaps in Asia, where avian flu has killed at least 19 people -- a particularly dangerous genetic change may be taking place in a known influenza virus and creating something new, like the SARS virus, to which humans have no immunity. If such a virus were able to spread easily from person to person, a pandemic could occur similar to the one in 1918-19, when Spanish flu killed an estimated 50 million people around the world...Flu viruses undergo such antigenic changes frequently (though thankfully with less dire consequences).

►February 15, 2004 - Bird-Brained Flu Hype - New York Post - "AVIAN flu, if it morphs into a human-to- human virus, could cause another worldwide epidemic like the one in 1918, when almost a billion people got sick, 50 million died and the Great War ground to a halt. This is the public health message that has been broadcast over the media megaphone recently...The U.S. public, tired of influenza from December's over-hyped outbreak, and not that concerned about health care in other countries to begin with, isn't buying this message. But because the public is sure to buy some later message about some other hyped bacteria or virus, we must look at how public health officials choose to inform - or misinform - us."

►February 14, 2004 - Mortality from avian flu is higher than in previous outbreak - journal article (BMJ) - "The mortality in Vietnam of between 60% and 70% is much higher than the 30% mortality of the 1997 outbreak in Hong Kong, said Professor David Hui, a respiratory medicine specialist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Professor Hui is in Vietnam as part of a team of specialists who are training medical staff in infection control and treatment of H5N1 avian flu...."This is a puzzle... we are trying to find out: is the virus changing in structure? Is it becoming more virulent? Is the clinical spectrum different from 1997?' Professor Hui told Reuters Television."

►February 12, 2004 - A Review of This Year's Flu Season - Does Our Public Health System Need a Shot in the Arm? - House Committee on Government Reform 

►February 15, 2004 - State confirms avian flu in Lancaster County flock - The state Agriculture Department confirmed an outbreak of avian flu at a Lancaster County farm, but said the strain infecting the flock is not likely to be harmful to humans. - AP via Nepa News

►February 15, 2004 - China Finds More Bird Flu Ahead of Crisis Talks - Radio Free Asia

►February 16, 2004 - Ban on farm hit by avian flu may be lifted - The Japan Times

►February 16, 2004 - Bird Flu Outbreak Has Farmers Jittery (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "The influenza strain, known as H7, is not a danger to humans, and is not even particularly deadly for chickens. But if allowed to spread, health experts say, it can mutate into a more virulent strain for animals. Consequently, the state typically orders entire flocks destroyed when even a single bird becomes infected."

►February 16, 2004 - Flu illness 'may bring on asthma' - Catching flu early in life may actually increase the chances of a child developing asthma later, say experts. - BBC - "Their finding, in a study of mice, contradicts the suggestion that early infections have a protective effect...Writing in the journal Nature Immunology, the team from Stanford University say that flu boosted the body's allergic responses."

Haemophilus Influenza/Hib Vaccine

Hepatitis A/hepatitis A vaccine

►February 17, 2004 - Food-borne pathogen traced to lettuce - Infectious Diseases Society of American via www.eurekalert.org - "For the first time, scientists have identified fresh produce as the source of an outbreak of human Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infections, according to an article published in the March 1 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online. The outbreak was identified in Finland and traced epidemiologically to farms producing lettuce...Y. pseudotuberculosis, first identified in 1883, causes infections characterized by fever and abdominal pain that are often confused with acute appendicitis. The microbe is well known in veterinary medicine as the cause of illnesses in hares, deer, and sheep, among other animals. Y. pseudotuberculosis infections in humans are relatively rare, and while foodborne transmission has long been suspected, attempts to trace the pathogen to a concrete source of contamination in the past have been unsuccessful."

►February 15, 2004 - Onions May Be To Blame - www.krgv.net - "Dr. Lorenzo Pelly has treated several hepatitis patients. He tells NEWSCHANNEL 5 that the employee at Rudy's Country Store and Barbecue may not be the only source of the Hepatitis-A outbreak. Dr. Pelly says workers in the Mexican onion fields could be carrying the virus or the water that's being used to irrigate the Mexican onions may be contaminated with Hepatitis-A. Pelly says the best way to get rid of the virus is to boil or cook the onions."

Hepatitis B/hepatitis B vaccine

►February 16, 2004 - Pakistan has 4.9 million Hepatitis B virus carriers - Pakistan Link - "According to the gastroenterologist, risk factors regarding hepatitis include unsafe injection practices and inadequate screening facilities at blood banks. She estimated 5.6-8.4 million carriers of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) in the country."

Comment:  For a different perspective on what it means to be a heptatitis B carrier, go to Scandals: The CDC and “The New Math”, where 1 + 1  does not equal 2.  And for more on the problem with  "unsafe injection practices" 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").
 

►February 12, 2004 - Child's Ear Piercing - Take Precaution - Doctors Warn Parents To Take Precautions When Getting Their Child’s Ears Pierced At An Early Age - www.healthnewsdigest.com - "The joys of having a new baby are endless. When a baby girl is born, many parents opt to dress her in pretty clothes and pretty jewelry. But piercing a baby’s ears at too young an age can be dangerous. 'Most parents are unaware of the potential health risks of piercing their child’s ears before the first immunizations,” says Ken Gottesman, attending pediatrician at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan. “I see more and more babies at younger ages who come in with pierced ears, their parents unaware that they could potentially develop bacterial infections, tetanus or even hepatitis B.'”

Hepatitis C/hepatitis C vaccine

►February 18, 2004 - KUMC Researcher Publishes Key Finding - University of Kansas Medical Center - "A researcher at the University of Kansas School of Medicine has published findings that could lead to more precise treatment for Hepatitis C, the country's most chronic liver disease."

►February 18, 2004 - Ancient approach targets hepatitis C symptoms - Santa Cruz Sentinel - "Firmage and her classmates are in their third week of learning the ancient Eastern approach to treating hepatitis C through acupuncture and herbs...While the method dates back hundreds of years, teaching acupuncture specifically for hepatitis C is new for Five Branches Institutes, the Santa Cruz college of traditional Chinese medicine."

►February 18, 2004 - Pregnant hepatitis C carriers hold 10% risk of infecting baby - IHT via The Asahi Shimbun

Herpes/herpes vaccine

IBD (inflammatory bowel diseases)

Lyme disease/lyme disease vaccine

►February 19, 2004 - Local activists attend legislative hearing on Lyme disease - According to one of its co-founders, the Greater Hartford Lyme Disease Support and Action Group is the only such group in the country - one that not only advocates, but makes a concrete effort to put a brighter spotlight on the tick-borne disease from which they all claim to suffer. - Farmington Valley Post via www.zwire.com

►February 17, 2004 - AAEP 2003: Lyme Disease - www.thehorse.com

Mad Cow Disease/CJD

►February 19, 2004 - Letter to Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman concerning false or misleading government reassurances on mad cow disease (HRG Publication #1690) - Public Citizen’s Health Research Group 

►February 19, 2004 - Mad Cow remains mystery, scientist tells Missoula crowd - www.missoulian.com

►February 2004 - Safety, efficacy, and immunogenicity of a live, quadrivalent human-bovine reassortant rotavirus vaccine in healthy infants -  journal article (Journal of Pediatrics) 

Comment:  I wonder about the advisability of using bovine derived vaccine.

►February 18, 2004 - How Now, Mad Cow? - Common Dreams News Center - "Common Courage Press has just released the first paperback version of our 1997 book Mad Cow USA, the book that predicted the emergence of the deadly human and animal dementia disease in the United States. When Mad Cow USA was first published in November 1997, it bore the subtitle, 'Could the Nightmare Happen Here?' We used a question mark because we thought mad cow disease was possible but still preventable in the United States, if the meat industry and government regulators adopted adequate safety measures...Our book received favorable reviews at the time from some interesting publications such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, New Scientist, and Chemical & Engineering News. Otherwise, it went largely ignored and unheralded. It sold briskly but briefly during the infamous Texas trial of Oprah Winfrey for the alleged crime of "food disparagement," and then slid into obscurity until December 2003, when the 'nightmare' in our subtitle arrived and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman announced that mad cow disease has been found in the United States."

►February 18, 2004 - New BSE form identified - Evidence of disease in 'healthy' cows points to the discovery of a novel prion strain - The Scientist

►February 16, 2004 - New mad cow strain similar to human CJD - UPI - "Italian researchers said Monday they have discovered a new strain of mad cow disease that is very similar to a spontaneously occurring form of a deadly human brain disorder called sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease...Scientists previously thought the consumption of meat infected with the mad cow pathogen could only cause a specific form of the fatal disorder known as variant CJD...The new finding, which appears in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, increases the possibility some cases of sporadic CJD also could be due to mad cow-infected meat, said Salvatore Monaco, a co-author of the study and a professor in the department of Neurological and Visual Science at Policlinico G.B. Rossi in Verona, Italy"

Meningitis/meningitis vaccine/Prevnar/pneumonia/pneumococcal vaccine

►February 12, 2004 - Wyeth Reaffirms Distribution Plan for Prevnar(R) to Optimize Product Availability for Children - PR Newswire-First Call via Yahoo! Finance

►February 20, 2004 - The Meningitis Debate - More states are encouraging vaccines for students, despite objections from some campus health officials - The Chronicle Of Higher Education - "He learned that the disease is spread through saliva and can be transmitted through coughing, sneezing, shared drinks, or any other form of close contact. Most people who become infected, however, don't contract meningitis and aren't even aware that they are carriers. He also discovered that there is a vaccine that might have prevented him from catching the disease...On the surface, the meningitis laws are the swift product of grass-roots efforts to protect college students from a fatal disease. But many college health officials are questioning whether the laws are necessary. These officials argue that legislators have acted irrationally in response to lobbying efforts by pharmaceutical companies and emotional appeals from small groups of advocates."

►March 2004 - Nasopharyngeal Carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae by Adults and Children in Community and Family Settings - journal article (Clinical Infectious Diseases)

►February 18, 2004 - Bill makes meningitis information mandatory - Colorado State Collegian - "A bill has been introduced to the Colorado General Assembly that would require all Colorado institutions of higher education to provide information about meningitis and the available vaccine to students living in campus housing...Students living in the residence halls have a slightly increased risk of contracting bacterial meningitis, an infection of fluid in the spinal cord and brain, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention completed in 2000...Up to 125 cases of bacterial meningitis occur on college campuses around the country, 10 to 15 of which have been deadly, said Lisa Duggan, immunization specialist at the Hartshorn Health Service...'It's not a huge number,' Duggan said. 'But it's tragic considering it is a preventable disease.'"

►February 18, 2004 - Dissemination of information on viral pneumonia accelerated nationwide - Vietnam News Agency

►February 19, 2004 - Babies at risk of pneumococcal - Herald Sun - "THOUSANDS of Victorian babies have been left exposed to the deadly pneumococcal disease as a global shortage of preventative jabs worsens...Vaccine-maker Wyeth said last month that babies who had begun the three-shot immunisation course would be able to finish the program...But worried parents have now been told supplies are no longer available, and they will have to wait at least four months before their children can resume the course...The delay will not negate the effect of the shots already administered, but those children do not have complete protection against the killer disease...Parents have been advised not to use an older pneumococcal vaccine."

►February 2004 - Culture-Negative Pericarditis Caused by Neisseria meningitidis Serogroup C - journal article (Journal of Clinical Microbiology) 

MMR/measles, mumps, rubella

►2004 - Jab alert as city's mumps cases soar - Glasgow is at the centre of an alarming rise in mumps among teenagers. - Evening Times

►February 19, 2004 - New jags call in mumps outbreak - Daily Record, UK - "CASES of mumps are soaring in Scotland, it was revealed yesterday...Since December, 49 cases have been confirmed, compared with only 26 for the whole of last year."

►February 18, 2004 - Meeting Addresses Childhood Killer: Measles - American Red Cross - "Among the attendees was Dr. Samuel Katz, inventor of the measles vaccine...Each year, a disease barely remembered by most Americans kills nearly one million children, a half million of those in Africa alone."

Comment:  Measles in developing nations is deadly.  Historically, it has not been deadly in developed ones.  The fact that measles is deadly in developing nations is not a reason to hype the deadliness of measles in developed nations. For more on measles go to What Is Wrong With This Picture?;  More confusing disease stats;   Playing With Fire - It's Not EASY To Fool Mother Nature;   Don't Worry, Be Happy;  Measles In The Vaccination Age:  Is It Now Deadlier?;   Why We Won't Take No* For An Answer  (*No relationship between MMR and autism);  and Shoot First, Don't Ask Questions Later.  

►February 16, 2004 - Doc's appeal fails - Harrow Times - "DR David Pugh has lost his bid to be reinstated by the General Medical Council, despite evidence which he claimed proved his controversial single vaccinations for measles, mumps and rubella were safe...He was banned from practising in October after allegations by Hertsmere Primary Care Trust that 40,000 children, many from Harrow, treated at his private clinic in Elstree were at greater risk of catching the diseases because doctors did not follow manufacturers' guidelines for administering the jabs.

Multiple sclerosis

►February 20, 2004 - Why MS Patients Experience Fatigue - Archives of Neurology via Ivanhoe - "New research shows nerve fiber damage may help explain why many patients with multiple sclerosis suffer from fatigue...MS is a chronic disease of the central nervous system that is characterized by abnormal sensation, tremors, slurred speech, difficulty moving, and pain. Up to 87 percent of MS patients suffer from fatigue. According to researchers, fatigue is a major reason many MS patients are forced to give up working."

►February 18, 2004 - Canadian discovery promises new MS treatments - Researchers hope enzyme will serve as target for multiple sclerosis drugs - The Medical Posting

►February 16, 2004 - Widespread nerve fiber damage in brains of patients with multiple sclerosis associated with fatigue - JAMA and Archives Journals Website via www.eurekalert.org

Other diseases

►February 15, 2004 - Practice Guidelines - AAP Releases Policy Statement on the Prevention of RSV Infections - journal article (American Family Physician)

►February 19, 2004 - Gene Therapy Shows Promise for Cystic Fibrosis - Reuters via Yahoo!

►February 11, 2004 - Induction of lupus autoantibodies by adjuvants - BioMedNet - "The ability to induce lupus autoantibodies is shared by several hydrocarbons and is not unique to pristane. It correlates with stimulation of the production of IL-12 and other cytokines, suggesting a relationship with a hydrocarbon's adjuvanticity. The potential to induce autoimmunity may complicate the use of oil adjuvants in human and veterinary vaccines."

Comment:  Lupus has been reported as a vaccine-associated reaction at least 137 times to VAERS and has been reported in the medical literature as well. (The list of articles in the literature includes only systemic lupus erythematosus, i.e., SLE)

►February 16, 2004 - More patients with liver disease competing for fewer organs - Alcohol: A National Excuse - The Scotsman

►February 18, 2004 - FDA to review S.D. firm's lupus drug - The San-Diego Union Tribune via SignsOnSanDiego.com

►February 19, 2004 - After Bird Flu, Dengue (requires registration) - editorial - The Jakarta Post - "Doctors' confirmation on Tuesday of suspicions a new, previously unknown sub-variant of the dengue virus is responsible for a virulent outbreak accross the country adds to the graveness of a situation already rated "extraordinary" by the government. This is all the more so because the Asian bird flu has yet to be brought fully under control...What led the government -- in this case, the Ministry of Health -- to issue the "extraordinary situation" rating was the dengue death rate, which by mid-month reached more than 1 percent of the number of patients treated. Dengue cases during the past few weeks were more than twice the number recorded over the same period last year."

Comment: Are people becoming less capable of fighting off these illnesses?  If so, why is that?

►February 2004 - Safety, efficacy, and immunogenicity of a live, quadrivalent human-bovine reassortant rotavirus vaccine in healthy infants -  journal article (Journal of Pediatrics) 

Comment:  I wonder about the advisability of using bovine derived vaccine.

►February 2004 - High Rate of Transfer of Staphylococcus aureus from Parental Skin to Infant Gut Flora - journal article (Journal of Clinical Microbiology)

►February 17, 2004 - Gum Disease Linked to Heart Disease & Stroke; You Need More than an Apple a Day Stay Healthy; 30,000 Plus Dentists Converge on Chicago - Chicago Dental Society via U.S. Newswire

►February 17, 2004 - 91 Die in Indonesia Dengue Fever Outbreak - AP via The Herald-Sun 

►February 17, 2004 - Low Antibody Levels Tied to Virus in Elderly - Reuters Heath via Yahoo! - "Frail elderly individuals with low antibody levels to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are at heightened risk for severe RSV disease, new research suggests. An RSV vaccine might therefore benefit the elderly population."

►February 17, 2004 - A Critical Piece of the CF Puzzle - Newsday - "More than 50 years after cystic fibrosis was first identified as a disease, Harvard scientists have found a key puzzle piece - an imbalance of fatty acids - that may lead someday to a novel treatment for the lethal disease...Dr. Steven Freedman, an associate professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School, discovered cystic fibrosis patients have much higher levels of arachidonic acid and depletions of docosahexaenoic acid. AA and DHA at normal levels keep cell membranes healthy. The study appeared recently in the New England Journal of Medicine."

►February 17, 2004 - Obstructive pulmonary disease is on rise, No. 4 cause of death - The New York Times via Mercury News - "Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a progressive, irreversible decline in lung function that afflicts 35 million Americans, gradually robbing them of the ability to take in oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from their blood. Nearly half the people who have the disease do not yet know it. Although the disorder cannot be cured, if it is diagnosed early enough and properly treated, deterioration in lung function can be slowed...The disease can be detected with a simple, non-invasive breathing test."

►February 16, 2004 - A new protective protein against Parkinson's disease - Cell Press via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 17, 2004 - Chronic fatigue's cause, cure remain mystery to science - North America Syndicate via The Arizona Republic

Other vaccines/vaccines in the pipeline

►February 19, 2004 - British Team Develops 'Black Death' Vaccine - Times, UK via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►February 19, 2004 - British team develops ‘Black Death’ vaccine - The Times, UK - "BRITISH scientists have made a crucial breakthrough in the war on terrorism by developing a vaccine to counter bubonic plague, the bacteria that caused the Black Death...A vaccine for the bubonic plague, which killed millions in the Middle Ages and is now one of the deadliest bio-terrorism agents, may be available within a year as a result of a breakthrough at the Ministry of Defence’s laboratory at Porton Down.

Comment:  Antibiotics are effective against the plague if given within 24 hours of the first symptoms, according to the CDC.  (Although there apparently is some concern about growing resistance of the plague to antibiotics.)

Pets/pet vaccines

►February 23, 2004 - Cuddle with Care - Forget about bird flu or SARS -- you're much more likely to get sick from a pet - TIME Magazine

►2004 - Veterinary Topics: A shot in the dark - Do all vaccines really protect your horse? - Thoroughbred Times - "However, some researchers stress that to obtain optimum protection, certain vaccines should be administered more often than manufacturers recommend. Other researchers report that some vaccines may be so narrowly targeted at just one or two strains of a complicated disease that the odds of them protecting your horse may be slim. Other vaccines are risky to use."

Pneumonia/pneumococcal/Prevnar - see Meningitis/meningitis vaccine/Prevnar/pneumonia/pneumococcal vaccine

Polio/polio vaccine

►February 20, 2004 - Vaccine ban linked to polio revival - AP via St. Petersburg Times - "The World Health Organization will launch a huge immunization campaign Monday targeting 63-million children in 10 African countries as a polio outbreak spreads from Muslim northern Nigeria...Islamic leaders in the region at the heart of the Nigerian outbreak say they will uphold their ban on the polio vaccine, calling it part of a U.S. plot to spread infertility or AIDS among Muslims."

►February 19, 2004 - Nigeria: Muslim suspicion of polio vaccine lingers on - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs via www.irinnews.org

►February 19, 2004 - Those who obstruct immunisation will be punished - GNA via
www.ghanaweb.com

►February 16, 2004 - Nigeria's Polio Situation Frightening--WHO - African News Service via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

Rabies/rabies vaccine

►February 15, 2004 - Some epidemics don't make the front page - China Daily via  http://i-medreview.subportal.com - "The Ministry of Health said last week that in 2003 rabies was the most fatal of the 27 infectious diseases which must be reported to health authorities in China."

SARS/SARS vaccine

►February 21, 2004 - Interferon can represses SARS in apes - The Japan Times

►February 17, 2004 - China uplifts independent anti-SARS vaccine R&D - Chinese scientists have reported significant improvement in vaccine research and development. A leading researcher cites the example of an anti-SARS vaccine, developed in just nine months, to explain what's behind the success of the independent work.  In the past, almost all vaccines manufactured in China modeled western countries' products. But the situation has changed greatly as far as an anti-SARS vaccine is concerned. Project Manager Yin Weidong says it's the first anti-SARS vaccine developed in China and first ever used in clinical tests in the world . - People's Daily

SBS (Shaken Baby Syndrome)/SIDS

►February 17, 2004 - Shaken Baby/Shaken Impact Syndrome - KidsHealth.org via Yahoo! - "To diagnose SBS, doctors look for hemorrhages in the retinas of the eyes (which are extremely rare in any accidental injuries, such as falls), skull fractures, swelling of the brain, subdural hematomas (blood collections pressing on the surface of the brain), rib and long bone (bones in the arms and legs) fractures, and bruises around the head, neck, or chest."

Comment:  Recent research confirms that hemorrhages in the retinas and other widely accepted signs of shaking can result from other things.  For more on this and other problems re: so-called Shaken Baby Syndrome, go to the Online SBS Conference at www.redflagsdaily.com.  You can also and read Alan Clementson MD's (Professor Emeritus, Tulane University Medical School) excellent letter titled Was the Baby Shaken?, sent to and published in the Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients.

►February 17, 2004 - Baby's autopsy by Shashi Gore settled nothing - column - Orlando Sentinel - "A grueling rite of passage for any new parent is when your baby is lying on the table at the pediatrician's office and the nurse walks in with four small syringes. It's vaccination time...One after another the nurse plunges the needles into the baby's thigh. And you pick up the screaming child and wonder if she'll ever trust you again...What could be worse than that?...How about if those vaccines attacked your baby's immune system and nervous system, perhaps even killing her? And what if the damage so closely mimicked the damage caused by abuse that you were suspected of shaking your baby to death?"

►February 17, 2004 - The mystery of Munchausen's - Controversy rages over Munchausen's Syndrome by proxy after court cases in the UK questioned its existence. Is it a real condition or have mums been falsely accused? - today tonight - "A group of Aussie mothers stand accused of one of the most horrendous crimes a parent could commit: deliberately making their own child sick...It's called Munchausen's Syndrome by proxy, a disorder where parents harm their children to attract attention to themselves...Mothers alleged to have Munchausen's have been caught on film in the act of child abuse, making the syndrome a feared and despised illness...But the question remains whether Munchausen's by proxy really leads to child abuse. Is it simply an invention of the medical world?..If so, Australian families may have been torn apart because mothers were wrongly accused."

Smallpox/smallpox vaccine

►February 20, 2004 - HIV immunity may stem from ancient smallpox - Gannett News Service via The Arizona Republic

Comment:  That's all well and good.  But what if having immunity to HIV doesn't really mean much?  What if HIV has nothing to do with AIDS, as some believe?

►February 12, 2004 - Breastfed Baby Exposed to Smallpox Vaccine Virus - Reuters via Yahoo! News 

►February 17, 2004 - Mass Vaccination Not Needed to Contain Smallpox Outbreak, Researchers Say - Nuclear Threat Initiative - "Conducting a mass vaccination against smallpox in the United States could save some lives in the event of an outbreak, but the risks of vaccine side effects would outweigh most benefits, researchers announced Friday (see GSN, Jan. 30)."

►February 19, 2004 - Russian 'Vector' lab probes secrets of smallpox - Reuters AlertNet - "It was one of the world's most deadly plagues, and some fear it might again be unleashed on mankind if bio-terrorists could get their hands on the virus...A quarter of a century after the last known case of smallpox, scientists at a heavily-guarded installation called Vector, deep in Siberia, are still conducting research on 120 strains of the virus...Responsibility for safeguarding the stockpiles lies with men like Sergei Netesov, Vector's deputy general director."

►February 17, 2004 - DoD reports complications in smallpox shot program - Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy

►February 14, 2004 - Missoula One of 75 Sites to Test New Smallpox Vaccine - AP via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►February 17, 2004 - Alert on anti-smallpox vaccinia - Households cautioned about virus transmission - Seattle Post-Intelligencer - "Soldiers and health care workers who take the smallpox vaccine should take extra precautions against spreading the live virus used in the vaccine to members of their household, according to a new report."

TB/TB vaccine (BCG)

►February 17, 2004 - Clinical trial of new TB vaccine begins - New vaccine may prove more potent than 100-year-old current vaccine - Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation via www.eurekalert.org

►February 16, 2004 - TB cases increase 20% in four years, report warns - The New Zealand Herald - "Tuberculosis - a potentially lethal disease that was nearly wiped out in New Zealand - is making a comeback...And those who think they are protected by vaccinations given between the 1960s and the 1980s should think again. The vaccine has been found to be only 50 per cent effective."

Tetanus

►February 16, 2004 - Uganda: Adults Need Tetanus Jabs - African News Service via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►February 12, 2004 - Child's Ear Piercing - Take Precaution - Doctors Warn Parents To Take Precautions When Getting Their Child’s Ears Pierced At An Early Age - www.healthnewsdigest.com - "The joys of having a new baby are endless. When a baby girl is born, many parents opt to dress her in pretty clothes and pretty jewelry. But piercing a baby’s ears at too young an age can be dangerous. 'Most parents are unaware of the potential health risks of piercing their child’s ears before the first immunizations,” says Ken Gottesman, attending pediatrician at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan. “I see more and more babies at younger ages who come in with pierced ears, their parents unaware that they could potentially develop bacterial infections, tetanus or even hepatitis B.'”

West Nile virus/vaccine

Whooping cough/DPT vaccine

►February 20, 2004 - Fatal Case Of Unsuspected Pertussis Diagnosed From A Blood Culture - Consumer Product Safety Commission via www.intelihealth.com - "A recent case of pertussis (whooping cough) in an elderly Minnesota woman who later died and identification of 3 additional cases in other adults in the community underline the importance of clinicians being aware that adults can get the highly contagious cough illness and they should request laboratory testing to confirm a diagnosis of pertussis."

►February 18, 2004 - Beaverton clinic urges parents to have their children revaccinated - The Oregonian via www.oregonlive.com - "A Beaverton clinic will begin mailing notices today to the parents of about 3,000 babies and toddlers who received a vaccine that might not be effective because it was improperly stored."

►February 18, 2004 - Big rise in whooping cough cases - Six times the number of cases of whooping cough have been reported in the Auckland region in January compared to the same time last year. - www.stuff.co.nz
 

Legal/political

Compensation/VICP

►February 2004 - US Code-Vaccine Laws, Injury Codes, Case Info - Health Hippo 

Funding/incentives/other money matters

►February 17, 2004 - CDC granted $250 million appropriation to improve aging labs - AP via Ledger-Enquirer - "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been granted $250 million from Congress to improve its aging buildings and labs, it was announced Tuesday...'We are extremely proud of what we have been able to accomplish thus far at CDC, but ... our work is not done,' said Phil Jacobs, co-chairman of the Friends of the CDC and president of Georgia operations for BellSouth. 'We will not rest until we see the full $1.4 billion program completely funded.'"

Laws

Lawsuits

Legislation, including re: malpractice/the need for malpractice reform

►February 17, 2004 - Parents reroute efforts to get their son's test - A Lecanto teacher says she and her husband dropped their FCAT lawsuit but will work to reform state law. - St. Petersburg Times - "In October, Castillo and her husband, Joseph, who live in Brooksville, filed a legal action seeking the release of her son's results on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Since her son Jordan is autistic and children with autism have trouble with language, Castillo argued that in order to help her son improve his score, she needed to know what he was asked and how he answered...A month after the lawsuit was filed, Department of Education officials told the Castillos that the department would not release the test and that, if the Castillos didn't drop their lawsuit by this week, they could be ordered to pay the state's legal fees."

►February 23, 2004 - States boosting doctor oversight - A New Jersey bill aims to bring quicker reviews of complaints against physicians; a South Dakota bill toughens discipline standards. - www.ama-assn.org

►February 23, 2004 - Tort reform wouldn't dent health spending -- CBO report - Changes should focus on fairness to both patients and physicians, the study concludes. - www.ama-assn.org

►February 23, 2004 - Revisiting the crisis in Nevada: Tort reform in need of reform - Doctors hope passage of a fall ballot initiative will improve practice conditions. Trial lawyers say it would only make the situation worse. - www.ama-assn.org

Licensing

►February 17, 2004 - Naturopathic doctors renew push for licensing in Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 

Malpractice and other class-action lawsuits

Parental/health rights/exemptions/mandatory/privacy/health freedom

►February 19, 2004 - Those who obstruct immunisation will be punished - GNA via www.ghanaweb.com

 

►February 18, 2004 - Seek healthcare experts' advice on vaccine information - opinion - The Miami Herald - "I am further troubled that the author does not provide evidence or references to substantiate her claim about the alleged danger of vaccines while her message contributes to misinformation about vaccines. Readers should beware of journalists who play doctor and instead entrust the care of their children to qualified and trained healthcare professionals."

Comment:  How often do MDs provide evidence or references to substantiate their claim when writing an opinion piece in a newspaper?  Did this MD substantiate his claims using references in this letter? (No.)

Politics

►February 17, 2004 - CDC granted $250 million appropriation to improve aging labs - AP via Ledger-Enquirer - "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been granted $250 million from Congress to improve its aging buildings and labs, it was announced Tuesday...'We are extremely proud of what we have been able to accomplish thus far at CDC, but ... our work is not done,' said Phil Jacobs, co-chairman of the Friends of the CDC and president of Georgia operations for BellSouth. 'We will not rest until we see the full $1.4 billion program completely funded.'"

Power/abuse of power

►February 12, 2004 - Medicare for lobbyists - editorial - Palm Beach Post - "Rep. Billy Tauzin delivered a $540 billion prescription-drug benefit for Medicare. Now, the Louisiana Republican is leaving Congress for a $2 million-a-year job in the drug industry. When it comes to exposing your principles, Rep. Tauzin makes Janet Jackson look coy."

►February 16, 2004 - Letter from Dr. Jane Orient of the AAPS to Colorado's Senate HEWI committee (and read on the Senate floor February 16, 2004) re: Senate Bill. 04-139, “Concerning notification to persons of immunizations for their children under specified circumstances.” - www.aapsonline.org - "Public health departments are stretched thin nationwide. Scarce public health dollars should not be diverted to Big Brother functions. Your constituents are smart enough to make their own vaccine decisions. Governmental resources are better spent on informing citizens than on monitoring them."

 

Miscellaneous

Book reviews/New Books

Inspirational stories

Letters From Parents &others

Medical "mysteries", not including autism

Other

►February 16, 2004 - How did we get so cynical? - Cynicism seems to have become the defining attitude of our time. This week the BBC News Online Magazine is asking where it comes from, who's damaged by it, and what next for a cynical society? First though - what made us into the cynical people we have become? - BBC

Pregnancy/childbirth

►February 18, 2004 - Delivering Small Babies Raises Future Stillbirth Risk - HealthDay via Yahoo! - "Women whose first baby was small, especially if it was delivered early, have a higher risk of having a stillborn baby on subsequent deliveries...Even among these high-risk women, however, the odds of a stillbirth were low. 'Ninety-eight times out of 100, the next pregnancy had a live-born baby,' says Dr. Mark A. Klebanoff a researcher at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. 'The absolute risk is not horribly high. It's not so high that somebody should necessarily be discouraged.'"

►February 17, 2004 - Big rise in multiple birth rate - The proportion of multiple births has increased by 20% in the last decade, figures for England and Wales show. - BBC 

►February 18, 2004 - Pregnant hepatitis C carriers hold 10% risk of infecting baby - IHT via The Asahi Shimbun

RECALLS/bans

 

Research

About research/science, research in general

Ethics/conflict of interest

►February 19, 2004 - Artificial Blood Tested Without Consent - AP via The Herald-Sun - "Paramedics are testing an experimental blood substitute on severely injured patients without their consent in an unusual study under way or proposed at 20 hospitals around the country...The study was launched last month in Denver and follows similar research that was halted in 1998, when more than 20 patients died after getting a different experimental blood substitute...Supporters say the current product, PolyHeme, made by Northfield Laboratories of Evanston, Ill., is safer and could save many of the nearly 100,000 people who die of bleeding injuries each year nationwide."

►February 19, 2004 - Panel Weighs Toxic Research on Humans - AP via The Miami Herald - "Exposing human volunteers to toxic pesticides and pollutants for scientific purposes is justified only under strict conditions and with careful review, a National Academy of Sciences panel said Thursday...The Environmental Protection Agency should establish a special review board to evaluate any studies that involve intentionally giving people toxic chemicals, the committee said."

►February 19, 2004 - Science Panel OKs Pesticide Tests on Humans (requires registration) - Los Angeles Times - "A National Academy of Sciences panel said today that human test subjects could be intentionally dosed with pesticides and other toxic substances as long as the companies or government agencies conducting the tests meet high ethical and scientific standards...The Bush administration sought the advice from the esteemed group of scientists after it sparked a controversy by reversing a Clinton-era moratorium on the use of human subjects in tests that are used by Environmental Protection Agency officials as they decide safe exposure levels for pesticides."

►February 19, 2004 - NIH Conflict of Interest Panel to Meet in Early March - National Institutes of Health 

►February 20, 2004 - Journal regrets running MMR study - The medical journal that published a controversial study linking MMR to autism says, with hindsight, it would not have published the paper. - BBC

►February 17, 2004 - The link between funding and the disclosure of clinical trial results - www.vidyya.com - "There have been several conflicting reports in the medical literature about whether industry funding influences research findings and conclusions...In this week's issue of CMAJ, Bhandari and colleagues reveal the results of a study of 332 randomized trials published between January 1999 and June 2001 that show that industry-funded trials were more likely to be associated with statistically significant pro-industry findings. They state this conclusion is not limited to trials of medical treatments -- it applies to trials of new surgical interventions as well."

►February 18, 2004 - Facing the evidence: antidepressant treatment in children and adolescents - journal article (CMAJ) - "It is clear that our efforts to establish a scientific basis for the treatment of childhood depression are severely compromised by both unpublished research and the uncritical acceptance of published data. It is disturbing to note that there has been no formal response to this crisis from opinion leaders in child psychiatry, many of whom were investigators in both published and unpublished trials."

►February 14, 2004 - Feeling good about placebos - Michigan State University via www.eurekalert.org 

Funding

Other research results

►February 2004 - Does the huamn mnid raed wrods as a wlohe? (requires registration or subscription) - A recent email message about a purported experiment run at Cambridge University provides a useful illustration of some fundamental mechanisms involved in reading. The message demonstrates that a text composed of words whose inner letters have been re-arranged can be raed wtih qutie anazimg esae! Although some of the readability of this email message is probably due to top-down factors made possible by the fact that almost 50% of the words are not mixed up, we suggest that a significant part of this 'jumbled word effect' is due to the special way in which the human brain encodes the positions of letters in printed words. Recent research using the masked-priming technique has helped to elucidate the mechanisms involved in letter-position coding. Masked primes are briefly presented, pattern-masked letter strings, whose effects on target processing are thought to reflect fast, automatic processing. We will briefly describe two phenomena, relative-position priming and transposition priming, that have been observed with this paradigm and that are particularly relevant for understanding letter-position coding. - Trends in Cognitive Sciences via BioMedNet

►February 20, 2004 - Predators And Human Health: Exploring The Role Of Predators In Keeping Pathogens At Bay - Ecological Society Of America via www.sciencedaily.com

►February 21, 2004 - In the shadow of white death - Pollution and global warming are devastating the world's coral reefs, reports Tim Radford. - www.theage.com.au

►February 14, 2004 - Schizophrenia link to lead petrol - US scientists say they have found a link between exposure to lead in the womb and schizophrenia in adulthood. - BBC  

►February 19, 2004 - Blood Test Can Prevent Unneeded Antibiotic Use - HealthDay via Yahoo!

►February 19, 2004 - Biochemical clues to long lifespan revealed - Findings extend longevity research from yeast and worms to mammals - Children's Hospital Boston via www.eurekalert.org

►February 2004 - Differences in antibiotic prescribing patterns for children younger than five years in the three major outpatient settings - journal article (Journal of Pediatrics)

►February 15, 2004 - Advances in equine cloning may aid insight into human diseases - American Association for the Advancement of Science via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 18, 2004 - New Test Could Fine-Tune Antibiotic Use - AP via The Herald-Sun - "A blood test could help doctors determine whether antibiotics are needed for common respiratory infections and may reduce the over-prescribing that creates drug-resistant germs, new research suggests...About 75 percent of all antibiotics are given for lower respiratory tract infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia. Most of these infections are caused by a virus, not bacteria. Experts say antibiotics are not only useless against viral infections, but also help bacteria evolve defenses against drugs." 

►January 29, 2004 - 'Look away when I speak to you' - For years, parents and teachers have ordered children to 'look at me when I'm speaking to you'. - BBC News - "Children who dared turn away were accused of being rude or of failing to pay attention...But now a report suggests that rather than being rude, children turn away to help them think...What's more, they probably pick up the habit from adults, says psychologist Dr Gwyneth Doherty-Sneddon from Stirling University in Scotland."

►February 14, 2004 - When coping means cutting - Sam Hunt, from Birmingham, is 17. When she was severely bullied at school, she regularly cut herself with a knife - and took repeated overdoses. Doctors say the number of people coming to A&E units with self-harm injuries is on the rise.  Sam now talks to other young people about self-harm and how to cope with it. She wrote her disturbing story for BBC News Online and explained how she broke the self-harm habit. - BBC

►February 17, 2004 - Lead linked to schizophrenia - Study hints that prenatal toxins can trigger psychiatric disease. - journal article (Nature)

►February 16, 2004 - Chip slaps cuffs on pox bug - A chip that can sense a single virus could lead to revolutionary medical diagnostic tools - http://news.zdnet.co.uk - "American researchers have demonstrated a chip capable of detecting and potentially analysing a single virus. The microelectromechanical system (MEMS) silicon device reacted to a single particle of vaccina virus and the researchers say this could lead to chips capable of identifying many thousands of different kinds of viruses, toxins and bioagents. It was created using variants of standard silicon chip production technology."

Comment:  While this might well have some benefits, it also has the potential to be mis-used to create hysteria over nothing.

re: Publishing

(The) Wacky World of Changing/Conflicting Research Results

►February 16, 2004 - Pros and Cons of Hormone Replacement Therapy - Ivanhoe Newswire

 

Science, government, industry, medicine clearly 'run amok'

Better late than never?

No kidding...

Science, government, industry, medicine clearly 'run amok'

►February 19, 2004 - Smear Test Scandal - Doc under fire after dirty equipment put hundreds of women at risk of HIV virus - Daily Record, UK

►February 18, 2004 - Hygiene concern at GP's practice - An inquiry has been launched into how unsterilised equipment was used for internal medical examinations on women. - BBC - "Last year, the medical practice operated by Dr Tahira Idrees was investigated over out-of-date vaccines."

►February 17, 2004 - The link between funding and the disclosure of clinical trial results - www.vidyya.com - "There have been several conflicting reports in the medical literature about whether industry funding influences research findings and conclusions...In this week's issue of CMAJ, Bhandari and colleagues reveal the results of a study of 332 randomized trials published between January 1999 and June 2001 that show that industry-funded trials were more likely to be associated with statistically significant pro-industry findings. They state this conclusion is not limited to trials of medical treatments -- it applies to trials of new surgical interventions as well."

►February 18, 2004 - Facing the evidence: antidepressant treatment in children and adolescents - journal article (CMAJ) - "It is clear that our efforts to establish a scientific basis for the treatment of childhood depression are severely compromised by both unpublished research and the uncritical acceptance of published data. It is disturbing to note that there has been no formal response to this crisis from opinion leaders in child psychiatry, many of whom were investigators in both published and unpublished trials."

"The Condition Our Condition Is In" (The State of Medicine/Science), including "errors"

►February 18, 2004 - Wrong diagnoses are killing patients - New Scientist - "Many patients in intensive care units are being wrongly diagnosed, according to a study in a UK hospital. Some are dying because doctors fail to spot major conditions such as heart attacks, cancer and pulmonary embolism. The reason, experts say, is not incompetence but that so few post-mortems are now performed that doctors cannot learn from their mistakes."

►February 18, 2004 - Beaverton clinic urges parents to have their children revaccinated - The Oregonian via www.oregonlive.com - "A Beaverton clinic will begin mailing notices today to the parents of about 3,000 babies and toddlers who received a vaccine that might not be effective because it was improperly stored."

What's THAT About?

You've GOT To Be Kidding

 

Vaccine-related issues

Adverse reactions/VAERS

...and the media

Changing epidemiology/serotypes/resistance

►February 18, 2004 - Higher rate of antibiotic resistance here puzzles researchers - 10% of pediatric strep cases here resistant, double the U.S. rate - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 

Conflict of interest, specifically re: vaccines

Disease in general, including chronic disease/emerging disease

►February 20, 2004 - Predators And Human Health: Exploring The Role Of Predators In Keeping Pathogens At Bay - Ecological Society Of America via www.sciencedaily.com

►February 18, 2004 - Meanwhile: Echoes of panic over global disease - International Herald Tribune - "These 1838 remarks might cause us to ask whether in the age of SARS and bird flu alarms it is not time to subject the statements of certain virologists, headline writers and health bureaucracies to critical analysis by those trained in other disciplines."

Comment: Interesting article.

►February 12, 2004 - Child's Ear Piercing - Take Precaution - Doctors Warn Parents To Take Precautions When Getting Their Child’s Ears Pierced At An Early Age - www.healthnewsdigest.com - "The joys of having a new baby are endless. When a baby girl is born, many parents opt to dress her in pretty clothes and pretty jewelry. But piercing a baby’s ears at too young an age can be dangerous. 'Most parents are unaware of the potential health risks of piercing their child’s ears before the first immunizations,” says Ken Gottesman, attending pediatrician at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan. “I see more and more babies at younger ages who come in with pierced ears, their parents unaware that they could potentially develop bacterial infections, tetanus or even hepatitis B.'”

►February 16, 2004 - Effects on our healthhttp://thestar.com.my - "PREVENTING the emergence of infectious diseases is only one of the many benefits of biodiversity for human health. The degradation of natural ecosystems contributes to the spread of infectious diseases, said Dr Jeff McNeely, chief scientist of IUCN-World Conservation Union at a side event at COP-7...Dr McNeely said deforestation in Africa is playing a massive role in the spread of ebola among gorillas and chimpanzees, and that the disease can easily be transferred on to humans. He also said there should be more investigations into links between biodiversity and the recent rise in incidents of avian flu before countries implement massive culls of wild bird populations."

Effectiveness/herd immunity/coverage

►February 16, 2004 - Parents must get more information to counter immunization fears - press release - Health Behavior News Service via Center for the Advancement of Health - "Parents’ concerns about side effects and dangers of immunizations must be countered by clear communication about the true risks and benefits, said a scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...'Parents of one child opting out of immunization may be a rational decision on one level, but if many opt out, risks grow both for their unvaccinated children and also for those who have been immunized,' said CDC scientist Deborah Gust, Ph.D. Much of the value of immunization comes from vaccinating large numbers of people so a disease won’t spread even if a population is exposed to it."

Comment: For another perspective on so-called "herd immunity" go to Scandals: Is the theory of "herd immunity" flawed?

►February 17, 2004 - AAEP 2003: Comparative Efficacy of Vaccines - www.thehorse.com - "Very little scientific research has been done in the way of comparing the effectiveness of equine vaccines. However, several researchers have been hard at work over the past few years trying to determine if any particular U.S.-registered equine vaccines had advantages over others. It turns out that the serologic responses to--and protection given by--these vaccines varies significantly."

Ethics

Funding

►February 22, 2004 - Public health campaigns 'are a waste of money' - The Independent, UK - "The Department of Health is spending millions of pounds on public health campaigns without any evidence they actually work, an official report will conclude this week."

►February 18, 2004 - Supervisors cut public health - 10,000 across county to see cuts to services - Record Searchlight via www.redding.com

►February 16, 2004 - Brown confronts aid target critics - The Guardian, UK - "'We must act, not only because it is morally right but because it is now essential for stability and security,' they argue...By finding an extra $140m (£74m) a year for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, the Treasury estimates 2 million children's lives could be saved annually. The GAVI, backed by Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft, is estimated to have saved 500,000 lives since it began in 2000."

Genetics (vs. Environment)/includes individual differences

Immunity/Immune system

►February 20, 2004 - Parents 'don't trust' vaccine - Parents choose not to immunise their children because they distrust official pro-vaccine information, according to new research. - The Dominion Post via www.stuff.co.nz - "They say the parents were highly educated and had collected information about immunisation from a wide range of sources before making their decisions...Most were worried about possible side effects from immunisation. Just under 60 per cent of parents thought immunisations were given too early and would weaken, rather than strengthen, their children's immune systems. They believed children would develop better immunity if they caught diseases naturally."

►February 17, 2004 - Hygiene hypothesis questioned - Previous exposure to influenza A virus increases predisposition to asthma - The Scientist

►February 16, 2004 - Disease-fighters in our mouths provide clues to enhancing the immune system - University of Washington via www.eurekalert.org - "Studies of natural antibiotics in our mouths may lead to new treatments for oral infections, as well as ways to boost the infection-fighting powers of mouthwashes, denture coatings, and wound dressings, according to a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). These compounds, called beta-defensins, are key components of our innate immune system...'Innate immunity describes the defenses that we're are born with; they're coded in our genes. In contrast, we develop the antibodies of our acquired immune system over time as we're exposed to bacteria and viruses,' said Dr. Beverly Dale, professor in the University of Washington Department of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, and scientific director of the UW Comprehensive Center for Oral Health Research. 'It's when our innate defenses fail that the acquired immune system picks up the slack.'

►February 16, 2004 - Mouth Microbes May Help Shape Immune System, Says Stanford Research Team - Stanford University Medical Center via Business Wire - "The immune system may be shaped by some of the very agents it exists to fight, according to research by David Relman, MD, associate professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University School of Medicine."

Comment:  What significance, if any, does this have re: the practice of bypassing the normal exposure to immune system agents via the use of vaccines?

►February 15, 2004 - Study finds link between stronger immunity, exposure to dogs (requires registration) - KRT Wire via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via The Kansas City Star - "Infants who have a certain gene and live with a dog have stronger immune systems than those who don't and are less likely to develop allergies or eczema, a University of Wisconsin-Madison research study shows...However, the authors warn that the results are still preliminary and say that parents shouldn't introduce pets into the household just to try to prevent potential allergies."

Miscellaneous

Public Health/health care in general

►February 22, 2004 - Public health campaigns 'are a waste of money' - The Independent, UK - "The Department of Health is spending millions of pounds on public health campaigns without any evidence they actually work, an official report will conclude this week."

►February 23, 2004 - Massachusetts doctors advocate needle exchange - The state medical society says programs help limit the spread of disease. - www.ama-assn.org

Recalls

Tracking

►February 16, 2004 - Letter from Dr. Jane Orient of the AAPS to Colorado's Senate HEWI committee (and read on the Senate floor February 16, 2004) re: Senate Bill. 04-139, “Concerning notification to persons of immunizations for their children under specified circumstances.” - www.aapsonline.org - "Public health departments are stretched thin nationwide. Scarce public health dollars should not be diverted to Big Brother functions. Your constituents are smart enough to make their own vaccine decisions. Governmental resources are better spent on informing citizens than on monitoring them."

Vaccine/blood/environment ingredients/additives & contaminants

►February 18, 2004 - Hygiene concern at GP's practice - An inquiry has been launched into how unsterilised equipment was used for internal medical examinations on women. - BBC - "Last year, the medical practice operated by Dr Tahira Idrees was investigated over out-of-date vaccines."

 

Vaccine Ingredients - CDC (pdf)

Vaccine incentives/promotion

►February 16, 2004 - Parents must get more information to counter immunization fears - press release - Health Behavior News Service via Center for the Advancement of Health - "Parents’ concerns about side effects and dangers of immunizations must be countered by clear communication about the true risks and benefits, said a scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...'Parents of one child opting out of immunization may be a rational decision on one level, but if many opt out, risks grow both for their unvaccinated children and also for those who have been immunized,' said CDC scientist Deborah Gust, Ph.D. Much of the value of immunization comes from vaccinating large numbers of people so a disease won’t spread even if a population is exposed to it."

Comment: For another perspective on so-called "herd immunity" go to Scandals: Is the theory of "herd immunity" flawed?

Vaccine shortages/production

Vaccine testing/clinical trials/science

Vaccines - combined

Vaccines in general/overview/vaccine research

►February 20, 2004 - Parents 'don't trust' vaccine - Parents choose not to immunise their children because they distrust official pro-vaccine information, according to new research. - The Dominion Post via www.stuff.co.nz - "They say the parents were highly educated and had collected information about immunisation from a wide range of sources before making their decisions...Most were worried about possible side effects from immunisation. Just under 60 per cent of parents thought immunisations were given too early and would weaken, rather than strengthen, their children's immune systems. They believed children would develop better immunity if they caught diseases naturally."

 

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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.