Vaccination NewsLetter: Top Stories - posted February 23-29, 2004

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Notes

Previous newsletters

Picks of the week - updated 3/1/04

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


Alternatives

Alternative treatments/prevention/nutrition/diet

►March 2004 - Death by Medicine - by Gary Null, PhD, Carolyn Dean, MD, Martin Feldman, MD, Debora Rasio, MD, and Dorothy Smith. PhD - LE Magazine - "Natural medicine is under siege, as pharmaceutical company lobbyists urge lawmakers to deprive Americans of the benefits of dietary supplements.  Drug-company front groups have launched slanderous media campaigns to discredit the value of healthy lifestyles.  The FDA continues to interfere with those who offer natural products that compete with prescription drugs…These attacks against natural medicine obscure a lethal problem that until now was buried in thousands of pages of scientific text.  In response to these baseless challenges to natural medicine, the Nutrition Institute of America commissioned an independent review of the quality of 'government-approved' medicine.  The startling findings from this meticulous study indicate that conventional medicine is 'the leading cause of death' in the United States.”

►February 24, 2004 - Low Carb Lowdown: Sorting out the truth and judging the tastes of products born of the latest diet craze - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 

►February 20, 2004 - Salmon can still be part of a healthy diet - Benefits of moderate fish intake likely outweigh the risks (requires registration) - The Medical Posting   

►February 10, 2004 - Diarrhea Bug May Prevent Cancer, Study Shows - Reuters via ABC News

►February 26, 2004 - New Sinus and Allergy Guidelines Recommend Omnicef(R) as First-Line Treatment Option for Acute Bacterial Sinusitis - Approximately 20 Million Cases of Acute Bacterial Sinusitis Diagnosed Each Year - Abbott Laboratories via PRNewswire-FirstCall via Yahoo!

►February 26, 2004 - Medical briefing: There’s more to cancer than diet - Times Online, UK

►February 26, 2004 - Doubt cast on free radical theory - Scientists have questioned a widely accepted theory for a cause of diseases such as cancer and arthritis. - BBC

►February 25, 2004 - Just How Much Water Do We Really Need? The Answer May Depend On Our Age - American Physiological Society via www.intelihealth.com

►February 24, 2004 - New Health Dangers of Genetically Modified Food (and vaccines) Discovered - press release - Institute for Responsible Technology via Common Dreams Progressive Newswire - "Data from three groups of studies currently being conducted by the Norwegian Institute for Gene Ecology, in Tromsö, Norway, reveal potentially serious health dangers of genetically modified (GM) foods and vaccines...3. Genetically engineered pox viruses in cell cultures recombined with natural viruses to create new hybrid viruses with unpredictable and potentially dangerous characteristics."

►February 24, 2004 - Low Carb Lowdown: Sorting out the truth and judging the tastes of products born of the latest diet craze - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 

►February 24, 2004 - Smoking outside may not protect those indoors - Parents who smoke outdoors still expose homes and kids to nicotine. - journal article (Nature)

►February 24, 2004 - Discover the Wonders of Meditation - The New Straits Times via Healthy News

►February 24, 2004 - Wellness Starts with Detoxification - The New Straits Times via Healthy News

►February 21, 2004 - Preventive Medicine Gets More Aggressive - The Wall Street Journal via Heathly News

►February 23, 2004 - 'Safe sex' fatigue cited for increased disease rate - Syphilis cases reach the highest level in 12 years - Most patients blame infection on unprotected sex - The Toronto Star

►February 23, 2004 - Wheat Intolerance may Lead to Schizophrenia - BMJ via Ivanhoe

►February 23, 2004 - Fiber intake from fruits and cereals may reduce risk of coronary heart disease - JAMA and Archives Journals Website via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 22, 2004 - Procedure douses fire of acid reflux disease - Troy State University via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

►February 23, 2004 - Antibiotics may not be necessary when treating children with a simple skin abscess - University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas via www.eurekalert.org

Breastfeeding (vs. formula)

►February 29, 2004 - Facts on breast milk and breast-feeding - The Jakarta Post - "Breast milk is not only the best food for baby but should be the only food in the first six months of its life...'Breast-feeding can go on for two years or as long as both parties still want to do it,' said pediatrician Utami Roesli from the Indonesian Lactation Center...Research also shows that illnesses like infections of the respiratory and digestive systems, meningitis and allergies are much higher with formula milk consumption...Breast milk consumption can also prevent coronary artery disease and ischaemic heart disease at a young age."

Comment:  For some references concerning breastfeeding and infectious disease, click here.
 

►February 27, 2004 - 'Probiotic' Baby Formula Deemed Safe in Study - Reuters via Yahoo!

►February 24, 2004 - Chemical PBDE Showing Up in Breast Milk - AP via The Herald-Sun

►February 20, 2004 - Breast knows best (requires registration or subscription) - BioMedNet

►February 24, 2004 - Chemical PBDE Showing Up in Breast Milk - AP via The Herald-Sun


Big pharma - includes drug development, funding, FDA oversight, PR/advertising, and research conduct

►February 24, 2004 - FDA's new status quo - The Boston Globe

►February 22, 2004 - FDA, States at Odds Over Drugs -  Minnesota Web Site Points Way to Canadian Pharmacies (requires registration) - Washington Post  

►February 27, 2004 - FDA Debates More Restrictions on Accutane - AP via The Herald-Sun 

►February 26, 2004 - Vaccine Program Remedies Must Be Exhausted Before Filing Suit - The Legal Intelligencer via www.law.com - "A couple whose son suffers from autism because of an alleged adverse reaction to thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative once present in vaccines for newborns, may not file suit in Pennsylvania against a group of pharmaceutical companies until they exhaust administrative remedies available through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled...According to the Superior Court opinion, the federal Vaccine Act of 1986 requires that before commencing any state or federal claims, vaccine claimants must first file a petition with the "no-fault" compensation program, a special tribunal of the Federal Court of Claims known as the Vaccine Court and located in Bethesda, Md."

►February 17, 2004 - Faint Warning - Generation RX - CBC News Disclosure

►March 2004 - Death by Medicine - by Gary Null, PhD, Carolyn Dean, MD, Martin Feldman, MD, Debora Rasio, MD, and Dorothy Smith. PhD - LE Magazine - "Natural medicine is under siege, as pharmaceutical company lobbyists urge lawmakers to deprive Americans of the benefits of dietary supplements.  Drug-company front groups have launched slanderous media campaigns to discredit the value of healthy lifestyles.  The FDA continues to interfere with those who offer natural products that compete with prescription drugs…These attacks against natural medicine obscure a lethal problem that until now was buried in thousands of pages of scientific text.  In response to these baseless challenges to natural medicine, the Nutrition Institute of America commissioned an independent review of the quality of 'government-approved' medicine.  The startling findings from this meticulous study indicate that conventional medicine is 'the leading cause of death' in the United States.”


Big Trouble - was Science, government, industry, medicine clearly 'run amok' - includes "errors"

►February 29, 2004 - AIDS Tots Used As 'Guinea Pigs' - New York Post Online - "The state Health Department has launched a probe into potentially dangerous drug research conducted on HIV-infected infants and children at a Manhattan foster-care agency, The Post has learned...Some 50 foster kids were used as "guinea pigs" in 13 experiments with high doses of AIDS medications at Manhattan's Incarnation Children's Center, sources said...Most of the ICC experiments were funded by federal grants and in some cases, pharmaceutical companies."

Comment:  This is just one of many examples pointing to the fact that we should not blindly give power over our health to the government or the pharmaceutical companies.  Clearly, we cannot simply assume they have our best interests at heart.

►February 23, 2004 - Television ads aimed at kids must change, psychologists say - USA Today

►February 2004 - Gouging the Poor - editorial - The Progressive via www.truthout.org

►February 19, 2004 - Bush Administration Distorting Science? - Transcripts of Paula Zahn Now - CNN 

►February 25, 2004 - FDA requires scanners in hospitals - USA Today

►February 24, 2004 - Mich. Hospital Trying to Eliminate Errors - AP via The Herald-Sun 

February 26, 2004 - Just 5 docs to care for 623,000 patients at night - Evening Times - "JUST five doctors will be on duty for overnight home visits to cover more than 623,000 people in Lanarkshire under a new GP contract, it was revealed today."

►February 26, 2004 - Bar Codes Favored to Cut Hospitals' Drug Errors - Health Chief Maps Rules To Encourage Their Use (requires registration) - Washington Post 

►February 25, 2004 - Hopkins group had pattern of errors - Drug mix-ups, unqualified staff led to broader probe; Child died after home care lapse - The Baltimore Sun

►February 23, 2004 - UCSF doctors see epidemic of fatal medical mistakes - Authors say hospital system changes can prevent errors that kill thousands - San Francisco Chronicle

►February 22, 2004 - A Year Later, Efforts Are on to Avoid Another Botched Transplant (requires registration or subscription) - AP via The New York Times

►February 27, 2004 - 'You'd think a hospital would be the cleanest place in the world' - Danville Register Bee

►February 26, 2004 - Anti-MMR parents threatened with being branded child abusers - Medical News Today - "The Daily Mail (UK newspaper) says that parents who blame the MMR vaccine on their children’s autism are being accused of Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy. This means they are deliberately harming their children to bring attention to themselves."

►February 26, 2004 - Superflu is being brewed in the lab - New Scientist - "After the worldwide alarm triggered by 2003's SARS outbreak, it might seem reckless to set about creating a potentially far more devastating virus in the lab. But that is what is being attempted by some researchers, who argue that the dangers of doing nothing are even greater...We already know that the H5N1 bird flu virus ravaging poultry farms in Asia can be lethal on the rare occasions when it infects people. Now a team is tinkering with its genes to see if it can turn into a strain capable of spreading from human to human. If they manage this, they will have created a virus that could kill tens of millions if it got out of the lab."

►February 25, 2004 - Resisting child immunization leads to prosecution - Prof - GNA via www.ghanaweb.com - "Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, Director-General of the Ghana Health Services (GHS) on Wednesday said every child must be immunized against Polio in the forthcoming immunization exercise, warning that legal action would be taken against any individual or organisation that would prevent a child from being immunized...He said it was within the laws of Ghana that all children under five years old in each house or community should be immunized against polio to guarantee that Ghana became polio free."

►February 25, 2004 - Medication Errors in Children Common - Ivanhoe

February 26, 2004 - Social workers 'right to question parents' - This is London - "The row over the MMR "witch-hunt" deepened today as social workers defended their right to interview the mothers of autistic children...They insisted some parents could be harming their children to draw attention to themselves, and admitted subjecting one mother to an eight-week investigation before accepting she had done nothing wrong...It came after the Evening Standard revealed up to 20 parents of autistic children faced accusations that they were suffering from Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy."

Comment:  It's hard to believe this could be happening given that Roy Meadows, who has now been discredited, was the champion of this apparently ill-conceived theory.  How much tragedy and suffering must the parents of autistic children endure?  (And any old excuse in an attempt to detract from the real issue, i.e., does MMR contribute to autism?)

►February 17, 2004 - Faint Warning - Generation RX - CBC News Disclosure

►February 24, 2004 - Mich. Hospital Trying to Eliminate Errors - AP via The Herald-Sun 

►February 23, 2004 - Uses and Abuses of Science (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "Although the Bush administration is hardly the first to politicize science, no administration in recent memory has so shamelessly distorted scientific findings for policy reasons or suppressed them when they conflict with political goals. This is the nub of an indictment delivered last week by more than 60 prominent scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates. Their statement was accompanied by a report published by the Union of Concerned Scientists, listing cases where the administration has manipulated science on environmental and other issues."

February 23, 2004 - LIFE WITH BIG BROTHER - Bill forces shots on all children - Homeschoolers fight state legislation that criminalizes parents who object - WorldNetDaily - "Commented Euteneuer in a statement: "Along with Mississippi, West Virginia is the only state to forbid religious vaccine exemptions. This bill goes even further by prohibiting physicians from granting medical exemptions according to what they believe is best for each patient. Senate Bill 439 would also make West Virginia the only state to force homeschoolers to be immunized."

►March 2004 - Death by Medicine - by Gary Null, PhD, Carolyn Dean, MD, Martin Feldman, MD, Debora Rasio, MD, and Dorothy Smith. PhD - LE Magazine - "Natural medicine is under siege, as pharmaceutical company lobbyists urge lawmakers to deprive Americans of the benefits of dietary supplements.  Drug-company front groups have launched slanderous media campaigns to discredit the value of healthy lifestyles.  The FDA continues to interfere with those who offer natural products that compete with prescription drugs…These attacks against natural medicine obscure a lethal problem that until now was buried in thousands of pages of scientific text.  In response to these baseless challenges to natural medicine, the Nutrition Institute of America commissioned an independent review of the quality of 'government-approved' medicine.  The startling findings from this meticulous study indicate that conventional medicine is 'the leading cause of death' in the United States.”

►February 23, 2004 - GMC to probe drug clinic doctors - Seven doctors who worked at a private clinic for heroin addicts are facing charges of serious professional misconduct. - BBC


Conferences, workshops, seminars, courses


Conflict of interest/ethics - re: big pharma, research, vaccines

*For most of the Wakefield "conflict of interest" articles posted on the site, click here (check periodically for updates)

►February 19, 2004 - Report Urges Higher Ethics in Human Toxicity Studies (requires registration) - Reuters Health via Medscape - "A government-sponsored expert panel recommended Thursday that federal regulators closely scrutinize controversial experiments in which humans are intentionally exposed to toxic chemicals...The panel urged the agency to restrict human toxicity research to studies that are "necessary and scientifically valid" and to only use human volunteers in cases where animal testing is uninformative or unavailable. Human studies should also only be performed when the potential benefits to society outweigh the potential risk to research subjects, the report said."

►December 1, 2001 - Financial Conflict of Interest and Medical Research: Beware the Medical-Industrial Complex - journal article (The Journal of Philosophy, Science and Law)

►February 29, 2004 - AIDS Tots Used As 'Guinea Pigs' - New York Post Online - "The state Health Department has launched a probe into potentially dangerous drug research conducted on HIV-infected infants and children at a Manhattan foster-care agency, The Post has learned...Some 50 foster kids were used as "guinea pigs" in 13 experiments with high doses of AIDS medications at Manhattan's Incarnation Children's Center, sources said...Most of the ICC experiments were funded by federal grants and in some cases, pharmaceutical companies."

Comment:  This is just one of many examples pointing to the fact that we should not blindly give power over our health to the government or the pharmaceutical companies.  Clearly, we cannot simply assume they have our best interests at heart.

►February 24, 2004 - When Your Doctor Goes to the Beach, You May Get Burned (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times 

►February 19, 2004 - NIH probe expands - High pay for 'top individuals' questioned; investigating committee chair to step down - The Scientist

►February 2004 - Call For Full Disclosure of the Money Received By Expert Witness Acting For The Pharmaceutical Companies - Autism Research Campaign for Health 

►March 11, 2004 - The Dawn of McScience - (book review: Science in the Private Interest: Has the Lure of Profits Corrupted Biomedical Research?) - The New York Review of Books 

►February 27, 2004 - Journals plan regulation scheme - Medical journals should have a code of conduct, similar to that which governs newspapers, an ethics body has said. - BBC

►February 25, 2004 - Commercial funds pay for our research - letters to the editor - The Guardian 

►February 23, 2004 - Controversy over accusation of research bias on MMR (requires subscription) - Times Online, UK

►February 12, 2004 - Human embryos cloned - South Korean team demonstrates cloning efficiency for humans similar to pigs, cattle - The Scientist via BioMed Central

►February 24, 2004 - Synthetic Science - www.alternet.org - "Finally, two of the authors admitted under threat of perjury that they were paid consultants of implant manufacturers and one admitted under oath that he knew that Dow Corning had donated $7 million to Brigham & Women's Hospital, a participant in the study."

February 24, 2004 - Dr. Andrew Wakefield and the MMR Controversy - Second Opinion by Nicholas Regush - www.redflagsdaily.com - "It doesn’t look very good for Dr. Andrew Wakefield, an English physician and researcher who has championed the need to investigate the potential relationship between the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine and autism...Today, the scavengers of British journalism surfaced and attacked him and his work, and attempted to destroy whatever chance he may have to rescue his scientific reputation."

Comment:  Excellent overview.

February 24, 2004 - The corporate stooges who nobble serious science - The MMR scandal shows a business riddled with conflicts of interest - "It looks like a conflict of interest and his failure to disclose it was wrong. But the crime for which he is being punished is everywhere. The scientific establishment is rotten from top to bottom, riddled with conflicts far graver than Dr Wakefield's....In other words, the great majority of the scientists with conflicts of interest are failing to disclose them...So, given that undisclosed conflicts of interest in science are everywhere, why is it only Dr Wakefield whose bloody remains are being dragged through the streets? The obvious answer is that his alleged cooption works against the interests of the drugs companies, while almost everyone else's works in their favour."

Comment:  Very interesting article.


Diseases and their vaccines (current and in the pipeline)

AIDS/HIV/AIDS vaccine

►February 29, 2004 - AIDS Tots Used As 'Guinea Pigs' - New York Post Online - "The state Health Department has launched a probe into potentially dangerous drug research conducted on HIV-infected infants and children at a Manhattan foster-care agency, The Post has learned...Some 50 foster kids were used as "guinea pigs" in 13 experiments with high doses of AIDS medications at Manhattan's Incarnation Children's Center, sources said...Most of the ICC experiments were funded by federal grants and in some cases, pharmaceutical companies."

Comment:  This is just one of many examples pointing to the fact that we should not blindly give power over our health to the government or the pharmaceutical companies.  Clearly, we cannot simply assume they have our best interests at heart.

►February 19, 2004 - U.S. Worried by HIV Trends in Heterosexuals - Reuters via Yahoo! News 

►February 25, 2004 - Dana-Farber scientists discover natural blocker of HIV-1 virus - Could lead to new strategies for preventing infection that causes AIDS - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 26, 2004 - Protein discovered that blocks HIV in monkeys: potential for vaccine and treatment research - Nature via www.aidsmap.com

►February 20, 2004 - New system helps predict disease spread, aids control efforts - www.vidyya.com

►February 23, 2004 - CIA Expert Warns of Looming HIV/Aids Threat in Africa, Asia - United States Department of State via www.allafrica.com

►February 23, 2004 - Harvard School of Public Health’s AIDS Treatment Care and Prevention Initiative in Africa Receives $107 million 5 year Grant from White House For Rapid Antiretroviral Program Expansion - Harvard School Of Public Health

►February 24, 2004 - HIV/AIDS vaccine developer urges continued work on preventative research - The Emory Wheel

►February 23, 2004 - Smear Test Mum's HIV Nightmare - exclusive: Joyce tells of agony wait - Daily Record, UK

Alzheimer's disease/vaccine

►February 9, 2004 - Antioxidants protect against Alzheimer's disease - Seniors taking vitamins C and E lowered their risk for dementia (requires registration) - The Medical Posting   

►February 24, 2004 - They Can Dance to It - One Small but (Alas) High-Priced Facility Is Taking New Steps in Alzheimer's Care (requires registration) - Washington Post 

Anthrax/anthrax vaccine/Gulf War Syndrome

►February 29, 2004 - Scandal of the Anthrax Babies - Five soldiers lose their babies.  They all had the anthrax jab. - The Sunday Mirror, UK - "Among the general population, around one in 20 babies are still-born."

Comment:  Can that statistic be right?

►February 23, 2004 - Australian troops anthrax shot problems - New Zealand Herald - "It said the vaccination programme was secretly suspended for two months after 75 per cent of the 1500 Afghan deployment in 2002, including elite special forces, fell ill." 

►February 23, 2004 - Defence's anthrax headache continues - TV Program Transcript The 7.30 Report Australian Broadcasting Corporation 

►February 26, 2004 - 'No permanent' anthrax jab problems - www.abc.net.au

►February 26, 2004 - Defence health goes under the microscope - www.abc.net.au

►February 27, 2004 - Australian sailors misled about anthrax vaccinations for Iraq war - International Committee of the Fourth International via www.wsws.org

►February 22, 2004 - Australian defense chiefs lashed for not telling of anthrax vaccine ailments - AFP via  www.channelnewsasia.com

►February 22, 2004 - Report: Anthrax shot sickened troops (requires registration) - The Chicago Tribune

►February 24, 2004 - War veterans criticise anthrax vaccinations - radio transcipt - www.abc.net.au

►February 25, 2004 - Defence had no anthrax safety data - The Australian - "THE Australian Defence Force admitted in confidential documents that it had "no available safety data" on its 5000 doses of anthrax vaccine less than six months before troops were deployed to Iraq."

►February 25, 2004 - Cosgrove defends anthrax vaccinations for ADF - radio transcript - The World Today via www.abc.net.au

►February 24, 2004 -UK vets warn on anthrax vaccine - AAP via Herald Sun

►February 24, 2004 - ADF Admits it Should  Have Done Better on Anthrax Vaccine - An Australian Defence Department report has conceded it must do a better job of keeping its personnel informed about the health risks of innoculations. - www.sbs.com.au

►February 24, 2004 - Anthrax: troops to be monitored - AAP via The Australian

►February 23, 2004 - Anthrax vaccine no threat to troops: Hill - AAP via www.smh.com.au

►February 22, 2004 - Sydney: Defence chiefs under fire over vaccine - Australian defence chiefs were criticised today for failing to warn soldiers heading to Iraq that side effects from an anthrax vaccine had forced them to suspend their inoculation progamme during the Afghanistan campaign. - New Straits Times via www.emedia.com.my

February 23, 2004 - Anthrax jabs safe - Lindsay - Townsville Bulletin - "SIDE effects experienced by troops who received the controversial anthrax vaccine were normal vaccination reactions, Member for Herbert Peter Lindsay said yesterday...A number of Townsville soldiers and airmen had the vaccination and did not experience any long-term side effects, he said."

Comment:  What on earth does the alleged fact that "a number of Townsville soldiers and airmen had the vaccination and did not experience any long-term side effects' have to do with whether or not some/many others did suffer long-term effects? 

►February 23, 2004 - Did Government Poison NZ Troops in Afghanistan? - Scoop Media, NZ

►February 23, 2004 - The blame drain - The Gulf War veterans are blaming their lawyer for the collapse of their case against the MoD. Jon Robins hears both sides of the story - www.thelawyer.com

►February 23, 2004 - Australian troops anthrax shot problems - New Zealand Herald 

►February 23, 2004 - Defence's anthrax headache continues - TV Program Transcript The 7.30 Report Australian Broadcasting Corporation 

Asthma/allergies

►February 28, 2004 - We have become allergic to our western way of life - Complementary healthcare has a vital role to play in the 21st century - comment - The Guardian, UK - "There is accumulating evidence that the rise in allergies could be directly linked to the way in which we live and the environment which we inhabit. Sir Tom Blundell, chairman of the the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, argues that 'given our understanding of the way chemicals interact with the environment, you could say we are running a gigantic experiment with humans and all other living things as the subject'."

Comment:  Although too few properly designed studies have been done to investigate whether or not vaccines can be counted among the environmental insults which might contribute to the rise in allergies, there is some indication that they may.  For more on this, go to Out of Control: "Childhood vaccinations and the risk of asthma"  - a CDC study.

►February 28, 2004 - Fight allergies the natural way, Charles urges NHS - The Guardian, UK - "Prince Charles is urging the NHS to make complementary medicine much more widely and freely available to counteract a big increase in the number of allergy sufferers...In an article in today's Guardian, the prince claims that such an increase in provision need not cost the NHS huge additional expenditure and will help to prevent the spread of allergies, which otherwise may affect half the population within a decade...The prince contributed the piece after reading a Guardian front page story which warned that half the population of Europe would suffer some sort of allergy by 2015."

►February 26, 2004 - CDC Says U.S. Asthma Rates Rose in 2002 - AP via Yahoo!

►September 25, 2003 - The Body's First Line of Defense - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases 

►February 23, 2004 - Postmenopausal hormone therapy associated with increased risk for developing asthma - JAMA and Archives Journals Website via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 24, 2004 - Aspirin triggers bad reactions in some asthma patients - The Boston Globe 

►February 22, 2004 - Researchers develop vaccine for animals with hay fever - Kyodo News via Japan Today

►February 23, 2004 - House doctors plan asthma study - Asthma sufferers are being asked to volunteer for a study which aims to measure how better ventilation could improve their condition. - BBC

►February 23, 2004 - Postmenopausal hormone therapy associated with increased risk for developing asthma - JAMA and Archives Journals Website via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 23, 2004 - Wheat Intolerance may Lead to Schizophrenia - BMJ via Ivanhoe

Autism

►February 29, 2004 - Autism proves no barrier for these bright young sparks - The Straits Times

►February 19, 2004 - Lead Story: “Autism” - www.canada.com

►February 27, 2004 - Demand for research grows as autism cases soar - New York Times via Kalamazoo Gazette via www.mlive.com - "But what lies behind the increase in cases is sharply debated. To some, the upswing has all the hallmarks of an epidemic and indicates that autism itself is increasing rapidly...To others, the rise can in large part be explained by increased public awareness of autism in recent years, changes in the way the disorder is diagnosed and the incentive of tapping into federally mandated services for autistic children...Neither side can prove its argument, because the types of studies that could tease out a true increase have not been done."

►March 1, 2004 - Autism as early expression of catatonia - journal article (Medical Science Monitor) (abstract) 

►February 23, 2004 - Autistic Children Featured In Mind Institute Campaign - Mind Institute: We Want Scenarios To Be Authentic - www.thekcrachannel.com

►January/February 2004 - Autism: What's Sex Got to do With It - Psychology Today

►February 26, 2004 - Autism is 'positive' for Welsh painter - The Western Mail via http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk

►February 25, 2004 - Dealing with autism: A sister's perspective - Children's PressLine via The Albuquerque Tribune

►February 24, 2004 - Lifting the Veils of Autism, One by One by One (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times

►February 18, 2004 - Think twice about ‘disorderly’ children (opinion) - York Daily Record - "I am the parent of a preschool-age autistic child, as well as a 'typical' toddler. I’m writing in the hopes that some of the residents of the county might read this and think twice the next time they see an “undisciplined” child in the grocery store, the park, or the mall."

►February 24, 2004 -U.S. will pay for study to seek cause of autism - USA Today - "A major U.S.-financed study designed to unearth the roots of autism will track 100,000 babies in Norway to identify biological and environmental factors that could combine to cause autism and other developmental disorders...Researchers will collect information on exposures to toxins, including mercury, which has been suspected as a factor in autism, as well as diet, vaccines, babies' birth weight and head circumference, and volumes of other data that can be analyzed to compare children who develop autism with those who do not."

►February 23, 2004 - New group formed to aid adults who have autism - Knoxville News Sentinel via www.knoxnews.com

Autism and vaccines (mercury/thimerosal, MMR, in general) - was Autism/mercury, Autism/MMR, Autism & vaccines

*For most of the Wakefield "conflict of interest" articles posted on the site, click here (check periodically for updates)

►January 19, 2004 - Methylmercury Toxicology Probed - Seafood contaminant moves through the body, often posturing as benign molecule - Chemical and Engineering News via National Institute of Environmental Health Science

►February 22, 2004 - Research is needed, not propaganda. - letter- journal article (BMJ)

►February 29, 2004 - The Mercury Threat: Too Dangerous to Wait (requires registration or subscription) - letter - The New York Times - "Mercury's harm to fetal and child development is well documented."

Comment:  Indeed.

►February 28, 2004 - Wakefield investigations on MMR children "were not approved" by ethics committee - www.briandeer.com

►February 28, 2004 - Editor in the eye of a storm - journal article (BMJ) - "Instead of Andrew Wakefield himself in the media firing line, it is the Lancet that has found itself under scrutiny. Perhaps it was in a bid to forestall this that the Lancet went public over the whole affair last week in advance of the Sunday Times story, thus angering Brian Deer. "

►February 23, 2004 - MMR: Investigating the interests - Dr Andrew Wakefield is not the only person with questions to answer following The Sunday Times' revelations that he failed to disclose a conflict of interest in his February 1998 Lancet paper that launched the MMR-autism scare. - www.spiked-online.com - "Though I have been critical of Dr Wakefield's Lancet paper and of his campaign against MMR, I would rather that it was rejected for its scientific deficiencies rather than through the author being personally discredited. (Long before these revelations, I argued that this paper should not have been published because of its highly speculative and methodologically flawed character.) Yet Dr Wakefield and his supporters have been very quick to allege conflicts of interest (or worse) in response to anybody who criticises their position. Now they seem fated to become victims of the climate of acrimony around MMR that their activities have done much to foster."

►March 14, 2003 - MMR: the truth? - In a three-part series of articles published in the UK Daily Mail this week, Melanie Phillips provides a comprehensive endorsement of the campaign against the MMR vaccine that has been sponsored by the former Royal Free hospital gastroenterologist, Dr Andrew Wakefield. - www.spiked-online.com - "Phillips' encouragement for the increasingly irrational and irresponsible anti-MMR campaign is likely to compound the unwarranted anxieties of parents whose infants are due to be immunised and result in a further decline in vaccine uptake. It will also intensify the distress of parents of autistic children, whose burden is now increased by feelings of guilt for having them immunised."

►November 5, 2003 - Comments on Verstraeten et al, Safety of Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines from Nov 5, 2003 Pediatrics - Post-publication Peer Review - journal article (Pediatrics

►February 16, 2004 - Scientists theorize a new form of autism may be emerging - Scripps Howard News Service via Courierpress.com 

►February 11, 2004 - Researchers Closer To Answers About Vaccines And Autism - www.kirotv.com 

►February 16, 2004 - Tuna and autism for unborn child - link? - Medical News Today 

►February 27, 2004 - Commission urged to take aim at mercury - www.edie.net

►February 26, 2004 - Bill banning mercury dental fillings fails - Executive director of the Alabama Dental Association calls legislation 'inappropriate' (requires registration) - Mobile Register via www.al.com

►February 27, 2004 - The mercury in your mouth - Amalgam fillings may be making you sick, but many dentists don't care. And once you're sick, it's hard to find a doctor to make you better - www.portlandphoenix.com

►February 27, 2004 - Parents refused aid to fight MMR - Parents who claim their children were damaged by the MMR jab have lost their latest bid for legal aid to sue the manufacturers of the vaccine. - BBC - "Officials said that since there was no scientific proof that the children had been damaged by the vaccine, there was little chance it would succeed...The children involved in this case have a range of disabilities, including autism, bowel problems, epilepsy and other learning difficulties...Some parents are now considering taking their legal campaign to the Court of Appeal."

►February 27, 2004 - Funding Blow for MMR Battle Parents - PA News via The Scotsman

►February 28, 2004 - Vaccine parents vow to fight on - The Scotsman

►February 27, 2004 - MMR Campaigners Vow to Continue Compensation Fight - PA News via The Scotsman - "
'Since this litigation will no longer be funded, and there is no sign that the Government or pharmaceutical companies are taking up the very serious questions that research in the litigation has posed, we as a law firm representing many grievously injured children will now have to consider whether we press the Government to properly investigate matters the drug companies have attempted to sweep under the carpet.'”

►February 28, 2004 - Fiona Phillips: Why Jabs Are Needling Me - www.mirror.co.uk - "MUM used to regale me with tales of how I nearly died when I was five. I had measles very badly and it damaged my eyesight...When I had mumps I screamed the house down because my throat hurt so much. Back then, in the 60s, having both illnesses was almost considered a rite of passage. My immune system did its best with both of them and consequently I have lifelong immunity to both diseases...I passed that resistance on to my children in the first and most vulnerable year of their lives. If I had been vaccinated against measles, sure my eyesight would be a lot better, but I believe my children might not have inherited a natural resistance and could have died before the age of one."

Comment:  Excellent opinion piece.  For more on the problem of immunity re: vaccines compared to measles, go to Scandals: What Is Wrong With This Picture?, Scandals: When is an oops not really an oops?  When you get to solve the problems you cause, and make money doing both!, Scandals: Playing With Fire - It's Not EASY To Fool Mother Nature, and Scandals: Don't Worry, Be Happy.

►February 26, 2004 - EPA rules on mercury responsible - guest column - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

►February 26, 2004 - Anti-MMR parents threatened with being branded child abusers - Medical News Today - "The Daily Mail (UK newspaper) says that parents who blame the MMR vaccine on their children’s autism are being accused of Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy. This means they are deliberately harming their children to bring attention to themselves."

►February 26, 2004 - Bush Plan to Cut Mercury Emissions 'Dangerously Inadequate,' Environmental Activists say - Voice of America

►February 26, 2004 - Bush plan for mercury lambasted - Critics say the proposal would actually weaken control over industry (requires registration) - Charlotte Observer

►February 23, 2004 - Is it safe? - Clarksburg Exponent Telegram - "The state Department of Health and Human Resources distributed 68,000 flu vaccine doses this flu season, with 63,000 of them containing a chemical the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has suggested be removed from childhood vaccines..Joe Thornton, state Health and Human Resources spokesman, said 5,000 were pediatric doses that did not contain thimerosal, a preservative containing mercury."

►February 27, 2004 - Vaccination: Mother's anger at withdrawal of MMR jab legal aid - The mother of an autistic child today hit out at a decision to cut legal aid for families who are attempting to prove the MMR jab ruined their children's lives - The Peterborough Today, UK - "'To pull funding at a time when the evidence is quite clearly becoming extremely strong is absolutely outrageous...'It's the ultimate insult to deny that these children are ill and have got a problem and to deny them their day in court.'"

►February 26, 2004 - MMR and autism - A dose of dissent - The Economist - "A FEW years ago Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist at Oxford University, came up with the idea of the “meme”. He was trying to make the slippery problem of the evolution of human culture as tractable as that of biological evolution, and he thought that if cultural information could somehow be divided into separately transmissible elements, in the way that biologically heritable information is divided into genes, the rest might follow. A successful meme, he speculated, might pass from person to person like a virus...Few recent memes have been more successful than the one which causes many people, particularly in Britain, to believe that the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine can cause autism in children. That meme has been responsible for a fall in vaccination rates in Britain from more than 90% to less than 80% over the past six years (see chart)."

Comment:  Perhaps the "meme" is that the MMR vaccine does NOT cause autism.  Given that there is a growing body of evidence that it is involved, the self-satisfied criticizers of those thought to be swept up in an allegedly incorrect idea, might better redirect their gaze to themselves. 

►March 1, 2004 - A comparative evaluation of the effects of MMR immunization and mercury doses from thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines on the population prevalence of autism - journal article (Medical Science Monitor) (abstract)

►February 27, 2004 - MP gathers support for vaccine - The Islander via www.kangarooisland.yourguide.com.au

►February 26, 2004 - Most parents will allow MMR jab - icSouthLondon - "Eight out of 10 British parents now think the triple measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination is safe and almost nine in 10 would give it to their child, according to a new poll ...Two years ago the number who thought it was safe was seven in ten."

Comment:  If I understand this poll correctly, it shows that around 1 in 10 parents thinks the MMR is not safe but would still give it to their child.  Can that be? 

►February 26, 2004 - Was the original MMR study unethical? - The Guardian, UK - "Not entirely. What has got lost in the outcry over the undisclosed conflict of interest of Andrew Wakefield, the lead researcher, is that the Lancet, which published his study in February 1998, does not regret publishing the core findings. Only one aspect of it (albeit the most contentious) - the linking of the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccination (MMR) to bowel disease and autism - does editor Richard Horton consider 'entirely flawed'...Dr Horton still considers the paper important because it identified a new syndrome suffered by children who had symptoms both of chronic bowel disease and autism. 'I do not regret for one second publishing details of this new syndrome,' he said...'"I'm disappointed that Liam Donaldson [chief medical officer] has stated this was poor science. By stating that he dismisses a very important novel observation.'"

►February 26, 2004 - Give us the choice of vaccines - Letters to the Editor - The Telegraph, UK - "Have you any idea how frustrating it is to read or listen to the reams of opinion on the MMR debate and to feel that last on the list of importance are the very children damaged, as their parents believe, by the vaccine?...But deep down there is utter desolation that something that is of paramount importance in our lives is like a toy being batted back and forth. Who was to know what a hot political potato this would turn out to be?" 

February 27, 2004 - MMR scientist did not hide link with legal case, letter reveals - by Jeremy Laurence, Health Editor, The Independent, UK - "Andrew Wakefield, the researcher who sparked the MMR scare with a paper in The Lancet six years ago, did not cover up his links with the Legal Aid Board, it emerged yesterday...Dr Wakefield was accused at the weekend of failing to disclose the conflict of interest over his research at the Royal Free Hospital in London, suggesting a possible link between the MMR vaccination and bowel disease and autism, which has led tens of thousands of parents to boycott the triple vaccination...But he did reveal his links with the Legal Aid Board in a letter published in The Lancet on 2 May 1998, less than three months after his original research paper."

Comment:  "RFD Comment:  'The plot thickens...'" To read the rest of this comment and get the kind of insight into health issues only Nicholas Regush can provide, go to www.redflagsdaily.com (Much of the website now requires a subscription.)

February 27, 2004 - Journalist takes MMR battle away from high court - MediaGuardian, UK - "A freelance journalist is hoping to use his upcoming legal action against medical journal the Lancet to move the debate about the controversial MMR jab from the high court to a county court in south London.,,Brian Deer said he was taking his claim for damages relating to a breach of confidentiality over his exclusive story on the man behind the claims that MMR may be linked to autism to Lambeth county court on Monday.

►February 26, 2004 - MMR and autism - A dose of dissent - Doubt has been cast on the paper that started the MMR-and-autism scare - The Economist

►February 2004 - Possible link to autism and childhood vaccines - Torrington Telegram

►February 25, 2004 - Bill killed to stop use of mercury-based fillings in children's teeth - AP via www.tuscaloosanews.com

►February 25, 2004 - EPA hears complaints about mercury emissions proposal - AP via Newsday

February 26, 2004 - A Statement by the Editors of The Lancet (pdf) - includes statements by Murch, Walker-Smith and Wakefield, as well as Richard Horton, the editor of The Lancet

Comment: " BL Fisher (of NVIC) Note: The extent to which the forced vaccination proponents have gone to smear Andrew Wakefield and the meticulous biological mechanism research he has conducted into MMR-vaccine associated autism is in direct proportion to the fear they have that his hypothesis is correct: MMR vaccine can cause a persistent vaccine strain measles virus infection in genetically vulnerable children that leads to chronic inflammatory bowel disease and autistic behaviors. It is unfortunate they are so frightened of the scientific truth Dr. Wakefield is pursuing that they find it necessary to behave like a band of thugs out to score a hit...For the past 22 years, NVIC co-founder Kathi Williams and I have watched babies die and be horribly crippled by vaccine reactions while officials in industry, public health agencies and medical organizations have refused to support the kind of biological mechanism research that Dr. Wakefield is doing so that parents and doctors can have more information about children at high risk for suffering vaccine reactions and find ways to spare their lives. Parents around the world are not fooled by the ignorant, inhumane behavior of forced vaccinaton proponents, whose zealous defense of one-size-fits-all vaccine policies injure and kill innocent children...The truth will shine bright and clear in the end."

February 26, 2004 - Dr Wakefield is just the man to research MMR safety - opinion - The Herald, UK - "There is something just a little too neat about the officially-sanctioned vilification of Dr Andrew Wakefield...Now the Lancet, the medical journal which published Wakefield's original, peer-reviewed, research back in 1998, says he was compromised by a conflict of interest because he was receiving legal aid money at the time, for another study of children whose parents wanted to take court action against the manufacturers of the vaccine. No sooner had the Lancet editor voiced his concerns, but Blair, his health secretary, John Reid, and their chief medical officer, Dr Liam Donaldson, lined up to urge all parents to have their children protected, claiming the Wakefield study was "poor science" and even suggesting he be investigated by the General Medical Council. If the GMC applied the same rules to all academics, it could be very busy. The Lancet has printed a great many articles which are potentially compromised. It was one of 13 leading medical journals which, in 2001, accused the pharmaceutical corporations of distorting the results of published research."

February 26, 2004 - Social workers 'right to question parents' - This is London - "The row over the MMR "witch-hunt" deepened today as social workers defended their right to interview the mothers of autistic children...They insisted some parents could be harming their children to draw attention to themselves, and admitted subjecting one mother to an eight-week investigation before accepting she had done nothing wrong...It came after the Evening Standard revealed up to 20 parents of autistic children faced accusations that they were suffering from Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy."

Comment:  It's hard to believe this could be happening given that Roy Meadows, who has now been discredited, was the champion of this apparently ill-conceived theory.  How much tragedy and suffering must the parents of autistic children endure?  (And any old excuse in an attempt to detract from the real issue, i.e., does MMR contribute to autism?)

►February 24, 2004 - Alice in Mercury-Land - commentary (requires registration) - The Orlando Sentinel

►February 24, 2004 - Mercury is toxin du jour, but don't bet on it staying that way - opinion - The News Journal via www.delawareonline.com

►February 23, 2004 - Controversy over accusation of research bias on MMR (requires subscription) - Times Online, UK

February 23, 2004 - Fund-raisers hope to help Whitman girl - The Enterprise via www.southofboston.com - "Andie suffers from a severe seizure disorder that her doctors attribute to a reaction to the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine she received when she was a year old. Despite years of treatment at Boston hospitals, doctors have been unable to control the seizures...A severe seizure in the spring left Andie with autism-like problems. She has since lost the ability to speak and now has other developmental delays."

►February 23, 2004 - Michigan targets mercury Initiative aims to cut exposure to neurotoxin (requires registration) - Bay City Times via www.mlive.com

►February 25, 2004 - CDC Vaccine Data Leads Scientists to Shocking Discovery - Yahoo! News via www.mercola.com - "The panel used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Vaccine Datalink, which concluded that children who are given three thimerosal-containing vaccines are 27 times more likely to develop autism than children who receive thimerosol-free vaccines."

Comment:  The panel did not use data from the CDC.  The Geiers presented data from the CDC's Vaccine Datalink to the panel.

February 24, 2004 - Letters: Controversy over accusation of research bias on MMR (free for first week) - www.timesonline.co.uk -  "Sir, The hysterical reaction to the disclosure that Dr Andrew Wakefield was funded by the legal aid authorities to undertake research in relation to litigation by parents at the same time that he submitted his seminal paper on MMR to The Lancet (report, February 23) reveals a remarkable divergence between current legal and medical views of what constitutes bias."

►February 25, 2004 - Government's double standards over MMR - The Daily Mail via www.femail.co.uk - "But health chiefs were immediately accused of hypocrisy by parents and campaigners - who pointed out that many of the Government's top scientific advisers have links with drug firms that make or supply the vaccine...At least 19 experts have interests in firms involved in the measles, mumps and rubella triple vaccine, campaigners said...They sit on two key committees which declared the vaccine safe: the Committee on Safety of Medicines and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation."

Comment:  Excellent article.

►February 24, 2004 - Blair will be to blame if there's a measles epidemic - opinion - The Telegraph, UK - "The Government seems to believe that it has won the argument over the MMR jab. Andrew Wakefield, the scientist who first suggested a possible link between the triple vaccine and autism, has been villified by the scientific establishment. Parents stand accused of over-reacting and of selfishly putting the health of the nation at risk. Vaccination rates have dropped below 60 per cent in some areas...But the scare over the triple vaccine is not the fault of over-anxious parents, who cannot be blamed for wanting to protect their children. Nor can all the blame lie with Dr Wakefield and his research paper published six years ago in the Lancet. Dr Wakefield has been "discredited" because he was taking money from the Legal Aid Board at the time of his report...The board was paying him to discover, on behalf of parents hoping to sue for damages, whether the jab was harmful to their children. But this does not necessarily mean his research was biased. He should have disclosed his interest; but many scientists are paid for research by drugs companies."

►February 24, 2004 - The Sleaze Behind Our Science - The Conflicts of Interest Revealed by the MMR Story are Everywhere - www.dissidentvoice.org

►February 23, 2004 - Inside the world of medical journals - One of the world's most respected medical journals says it should never have published a controversial paper on MMR. - What steps do journals take to ensure studies are robust and trustworthy? - BBC - "The Lancet maintains it should have been told that Dr Wakefield was being paid to carry out another similar study...It says Dr Wakefield should have been aware of the potential conflict of interest after reading the journal's guidelines on the issue... In 1998, these stated: 'The conflict of interest test is a simple one. Is there anything...that would embarrass you if it were to emerge after publication that you had not declared it?'"

February 24, 2004 - Mercury plan falls short, say activists - Coalition from Ohio, other states to tell EPA proposal may do harm - Akron Beacon Journal via www.ohio.com

February 24, 2004 - Dr. Andrew Wakefield and the MMR Controversy - Second Opinion by Nicholas Regush - www.redflagsdaily.com - "It doesn’t look very good for Dr. Andrew Wakefield, an English physician and researcher who has championed the need to investigate the potential relationship between the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine and autism...Today, the scavengers of British journalism surfaced and attacked him and his work, and attempted to destroy whatever chance he may have to rescue his scientific reputation."

Comment:  Excellent overview.

February 24, 2004 - The corporate stooges who nobble serious science - The MMR scandal shows a business riddled with conflicts of interest - "It looks like a conflict of interest and his failure to disclose it was wrong. But the crime for which he is being punished is everywhere. The scientific establishment is rotten from top to bottom, riddled with conflicts far graver than Dr Wakefield's....In other words, the great majority of the scientists with conflicts of interest are failing to disclose them...So, given that undisclosed conflicts of interest in science are everywhere, why is it only Dr Wakefield whose bloody remains are being dragged through the streets? The obvious answer is that his alleged cooption works against the interests of the drugs companies, while almost everyone else's works in their favour."

Comment:  Very interesting article.

►February 24, 2004 - Mountain Views: Precipitous Increase in Autism Cases May Be Tied To Childhood Vaccines - "There aren't enough special-ed teachers in any state to even begin to approach the problem.  It costs states about $2 million for each child with autism for the first 18 years of life.  The Department of Education disabilities data bank shows autism cases in school-age children rose from about 5,500 nationwide to an astonishing 79,000 during the 1990s...Despite drug company studies from 70 years ago that concluded mercury-containing serum was not fit for cattle or dogs, and with all the huge, expensive federal agencies to protect us from just such a mistake -- the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Institute of Medicine -- not one had taken the time to total up how much thimerosal and mercury had been added to the average child's intake with the new increased immunization schedule." 

Comment:  Excellent article.

►February 24, 2004 - Questions About a Market System for Mercury (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times

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

►February 23, 2004 - University Program Helps Autistic Students - AP via www.pressrepublican.com 

February 23, 2004 - Therapy for autistic kids in jeopardy - The Journal Times Online

►March 1, 2004 - School Choice Offers Flexibility for an Autistic Child - School Reform News via The Heartland Institute - "Three years ago, Carson was like most two-year-olds: He liked to put things into his mouth. And like most moms, his mother Cheryl was always alarmed at what he was putting into his mouth. When Carson bit and broke a mercury thermometer, she was terrified. She rushed him to the hospital in Sandy, Utah, where doctors showed her x-ray images of the mercury Carson had swallowed. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do. The mercury would pass. All Cheryl could do was wait...Two weeks into the waiting, the shoe dropped. Carson went from babbling to mute. He couldn’t make noise. He couldn’t talk. His social skills disappeared. He wouldn’t sit still. He threw uncontrollable temper tantrums. He wouldn’t even acknowledge when his mom or dad called him, no matter how stern--or loving--they were. The doctors diagnosed him with pervasive developmental disorder, a mild form of autism."

►February 27, 2004 - Autism education case in court - The Record-Courier - "Saying there are 'kids that need serious help and never get it,' a Genoa couple is asking the Douglas County School District to implement a program that treats the needs of autistic children...Ranée and Sheldon Gaines expect a response March 8 from an independent hearing officer with the Nevada Department of Education. They will find out if they will be reimbursed $8,500 for autism treatment they paid for their 3-year-old twin sons, Jeremiah and Nehemiah."

►February 23, 2004 - Fund-raisers hope to help Whitman girl - The Enterprise via www.southofboston.com - "Andie suffers from a severe seizure disorder that her doctors attribute to a reaction to the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine she received when she was a year old. Despite years of treatment at Boston hospitals, doctors have been unable to control the seizures...A severe seizure in the spring left Andie with autism-like problems. She has since lost the ability to speak and now has other developmental delays."

Autoimmunity/autoimmune disease (in general)

►February 19, 2004 - Rare Disease Endemic In South America Is Model For Studying Autoimmunity - A group of men living amid the gold mines and disappearing jungles of northeastern Colombia, is giving a Medical College of Georgia scientist unprecedented access to study how the wrong combination of genetics and environment cause the body to turn on itself. - Medical College Of Georgia via www.sciendaily.com

Behavioral disorders, chronic disability

►February 24, 2004 - MRI Study Sheds New Light on Attention - UC Davis Health System via Newswise 

►February 26, 2004 - Focused instruction can help kids with dyslexia - Research suggests specialized training exercises stimulate brain areas previously thought to be 'broken' - Newsday

Bioterror-related, other than smallpox and anthrax

►March 5, 2004 - The development of antimicrobials and vaccines against bacterial bioterrorism agents – where are we? (requires registration or subscription) - Over the next five years, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) plan to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to discover and develop or improve treatment and prevention modalities for agents of bioterrorism. The NIH has recently funded eight centers designated as 'Research Centers of Excellence.' These centers have been awarded $350 000 000 to develop new antibiotics and vaccines to protect the US population from agents of bioterrorism, as well as novel means to detect them. Several other programs are currently under consideration and/or development at the NIH to further expand our scientific armamentarium against these agents. Similar funds are being spent to upgrade the sadly neglected public health infrastructure. The salient question is: will this strategy prove successful in protecting the US from future bioterrorism attacks? - Drug Discovery Today via BioMedNet Magazine

Cancer/cancer vaccines

►February 23, 2004 - Mayo Clinic discover important clue to new treatments for lymphoma, breast and colon cancers - Mayo Clinic researchers discover that key cancer gene cbp doesn't work alone; Important clue to targeting new treatments for lymphoma, breast and colon cancers - Mayo Clinic via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 10, 2004 - Diarrhea Bug May Prevent Cancer, Study Shows - Reuters via ABC News

►February 23, 2004 - New discovery may lead to therapy for incurable blood cancer - Cell Press via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 23, 2004 - Protein abundant in human tumors confers resistance to anticancer drugs - Cell Press via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 27, 2004 - New cancer drug gives researchers and patients hope - www.wkrn.com

►February 25, 2004 - A new cancer drug in the pipeline? (requires registration or subscription) - (Commentary) - BioMedNet

►February 27, 2004 - FDA OKs First-Of-A-Kind Colon Cancer Drug - AP via The Herald-Sun 

►February 27, 2004 - New Type of Cancer Drug Approved - FDA Hails Therapy That Starves Tumors by Blocking Their Blood Supply (requires registration) - Washington Post 

►February 27, 2004 - Link between antibiotics, breast cancer stirs debate - Cox News Service via the Arizona Republic

►February 26, 2004 - Medical briefing: There’s more to cancer than diet - Times Online, UK

►February 26, 2004 - Doubt cast on free radical theory - Scientists have questioned a widely accepted theory for a cause of diseases such as cancer and arthritis. - BBC

►February 25, 2004 - Moffitt Center unlocks mystery protein in tumors - A study done by the center has provided a breakthrough in the research of detecting tumor cells in the body - University of South Florida Oracle

February 24, 2004Nevada leukemia cluster baffles scientists - For three years, scientists prodded the dust, dirt and water in this rural community and tested the blood of dozens of its residents -- all in hopes of uncovering why children were developing leukemia. - AP via CNN - "
Yet despite the work, scientists revealed Monday that they haven't been able to determine what caused the disease that has sickened 16 children and killed three since 1997."

►February 23, 2004 - New discovery may lead to therapy for incurable blood cancer - Cell Press via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 23, 2004 - Protein abundant in human tumors confers resistance to anticancer drugs - Cell Press via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 23, 2004 - Mayo Clinic discover important clue to new treatments for lymphoma, breast and colon cancers - Mayo Clinic researchers discover that key cancer gene cbp doesn't work alone; Important clue to targeting new treatments for lymphoma, breast and colon cancers - Mayo Clinic via www.eurekalert.org 

Cardiac

►February 23, 2004 - Fiber intake from fruits and cereals may reduce risk of coronary heart disease - JAMA and Archives Journals Website via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 23, 2004 - Effectiveness of chickenpox vaccine drops after first year (requires registration) - The Los Angeles Times

Chickenpox/chickenpox vaccine

►February 27, 2004 - New study clarifies effectiveness of chicken pox vaccine - Capital News 9

►February 24, 2004 - Chickenpox Vaccine Found to Fade in a Year (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "Although no vaccine is ever 100 percent effective, some authorities see the findings as highlighting a potentially serious problem. If chickenpox becomes less prevalent, fewer unvaccinated children will contract it. That vulnerability follows them into adulthood, critics say, and it increases their chances of suffering severe complications if the disease does eventually strike...Adults whose childhood immunity has worn off will also be in trouble, said Barbara Loe Fisher, co-chairwoman of the National Vaccine Information Center...One solution, experts say, is to combine the chickenpox vaccine with the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, known as M.M.R., usually given around the same time. That would mean that children would receive a second, or booster, dose of varicella vaccine, because M.M.R. is administered twice."

Comment:  The problem re: vulnerability of adults is also relevant to other so-called "vaccine-preventable" diseases, including measles.  For more on this go to Scandals: Playing With Fire - It's Not EASY To Fool Mother Nature

Diabetes

►February 25, 2004 - Childhood Weight Changes Predict Sugar Problem - Reuters via Yahoo!

►February 25, 2004 - Small Babies Can Speed Up Diabetes Risk - HealthDay via Yahoo!

►February 25, 2004 - Kids Who Bulk Up Run Higher Diabetes Risk - AP via Yahoo!

Diphtheria/diphtheria vaccine

Ebola/ebola vaccine

Flu/flu vaccine

►February 28, 2004 - Farm's reticence shocks officials - No Notification Despite Mass Fowl Deaths - The Japan Times - "Health and animal experts expressed shock at the news Friday that a chicken farm in Tanba, Kyoto Prefecture, did not notify officials that thousands of its birds had died despite mounting bird flu fears...The incident highlights the difficulties involved in trying to contain an infectious disease when announcing that a farm is affected is virtually certain to cripple its business."

►February 29, 2004 - Flu Vaccinations (requires registration or subscription) - letter - The New York Times - "I was upset to learn that such a low percentage of health care workers are immunized...It baffles me that health care officials would make such a big deal about the public's taking part in immunization when the people hired to help the public get healthy and stay healthy aren't even participating."

Comment:  This college student is right to be baffled. 

►February 29, 2004 - Thailand reports one more suspected human bird flu infection - Xinhuanet via China View

►February 29, 2004 - Farm shipped 15,000 live chickens despite seeing mass deaths - Japan Today

►February 20, 2004 - Bird Flu in Pennsylvania Poses Uncertain Risk to People -  Gene Analysis Is Underway for New Strain - Geno