* ►May 2008 - Familial deletion within NLGN4 associated with autism and Tourette syndrome - journal article (European Journal of Human Genetics)

►May 2008 - Myotonic dystrophy type I in childhood Long-term evolution in patients surviving the neonatal period - journal article (European Journal of Paediatric Neurology)

►May 2008 - Searching for genes influencing a complex disease: the case of coeliac disease - journal article (European Journal of Human Genetics)

►May 2008 - Innovations in Preventive Mental Health Care Services for Adolescents - journal article (Journal of Adolescent Health)

* ►April 25, 2008 - Killer measles vaccine was sent to 10 states - Times of India

* ►April 25, 2008 - Local team close to super flu vaccine - A flu vaccine 10 times more effective than those now available, with the potential to drastically boost the supplies of vaccine available in case of a pandemic, is in the final stages of human testing in Adelaide. - The Australian - "The new vaccine uses a natural plant sugar to trigger signals within the immune system, forcing it to produce more antibodies in response to the vaccine's antigen."

* ►April 24, 2008 - Merck Vaccine Plant Fails FDA Inspection - (source article The Philadelphia Inquirer) - Pharmalot - "Sammie Young, a retired FDA deputy director, inspected the West Point plant early in his career and for many years oversaw vaccine-plant inspections for the agency. “There are a lot of violations there,” Young tells the paper, after reading the report. “I’m surprised.” Vaccine-makers, he adds, are supposed to investigate vaccine lots if their use was associated with a death or a life-threatening event. Merck failed to investigate two such cases, the FDA report said. A patient treated with the pneumococcal vaccine Pneumovax developed a half-dollar-size abscess and needed intravenous antibiotics to contain the infection. A pregnant woman who took the HPV vaccine Gardasil lost her baby, the FDA report noted. The Gardasil packaging warns against its use for pregnant women, the paper writes. “I am concerned about the adverse-event reporting system,” Young tells the paper. “It looks like the people didn’t know when they were supposed to report. I find that hard to believe.”

* ►April 24, 2008 - Autism controversy clouds immunization decisions - The Times-Union - "A child can receive about 20 shots by age 1, according to CDC vaccination schedules. CDC officials did not respond to a request for comment on altering vaccination schedules."

* ►April 24, 2008 - TN: Toxic vaccines stopped after 4 deaths - NDTV.com - "In Tamil Nadu a mother, Arputhamaal, who was blessed with a girl baby twenty years after her marriage, lost her child to the killer vaccine. The ten-month-old died on Wednesday soon after she was administered measles vaccine, in the Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu.  Three other babies too lost their lives after vaccination at their neighbourhood government health centre. Arputhamaal was inconsolable and visibly shaken after she lost her child. 'I had not taken my daughter to the hospital even once after the birth. And the first time she was taken she died, said Arputhamaal, a mother. Another mother recounts the horror she faced at the immunization centre. 'She died at the centre itself soon after the vaccine. Froth started coming out of her nose instantly,' said Suganthy."

* ►April 24, 2008 - TN govt stops measles vaccination programme - Times of India - "Stating that the programme had been suspended throughout the state, Health Minister M R K Pannerselvam said the Union health ministry had already been informed of the deaths and they would depute a high-level team to Tamil Nadu to enquire into the deaths....He said the deaths were caused due to anaphylactic shock and the vaccine samples had been sent to a laboratory in Himachal Pradesh for tests."

* ►April 24, 2008 - Measles vaccine kills 4 Indian babies - Xinhua via Mathaba.net - "Eyewitnesses said the three baby girls started frothing at the mouth, turned blue and died just after they were given the injection. Even worse to the problem was the fact that there was no provision to take the babies to hospital in case of emergencies. 'We did not plan for an ambulance or medical support,' a health official said, adding that it was supposed to be a routine program of immunization."

►April 24, 2008 - State govts asked to stop use of measles vaccine made by IIL - The Hindu - "The Centre has asked all state governments to stop use of measles vaccine manufactured by the Indian Immunological Limited (IIL) following the death of four infants, who were given shots of the vaccine in Tamil Nadu."

* ►April 24, 2008 - Acambis wins US smallpox vaccine contract (requires registration) - Financial Times - "As part of the vaccine deal, which was anticipated, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will receive 9m doses of the ACAM2000 vaccine annually. The doses will be delivered between the third and last year of the contract. Ian Garland, chief executive, said there was potential for the CDC to order up to 39m doses starting in the fifth year of the deal, which would increase the total value of the contract to $660m."

* ►April 24, 2008 - Adelaide hospital to trial flu vaccine - The Age, AU - "The new vaccine uses a natural sugar to boost its potency and researchers believing it to be 10 times more effective than vaccines currently available. In the event of a pandemic it could allow health officials to stretch existing supplies to protect 10 times as many people as would be protected with a traditional vaccine."

* ►April 24, 2008 - Two versus three doses of a meningococcal C conjugate vaccine concomitantly administered with a hexavalent DTaP-IPV-HBV/Hib vaccine in healthy infants - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►April 24, 2008 - Safety and immunogenicity of a 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (Prevenar™): Primary dosing series in healthy Chinese infants - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►April 24, 2008 - Comparison of the immunogenicity and safety of measles vaccine administered alone or with live, attenuated Japanese encephalitis SA 14-14-2 vaccine in Philippine infants - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►April 24, 2008 - Immunogenicity and safety of three consecutive lots of a new preservative-free inactivated hepatitis A vaccine (Healive®): A double-blind, randomized and controlled trial - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►April 24, 2008 - Application of DNA microarray technology to influenza A/Vietnam/1194/2004 (H5N1) vaccine safety evaluation - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►April 24, 2008 - Physicochemical characterisation of glycoconjugate vaccines for prevention of meningococcal diseases - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►April 24, 2008 - Assessing the impact of different BCG vaccination strategies on severe childhood TB in low-intermediate prevalence settings - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►April 24, 2008 - Prime-boost vaccination with a combination of proteosome-degradable and wild-type forms of two influenza proteins leads to augmented CTL response - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►April 24, 2008 - Anthrax Vaccine Victims Still Seek Truth & Justice by Barbara Loe Fisher - Vaccine Awakening

* ►April 24, 2008 - U. doctor helping CDC improve vaccine safety - Salt Lake Tribune - "Andrew Pavia, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Utah, said yet another important function is to help gather public input that will be considered by the CDC when setting its Scientific Agenda. 'This is new for vaccine safety - to develop a long-term plan in a very public way and to get outside review on it,' said Pavia, whose group expects to deliver a draft report to the CDC in about six months."

* ►April 24, 2008 - The Next Hannah Poling by David Kirby - Spectrum Magazine - "But the US Government now has a major quandary to deal with. Federal officials already conceded that, far from being 'theoretical,' this chain of events already happened to Hannah Poling. This will make it difficult, if not impossible, to argue against compensating the boy from New York, when compensating a nearly identical case – Hannah Poling – was already deemed appropriate.  Some estimates of mitochondrial dysfunction in children with autism range as high as 20%-30%. But among the regressive subset of cases (virtually all of the claims in Vaccine Court) up to half of the children might show signs of it."

* ►April 24, 2008 - Olmsted on Autism: Lisa Jo Rudy Channels Bruno Bettelheim by Dan Olmsted - Age of Autism

* ►April 24, 2008 - Vaccinations: why we don’t trust them, recap. - Thudfactor - "In short: we are suspicious of the conclusions of science because time and again the process has been demonstrably polluted by commercial and political interests, even at the cost of human life."

* ►April 24, 2008 - Kim Stagliano: Stigma Healthcare: Shut Up Kid! - The Huffington Post

* ►April 24, 2008 - Autism Risk Linked To Distance From Power Plants, Other Mercury-releasing Sources - University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio via ScienceDaily - "'This is not a definitive study, but just one more that furthers the association between environmental mercury and autism,' said lead author Raymond F. Palmer, Ph.D., associate professor of family and community medicine at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio. The article is in the journal Health & Place."

* ►April 24, 2008 - Insurance For Autism Mandated By Senate Bill - Tampa Tribune - "Watching from the Senate gallery, mothers with autistic children wept as the Florida Senate unanimously approved a bill that would require health insurance companies to provide coverage for the treatment of autism. Sen. Steve Geller, D-Cooper City, has tried for nine years to pass such legislation only to see his efforts defeated by insurance companies, which argued the bill would drive up premiums."

►April 24, 2008 - Mothers, grandmothers on mission to help spread autism awareness - Leader Newspapers

►April 24, 2008 - Mother, son raise autism awareness - Utica Observer-Dispatch

►April 24, 2008 - Autism in Larimer County - The Coloradoan

►April 24, 2008 - My Nominee for Most Irksome Pander: Vaccines and Autism - The XX Factor via Slate

* ►April 24, 2008 - AP Interview: Wife of Nelson Mandela urges push for greater child immunization - AP via International Herald Tribune

►April 24, 2008 - Experts tout shot benefits - Vallejo Times Herald

►April 24, 2008 - Adults fail to get needed vaccines, doctor says - Stamford Advocate

►April 24, 2008 - Vaccinations have enjoyed much success; It's National Immunization Week - The North Bay Nugget

►April 24, 2008 - Guam Child Immunization Event Kicks Off This Saturday - Pacific News Center

* ►April 24, 2008 - Students refusing measles shot can't go to school - Calgary Herald via Canada.com - "The Calgary Health Region has inoculated nearly 200 teens at the southwest high school after a 16-year-old Western Canada High student recently contracted measles. In six cases, however, the CHR says there are no records of the students receiving the recommended two doses of measles vaccine and the teens are refusing to receive a new shot."

►April 24, 2008 - Health chief "embarrassed" by measles outbreak - audio - World Radio Switzerland

►April 24, 2008 - Results: Fond du Lac measles report was false alarm - Fond du Lac Reporter

►April 24, 2008 - State Health Officials Confirm 6 Measles Cases - Official Said All Infected People Have Recovered - WISC Madison

* ►April 24, 2008 - Discovery of World's First Anti-Microsporidian Vaccine - press release - Atlantic Veterinary College at UPEI via Marketwire - "A team of researchers at the University of Prince Edward Island's Atlantic Veterinary College has developed the world's first vaccine that is effective against a destructive microsporidian parasite of salmon. 'Although there are many diseases of fish, animals and humans caused by microsporidian parasites, there have been no successful treatment or prevention methods against these enigmatic disease-causing organisms until now,' says Dr. David J. Speare (DVM, DVSc), lead researcher responsible for the discovery. 'Now we can say that we actually have one. We have a vaccine.'"

* ►April 24, 2008 - CDC underestimates hospital infections - letter (requires registration or subscription) - Baltimore Sun

* ►April 24, 2008 - 'Killer's conviction is perfectly safe' - Hartlepool Mail, UK - "Holdsworth is appealing against her conviction for murder on the back of new medical evidence which her lawyers believe will prove she did not kill little Kyle Fisher who she was babysitting at her home in Millpool Close, in Hartlepool. During a hearing at London's Court of Appeal, her legal team, headed by Henry Blaxland QC, have argued that the true cause of Kyle's death was a 'prolonged epileptic seizure' and that fresh evidence from a number of medical experts would help clear her name."

* ►April 24, 2008 - The 'Net: A Tangled Web of Health Information (requires registration) - HealthDay via Washington Post - "Who owns the site also can be a clue. For example, is a pharmaceutical company presenting the information? 'Clearly, there's a bias there toward using their own medicines,' Powell said."

►April 24, 2008 - Bottled water blamed for hepatitis outbreak - China Internet Information Center

►April 24, 2008 - Vertex hepatitis C drug candidate prompts patient response - AP via Houston Chronicle

►April 24, 2008 - Gilead Announces 72-Week Data From Two Pivotal Phase III Studies Evaluating Viread(R) for the Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis B - Business Wire via FOX Business

* ►April 24, 2008 - Prof. finds Merck used ghostwriters - The Brown Daily Herald - "'We're standing on the top of the tallest mountain we can find and screaming that the system is corrupt,' Egilman said. "It only takes one person to step forward and say, 'The emperor has no clothes.' And then everyone will say, 'You know what, the emperor has no clothes.' But it's not easy to be the person who runs around saying (that)." Much of the responsibility for reforming the system falls on universities, medical schools and faculty deans, both doctors said. The institutions must keep a closer eye on their faculty who are collaborating with the pharmaceutical industry, Ross said."

►April 24, 2008 - Phase 2a trial of 0, 1, and 3 month and 0, 7, and 28 day immunization schedules of malaria vaccine RTS,S/AS02 in malaria-naïve adults at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research - journal article (Vaccine)

►April 24, 2008 - Surface modified liposomes for nasal delivery of DNA vaccine - journal article (Vaccine)

►April 24, 2008 - Prevent, protect, immunise – WHO - The Malta Independent

►April 24, 2008 - Product Correction Hepatitis B Surface Antigen AUSAB EIA - FDA/CBER

* ►April 24, 2008 - Hospital opens anthrax and bird flu unit - Royal Darwin Hospital has been given a state of the art containment laboratory to fight bio-threats such as anthrax and bird flu. - The Australian

►April 24, 2008 - Lake Resident Raising Money for Meningitis Cure - Fluvanna Review

►April 24, 2008 - Burkina Faso: Meningitis Toll Passes 800; Capital Struck (requires registration) - The New York Times

►April 24, 2008 - Indonesia defends its bird flu stance against US criticism - AP

* ►April 24, 2008 - School nurses adjust to needs of diabetic students - The State - "According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “the percentage of children with newly diagnosed diabetes classified as Type 2 has increased from less than 5 percent before 1994 to 30 (percent) to 50 percent in subsequent years.” (Also, about 1 in every 400 to 600 children has Type 1 diabetes, according to the CDC.)"

►April 24, 2008 - Humans May Lose Battle With Bacteria, Medicinal Chemist's Research Shows - It may not be an ideal topic for polite conversation, but human beings are swarming with bacteria: Even the average healthy adult plays host to about 100 trillion microscopic organisms. Infection takes place when the bacteria get out of hand. - University of Kansas via ScienceDaily

►April 24, 2008 - Rich 'get more hospital care' - The rich are getting more hospital care than the poor, undermining Medicare's promise of universal access. - The Australian

►April 24, 2008 - Neglected diseases (editorial) - The Washington Times

►April 24, 2008 - Gilead Announces 72-Week Data From Two Pivotal Phase III Studies Evaluating Viread(R) for the Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis B - Oral Presentations at EASL Following Recent CHMP Positive Opinion Support Viread as Potential New Treatment for Life-Threatening Liver Disease - Gilead Sciences via Business Wire via MarketWatch

►April 24, 2008 - Polluted water sickens 10,000 people - VietNamNet Bridge - Brackish water heavily impregnated with alumina is making the 10,000 people who live in the hamlets of Loc An Commune, central Thua Thien-Hue Province, sick. - VietNamNet Bridge

►April 24, 2008 - Bipolar disorder: 'It's nothing to be ashamed of' - Seacoast Mental Health and Cogswell family hold eighth annual conference in memory of Erik Cogswell, who committed suicide as a result of bipolar disorder. - SeacoastOnline.com

►April 24, 2008 - Elan quarterly net loss narrows, Tysabri gains ground - Elan Corporation via MarketWatch

►April 24, 2008 - FDA Proposes Recommendations for Two Animal Drug Funding Programs - FDA

* ►April 23, 2008 - FDA report shows problems at Merck vaccine plant - Philadelphia Inquirer - "Federal inspectors documented unwanted "fibers" on the stoppers of vaccine vials at Merck & Co. Inc.'s vast vaccine plant in Montgomery County. They also found instances of contaminated children's vaccines and complaints that were not always investigated at the West Point plant. Inspectors from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration spent 30 days at the plant between November and January and cited 49 areas of concern, including a failure to follow good management practices. The findings are detailed in an unpublished 21-page FDA report obtained by The Inquirer under the federal Freedom of Information Act."

* ►April 23, 2008 - Viral hepatitis in Germany: poor vaccination coverage and little knowledge about transmission in target groups (pdf) - journal article (BMC Public Health)

* ►April 23, 2008 - Childhood hazards: inoculations (second letter) - The Record - "Regarding "Should parents get a say in vaccinating children?" (Page L-2, April 18): According to the deputy commissioner of Health and Senior Services, Eddy Bresnitz, "Mandating vaccinations is like mandating seat belt use." If he really believes that, then there's no point in saying anything in response. There are adverse effects associated with vaccinations. Vaccine solutions contain: non-threshold, non-degradable toxic metals — e.g., mercury, which is still used in influenza vaccines — and these substances are known neurotoxins;  preservatives, neutralizers, carrying agents and stabilizers, all of which are injected directly into subcutaneous tissue, and such substances have been associated with polyneuropathies, chemical toxicity and allergic reactions;  live, attenuated or purified virus or toxoids, and each has some potential adverse effects that may be responsible for some of the chronic problems associated with vaccine exposure;"

* ►April 23, 2008 - Aethlon Medical to Pursue U.S. Government Biodefense Contract - Business Wire via FOX Business - "Aethlon's contract response will include in vitro effectiveness data against Dengue hemorrhagic fever, Ebola hemorrhagic fever, Lassa hemorrhagic fever, H5N1 avian influenza (Bird Flu), the reconstructed 1918 influenza virus, West Nile virus, Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Hepatitis-C virus (HCV), and vaccinia and monkeypox, which bothrepresent models associated with human smallpox infection."

* ►April 23, 2008 - City Urges Meningitis Vaccinations After 2 Deaths - CBS 2, Chicago

* ►April 23, 2008 - Drugmakers Didn't Begin 1,044 Promised U.S. Studies - Bloomberg - "To receive FDA approval, drugmakers often agree to perform additional studies of safety, dosing and other matters after medications come to market. The research is usually voluntary, and lawmakers have repeatedly complained it isn't completed. President George W. Bush signed legislation in September that allows the FDA to require certain post-approval studies."

* ►April 23, 2008 - Labs playing high-tech Russian roulette - Seattle Post-Intelligencer - "The proposed legislation would require that laboratories using dangerous pathogens obtain a permit, disclose the pathogens they would house, how they will be contained, stored and disposed of and identify the individuals responsible. It mandates appropriate staff training, and plans for evacuation and coordination with local authorities in case of an accident. Research on the most dangerous pathogens, such as ebola and smallpox, which are deadly, incurable and highly contagious, would be prohibited."

►April 23, 2008 - Canadian adults under-immunized: Survey - The Canadian Press via HealthZone.ca

►April 23, 2008 - New cases of measles spur new shot clinic - Arizona Daily Star

* ►April 23, 2008 - Former Bristol exec indicted - The Star-Ledger via www.nj.com - "A former Bristol-Myers Squibb executive was indicted yesterday for allegedly lying to federal officials about a secret deal to delay a competitor from launching a lower-cost generic version of the best-selling blood thinner Plavix."

* ►April 23, 2008 - Wyeth, plaintiff dispute dismissal request (blog) - Business in the Burbs - "In the company’s latest filing, Wyeth’s lawyers — who also represent Guinosso — argue that Jennings “raises baseless arguments and asserts irrelevant or unfounded facts in a desperate attempt to stave off” dismissal of his lawsuit. Wyeth says Jennings has not met the legal standard for showing that he faced a hostile work environment because he has not shown Guinosso’s actions and comments were “either severe or pervasive.” The company says it has presented examples of other court cases involving allegations of harassment that were dismissed even though the allegations were more severe than the ones Jennings has made."

►April 23, 2008 - Metastatic Complications From Invasive Staphylococcal Infections Remain Difficult to Treat: Presented at ECCMID - European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases via Doctor's Guide

►April 23, 2008 - US researchers confirm heparin contaminant - Reuters

►April 23, 2008 - FDA Approves VYVANSE (TM) (lisdexamfetamine dimesylate), the First and Only Once-Daily Prodrug Stimulant to Treat ADHD in Adults - Shire

►April 23, 2008 - FDA Approves Nexium for Young Children - Children older than 1 year with documented GERD or esophagitis now have another PPI choice. - journal article (Journal Watch Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine)

►April 23, 2008 - Health Matters: Hospital destroying wastes by using ozone - The Tribune-Star

►April 23, 2008 - More fat, less fruit for toddlers - Nurseries are feeding children too much fruit and vegetables, and not enough fat, protein and sugar, according to a group of doctors and children's charities. - BBC

* ►April 23, 2008 - EPA scientists complain about political pressure (requires registration or subscription) - AP via Chicago Tribune - "Hundreds of Environmental Protection Agency scientists say they have been pressured by superiors to skew their findings, according to a survey released Wednesday by an advocacy group. The Union of Concerned Scientists said more than half of the nearly 1,600 EPA staff scientists who responded online to a detailed questionnaire reported they had experienced incidents of political interference in their work."

* ►April 23, 2008 - Nalgene sports bottle maker sued over toxic claims - Reuters - " California mother sued Nalge Nunc International Corp, claiming the company knew, but downplayed risks, that a toxic substance in its popular Nalgene plastic sports bottles could leach into the bottles' contents and sicken consumers."

* ►April 23, 2008 - Toxicity alert has some in U.S. discarding plastic bottles - Boston Globe via International Herald Tribune

►April 23, 2008 - Celebrating National Infant Immunization Week - WVVA-TV

►April 23, 2008 - Autism Q&A (requires registration) - Boston Globe

►April 23, 2008 - Metabasis Therapeutics Announces Extension of Its Collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc. to Develop AMPK Activators for Diabetes and Other Metabolic Diseases - Business Wire via FOX Business

►April 23, 2008 - Commentary: Vaccination - An act of love that transcends borders - Caribbean Net News

►April 23, 2008 - Hope For Simpler Rabies Vaccination - Researchers have found an easier method of giving the rabies vaccine, which they say is just as effective as the current technique. - Staff Nurse

* ►April 22, 2008 - RIGHTS-US: Vets' Lawsuit Opens Door on Suicides, Poor Care - The United States government does such a bad job of caring for wounded war veterans, advocates told a federal judge here Monday, that 18 veterans commit suicide every week. - Inter Press Service - "None of this surprises Kelly Conklin of Chunchula, Alabama. Her husband Manuel was reduced to a wheelchair after experiencing a negative reaction to an anthrax vaccine administered as he was preparing to deploy to Iraq with the U.S. Navy in 2003. Military doctors pumped him with steroids and other medicine in hopes he would recover, Conklin said, but in 2005 she came to realise that was unlikely and filed a claim with the VA for disability compensation.  After three years, the family is still waiting. 'It's an every day battle,' Kelly Conklin told IPS. 'We're having grits and eggs for supper tonight and a lot of nights. Sometimes we don't eat anything but lima beans for supper -- it depends on what we have.'"

►April 22, 2008 - Are your vaccinations up to date? - Milton Canadian Champion

* ►April 22, 2008 - Responsibility of Drug Companies to Disclose Grants (requires registration) - Medscape

►April 18, 2008 - FDA Nod For Glaxo Shifts Playing Field In Rotavirus Market - Investor's Business Daily via CNNMoney

* ►April 17, 2008 - Comparison of epidemiologic methods for active surveillance of vaccine safety - journal article (Vaccine)

►April 17, 2008 - Use of Clindamycin in Pediatric Infections (requires registration) (full text) - Pediatric Pharmacotherapy via Medscape

* ►April 16, 2008 - Archaeosome adjuvants: Immunological capabilities and mechanism(s) of action - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►April 15, 2008 - Blood Lead Concentrations < 10 mug/dL and Child Intelligence at 6 Years of Age (requires registration) (full text) - Environmental Health Perspectives via Medscape

* ►April 14, 2008 - Children Playing With Poison: Arsenic Exposure From CCA-treated Wood (requires registration) (full text) - Journal for Nurse Practitioners via Medscape

►April 14, 2008 - Parental Sleep Practices Linked to Sleep Disturbances in Preschool Children CME (requires registration) - Medscape

►April 14, 2008 - Bone Metabolism in Celiac Disease - journal article (The Journal of Pediatrics)

►April 11, 2008 - Peanut Allergy Remission Predicted by IgE Antibodies (requires registration) - Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology via Reuters Health via Medscape

* ►April 11, 2008 - What Your Patients Are Reading: Premature Infants at Risk for Autism (requires registration) - Pediatrics via WebMD via Medscape Medical News

►April 10, 2008 - The point of prevention - Sydney Morning Herald

►April 9, 2008 - Children's Access to Cough/Cold Remedies Leads to 7000 Emergency Visits a Year in US (requires registration) - Pediatrics via Reuters Health via Medscape

►April 1, 2008 - A follow-up study of children hospitalised with community acquired pneumonia - journal article (Archives of Diseases in Childhood)

* ►April 2008 - ACE, PATH to develop E. coli vaccines - Drug Discovery News - "The pilot studies will utilize ACE527, ACE BioSciences’ live, whole-cell oral vaccine candidate that comprises three attenuated ETEC strains and represents the culmination of a development program that has already demonstrated safety and immunogenicity in five clinical trials."

* ►April 2008 - Protease-activated receptor-2 regulates trypsin expression in the brain and protects against seizures and epileptogenesis - journal article (Neurobiology of Disease)

* ►April 2008 - Looking back on the 2008 influenza season and vaccine (requires registration) - Recent recommendations for universal vaccines and a change in the vaccine strains promise an interesting season next year. -  www.infectiousdiseasenews.com

* ►April 2008 - Acute hepatitis immunization program successful in Italy (requires registration) - Fourteen years after universal vaccination program launched, challenges remain. - www.infectiousdiseasenews.com

* ►April 2008 - Even products used to sterilize can contaminate (requires registration) - There are instances in the literature where antiseptics caused contamination. - www.infectiousdiseasenews.com

►April 2008 - Bloodstream infections may increase risk for MRSA mortality (requires registration) - Comorbidities, including diabetes and HIV, and increased age also were associated with greater fatality from invasive MRSA. - www.infectiousdiseasenews.com

►April 2008 - FDA: Two HIV drugs may be linked with increased coronary risk (requires registration) - www.infectiousdiseasenews.com

►April 2008 - STDs more common among adolescent girls than previously believed (requires registration) - Even among girls who reported only one lifetime sex partner, the STD prevalence was 20.4%. - www.infectiousdiseasenews.com

►April 2008 - Social factors play a role in U.S. HIV/AIDS epidemic among black women (requires registration) - Risk for HIV is higher among black women than white women, independent of risk behavior. - www.infectiousdiseasenews.com

►April 2008 - Routine HIV testing in EDs linked to increased diagnoses (requires registration) - Programs were cost effective when compared with the economic and health costs of delayed HIV diagnoses. - www.infectiousdiseasenews.com

►April 2008 - Revised pediatric HIV treatment guidelines released (requires registration) - New criteria for excluding infection in HIV-exposed infants and children may ease parents’ concerns earlier and make management easier. - www.infectiousdiseasenews.com

►April 2008 - Zoonoses transmitted by cats highlight importance of proper care (requires registration) - CDC’s annual report for 2006 noted 6,940 cases of rabies in wild or domesticated animals, of which 318 were cats. - www.infectiousdiseasenews.com

►April 2008 - AIDS Compendium (requires registration) - Infectious Diseases News gives newsbytes about the rapidly changing world of HIV treatment. - www.infectiousdiseasenews.com -

►March/April 2008 - Epinephrine auto-injector prescriptions as a reflection of the pattern of anaphylaxis in an Asian population - journal article (Allergy and Asthma Proceedings) - "The estimated frequency of AA prescriptions in Singapore is relatively low at 0.01%. The incidence of peanut and shellfish allergy in the Asian population appears to differ from that seen in Western populations."

►March 2008 - Immunization Works! - CDC

* ►Need a sign for Jenny and Jim's Green Our Vaccines Rally? Click the image you like, download the pdf file, send it via email or take it on a CD or jump drive to your local print shop!  See you in DC!!! Thanks to Lori McIlwain for these incredible designs! - National Autism Association

* ►May 2008 - Contribution of influenza immunity and virosomal-formulated synthetic peptide to cellular immune responses in a phase I subunit malaria vaccine trial - journal article (Clinical Immunology)

►May 2008 - Respiratory syncytial virus infection in adults. - journal article (Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine)

►May 2008 - A controlled intervention study to improve antibiotic use in a Russian paediatric hospital - journal article (International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents)

►May 2008 - Advances in the biology, pathogenesis and identification of Pneumocystis pneumonia. - journal article (Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine)

►May 2008 - TH1 and TH2 cell polarization increases with aging and is modulated by zinc supplementation - journal article (Experimental Gerontology)

* ►April 24, 2008 - Vaccine shots kill 4 children - 5 undergoing treatment; batch from which vaccine was taken suspended - The Hindu - "Four children – 3 girls and a boy – from Tiruvallur district died on Wednesday soon after they were given measles vaccine shots. Five other children, including a 15-day-old infant, who fell ill were admitted to the Government District Headquarters Hospital here. Public health directorate officials who conducted an enquiry into the incident said it was suspected that all the affected children got their shots from one particular batch of vaccine."

* ►April 24, 2008 - TN deaths put measles shot under lens - Times of India - "According to experts, the measles vaccine can prove 'notorious' and even 'fatal' if not administered three hours after being prepared. 'The vaccine has to be administered within three hours of reconstitution. The vaccine comes in a freeze-dried form and has to be mixed with a fluid before administering. All through, it has to be kept in temperatures of 8-10 degree Celsius. If the procedure isn't followed, the vaccine can prove fatal,' a ministry official said."

* ►April 24, 2008 - Steve Connor: Money is not the answer to this problem - opinion - The Independent, UK - "Trying to develop an HIV vaccine is a bit like digging a hole in the ground, but unlike the Channel tunnel you don't know where the digging might lead. The question is whether at some point we should stop. Few of the scientists who took part in our survey believe that this time has come, and most would no doubt say that an HIV vaccine is too important to ever give up on."

* ►April 24, 2008 - HPV vaccine debate still on, Senate action stalled - The Boston - Bay State Banner

* ►April 24, 2008 - Bride gives gifts to autistic boy - Helping a child with autism was more important to Miranda Hall than getting wedding gifts. - North Shore Times via www.stuff.co.nz

* ►April 24, 2008 - Playing "Kick the FDA" — Risk-free to Players but Hazardous to Public Health (free full text) - journal article (NEJM)

* ►April 24, 2008 - Trying Times at the FDA — The Challenge of Ensuring the Safety of Imported Pharmaceuticals (free full text) - journal article (NEJM)

* ►April 24, 2008 - Full Disclosure and the Funding of Biomedical Research (free full text) - journal article (NEJM)

►April 24, 2008 - Babesiosis (free full text) - journal article (NEJM)

►April 24, 2008 - Artesunate for the Treatment of Severe Falciparum Malaria (free full text) - journal article (NEJM)

►April 24, 2008 - Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency and Malaria - journal article (NEJM)

►April 24, 2008 - A Malaria Fingerprint in the Human Genome? - journal article (NEJM)

►April 24, 2008 - Genetic variation in human NPY expression affects stress response and emotion - journal article (Nature)

* ►April 23/30, 2008 - FDA Guidance on Off-Label Promotion and the State of the Literature From Sponsors - journal article (JAMA)

* ►April 23/30, 2008 - Preserving Confidentiality in the Peer Review Process - journal article (JAMA)

* ►April 23/30, 2008 - Combating the Threat of Pandemic Influenza: Drug Discovery Approaches (book review) - journal article (JAMA)

►April 23/30, 2008 - Health Disparities Probed - journal article (JAMA)

►April 23/30, 2008 - Cough Drug Warning - journal article (JAMA)

►April 23/30, 2008 - Efficacy of Current Drugs Against Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections - Systematic Review and Meta-analysis - journal article (JAMA)

►April 23/30, 2008 - Antipsychotic-Induced Weight Gain in Patients With Schizophrenia - journal article (JAMA)

►April 23/30, 2008 - Antipsychotic-Induced Weight Gain in Patients With Schizophrenia—Reply - journal article (JAMA)

►April 23/30, 2008 - Applying Market Justice to Health Care - journal article (JAMA)

►April 23/30, 2008 - Scientists Examine Primary Care–Based Screening and Treatments for Anxiety - journal article (JAMA)

►April 23/30, 2008 - Researchers Seek Ways to Stem STDs - "Alarming" STD Rates Found in Teenaged Girls - journal article (JAMA)

►April 23/30, 2008 - Medicare Beneficiaries' Knowledge of Part D Prescription Drug Program Benefits and Responses to Drug Costs - journal article (JAMA)

* ►April 23, 2008 - Vaccines, Autism, A Blogger & Free Speech - Pharmalot - "Not surprisingly, Seidel filed a motion to quash the subpoena, arguing it violated her First and Fourth Amendment constitutional rights; wouldn’t result in discovery of relevant info; and demanded materials that are protected by the journalist’s privilege. More recently, Public Citizen volunteered to represent her. The upshot - Seidel wrote earlier this week that a federal judge quashed the subpoena."

* ►April 23, 2008 - Blogger plays attorney, defeats trial lawyer's subpoena - Legal News Line - "Shoemaker specializes in litigation against vaccine makers, claiming the mercury in their products has led to autism. Others argue that autism's symptoms become prominent around the same time a child receives his or her first vaccinations, making the connection a coincidence. On March 24, Seidel posted an entry called "The Commerce in Causation," chronicling some of Shoemaker's history with such lawsuits. It showed the amount he was paid for each successful and unsuccessful suit - more than a half-million dollars in the 22 cases exhibited."

* ►April 23, 2008 - Blogger bites lawyer: autism subpoena quashed - Ars Technica - "In the end, as we suggested earlier, the numerous flaws in the subpoena allowed the judge that quashed it to rule on narrow grounds, leaving the status of bloggers as public voices or journalists unaddressed."

* ►April 23, 2008 - The impact and effectiveness of pneumococcal vaccination in Scotland for those aged 65 and over during winter 2003/2004 (pdf) - journal article (BMC Infectious Diseases)

* ►April 23, 2008 - New Jersey’s Attorney General And Antipsychotics - Pharmalot

* ►April 23, 2008 - Quote Of The Week: Skinning An FDA Commish - Pharmalot - “I didn’t fall off the cabbage wagon yesterday. I’ve been talking to food and drug commissioners for 40 years. And you’re not the first fella I’ve had to skin for not doing his job and coming up here and defending an indefensible situation. I want to maintain my respect for you but I can’t maintain my respect for you if you keep toe dancing around the hard facts that curse you with the inability to do your job because you don’t have resources.” Before Andy could say much, Dingell continued: “You are carrying water for an administration that has not given you the resources that you need."

* ►April 23, 2008 - Baby died of pneumonia - inquest - Bolton News, UK - "He had experienced difficulties feeding but was otherwise fine. He was given a MMR vaccination on November 16, which had left him with a temperature and unsettled.  On the night of November 17, the foster mother went out in Bolton, leaving Kenzie in the care of her husband, Bolton coroner, Jennifer Leeming, was told....He had stopped breathing. The couple called for an ambulance and performed CPR on Kenzie until it arrived but he was pronounced dead at the Royal Bolton Hospital."

* ►April 23, 2008 - NVIC Vaccine E-Newsletter

Anthrax Vaccine Victims Still Seek Truth & Justice by Barbara Loe Fisher

It remains one of the saddest stories in the long and sad history of forced vaccination: the killing and crippling of young, healthy soldiers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Israel and other countries with a crude, toxic experimental anthrax vaccine that top military physicians persuaded Generals to order soldiers heading for the Gulf War to take. In the U.S., despite a temporary court injunction issued by a courageous U.S. federal court judge in late 2004 halting the vaccination of U.S. soldiers without their informed, voluntary consent, since early 2006 the same crude, toxic anthrax vaccine has been forced on military recruits. Those who refuse to obey the order face court martial, imprisonment and fines.

On Sunday, May 18, 2008 at 9:30 a.m., an independent film "A Call to Arms" by award winning producer Scott Miller will be shown at the GI Film Festival, Carnegie Institute in Washington, D.C.. This eye-opening film tells the inside story of how the anthrax vaccine has been forced on soldiers with tragic consequences. Tickets are $5 and a powerful trailer of the film can be viewed at http://www.gifilmfestival.com/2008/08filminfo/acalltoarms.html. Scott premiered an earlier version of the film ("Direct Order") at NVIC's Third International Public Conference on Vaccination in 2002.

The mandatory anthrax vaccine program in the U.S. received renewed support from top military officials after September 11, 2001 when mysterious anthrax powder letters were delivered to American citizens and federal legislators. No one has ever been arrested. A recent Truthout Report says that there are new suspects at a U.S. Army bioweapons lab involved in promoting the mandatory anthrax vaccine program who are now being investigated by the FBI.

As retired Air Force Lt. Col. John Richardson pointed out in the Truthout Report, when commenting on the continuing plight of former military pilots seeking restitution for lost promotions and pay because they refused to take the experimental anthrax vaccine after it had killed or injured colleagues:

"Two federal judges have now confirmed the Pentagon broke the law by forcing service members to take anthrax vaccine from 1998 to late 2005. Since 2005, mandating the vaccine is now lawful only because of the FDA's willingness to ignore clear evidence in military medical records of the deaths and disabilities associated with the anthrax vaccine. Just as the government misled the American people about the threat from Iraqi anthrax and the source of the anthrax letter attacks, it continues to mislead the troops about the safety and efficacy of the anthrax vaccine."

John Richardson is a co-founder of the Military and Biodefense Vaccine Project of the National Vaccine Information Center.

On February 29, 2008, six former soldiers pledged to appeal a federal judge's dismissal of their six year old lawsuit challenging the Pentagon's mandatory anthrax vaccination program because there is no scientific proof the vaccine is effective in humans against weaponized, inhaled anthrax. The soldiers search for truth and justice continues at the same time reports surface in Israel that Israeli military doctors experimented on soldiers using the highly reactive U.S. anthrax vaccine. Several Israeli news investigative reports from May 17, 2007 and February 24, 2008 reveal that elite combat unit troops were given the experimental anthrax vaccine in 2000 without being informed what they were getting and, when they suffered severe reactions and disability, were told their poor health had nothing to do with the vaccine they were given.

Forcing toxic vaccines on young soldiers using threats and punishment and denying them the right to informed consent is no different than forcing toxic vaccines on young children by threatening and punishing their parents and denying them informed consent. Forcing people to take pharmaceutical products which can injure and kill without their voluntary, informed consent is a violation of human rights. Ideology, one-size-fits-all medical policies and industry profit-making should not come before human rights.

No forced vaccination. Not in America.

***********************************************************

"Significantly, the infamous 2001 anthrax powder attacks, killing five people and sickening 17 others after 9/11, were domestic and not foreign in nature. They were allegedly inspired by laboratory insiders who mailed the powder to the offices of two US senators, a number of national news offices in New York City, and elsewhere. The incidents are still under active FBI investigation. That probe, says Fox News, recently identified three or four new suspects at an Army bioweapons lab intricately involved in helping to support the need for the mandated vaccine. They include a deputy commander, an anthrax scientist and a microbiologist. Curiously, at that point in time, the vaccine's continued use was being threatened by closer scrutiny from the US Department of Defense and other Bush administration officials. That review withered away after the attacks. However, the DOD then used the domestic incidents to claim the foreign threat was "real." In the years before and after those episodes, Dingle's and Rempfer's findings that the vaccine was improperly licensed and thus unnecessarily mandated were eventually vindicated by a combination of a federal judge's rulings and subsequent events. After the two officers' initial investigations, the US Government Accounting Office (GAO) reported that the vaccine's systemic adverse reaction rate was 100 times higher than the 0.2 percent rate reported on the product's label. Adverse vaccine reactions include immune disorders, muscle and joint pains, headaches, rashes, fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, chills and fever. At least half a dozen deaths and a warning against birth defects were listed on the vaccine's January 31, 2002, package insert, but they have never been proven to be vaccine-related. The vaccine is not recommended for use by pregnant women or for those who have experienced a history of Guillain-Barre Syndrome. And, last October, the GAO identified a potential $100 million in government waste annually. The anthrax vaccine stockpile for civilian emergencies had been improperly administered by the Department of Health and Human Services, the GAO report said." - Thomas D. Williams, Truthout Report (April 9, 2008)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040908A.shtml

"An attorney for six Defense Department employees said yesterday [Feb. 29, 2008] that they will appeal a federal judge's dismissal of their lawsuit challenging the Pentagon's policy of compulsory anthrax vaccinations for certain troops. The employees had argued that, as military personnel, they should not be forced to take the vaccine because there is no scientific proof that it is effective for humans, said Mark Zaid, their attorney. The class- action lawsuit had asked the court to block the Pentagon from inoculating the plaintiffs and to rule that the vaccine was improperly licensed by the Food and Drug Administration. But U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer ruled yesterday that the FDA "did not act arbitrarily or capriciously" and granted the government's request to dismiss the case.....The lawsuit -- filed against the FDA, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Pentagon -- is the third of its kind and the latest chapter in a dispute that has been going on for at least six years.It follows another suit by the same group that led a federal judge to halt mandatory vaccinations in October 2004 on the grounds that an FDA review of the vaccine was insufficient. The anthrax vaccine was then administered on a voluntary basis. After the FDA reviewed the vaccine again and approved it in December 2005, the Pentagon said in October 2006 that it would resume mandatory vaccinations for more than 200,000 troops." - Christopher Lee, Washington Post (March 1, 2008)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/29/AR2008022903317_pf.html

The IDF secretly used elite combat soldiers as "guinea pigs" for experimental anthrax vaccines, according to an expose broadcast Wednesday night by the "Uvda" (Fact) documentary program. Presenter Ilana Dayan revealed how in 2000, the army decided to carry out anthrax antibody experiments ahead of independent manufacture in Israel. According to the report, hundreds of young recruits into Israel's elite combat units were offered the opportunity to partake in a top secret experiment codenamed "Omer 2". They were led to believe they were performing a national service of the utmost importance to the state.....Since 2000, the soldiers selected for the experiment underwent a series of seven inoculations, all carried out in top secret, without even the knowledge of their commanding officers. When various symptoms such as serious skin lesions and pneumonia began to appear, the soldiers did not relate them to the experiment and sought standard medical treatment provided by the military. Once soldiers began to suspect that there may be a connection between the vaccines and their symptoms, they contacted the secret unit in charge of the program and presented their case. The symptoms, it was explained to them, had absolutely nothing to do with the inoculations....Professor Tzvi Bentowitz, head of the research institute researching infectious diseases at Ben Gurion University, said, "The fact that this matter was shrouded in secrecy here while it created such an outcry in the US is astonishing, to say the least." The secret medical unit had also contacted the air force in an attempt to recruit pilots for the experiment, but air force officials refused, saying that possible side effects could interfere with pilots' performance. " - Ines Ehrlich, Israel News (May 17, 2007)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3401245,00.html
Also see Feb. 24, 2008 update at

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L- 3510509,00.html

* ►April 23, 2008 - Demented Arguments From Journalists - Silenced Witnesses via The One Click Group

* ►April 23, 2008 - The Great Beyond: Dear presidential candidates: you’re wrong - Nature.com blog

* ►April 23, 2008 - Debunking environmental causes of autism - Dr Michael Fitzpatrick (pictured) looks at the various theories that have been put forward for the rising number of autism cases and finds there is no epidemic - Communitycare.co.uk

* ►April 23, 2008 - Act Seeks To Get Accurate Count Of Autism Epidemic - While a federal study has compiled figures on the autism rate in America, officials are concerned that New York State was left out of the equation. In response to this issue, the Autism Identification and Education Act of 2008 recently was introduced by New York State Assemblyman Jim Conte (R-Huntington Station). - Suffolk Life Newspapers

* ►April 23, 2008 - Do The Amish Vaccinate? Indeed They Do, AND Their Autism Rates May be Lower - http://autism.about.com - "'The idea that the Amish do not vaccinate their children is untrue,' says Dr. Kevin Strauss, MD, a pediatrician at the CSC. 'We run a weekly vaccination clinic and it’s very busy.' He says Amish vaccinations rates are lower than the general population’s, but younger Amish are more likely to be vaccinated than older generations. Strauss also sees plenty of Amish children showing symptoms of autism. 'Autism isn’t a diagnosis - it’s a description of behavior. We see autistic behaviors along with seizure disorders or mental retardation or a genetic disorder, where the autism is part of a more complicated clinical spectrum.' Fragile X syndrome and Retts is also common among the clinic’s patients."

* ►April 23, 2008 - Nassau County NY First Municipality to Hold Vaccine Autism Hearings - Age of Autism - "How great would it be if CDC's vaccine/autism judgments were just rendered irrelevant in each local area because everyone just decided to look into it themselves rather than just handing off their rights and responsibilities to some corrupt federal bureaucracy that is in bed with the pharmaceutical companies? This ladies and gents is why I am a republican. Act locally people. Oh... and David Kirby has been invited."

* ►April 23, 2008 - This Child Doesn't Deserve Speech Therapy by Kim Stagliano - Age of Autism

* ►April 23, 2008 - Eye on Autism by Dan Olmsted - Age of Autism

* ►April 23, 2008 - An ABC7 Special -- "Autism Heroes" to Air Saturday, April 26th - Desperate Housewives and West Wing Star Gary Cole, Wife Teddi and Other Parents Speak Openly About Autism and Finding Hope - press release - The Help Group via Market Wire - "For more information about 'Autism Heroes,' please visit: www.abc7.com and www.autismheroes.org. All author royalties from sales of the book "Autism Heroes" are being donated to The Help Group in support of its autism efforts."

* ►April 23, 2008 - Neurofeedback May Help 'Retrain' Brainwaves In Children With Autism - University of Missouri via ScienceDaily

►April 23, 2008 - Could your child have autism? (requires registration) - Boston Globe

►April 23, 2008 - Vaccination Schmaccination - Gymno Blogspot

►April 23, 2008 - Student spreads word about autism - The Republican via www.masslive.com

►April 23, 2008 - Funding Autism Therapy May Slight Other Children - The Tampa Tribune

►April 23, 2008 - Autism campaigners urge PM to 'help the most vulnerable' during credit crunch - 24dash.com

►April 23, 2008 - Autism awareness at Maktab Duli - Borneo Bulletin

* ►April 23, 2008 - INTERVIEW-Vaccine bonds provide model for other aid projects - Reuters - "Alan Gillespie, chairman of the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm), told Reuters there was 'almost limitless' demand for highly-rated bonds like those his institution sells to help develop and distribute vaccines. His group has raised more than $1 billion in capital markets to immunise poor children against preventable diseases such as measles, meningitis, hepatitis, yellow fever, tetanus and polio."

* ►April 23, 2008 - The COSHAR Foundation Launches National Childhood Immunization Awareness Campaign During National Infant Immunization Week (April 19-26) - Protecting our Future: The COSHAR Foundation's Immunization Project aims to raise awareness of the importance of timely childhood vaccination, and increase vaccine compliance rates - press release - The COSHAR Foundation via PRNewswire - "As part of this campaign, The COSHAR Foundation will utilize its National Health Ministry Network (NHMN), which consists of more than 11,000 churches and 212 community organizations, to raise awareness of the importance of timely childhood vaccination, and to ultimately increase vaccine compliance rates among under-vaccinated children. The campaign will kick off during National Infant Immunization Week, and is a call-to-action that includes an initiative called 'Immunization Sundays,' which encourages parents and caregivers to ensure that children are receiving necessary vaccinations as recommended by their healthcare providers."

* ►April 23, 2008 - Childhood memories of preventable diseases highlight importance of current immunizations - Las Cruces Sun-News

* ►April 23, 2008 - Parents need to educate themselves before making vaccination decisions - Kawartha Media Group - "The research I have done before I decided not to vaccinate my kids taught me that it is easy to manipulate statistics to prove one's point of view. For that reason, I have discovered that numbers rarely do speak for themselves and that it is crucial to study them with care."
 
►April 23, 2008 - Maginley expresses pride at national immunisation record - Antigua Sun

►April 23, 2008 - Danbury among best in nation for childhood vaccines - Danbury News Times

►April 23, 2008 - State childhood vaccination rate third in nation - Connecticut’s Childhood Immunization Rating Brings Award from Feds - Norwalk Plus Magazine

►April 23, 2008 - Avoiding vaccine-preventable disease - Weatherford Democrat - "'People just need to do it,' Coker said. 'Protect your children. There is no sense in them suffering.'"

►April 23, 2008 - Shot in the arm for community - Galveston County Daily News

►April 23, 2008 - Vaccination rules take effect in June - Nevada Appeal

►April 23, 2008 - No Longer With I.R.S., Novitzky Joins F.D.A. (requires registration) - The New York Times

* ►April 23, 2008 - Genocea Biosciences Wins ''Best Vaccine Startup'' Award at World Vaccine Congress 2008 - Genocea awarded first ever Vaccine Industry Excellence Award - press release - Genocea Biosciences via Business Wire

* ►April 23, 2008 - Acambis wins smallpox vaccine from US - The Telegraph, UK - "Acambis chief executive Ian Garland said: 'It is highly satisfying to know that, following eight years' collaboration with the CDC to develop ACAM2000, this core part of the US Government's defence against smallpox has been secured by Acambis for the long term.'"

* ►April 23, 2008 - £213m smallpox deal for Cambridge firm - Cambridge Evening News - "The US wants a ready supply of the jabs in the event of a bio-terrorism attack and has already stock-piled sufficient quantities to vaccinate every US citizen, but the process needs to be on-going.  The Acambis plant, in Massachusetts, will turn out a minimum of nine million doses a year from year three to year 10 of the contract."

* ►April 23, 2008 - Aethlon Medical to Pursue US Government Biodefense Contract - press release - Aethlon Medical, Inc. via Business Wire - "Aethlon Medical is the developer of the Hemopurifier®, a first-in-class medical device designed to treat infectious disease. The Hemopurifier® provides real-time therapeutic filtration of infectious viruses and immunosuppressive particles, and is positioned to address the treatment of drug and vaccine resistant viruses."

* ►April 23, 2008 - GSK Exec: Our Cervical Cancer Vaccine Will Beat Merck’s - Wall Street Journal Health Blog

►April 23, 2008 - GlaxoSmithKline Q1 sales 5.686 billion pounds; vaccines and Advair up - Thomson Financial via Forbes - "Moving on to a recent recommendation by the French medicines assessment agency not to recommend Cervarix, the competitor to the Gardasil HPV vaccine, for reimbursement in France, Garnier said: 'It is not that they don't like the product, but they want to see more evidence of Cervarix's superiority over Gardasil.'"

►April 23, 2008 - Malaria vaccine developed - Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation

►April 23, 2008 - Discovery to Hasten New Malaria Treatments, Vaccines for Children - Florida State University via Newswise

* ►April 23, 2008 - Risk of depression dims hopes for anti-addiction pills - The Associated Press via Google

* ►April 23, 2008 - NS top public health officer defends handling of mumps outbreak - The Canadian Press via Google - "'At the outset of the outbreak, there was no evidence that health-care workers needed to be immunized. When it became apparent ... we were able to start that program within a fairly short period of time.' But Strang confirmed only 40 per cent of health workers took the opportunity to be immunized. Some employees couldn't find the time to get the shot, while others refused because of misunderstandings about the safety of the vaccine, he said."

* ►April 23, 2008 - Health officials quizzed over mumps response - CBC - "Nurses and other health workers were only offered vaccines 58 days into the mumps outbreak, but even that was of limited success, Strang said. 'Despite having a program, we still have only had roughly 40 per cent of health-care workers take advantage,' he told the standing committee on public accounts."

* ►April 23, 2008 - N.S. public health chief scolds health workers who don't get flu shots - The Halifax Chronicle Herald - "Dr. Strang stopped short of advocating mandatory immunizations, something no other province has. Rather, he said officials must do more to educate the workers about getting themselves immunized. Dr. Strang said the 50 per cent figure is an average, and noted most workers in long-term care facilities are immunized. The capital district health authority said that in the 2007-08 flu season, 34 per cent of employees got a flu shot, which protects against only certain strains of the virus."

* ►April 23, 2008 - The CDC's Deadly Mistakes Exposed by Infection Expert - www.newswithviews.com - "'The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consistently understate the size of the problem, and their lax guidelines give hospitals an excuse to do too little,' says Betsy McCaughey, Ph.D., Chairman of the national Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths.  How many hospital infections? 'The CDC claims that 1.7 million people contract infections in U.S. hospitals each year. The truth is many times that number. The proof is in the data,' explains McCaughey. 2.4% of all patients have MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) hospital infections. That means 880,000 victims a year from one superbug!"

* ►April 23, 2008 - Novartis, Aventis to resolve issues in London - Press Trust of India via Business Standard - "Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics Inc and Aventis Pharma today resolved to refer their differences and claims over marketing of anti-rabies vaccine in South Asia to arbitration in London."

* ►April 23, 2008 - Finding a breakthrough on bird flu - The Jakarta Post

* ►April 23, 2008 - Biothreats aren't new, but they are real and warrant study, says researcher - Standord News Service

* ►April 23, 2008 - How to Beat and Prevent the Avian Flu and Other Influenzas - Natural News

►April 23, 2008 - Flu campaign given shot in the arm - Comic actor Noeline Brown will to give a shot in the arm to the annual call for older Australians to be vaccinated against influenza. - Herald Sun, AU

►April 23, 2008 - What horses can tell us now about the coming human flu pandemic - Stored safely in a freezer at Cornell's James A. Baker Institute for Animal Health are samples of the virus thought to be most like the one public health experts expect someday to afflict record numbers of the world's population. The virus was collected in 1973 during an outbreak of equine influenza at a Florida racetrack. Dorothy Holmes, an infectious disease specialist in Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine, had obtained samples of the virus with the intention of using it to create nasal spray vaccines for horses. - PhysOrg.com

►April 23, 2008 - Indian state suffers second bird flu outbreak - AFP via Google

►April 23, 2008 - Fourteen die in hospital and care homes - icWales - "The National Public Health Service for Wales is understood to be investigating whether any of the people affected had received a flu jab."

►April 23, 2008 - Coroner to scrutinise boy's death - News.gov.hk - "He tested negative for influenza-A and B, parainfluenza, adenovirus and respiratory syncytial virus. The centre's staff visited have visited his school to offer health advice. So far no influenza outbreak has been reported in the school."

►April 23, 2008 - Georgia Student, 17, Dies From Rare Bacterial - A 17-year-old Georgia high school student died unexpectedly of meningococcal disease, a rare bacterial infection characterized by a sudden onset of fever, intense headache, nausea, vomiting, stiff neck and a rash, FOX 24 WGXA reported. - FOX News

* ►April 23, 2008 - Sudden infection kills Perry High School senior - Macon Telegraph - " "We took her to Perry Hospital and they did some tests on her and said she didn't have meningitis. We got back home around 6 a.m. Sunday. 'At 8:30 a.m. she was throwing up, screaming that she couldn't feel her leg, and we took her back to the hospital. There, she was turning purple, lost her ability to breathe, her heartbeat became irregular and then she died. It happened so very fast.' Brittany did not show any signs of being sick before Saturday, Kaitlyn added."

►April 23, 2008 - Fort Dodge Sees Outbreak of Fifth Disease - AP via WOI-TV

►April 23, 2008 - ‘Rock to Eradicate’: A Measles Fundraiser with an Edge - Red Cross volunteers host a night of music in support of the Measles Initiative - American Red Cross

►April 23, 2008 - FDL County Infant Tests Negative For Measles - CBS 5 WFRV Green Bay

►April 23, 2008 - Measles shot clinic Thursday - Tucson Citizen

►April 23, 2008 - Euro 2008: Swiss health authorities warn of measles risk - AFP via Google

►April 23, 2008 - A Goddess for Summer - Desicritics.org - "In Mumbai, a small community from Andhra Pradesh worships the Goddess Mariamman every summer, seeking protection from smallpox, chickenpox and all forms of disease. My housemaid is from Andhra Pradesh, so I went with her to see the annual Mariamman ceremony. Mum came along, of course, to find out what it was all about."

►April 23, 2008 - County mounts campaign to exterminate Lyme disease - Gazette.net

►April 23, 2008 - Sector Snap: Hepatitis C drugs in focus at conference - Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Idenix Pharmaceuticals hepatitis C drug studies in focus at conference - AP via CNNMoney

►April 23, 2008 - FDA approves Shire attention-deficit drug for adults - Philadelphia Business Journal

►April 23, 2008 - Policy on West Nile virus in the works - Panel's recommendation eyes education, standing water rules - The Coloradoan

►April 23, 2008 - Letter: Lab too dangerous - Topeka Capital Journal

►April 23, 2008 - Nanobacteria – Are They Alive? - Tiny particles called nanobacteria have intrigued researchers in many ways since their discovery 20 years ago, but perhaps the most controversial question they pose is whether or not they are alive. - PhysOrg.com

►April 23, 2008 - Scientists link master regulator of innate immunity to the hypoxic response - Science Centric

* ►April 23, 2008 - FDA bans certain cattle parts from all animal feed - Reuters - "The measure issued today finalizes a proposed rule opened for public comment in October 2005. It goes into effect on April 23, 2009."

* ►April 23, 2008 - Life Expectancy Worsening Or Stagnating For Large Segment Of U.S. Population - Harvard School of Public Health via ScienceDaily

►April 23, 2008 - Group renews mercury pollution complaints against Olin Corp. - AP via WREG-TV Memphis

►April 23, 2008 - Global fluoride and arsenic contamination of water mapped - Chemistry World via RSC.org

►April 23, 2008 - National Lighting Bureau Weighs in on Mercury in Compact Fluorescent (CFL) Lighting - Exchange Morning Post

* ►April 23, 2008 - Science & Medicine | Researchers Develop Breath-Monitoring Device To Monitor Treatment Adherence Among HIV-Positive People - www.kaisernetwork.org - "If patients do not press a button to signal that they have taken their medication after five minutes, the device begins to beep at an increasingly louder volume until the button is pressed, Melker said. He added that if the button is not pressed after a set amount of time, the device can contact treatment coordinators to indicate that patients did not follow their treatment regimens. The device also is programmed to record the results of a breath test that measures whether patients have taken their antiretrovirals."

►April 23, 2008 - Politics and Policy | U.S. Prisons Missing Opportunities To Provide HIV Testing, Education, Prevention, Panel Says - www.kaisernetwork.org

►April 23, 2008 - Global Challenges | Children's Center Aims To Promote Home-Based HIV Testing Among Youth in Botswana - www.kaisernetwork.org

►April 23, 2008 - HIV dentist 'hid illness' from patients - News Shopper, UK

►April 23, 2008 - Biovet’s move into animal vaccines may be a booster dose - The first product, a vaccine for foot and mouth disease (FMD), is currently under trial production but will enter the market this year - Livemint

►April 23, 2008 - No shortage of anti-rabies, anti-snake vaccines: Health Minister - Associated Press of Pakistan

►April 23, 2008 - Maps Point the Way to Fighting the Flu Virus - An international team of researchers has crafted software that illustrates interactions between immune systems and the flu strains trying to breach their defenses on a global scale - Scientific American

►April 23, 2008 - Indonesia says bird flu virus-sharing battle not about money - AP via PR-inside

►April 23, 2008 - How to Clip Bird Flu's Wings - The best way to beat bird flu and other zoonotic diseases is to keep humans and wildlife healthy - Scientific American

►April 23, 2008 - Monkey Exposed to Unknown Poxvirus - Live Science

►April 23, 2008 - Human Brain Appears 'Hard-wired' For Hierarchy - Human imaging studies have for the first time identified brain circuitry associated with social status, according to researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of the National Institutes of Health. They found that different brain areas are activated when a person moves up or down in a pecking order -- or simply views perceived social superiors or inferiors. Circuitry activated by important events responded to a potential change in hierarchical status as much as it did to winning money. - NIH/National Institute of Mental Health via ScienceDaily

►April 23, 2008 - Whither Avandia? Glaxo’s Profit Dives 14 Percent - Pharmalot

►April 23, 2008 - Clinical and prognostic analysis of hepatitis B virus infected diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (pdf) - journal article (BMC Cancer)

►April 23, 2008 - Bioterror art case dismissed (requires registration) - The Scientist

►April 23, 2008 - FDA Strengthens Safeguards for Consumers of Beef - FDA

►April 23, 2008 - Rapid Screening for MDR-TB - A molecular probe was 99% sensitive and specific for multidrug TB resistance, compared with standard drug-susceptibility testing; results were available in 1 to 2 days. - journal article (Journal Watch Infectious Diseases)

►April 23, 2008 - FDA Clears Glove Made from New Type of Latex - FDA News

►April 23, 2008 - Wyeth discounts Pristiq for big sales push - FiercePharma

►April 23, 2008 - More than 10,500 Novartis Associates Worldwide Take Part in Community Partnership Day - Novartis organizes annual Community Partnership Day to commemorate the company’s creation in 1996- More than 10,500 associates worldwide engage in volunteer activities in their communities - Novartis event emphasizes strong commitment to Corporate Citizenship - Novartis via CSRwire

►April 23, 2008 - How HIV kills - Trinidad & Tobago Express

►April 23, 2008 - Jury Awards $10.5 Million Over Accutane (free content) - The Wall Street Journal

►April 23, 2008 - No Clear RX for Disposing of Drugs - Local groups start take-back programs for unwanted medicines - San Francisco Chronicle

►April 23, 2008 - Wyeth’s Profit Slips as Generic Competition Rises (requires registration) - The New York Times

►April 23, 2008 - Novartis cuts cost of malaria drug Coartem by 20 percent price - AP via International Herald Tribune

►April 23, 2008 - Kuwait's Pharmaceutical Market to Reach a Value of Us$550.6mn by 2012 - Research and Markets via Business Wire via MarketWatch

►April 23, 2008 - Amended 'HIV' Act passed - New onus on personal responsibility, power of containment for ministry - Today Online MediaCorp Press

►April 23, 2008 - The Candida and Fungus Among Us - Natural News

►April 23, 2008 - The Market for Baby Food in the USA Increased Between 2001-2006, Growing at an Average Annual Rate of 1.8% - Datamonitor via Business Wire via PR-inside

* ►April 22, 2008 - Vaccine Injury Case Offers a Clue to the Causes of Autism - Could a group of disorders involving the "power plants of the cell" explain why some vaccinated children develop autism but the vast majority don't? - Scientific American - "In its November 2007 decision the vaccine court said that the inoculations Poling received in July 2000 worsened her underlying mitochondrial disorder (which was discovered nearly a year later) and led to brain disease that appeared as symptoms of autism. Theoretically, that makes sense: David Holtzman, a pediatric neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, notes that the brain is particularly dependent on the energy supplied by the mitochondria. "What's surprising and hard to specifically understand is why it's so characteristically affecting language function and social function," he adds. (In addition to symptoms of autism, Poling also reportedly had muscle weakness, difficulty with motor coordination, and a host of gastrointestinal problems.)"

* ►April 22, 2008 - Using formative evaluation in an implementation project to increase vaccination rates in high-risk veterans: QUERI Series (pdf) - journal article (Implementation Science)

* ►April 22, 2008 - Connecticut AG Wants To Ban Pharma Gifts - Pharmalot - "In formal testimony before the state’s Legislature yesterday, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal asked for help against influence wielded by drugmakers, Legal Newsline reports."

* ►April 22, 2008 - We Should Have Banned Bisphenol A Twenty Years Ago (blog) - Wired Science - "Over the last twenty years, scientists have built a mountain of evidence that Bisphenol A, the key ingredient in polycarbonate plastic, should scare the daylights out of us. It should have been banned a long time ago, as a precautionary measure, but regulators were asleep at the switch -- allowing the chemical industry to run roughshod over them."

* ►April 22, 2008 - Drug Money & Prescribing For Better Outcomes - Pharmalot

* ►April 22, 2008 - GAO To Slam FDA Over Foreign Inspections - Pharmalot

►April 22, 2008 - Washington state still lags behind nation in childhood immunization - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

►April 22, 2008 - No Deaths In Under 19's Last Year From Meningitis, UK - Department of Health via Medical News Today

►April 22, 2008 - Shining Light On The Brain's Activity - The microscopic structure of the human brain is almost incomprehensibly complicated, composed of trillions of interconnections between tens of billions of neurons. Understanding this circuitry, the aim of modern neuroscience, is a laudable goal for fundamental as well as neurological health care reasons. - Optical Society of America, via EurekAlert! via ScienceDaily

* ►April 22, 2008 - Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. sold to GlaxoSmithKline for $720 million - Boston Business Journal - "In short, the company wanted access to Sirtris' research on Sirtuins, a class of enzymes thought to be involved in the aging process. That research has led to Sirtris' formulation of reservatrol, an ani-aging chemical found naturally in red wine it wants to use to treat a rare genetic disorder."

* ►April 22, 2008 - Antipsychotic Drugs Linked to Pneumonia in Elderly - Mechanism unclear, but nursing home study says risk greatest week after meds begin - HealthDay News via U.S. News & World Report

►April 22, 2008 - World Bank to grant $1m to curb bird flu in Congo - The World Bank will grant Congo US$1 million to enhance its epidemiological watch in order to fund the action plan to curb bird flu, an official source said here on Tuesday. - afrik.com

* ►April 22, 2008 - Will Supremes Review University Patent Shields? - Pharmalot - "The US Supreme Court has asked the Solicitor General to comment on what is becoming a very closely watched case over sovereign immunity, which protects states - including state universities - from being sued for patent infringement in the federal court system. The concept is contentious, though, because state universities can sue others for patent infringement. In other words, they can have it both ways."

* ►April 22, 2008 - Judge orders Wyeth to pay plaintiffs' legal fees - Reno Gazette-Journal

►April 22, 2008 - FDA Says Genzyme Can’t Copy Its Own Biologic - Pharmalot

►April 22, 2008 - Social networking site aims to help fight malaria - news (Nature)

►April 22, 2008 - Old drugs best for home-grown pneumonia - Plain old penicillin combined with doxycycline or a macrolide will be effective in most cases of community-acquired pneumonia in Australia, despite the well-documented rise in antibiotic resistance, new research shows. - 6minutes.com, AU

►April 22, 2008 - Old Diseases Make News - journal article (Journal Watch)

* ►April 22, 2008 - What the Autism Studies Show Isn't Reflected in What the Candidates Say - The Washington Post

* ►April 22, 2008 - Nigeria: With All Hands On Deck, Autism Can Be Defeated - Dain - Vanguard (Lagos) via www.allafrica.com

►April 22, 2008 - US-Indonesian debates over bird flu samples involve NAMRU-2 - PRAVDA

►April 22, 2008 - Autism: A gift of hope, courage and inspiration (blog) - Reference Notes

►April 22, 2008 - Wyeth Goes for Bargain Price on Replacement for Effexor (requires registration or subscription) - The Wall Street Journal

►April 22, 2008 - Wyeth Needs A Good Anti-Depressant - Forbes - "Wyeth's profit fell in its first quarter as it cut workers to cope with generic competition."

►April 22, 2008 - Gut reactions - Analytical technique shows how metabolism varies between populations. - news (Nature)

►April 22, 2008 - Genzyme to plant R&D site in Beijing - Mass High Tech: The Journal of New England Technology

►April 22, 2008 - Health Of The World's Children Is Topic At International Meeting Of Pediatric Societies - American Academy of Pediatrics via Medical News Today

►April 22, 2008 - Acute Sore Throat: Antibiotics Should Normally Not Be Started Immediately -  European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases via Medical News Today

►April 22, 2008 - Bacterial Contamination Detected In Ultrasound Gels - European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases via Medical News Today

►April 22, 2008 - Toddler diet has lasting influence - Irish Health

►April 22, 2008 - No LOL: Doctors don't answer e-mails - AP via CNN

►April 22, 2008 - Inexact Copies: How Generics Differ From Brand Names (free content) - The Wall Street Journal

►April 22, 2008 - FDA Approves Cimzia to Treat Crohn's Disease - FDA

►April 22, 2008 - Probiotics strengthen immune system, claim naturopaths - 680News, Toronto

►April 22, 2008 - Senior drug benefit gets "mixed picture" review - Reuters via Yahoo!

►April 22, 2008 - Ron Oveson: Criminally ill - In my family, we don't break the law. But what should I do when marijuana does more to ease my disease than any other drug? - Minneapolis Star Tribune

►April 22, 2008 - Pregnancy hormone may protect MS patients - News-Democrat via www.bnd.com

►April 22, 2008 - Too sick to exercise? - The Detroit News

►April 22, 2008 - DFA offers cheese with antioxidants - Kansas Business Journal

* ►April 22, 2008 - Autistic boy taught others to see through differences - The News & Advance - "Cathy and Dylan’s father Craig believe an immunization Dylan received when he was 2 contributed to his condition. They said many other families across the country have faced similar situations and doctors are working on studies to prove or disprove a link between autism and immunizations."

►April 22, 2008 - Low Vitamin D Linked to PAD - The American Heart Association’s Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology Annual Conference via Ivanhoe

►April 22, 2008 - Genetic bias vote in Senate, finally (requires registration) - The Scientist

* ►April 22, 2008 - FDA feels the heat over heparin - video - Reuters Video via YouTube

* ►April 22, 2008 - FDA Chief Faces Wrath of Congress - Lawmakers Say Contaminated Blood Thinner Illuminates Problems With Drug Supply - ABC News

►April 22, 2008 - Five Lab Workers Exposed to Vaccinia in 2-Year Period (requires registration) - MMWR via Reuters Health via Medscape

* ►April 22, 2008 - Increase in Autism Due Only to Changes in Diagnosis - Researchers find more evidence that claims of a current "plague of autism" are greatly exaggerated - Medgaget via Popular Science

* ►April 22, 2008 - Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton join John McCain in pandering to antivaccinationists - Respectful Insolence via Science Blogs

►April 22, 2008 - School's new mission angers Utah parents - Changes at Woodland Hills harm students, they say; developer says education is main focus - Salt Lake Tribune

►April 22, 2008 - White House announces new reforms for No Child Left Behind - AP via Yahoo!

►April 22, 2008 - Folic Acid Can Prevent Premature Births - WXIA-TV 11Alive.com

►April 21, 2008 - Merck & Co., Inc. Q1 2008 Earnings Call Transcript - Seeking Alpha

* ►April 21, 2008 - How Much Progress Has There Been in Vaccinating Against Hib in the Americas? - Public Library of Science via Biocompare

* ►April 21, 2008 - Childhood vaccine rates rising — outbreaks show need for more coverage - Washington State Department of Health

* ►April 21, 2008 - US watchdog critical of FDA foreign drug oversight - Reuters

* ►April 21, 2008 - Kids Need EKGs Before ADHD Drugs - TIME Magazine

* ►April 21, 2008 - EPA whistleblower sues university (requires registration) - The Scientist

►April 21, 2008 - Oxidant/antioxidant status and vitamin A levels in children infected with varicella - journal article (Acta Paediatrica)

* ►April 21, 2008 - Warning Letter: Changzhou SPL Company, Ltd - FDA

* ►April 21, 2008 - Legal shield for Calif. researchers? (requires registration) - The Scientist

►April 21, 2008 - Cal scientist's malaria work nears reality - French firm developing low-cost treatment from bioengineer's research - Inside Bay Area

* ►April 21, 2008 - Low cortisol levels found in kids whose mothers show signs of depression - A new study of young children living in extreme poverty found that those whose mothers showed symptoms of depression had low levels of cortisol, a hormone activated during times of stress, compared with children whose mothers did not exhibit depressive symptoms. - UC Berkeley via Physorg

►April 21, 2008 - Be skeptical of products that boast an immunity boost - KOMO TV

►April 21, 2008 - Merck Searches for Goldilocks Biotech (free content) - The Wall Street Journal

►April 21, 2008 - Cancer Drugs May Kill Neural Stem Cells, Causing `Chemo Brain' - Bloomberg

* ►April 21, 2008 - GLUTATHIONE-The "Master Antioxidant" (blog) - www.disaboom.com

►April 21, 2008 - Merck and Novartis beat estimates in first quarter, Eli Lilly lags - Bloomberg News via International Herald Tribune

►April 21, 2008 - Drugs industry needs better dialogue (requires registration) - The Financial Times

►April 21, 2008 - Washington University and AstraZeneca collaborate in Alzheimer's research - Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis and AstraZeneca have announced a research collaboration that aims to develop new and improved ways to diagnose and treat Alzheimer's disease. - Pharmaceutical Business Review

►April 20, 2008 - Early Herceptin combo raises prospect of breast cancer cure - Pharma Times

►April 19, 2008 - Breast feeding - journal article (BMJ)

►April 19, 2008 - Iron deficiency in U.S. worries health experts - Honolulu Star Bulletin

►April 19, 2008 - More Measles Outbreaks - http://pediatrics.about.com

►April 18, 2008 - ImQuest reports positive results of anti-HIV drug candidates - ImQuest Life Sciences has presented new results on the development of their lead anti-HIV therapeutic development candidate, IQP-0410, and lead topical microbicide development candidate, IQP-0528. - Pharmaceutical Business Review

* ►April 17, 2008 - Auditory processing disorders in neurological patients and in patients with developmental disorders (full text) - journal article (Annals of General Psychiatry)

* ►April 17, 2008 - Fatty acids and neuropsychiatric disorders (full text) - journal article (BMC Psychiatry)

* ►April 17, 2008 - Fatty acids and oxidative stress in psychiatric disorders (full text) - journal article (BMC Psychiatry)

►April 17, 2008 - The use of artificial neural networks to study fatty acids in neuropsychiatric disorders (full text) - journal article (BMC Psychiatry)

* ►April 17, 2008 - Introduction to auditory processing disorder - the language ‘barrier’ (full text) - journal article (Annals of General Psychiatry)

* ►April 17, 2008 - Two classes of auditory processing disorder (APD) in children (full text) - journal article (Annals of General Psychiatry)

►April 17, 2008 - Depression in children and adolescents (full text) - journal article (Annals of General Psychiatry)

►April 17, 2008 - Bipolar affective disorders and temperaments (full text) - journal article (Annals of General Psychiatry)

►April 17, 2008 - Auditory processing in schizophrenia (full text) - journal article (Annals of General Psychiatry)

►April 16, 2008 - The value of clinical features in differentiating between viral, pneumococcal and atypical bacterial pneumonia in children - journal article (Acta Paediatrica)

►April 15, 2008 - Ritter signs bill creating commission on autism - Longmont Times-Call

►April 15, 2008 - Easter Seals Receives $1 Million Donation to Enhance Children's Autism Services - PPNOnline

►April 15, 2008 - Autism Speaks group raves about Cleveland's generosity - Event raises more than $250,000 for research - The News-Herald - "The celebratory night featuring a concert by Stephen Stills and Michael Stanley, live and silent auctions, and recognition of several honorees drew approximately 1,000 attendees and raised more than $250,000 for the cause. Stills' 11-year-old son, Henry, is affected by Asperger syndrome, a mild form of autism. Since his diagnosis, the rock legend and his wife, Kristen, have been consistent advocates."

* ►April 14, 2008 - The Atypical Antipsychotic War (blog) - PsychCentral

* ►April 12, 2008 - Oral tolerance, food allergy, and immunotherapy: Implications for future treatment. - journal article (The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology)

* ►April 9, 2008 - Neonatal adaptation of the immune system (full text) - journal article (Retrovirology) - "The neonatal period is particularly critical, both with regard to infections and priming for allergic disease. This is so because the mucosal barrier function and the immunoregulatory network are poorly developed for a variable period after birth, and successful neonatal immune adaptation to exogenous stimuli is crucial to health. Notably, immunological homeostasis depends on appropriate microbial colonization as well as adequate timing and dose of foreign food proteins when first introduced in the diet. Dendritic cells are decision makers in the immune system when they perform their antigen-presenting function, thus linking innate and adaptive immunity by sensing the exogenous impact (e.g. conserved microbial molecular patterns) on the mucosa. A balanced indigenous microbiota is required to drive the normal development of both mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue, the epithelial barrier with its secretory IgA system, and mucosally induced tolerance mechanisms such as the generation of regulatory T cells. Moreover, the properties of dendritic cells also appear to be influenced by dietary factors including vitamin A. Other dietary factors such as lipids, particularly the polyunsaturated n-3 fatty acids in fish oil, can likewise in several ways have a beneficial effect on the developing immunophenotype of the infant. The same is true for breast milk, which provides both immunoregulatory factors and secretory antibodies reinforcing the infant's mucosal barrier."

►April 9, 2008 - Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of persistent viral infections: pathogenesis and prevention (full text) - journal article (Retrovirology)

* ►April 9, 2008 - Determinants of maternal infection associated with virus infection of the fetus and newborn infant (full text) - journal article (Retrovirology)

* ►April 9, 2008 - Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) “in vitro” infection of human placental histocultures (full text) - journal article (Retrovirology)

►April 9, 2008 - Main infections in the children under 5 years old in developing countries: reports and perspectives (full text) - journal article (Retrovirology)

►April 9, 2008 - Mechanisms by which co-infections modify HIV-1 transmission (full text) - journal article (Retrovirology)

►April 9, 2008 - Bile-salt stimulated lipase in human milk binds DC-SIGN and inhibits HIV-1 transmission (full text) - journal article (Retrovirology)

►April 4, 2008 - Pediatrician zings Jenny McCarthy over vaccines and autism - Sciam Observations via Scientific American

►April 1, 2008 - A follow-up study of children hospitalised with community acquired pneumonia - journal article (Archives of Diseases in Childhood)

►April 2008 - The association between type 1 diabetes and the ITPR3 gene polymorphism due to linkage disequilibrium with HLA class II - journal article (Genes & Immunity)

* ►April 2008 - AAP Forum Calls for Media Blitz on Value of Vaccines - Pediatric News - "The recent decision from the government's vaccine court awarding damages to the family of a girl with a mitochondrial disorder who was diagnosed with features of autism spectrum disorder following vaccination has added to the drumbeat of concern among parents about a link between autism and vaccination, said Dr. Renee Jenkins, AAP president. “We're losing a little ground here,” she said in an interview."

* ►April 2008 - No Vaccine-Autism Link in Feds' Ruling - Pediatric News - "DR. PICHICHERO, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases, practices in Rochester, N.Y. He is also professor of microbiology, immunology, pediatrics, and medicine at the University of Rochester. You may write to Dr. Pichichero at [email protected]. I would like to clear up some of the confusion surrounding a recent federal government ruling that vaccines might have contributed to autismlike symptoms in a child with underlying mitochondrial disorder. The media have portrayed this as an acknowledgment of a link between vaccines and autism, and that simply isn't the case."

* ►April 2008 - Mandated Ill. Hep B Vaccination Tops 90% Goal - Pediatric News - "A 1997 state requirement that all children in Illinois receive the hepatitis B vaccine series in order to enter the fifth grade has not only raised the rate of vaccination to more than 90% in a group of Chicago-area high school students but also has narrowed the vaccination disparity between white students and black or Hispanic students, according to results of a retrospective cohort study."

* ►April 2008 - Longer Needle, Thigh Site Better for Fifth DTaP Vaccination - Pediatric News - "Dr. Lisa A. Jackson of the epidemiology department of the University of Washington, Seattle, and colleagues reported results from 1,315 pediatric patients (median age 54 months) in a study funded by Sanofi-Pasteur Inc. Most (1,174 patients) received the vaccination in the arm; 141 were injected in the thigh. Among those injected in the arm, there was a significantly greater proportion with any injection-site redness (76%) among the 381 on whom a 16-mm needle was used than there was among the 793 patients on whom the 25-mm needle was used (65%). Swelling was also significantly less common among patients injected in the arm with the longer versus the shorter needle (reported in 67% and 55%, respectively), as was pain (61% vs. 53%)."

* ►April 2008 - ACIP: Rabies Vaccine, IG Supplies Will Be ‘Less Than Ideal’ - Pediatric News - "There are currently two human rabies vaccines and two rabies immunoglobulins (IGs) on the U.S. market. The vaccines are the human diploid cell vaccine Imovax (Sanofi-Pasteur) and the purified chick embryo cell RabAvert (Novartis AG). The IG products are IG Imogam Rabies-HT (Sanofi-Pasteur) and HyperRAB S/D (Talecris Biotherapeutics)."

* ►April 2008 - FDA Approves Two-Dose Rotavirus Vaccine - Pediatric News

* ►April 2008 - Mass. Curtails Free Vaccines for Older Children - Pediatric News - "Massachusetts has been in the forefront of states that buy vaccines for children and then distribute them to physicians, and will spend about $40 million this year to buy pediatric vaccines, she said. But this year, the state has seen unprecedented demand for three vaccines—conjugate meningococcal vaccine (MCV4) (Menactra), tetanus-diphtheria acellular pertussis (Tdap; Adacel or Boostrix), and varicella vaccine (Varivax), Ms. Rheaume said. Therefore, there is only enough vaccine left to cover seventh-graders, the group that is routinely given the shots."

* ►April 2008 - Autism Is Not an Epidemic - Pediatric News - "Now that I have made the case against an epidemic in autism, let's consider some of the unlikely explanations for the increased prevalence of autism. It would be very difficult to argue that there is a genetic explanation for the apparent rise in prevalence. The threefold increase in California, for example, is simply too rapid a rise in a single decade to be attributable to genetics. Therefore, most of the focus has been on environmental exposures such as the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and the use of thimerosal as a preservative in other vaccines. The MMR vaccine has been carefully evaluated in more than one country and a causal link to autism cannot be made. Thimerosal also is an unlikely explanation. The Institute of Medicine evaluated both published and unpublished epidemiological studies in a 2004 report and found that the evidence did not support a link between the preservative and autism. In conclusion, implied in the perceived autism epidemic is an environmental cause. However, the environmental causes do not stand up to careful scrutiny and the “epidemic” can be otherwise explained."

* ►April 2008 - DTaP Vaccine Now Cleared for All Five Doses - Pediatric News - "Although there is no scientific reason to suspect that using different brand vaccines for a vaccine series in a child would be ineffective, “from a purist standpoint, if you can use the same vaccine for the whole series, you may argue that it may have some benefit,” added Dr. Frenck, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Infectious Diseases."

* ►April 2008 - Mental Health Screening Required in Massachusetts - Pediatric News - "MassHealth, Massachusetts' Medicaid program, has begun requiring primary care doctors and nurses to use a standardized behavioral health screening tool at every well-child visit for children under the age of 21."

* ►April 2008 - Communication Key to Cut Adverse Drug Events - Pediatric News

►April 2008 - Infection Control Begins With Shots, Clean Hands - Pediatric News

►April 2008 - Learning Disabilities: The Pediatrician's Role - Pediatric News - "The American Academy of Pediatrics continues to develop and refine guidelines and promote research into comprehensive, effective strategies for surveillance of developmental disorders throughout the continuum of infancy, childhood, and adolescence. The 2006 Council on Children with Disabilities policy statement and screening algorithm provide a structured approach to identifying developmental disorders in infants and young children. The algorithm includes comparisons of available surveillance tools and resources for coding for reimbursement of developmental surveillance activities (www.aap.org)."

►April 2008 - Calif. Pediatricians Seek Solutions to Primary Care Crisis: Providing a medical home is a key focus. - Pediatric News

►April 2008 - FDA Warns of Potential Fatalities From Misuse of Prescription Cough Product - Pediatric News

►April 2008 - Fever in Child Less Than 2 Years Old? Think UTI - Pediatric News

►April 2008 - Nondrug Therapies May Soothe Cold Symptoms - Pediatric News

►April 2008 - Saline Nasal Wash Relieves Cold Symptoms, Recurrence - Pediatric News

►April 2008 - Nondrug Intervention May Aid GERD Symptoms - Pediatric News

* ►November 24, 2007 - Hillary Clinton’s Plan to Help Children And Families Affected By Autism - press release - HilaryClinton.com

►Free On-Line Videos Available From Autism: A Medical Condition Conference Featuring Dr. Derrick MacFabe, Dr. Martha Herbert and Dr. Wendy Edwards - videos - Autism Canada
"The Self Centred Bug": Can Aquired Infection Influence Brain Function and Behaviour in Autism?
A Whole-Body Systems Approach To Autism
Autism Is Treatable!

* ►A Call to Arms - trailer - A Call to Arms, a film by Scott Miller, deals with the controversial issue of the US Military’s decision to mandate an anthrax vaccine.  President Clinton signed executive order 13139 which placed the blanket vaccine into practice.  The practice and effectiveness of the vaccine is called into question in this investigative documentary. - GI Film Festival