Posted November 23, 2008

* ►December 1, 2008 - The Year in Medicine 2008 - TIME Magazine

* ►December 1, 2008 - Autism: Debate Rages over a Rare Case - The Year in Medicine 2008 - TIME Magazine - "With her crimson curls and angelic face, little Hannah Poling, a 9-year-old girl with autism, hardly looks like a pioneer. But the Georgia native is the first to receive a mea culpa of sorts from federal health officials, who acknowledged that routinely recommended vaccines she received as a toddler might have contributed to her autism."

►December 2008 - Gene profiling of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis. - journal article (Current Rheumatoltoy Reports)

* ►November 24, 2008 - Vaccine delays favored by some - St. Petersburg Times via TampaBay.com - "Separating or delaying vaccines has become a fallback for parents who worry but don't want to take the drastic step of refusing to vaccinate. Pediatrician Bob Sears, son of the well-known authors of The Baby Book, has made his own mark by developing an 'alternate' schedule, spacing some vaccines out for weeks, others for years. 'I think there's not been enough safety research to really prove that the high number of vaccines we're giving is definitely safe,' Sears said. 'As a doctor, I felt that it was prudent that until we prove that giving so many shots together is safe, I've spread my shots out.'"

* ►November 24, 2008 - Vitamin A drive to be conducted in 11 cities - Indian Express - "According to an WHO estimate, of the 250 million children who suffer from Vitamin A deficiency globally, 14 million are from the state alone."

* ►November 24, 2008 - CDGK’s anti-polio drive begins today - 6,000 teams to administer drops to over 1.5m children - The News International, Pakistan

►November 24, 2008 - Anti-polio drive kicks off in Bajaur Agency from today - The News International, Pakistan - "KHAR: Agency Surgeon Dr Jehanzeb said here Sunday that the anti-polio drive would commence in the agency from Monday (today) to vaccinate about 100,000 children."

►November 24, 2008 - Neelam vows to wipe out polio from country - The Post
 
 ►November 24, 2008 - Patterns, valuations and the AIDS vaccine - Business Standard

►November 24, 2008 - Dubai to welcome US paediatric group - GulfNews

* ►November 24, 2008 - Behaviour disorder 'costing £1.5bn' - Ananova - "The NPC referred to Government statistics from 2006, which showed three in four under-18-year-olds suffering from mental health problems were not receiving the treatment they needed."

* ►November 24, 2008 - Getting Rid Of Mercury - Anticipating a national rule on mercury removal from coal flue gas, technology providers jockey for position - Chemical & Engineering News

* ►November 24, 2008 - Rooting Out Disability - Expressindia - "'If the Rubella vaccine is administered to a girl when she attains child-bearing age, the period of her pregnancy and delivery stage will be effectively covered. However, people are often under the misconception that the MMR (mumps, measles and rubella) vaccine given to a newborn insures the child against Rubella forever. Few know that revaccination is a must to prolong the effect of the vaccine,' said Mehta."

* ►November 24, 2008 - Cervical Cancer vaccine wins pharma “Nobel Prize” - press release - CSL Biotherapies via Scoop.co.nz

* ►November 23, 2008 - Cancer vaccine not necessarily a good thing - comment - Sunday Times, Ireland - "...I have hesitated in joining the protest on the HPV/Gardasil vaccine, although I recognise it is motivated by the best of intentions. Maybe witnessing my healthy four-month-old become severely disabled when inoculated with a vaccine makes me more cautious. On the one hand, I can appreciate the value of immunisation, on the other, I understand its risks. When assessing any vaccine policy, I look at the benefit and the risk. ... I think that a health programme of injecting all girls and young women with a risky vaccine should be subjected to further investigation and I have made a formal request to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) for a full scientific opinion on the HPV vaccine. - Kathy Sinnott, MEP for Ireland South"

* ►November 23, 2008 - Positive results for Gardasil trial in males - VaccineEthics.org

* ►November 23, 2008 - Vaccination rule lax at day care sites - Many children let in without the required proof (requires registration) - Atlanta Journal-Constitution - "To attend day care, depending on the child’s age, Georgia law may require vaccination against measles, mumps, rubella, polio, whooping cough, chickenpox, diphtheria, tetanus, hepatitis A and B, pneumococcal disease, and Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib). Exemptions are allowed for medical and religious reasons."

* ►November 23, 2008 - Vaccination: What the law says (requires registration) - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

* ►November 23, 2008 - CDC director faces ouster under new administration (requires registration) - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

* ►November 23, 2008 - Vaccines only work if they're taken - opinion - South Florida Sun-Sentinel - "Anyone concerned about the well-being of children should make sure any efforts to weaken the strong Florida childhood vaccination program be defeated. All concerned citizens should write their state legislators and the governor and ask them to prevent any efforts to place our children at risk by weakening childhood vaccination programs in Florida by needless changes to the law or administrative rules."

* ►November 23, 2008 - Mo. lab on front line of next germ scare - Columbia Daily Tribune via Belleville News Democrat - "Staying one step ahead of disease is the goal of the new $18 million Regional Biocontainment Laboratory at the University of Missouri. There, scientists will study diseases including the plague, anthrax and 'Q Fever' in a safe, contained environment."

* ►November 23, 2008 - Autism study spots behavior differences in 1-year-olds - The Press-Enterprise

* ►November 23, 2008 - Disabled but willing worker just needs a ride - Daily Record

* ►November 23, 2008 - UK Autism: Pre-Budget Report Appeal to Chancellor Darling - Blogger News Network - "Autism campaigners in the United Kingdom are appealing for an emergency package of help and support to help families with autism during the recession."

* ►November 23, 2008 - Kevin Conway, Attorney for Vaccine Claims on Autism One Radio - Age of Autism - "We will be having Attorney Kevin Conway as a guest on our Radio Show 'The Candy Store' on 'Autism One Radio' on Monday, November, 24th 2008 @ 10 a.m. EST."

►November 23, 2008 - Are Children with Autism on Earth for a Purpose? Your Thoughts Requested - Autism Blog via http://autism.about.com

►November 23, 2008 - Thanks to Els, others Autism gets its due - PGATour.com

►November 23, 2008 - Program helping adults with autism threatened by budget cuts - New Haven Register

►November 23, 2008 - The Grim Future for the Avalanche of Autistic Adults - Age of Autism

►November 23, 2008 - Debate rages over need for vaccines and autism controversy - St. Petersburg Times via TCPalm

►November 23, 2008 - Suze Orman on Autism One Radio - Age of Autism

* ►November 23, 2008 - Just a little jab, won't hurt - The Huffington Post - "I thought I might write to Professor Fraser and suggest that before he develops any more vaccines to prevent children dying horribly from particular diseases, he should first work on an anti-religion vaccine."..."Shouldn't be too hard to develop a vaccine. Religion, like influenza, does come in a few different varieties, but they share a lot of common features, and finding the common core of the virus and producing general immunity all over the world should be relatively straightforward. Once everyone was immunised then scientists could get back to developing vaccines and cures for other nasty diseases which have evolved in humans, knowing that they would no longer be rejected by sufferers of religiosity, their brains scrambled by irrational beliefs."

* ►November 23, 2008 - Researchers discover strategy for predicting the immunity of vaccines - Emory study reveals how a highly successful vaccine triggers robust immune responses - Emory University via EurekAlert! - "In the first study of its kind, researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University, have developed a multidisciplinary approach involving immunology, genomics and bioinformatics to predict the immunity of a vaccine without exposing individuals to infection. This approach addresses a long-standing challenge in the development of vaccines--that of only being able to determine immunity or effectiveness long after vaccination and, often, only after being exposed to infection."

* ►November 23, 2008 - War chiefs in denial over Gulf War Syndrome - Sunday Sun, UK - "Defence chiefs have been accused of backtracking after they rejected a major report into Gulf War Syndrome which says the condition does exist. According to the National Gulf Veterans and Families’ Association, NGVFA, the Ministry of Defence had refused to fund a study of its own, saying the US Research Advisory Committee findings would put an end to the controversy once and for all. But now that the report has concluded the condition is real and was caused by exposure to pesticides and nerve protection pills, the NGVFA says the MoD has changed its tune."

* ►November 23, 2008 - Some good came of a quiet man speaking up - Herald Tribune - "Tiedt, as a quiet medical research scientist who had never been in the military, entered the limelight nervously and soon got much the same treatment. He was portrayed as promoting a crackpot myth that misled veterans into thinking they had a service-related illnesses. But Tiedt, who now lives on a quiet cul de sac in northeast Sarasota, stuck to his guns. Perhaps the first mainstream American scientist to strongly disagree with the Pentagon on the existence of Gulf War Syndrome, he said on TV and to news reporters -- and later in Congressional testimony, more than a decade ago -- that the research all pointed the same way. Gulf War Syndrome was not only real, he said, but was almost certainly caused by a drug that soldiers were forced to take."

* ►November 23, 2008 - What about contaminants? - Environmental Health Sciences - "In theory, food labels are supposed to identify ingredients that have been identified as major allergens, mainly peanuts, milk, eggs and wheat.  Parents with kids that are allergic to these ingredients actually pay close attention:  "Millions of parents, teachers and baby-sitters scrutinize these labels to ensure that they are not giving children unsafe food."

►November 23, 2008 - Study of Ancient and Modern Plagues Finds Common Features - NIH via infoZine News

►November 23, 2008 - State declares emergency to buy TB isolation booths that sit unused - Officials say booths, which cost $180,000, will be put to good use at some point. - American-Statesman

►November 23, 2008 - Nature Medicine study shows Peregrine's bavituximab can cure lethal virus infections - PS-targeting antibodies may represent a new class of drugs with broad potential to treat viral infections - BioCom Partners via EurekAlert!

►November 23, 2008 - Care beyond cure - For millions of patients with terminal illnesses, pain is an everyday reality. But with only two per cent of India’s population under the palliative care cover, we need to put a professional health service system and a well-defined policy in place. It is imperative to use a multidisciplinary approach involving doctors, nurses, clinical social workers, psychologists, physiotherapists, dieticians and allied health personnel… - The Hindu

* ►November 23, 2008 - New program uses play to reach children with developmental disabilities - Observer Today

►November 23, 2008 - Inside-out cells offer target for antiviral drugs - University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas via Reuters

►November 23, 2008 - Melatonin may save eyesight in inflammatory disease - American Journal of Pathology via EurekAlert!

►November 23, 2008 - Bioengineered foods hold promise — in the future - For now, few benefits for consumers - The Washington Post via TwinCities.com

* ►November 23, 2008 - Nanosilver fad poses 'serious risk to health' - The Scotsman - "Nanosilver is the most widely used of the new particles because silver is naturally toxic to most living things, especially bacteria. Millions of the particles can be created from a gram of the metal – and collectively these have a much greater surface area with which to kill off bugs. The nano-material's anti-bacterial quality is exploited in a range of products, from medical bandages that prevent wounds from becoming infected to socks that stop feet from smelling and stain-resistant ties."

►November 23, 2008 - Viagra Could Be Banned By Anti-Doping Agency - Pharmalot

►November 23, 2008 - I wanna grow up to be ... - To achieve optimal development for your child, you must first understand the concept and this can help prevent potential problems. - The Star, Malaysia

►November 23, 2008 - Limits on coal-run plants proposed - Environmental panel weighs modifying exemption from N.C.'s emission standards. - Charlotte Observer

* ►November 23, 2008 - CDC checks ill passenger isolated on LAX-bound jet - The Desert Sun

* ►November 23, 2008 - Self (inflicted) defense can up risk / Balt. Examiner - Anthrax Vaccine -- posts by Meryl Nass, M.D.

* ►November 23, 2008 - Self (inflicted) defense can up risk - opinion - The Baltimore Examiner

►November 23, 2008 - Bristol men warned not to dismiss meningitis as flu - Evening Post

►November 23, 2008 - Woman Takes Polio Fight To Nigeria - WBBM 780 Chicago

* ►November 23, 2008 - NACO pulled up for substandard HIV kits in country - Press Trust of India - "Ten months after the World Bank published a report alleging rampant fraud and corruption in Indian healthcare projects including supply of sub-standard HIV testing kits, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has pulled up the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) in connection with the charges."

►November 23, 2008 - Ban chemical posing risks to kids from food containers - opinion - Detroit Free Press

* ►November 23, 2008 - Definition of 'SIDS' is unclear in inquiries - Fort Worth Star-Telegram

* ►November 23, 2008 - Maternal vitamin D may cut asthma risk in children - FoodConsumer.org

* ►November 23, 2008 - Unapproved Drugs - Lew Rockwell Blog

* ►November 23, 2008 - Medicaid shells out for never-reviewed drugs - AP via KVOA.com - "The Associated Press has found that Medicaid paid at least $200 million on more than 100 such medications since 2004. Dozens of deaths have been linked to them. The problem dates back to 1962, when the Food and Drug Administration was told to review all new drugs for effectiveness. Thousands of medications already on the market were also supposed to be evaluated, but some manufacturers claim their drugs were 'grandfathered' in under earlier laws -- or even under the 1962 bill."

* ►November 23, 2008 - New Strategy For Broad Spectrum Anti-viral Drugs Developed - Bavituximab, an anti-viral drug developed by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers, shows promise as a new strategy to fight viral diseases, including potential bioterrorism agents. - UT Southwestern Medical Center via ScienceDaily

►November 23, 2008 - When a diaper isn't just a diaper - Cincinnati Enquirer

* ►November 22, 2008 - Health Department Discusses Change In Pet Vaccination Law - The Morning News - "Arkansas and Alabama are the only states that still require annual rabies vaccinations for dogs and cats, but that could change in the 2009 session. ... Kris Christine, co-founder of Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust, recent sent letters to each of the state’s 135 legislators and to Gov. Mike Beebe and Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel urging them to support extending the vaccination requirement to three years. 'Redundant annual rabies shots needlessly expose dogs and cats to the risk of adverse effects while obligating residents to pay unnecessary veterinary medical bills,' wrote Christine, who lives in Alna, Maine."

►November 22, 2008 - HPV vaccine rollout extended - Otago Daily Times

* ►November 22, 2008 - Chicken pox outbreak quiets school - HeraldNet - "At times Friday the school was busy with parents dropping off students who got a vaccination in the morning or were bringing in records of their child's vaccinations. Other students who didn't have vaccinations or proper records were picked up."

* ►November 22, 2008 - River pollutants run through it - NewsVirginian.com - "“Mercury in fish remained elevated in the entire system below the DuPont footbridge,” the report said. “The levels are highest in the South River and lower in the South Fork Shenandoah River below the confluence with [the] North River.” Methyl mercury makes up about 90 percent of all mercury in the South River. Advisories are issued when fish are found at 0.5 parts per million. DEQ lowered that level from 1.0 ppm that was in effect until 2001."

►November 22, 2008 - Climate Change May Boost Exposures To Harmful Pollutants - A review of studies projecting the impact of climate change on air quality, including effects on morbidity and mortality, indicates that adverse health effects will likely rise with changes in pollutant creation, transport, dispersion, and deposition. However, reducing greenhouse gas emissions could go far in mitigating adverse effects. - Environmental Health Perspectives, via Newswise via ScienceDaily

►November 22, 2008 - Flint-area households kicking the chemicals; medical experts mixed on effectiveness - The Flint Journal

►November 22, 2008 - Rich countries launch great land grab to safeguard food supply - States and companies target developing nations - Small farmers at risk from industrial-scale deals The Guardian, UK

* ►November 21, 2008 - Children at risk in food roulette - Mislabeling, lax oversight threaten people with allergies Search our database of recalled food - Chicago Tribune - "American children with food allergies are suffering life-threatening--and completely avoidable--reactions because manufacturers mislabel their products and regulators fail to police store shelves, a Tribune investigation has found. In effect, children are used as guinea pigs, with the government and industry often taking steps to properly label a product only after a child has been harmed. The Tribune investigation revealed that the government rarely inspects food to find problems and doesn't punish companies that repeatedly violate labeling laws."

* ►November 21, 2008 - County coroner investigating children’s deaths - Opelika-Auburn News - "Based on medical research, myocarditis is very rare in children and according to Alabama Dept. of Public Health statistics; there have been no deaths in Lee County in the years 2004 through 2006 with myocarditis being the primary cause of death in any age. We hope and pray that we will find the answers that we seek concerning these tragic deaths of children at such a young age. We are not hiding or trying to avoid releasing any information concerning these deaths. However, the families of these girls will be informed first and foremost as we get answers and the public will be informed accordingly and timely as we receive information"

* ►November 21, 2008 - Taking Research in Children to a New Level CE (requires registration) - Medscape Pediatrics

* ►November 21, 2008 - Taking the lead - In the absence of leadership from the FDA, Congress should initiate action to ban bisphenol A from products intended for young children. - Journal Sentinel

►November 21, 2008 - Fluoride decision deferred - Burlington Post - "Fluoride will remain in Halton’s water supply for the time being after regional council deferred making a decision on the controversial issue. Much to the disappointment of an audience armed with speeches either for or against fluoridation, council decided Wednesday to put the matter off — likely until sometime next year — to give councillors time to digest the mass volumes of information the region has received so far on both sides of the issue."

►November 21, 2008 - Fall babies: Born to wheeze? - New evidence links birth season to asthma development - American Thoracic Society via EurekAlert!

►November 21, 2008 - Pollution at home lurks unrecognized, instead attributed to large-scale environmental disasters - American Sociological Association via EurekAlert!

►November 21, 2008 - New Longevity Drugs Poised to Tackle Diseases of Aging (includes video) - Wired Science

* ►November 21, 2008 - New Cause Of Fatal Brain Injury From Acute Viral Meningitis - What was once thought to be the culprit responsible for fatal brain damage in acute viral meningitis has now been found to be only an accomplice, say researchers at the Scripps Research Institute. - Scripps Research Institute, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS via ScienceDaily - "'This is a paradigm shift in how we think about some forms of meningitis and possibly other infections,' says the study's lead investigator, Dorian B. McGavern, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Immunology at Scripps Research. 'What we thought were the killers are actually immune cells that recruit other accessory cells that then drive the disease. If we can find ways to block recruitment of the cells that actually do the damage into the brain, we may be able to limit the impact of the virus.'"

►November 21, 2008 - Coroner: Virus Likely Killed PA Teen (includes video) - WFMZ-TV Online

►November 21, 2008 - GSK to acquire AZ non-prescription drugs - Hays Pharma - "GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has reached an agreement with AstraZeneca (AZ) to acquire several of its over-the-counter medicines."

►November 21, 2008 - Tibotec begins hepatitis C patient enrolment - Hays Pharma

►November 20, 2008 - CDC lauds Indiana County's disaster preparedness efforts - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - "Recently, they distributed free flu vaccines to 1,135 people over a three-hour period at three sites in the county to test how they would get medication to people in the event of a disaster."

►November 20, 2008 - China to Reform Milk Industry Within a Year - Wall Street Journal

►November 20, 2008 - Children receive FluMist immunizations - Pisgah Mountain News 

►November 20, 2008 - Will, participation could eradicate polio, expert says - The Coloradoan

* ►November 20, 2008 - UK charity promotes safe injections - Times of India - "They have dug out a 2004 study conducted on behalf of the ministry of health and family welfare, which showed that an estimated 2.9 to 5.8 injections were administered per person per year. Of these, 62.9% of the injections were unsafe."

* ►November 20, 2008 - EpiPens emerge as life-saving kid accessory - Growing number of allergies has led to 36 percent jump in prescriptions - msnbc.com

* ►November 20, 2008 - Is Your Fish Oil Polluted? - Science News - "One surprise: Many companies that had labeled their supplements as being certified free of dioxins or methyl mercury actually turned up positive for those toxic contaminants. So they were still higher — more tainted — than the really clean supplements. Companies get away with advertising their fish-oil capsules as being free of these pollutants, Covaci explained to me, because pollutant values in them fall below concentrations allowed under European Union food-safety regs."

►November 20, 2008 - Stopping germs from ganging up on humans - University of Arizona via EurekAlert!

►November 20, 2008 - Common cold virus came from birds - Society for General Microbiology - Society for General Microbiology via EurekAlert!

►November 20, 2008 - JCI table of contents: - Preventing tumor cells from refueling: a new anticancer approach? - Journal of Clinical Investigation via EurekAlert!

* ►November 21, 2008 - Measles Vaccination: New Strategies and Formulations (requires registration) (full text) - Expert Review of Vaccines via Medscape Pediatrics

►November 19, 2008 - Borrelia carolinensis sp.nov. - a new (14th) member of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex from the southeastern United States - journal article (Journal of Clinical Microbiology)

►November 19, 2008 - Cytokine profiling of chemical allergens in mice: impact of mitogen on selectivity of response. - journal article (Journal of Applied Toxicology)

►November 19, 2008 - Antidepressants Aren’t for Fish - Science News

* ►November 19, 2008 - Where lives are cheap - As the UK and US dither over the cervical cancer vaccine, thousands die in places it's needed most - Comment is free via The Guardian, UK - "In the US, websites have started up and the anti-vaccine rumour machine has been grinding away for a while now."

►November 19, 2008 - Health: Almost everybody needs a flu shot in the arm - Health officials say the more people who are immunized against influenza, the healthier we will all be - Niagara Gazette

►November 19, 2008 - Working in health care can be risky, study hints - American Journal of Industrial Medicine via Reuters

* ►November 18, 2008 - Study shows antibiotics disrupt gut - Canadian Press via HealthZone.ca

►November 18, 2008 - Tainted meats point to superbug C. diff in food - Study finds gut germ in 40 percent of grocery meats; CDC says not to worry - University of Arizona via msnbc.com

* ►November 18, 2008 - Study puts a total on diabetes cost: $218 billion - AP via Yahoo!

►November 18, 2008 - Nontoxic nanoparticle can deliver and track drugs - Penn State via EurekAlert!

►November 18, 2008 - Rutgers Researcher’s Study Cites Media Violence as ‘Critical Risk Factor’ for Aggression - Paul Boxer’s large-scale study shows conclusive link between media violence and real violence in adolescents. - Journal of Youth and Adolescence via Rutgers

►November 17, 2008 - How should we assess new anti-malarial drugs? - Public Library of Science via EurekAlert!

►November 17, 2008 - Gut check reveals vast multicultural community of bugs in bowels - Stanford University Medical Center via EurekAlert!

* ►November 17, 2008 - Combined analysis of prenatal (maternal hair and blood) and neonatal (infant hair, cord blood and meconium) matrices to detect fetal exposure to environmental pesticides. - journal article via (Environmental Research)

* ►November 17, 2008 - Study helps clarify role of vitamin D in cancer therapy - Rockefeller University Press via EurekAlert!

►November 17, 2008 - The Wrong Place to Be Chronically Ill (requires registration) - The New York Times

►November 16, 2008 - W. Virginia town shrugs at poorest health ranking - AP via Yahoo!

►November 16, 2008 - Burlington, Vt., is healthiest city, CDC says - AP via Yahoo!

* ►November 15, 2008 - BPA leaches from 'safe' products - Tests find chemical after normal heating of 'microwave safe' plastics - Journal Sentinel

* ►November 13, 2008 - Combined Glycoconjugate Vaccine Can Be Used to Boost Protection in Toddlers - Archives of Disease in Childhood via Reuters Health - "Administration of the conjugate Hib-MenC-TT vaccine (Haemophilus influenza type b and Neisseriae meningitidis serogroup C and tetanus toxoid) as a booster dose at 12 to 15 months of age results in robust protection against Hib and MenC regardless of which type of Hib/MenC vaccines were administered in infancy, according to findings published in the November issue of the Archives of Disease in Childhood."

* ►November 13, 2008 - Shaken baby syndrome: Does it exist? - journal article (Medical Hypothesis)

* ►November 12, 2008 - Clinical trials validate the severity of persistent Lyme disease symptoms. - journal article (Medical Hypothesis)

* ►October 2008 - Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Influenza and Pneumococcal Immunization Rates among Medicare Beneficiaries (pdf) - AARP Public Institute

►July 2008 - Hepatitis B immunisation in persons not previously exposed to hepatitis B or with unknown exposure status - journal article (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews) - "In people not previously exposed to hepatitis B, vaccination has unclear effect on the risk of developing infection, as compared to no vaccination. The risk of lacking protective antibody levels as well as serious and non-serious adverse events appear comparable among recipients and non-recipients of hepatitis B vaccine."

* ►December 15, 2008 - New Generation of Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccines for Universal Immunization after Eradication of Poliomyelitis - journal article (Clinical Infectious Diseases)

* ►December 15, 2008 - HIV Seroconversion without Infection after Receipt of Adenovirus-Vectored HIV Type 1 Vaccine - journal article (Clinical Infectious Diseases)

* ►December 15, 2008 - Neutrophils May Be a Vehicle for Viral Replication and Dissemination in Human H5N1 Avian Influenza - journal article (Clinical Infectious Diseases)

* ►December 15, 2008 - Parvovirus B19 Infection in Fetal Deaths - journal article (Clinical Infectious Diseases)

►December 15, 2008 - Severe Encephalomyelitis in an Immunocompetent Adult with Chromosomally Integrated Human Herpesvirus 6 and Clinical Response to Treatment with Foscarnet plus Ganciclovir (full text) - journal article (Clinical Infectious Diseases)

►December 15, 2008 - Predicting the Need for Mechanical Ventilation and/or Inotropic Support for Young Adults Admitted to the Hospital with Community-Acquired Pneumonia - journal article (Clinical Infectious Diseases)

►November 23, 2008 - ' India has to work on its patent laws' - Business Standard

* ►November 23, 2008 - Doctors “firing’ Patients - Exploring Vaccines

* ►November 23, 2008 - New administration could mean new CDC chief (requires registration) - Atlanta Journal-Constitution - "Dr. Julie Gerberding’s controversial tenure as director of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could end as early as January, as a new Obama administration puts its stamp on federal agencies, several public health experts said."

* ►November 23, 2008 - Charlotte has bounced back - As Charlotte Cleverley-Bishman moves nimbly about her Waiheke Island home, it is almost like she is dancing. - Sunday Star Times via Stuff.co.nz - "In 2004, 'Baby Charlotte' became the face of meningicoccal B. Just a month before the government launched a $200 million national vaccination campaign to fight the meningitis epidemic, Charlotte became perilously ill with the disease, enduring repeated operations to remove dying tissue to save her life."

* ►November 23, 2008 - Largo 3-year-old battles bacterial meningitis - St. Petersburg Times via Tampabay.com - "Kaeci received the standard vaccines against bacterial meningitis, but on occasion, an outside strain breaks through, the doctor said. Bacterial meningitis can be easily overlooked because the symptoms are much like the flu. 'Once your child is not acting normal, for example, if a 3-year-old complains of a headache or neck ache, that is when it is cause for alarm,' Stock said."

►November 23, 2008 - Minister confirms 40 polio cases in NWFP - Three-day vaccination drive from tomorrow - The News International, Pakistan

►November 23, 2008 - Books: When autism is made too easy - Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine and the Search for a Cure by Paul Offit, MD - Washington Times

►November 23, 2008 - Cow anthrax case triggers controversy among officials over procedures validity - The Jordan Times

* ►November 23, 2008 - Adults Need Vaccines, Medical Societies Urge - The American College of Physicians (ACP) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) have released a joint statement on the importance of adult vaccination against an increasing number of vaccine-preventable diseases. The statement has been endorsed by 17 other medical societies representing a range of practice areas. - American College of Physicians via ScienceDaily

* ►November 22, 2008 - Merck, Glaxo Vaccines May Be Recommended by WHO for Global Use - Bloomberg - "Rotateq, produced by Whitehouse Station, New Jersey-based Merck and Rotarix, sold by London-based Glaxo, had combined sales of $707 million last year. Results of trials gauging the efficacy of the vaccines in developing countries may be completed as early as next year, WHO said."

* ►November 22, 2008 - Prizes offered to teens for immunizations - The Charleston Gazette - "Teenagers don't always keep their shots up to date. So the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department is offering prizes - iPod Touches, Dell laptops and $50 Visa gift cards - for kids and young adults who enter a drawing after they've had a recommended round of immunizations."

* ►November 22, 2008 - President-elect must address vaccines, autism link - guest opinion - Galesburg Register-Mail

* ►November 22, 2008 - Parents of autistic boy sue - School District could face another legal battle - WIVB.com

* ►November 22, 2008 - Journal roundup: Assessing parental doubts; Cost-effectiveness models in vaccine policy-making - VaccineEthics.org

* ►November 22, 2008 - St. Pete Times story reviews vaccine-autism debate - VaccineEthics.org

* ►November 22, 2008 - The GMC MMR Vaccine Trial - Where Is Dr Richard Horton? - The One Click Group - "Read Martin Walker's latest article The Big Question covering events at the GMC from 10th to 14th November."

* ►November 22, 2008 - Autism United Sponsors Meeting for NY Autism Legislation - Age of Autism - "On Saturday, December 6, 2008 Autism United is sponsoring a meeting to develop a state-wide agenda for the 2009 legislative session. The meeting will be held at the Albany Clarion Hotel, 3 Watervliet Avenue Extension, Albany, New York, 12206 from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM."

* ►November 22, 2008 - Researchers attempt to solve the mystery of autism - Contra Costa Times via Inside Bay Area - "The quest for answers is urgent, said Rick Rollens, a co-founder of the M.I.N.D. Institute who has an autistic son. Rollens works with an association of regional centers that provide services to autistic children. 'They're telling me that the numbers of new kids is continuing to increase dramatically, particularly the zero to 3-year-old kids,' he said. 'It's critically important to be looking at all factors that could be contributing to this.'"

►November 22, 2008 - Legislature should take action on autism bill - Enid News & Eagle

►November 22, 2008 - An Adult with Autism Makes a Case for Moderation in the Autism Wars - Autism Blog via http://autism.about.com

►November 22, 2008 - Political Trial In London - The One Click Group

►November 22, 2008 - Anthrax Vaccine Promotes Gulf War Syndrome - The One Click Group

►November 22, 2008 - Charity Patron Countess Of Mar Joins CFS Psychiatric Lobby - The One Click Group

* ►November 22, 2008 - Tests of Vaccine Against Cocaine Addiction to Begin in Spain - Latin American Herald Tribune

* ►November 22, 2008 - Malaria vaccine trials start in Siaya next year - Daily Nation, Kenya - "The vaccine is believed to offer 50 per cent protection against malaria and anaemia, according to observations made by researchers conducting trials on 2,022 children between one and four years in Mozambique."

►November 22, 2008 - Brother's Brother Foundation lauded for efficiency - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - "When the organization was founded, it was strictly volunteer with a focus on immunizing people against polio, measles, tetanus and smallpox."

►November 22, 2008 - First flu cases reported in Rockland, vaccine still available - Journal News via lohud.com

►November 22, 2008 - Hospital to offer free flu shots during toy drive - Katy Times

►November 22, 2008 - Hand-washing is best way to keep colds, flu at bay - HealthDay via Houma Courier

►November 22, 2008 - 5.5708 million children to be vaccinated against polio in NWFP - Associated Press of Pakistan

* ►November 22, 2008 - Class-action lawsuit launched over reused syringes - Canwest News Service via Canada.com - "A law firm has filed a class-action lawsuit against Ottawa and the Alberta and Saskatchewan governments over the reuse of syringes by health services in Western Canada."

►November 22, 2008 - Mercury Tarnishes Louisiana Fish - By day a mild-mannered micropaleontologist with an interest in sea levels and ancient sediment, in his free time Barry Kohl acts as a “catalyst” to bring nongovernmental organizations, industry and state agencies together in the fight to remove mercury from the environment. - Tulane University, via Newswise via ScienceDaily

* ►November 22, 2008 - Alabama plant worst in US for mercury - AP via Montgomery Advertiser

►November 22, 2008 - Shock as girl, 18, dies at University of Northampton - A first-year student at The University of Northampton has died on campus. - Northhampton Chronicle

►November 22, 2008 - Fact or Fiction? “Building” Your Child’s Immunity Through Illness - Rational Moms Blog

* ►November 22, 2008 - Missouri, Kansas rank among ‘dirty dozen’ states with coal-powered plants - The Kansas City Star

►November 22, 2008 - Asthma and Allergy Epidemic - CultureKitchen Blog

* ►November 21, 2008 - Worst Practice? Senate Probes NPR Host’s Firm - Pharmalot

►November 21, 2008 - Parents: Watch for anxiety disorders in children - The Salem News

* ►November 21, 2008 - Will A Big Pharma Pusher Come To The Big Screen? - Pharmalot

►November 21, 2008 - One third of diagnoses of asthma in Canada are wrong, study finds - journal article (BMJ)

►November 21, 2008 - International protocols are needed to boost public confidence in universal HIV testing - journal article (BMJ)

►November 21, 2008 - More staff training needed to promote breast feeding when babies leave neonatal care - journal article (BMJ)

►November 21, 2008 - Hutchison China, Eli Lilly expand drug deal - Reuters via Hemscott

* ►November 21, 2008 - Blinded by the Science: Research Advisory Committee Report Includes Data from 9 Studies of Anthrax Vaccine and Gulf Illnesses - Anthrax Vaccine -- posts by Meryl Nass, M.D.

* ►November 21, 2008 - Offit: "Vaccines are Safer than Vitamins". - Adventures in Autism

* ►November 21, 2008 - How Safe is Gardasil the HPV ‘Hot Shot’? - MedIndia

►November 21, 2008 - Nigeria: NPHCDA to Immunise 25 Million Children Against Measles - Daily Independent via AllAfrica.com

►November 21, 2008 - 0.7m left without polio vaccination - The Post

►November 21, 2008 - Doctors Warned to Keep an Eye Out for Meningitis - Vaccines against the terrible disease are in short supplies - SoftPedia

►November 21, 2008 - Whooping cough cases on the rise - Outbreaks across nation have local officials on the alert. - News-Sentinel 

* ►November 21, 2008 - Illinois passes autism coverage bill - Business Insurance - "The National Federation of Independent Business opposed the measure, saying the coverage mandate would make group insurance more expensive for small and midsize businesses operating in the state."

►November 21, 2008 - Autism's star emphasizes value of work - Columbus Dispatch

►November 21, 2008 - Autism support group marks anniversary - Mt. Vernon Register-News

►November 21, 2008 - St. Lucie County School District report questions teacher's judgment in autism case - TCPalm

►November 21, 2008 - Autism doesn't stop MP's son - AsiaOne

►November 21, 2008 - Ousting autistic Scout seems hasty - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

►November 21, 2008 - Lyme disease: the chameleon among infections - A host of symptoms including skin rash, joint symptoms, "sciatica" and other painful conditions make Lyme disease, a tick-born disease caused by spirochetes of the genus Borrelia, the chameleon among the infectious diseases. - Ärzte Zeitung

►November 21, 2008 - Pandemic preparedness exercise held in Virginia - SmartBrief

►November 21, 2008 - Russian woman faces jail over anthrax-infected meat - RIA Novosti

►November 21, 2008 - Dr. Block's license put on indefinite probation, can continue practice - Laurinburg Exchange

►November 21, 2008 - GlaxoSmithKline, Neptunus to form JV for co-development of flu vaccines in China, Hong Kong and Macau - Quick Facts - RTTNews

* ►November 21, 2008 - Arrowhead Publishers Releases New Report Analyzing the Global Cancer Therapy Market - A New report from Arrowhead Publishers entitled Cancer Therapeutics: Market Insight and R&D Pipeline Analysis (http://www.arrowheadpublishers.com/reports/oncology/cancer-therapeutics-2008/) provides valuable insight into the global market for cancer therapies and developmental-stage therapies. - press release - Arrowhead Publishers and Conferences via PR.com - "The overall economic cost of cancer is staggering. The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates overall costs of cancer in the U.S. in 2006 at $206.3 billion with $78.2 billion in direct medical costs. Further, the WHO predicts that global cases of cancer will rise to 15 million new cases by 2020, an increase of 50% over 2005’s rate."

►November 21, 2008 -  Transgene: Transgene's TG1042 meets primary end point in step one of cutaneous B-cell lymphoma PHase II trial - EasyBourse

* ►November 21, 2008 - Kentucky plans own rules on mercury emissions - Louisville Courier-Journal

* ►November 20, 2008 - IDRI and Immune Design Corp. Enter License Agreement on GLA Vaccine Adjuvant - press release - IDRI (Infectious Disease Research Institute) and Immune Design Corp. via PRNewswire via COMTEX via MarketWatch

►November 20, 2008 - Canada Celebrates UN Universal Children's Day - press release - Canadian International Development Agency via Market Wire via COMTEX via MarketWatch - "'Canada's Polio Eradication Signature Project is making it possible to see the immunization of an estimated seven million children,' said Minister Oda."

►November 20, 2008 - Polio survivor shares her childhood - Independent Collegian

►November 20, 2008 - Law Will Require Insurers To Cover Autism Therapy (includes video) - cbs2chicago.com

►November 20, 2008 - FDA rejects efficacy of Targanta’s antibiotic - Mass High Tech

►November 20, 2008 - Miners in South America warned of mercury dangers - AP via Google

►November 20, 2008 - Power plants to track mercury - State commission approves monitoring rules to control emissions - The Denver Post

* ►November 20, 2008 - Importance of Influenza Vaccination for Health Care Personnel en Español - FDA/CBER

►November 20, 2008 - European healthcare systems are useful models for US healthcare reform, congressional briefing told - journal article (BMJ)

►November 20, 2008 - New approach is needed to reinvigorate practice based commissioning - journal article (BMJ)

►November 20, 2008 - Fairness of financial penalties to improve control of Clostridium difficile - journal article (BMJ)

►November 20, 2008 - Pfizer and others still chasing obesity drugs - Reuters via Yahoo!

►November 19, 2008 - Medicine and the Media Who’s watching the watchdogs? - journal article (BMJ)

* ►November 19, 2008 - Raising the bar on mental health care: Counselor believes mental health is all in the family - The Peninsula Gateway - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX via Quote.com

* ►November 19, 2008 - Infant Screening - FOX23News.com

* ►November 19, 2008 - How mad are we? - journal article (BMJ)

►November 19, 2008 - Importing CBER - Regulated Products into the United States - FDA/CBER

►November 19, 2008 - Novartis could cut drug development by a year - Reuters

►November 19, 2008 - Chlamydia was most often reported infection in Europe in 2006, new data show - journal article (BMJ)

►November 19, 2008 - Pharmacometrics at FDA - FDA/CDER

►November 19, 2008 - Arab conference warns of increasing health problems associated with air pollution - journal article (BMJ)

►November 19, 2008 - Helpful tips: Which vaccinations does your dog really need? - Detroit Free Press

►November 19, 2008 - Greater safety checks for cosmetic treatments urged - Greater safety checks for 'skin filler' cosmetic treatments has been urged following reports of facial paralysis, disfigurement and severe allergic reactions, it has been disclosed. - The Telegraph, UK

►November 19, 2008 - Cigarette Smoking, Hepatitis C Virus Synergistic in Raising Liver Cancer Risk - Reuters via CancerPage

►November 18, 2008 - GMC was wrong to suspend obstetrician four years after baby died - journal article (BMJ)

►November 18, 2008 - International Team Discovers Gene Associated With Epilepsy - University of Iowa - Biocompare

►November 18, 2008 - Brain Compound 'Throws Gasoline Onto the Fire' of Schizophrenia - Ohio State University - Biocompare

►November 17, 2008 - Auditory processing disorders - Can cause educational, behavioural, and social problems but are often undiagnosed - journal article (BMJ)

►November 17, 2008 - Arab conference warns of increasing health problems associated with air pollution - journal article (BMJ)

►November 14, 2008 - FDA Warning Letter: Aerosol Science Laboratories Inc. - FDA via www.pharmcast.com

* ►November 13, 2008 - A Single Gene Leads Yeast Cells to Cooperate Against Threats - FLO1 gene fosters social behavior, differentiating cooperative cells from 'cheaters' - Harvard University

* ►November 12, 2008 - Autism One: Announcing the Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law - AutisticLiving.com - "We Are Proud to Announce the Launch of the Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law and Advocacy Elizabeth Birt (1956 – 2005) is one of the heroes of the Revolution. Liz epitomized all that is right and strong and true about our collective movement. She helped bring to life a vibrant urgency of change."

►November 4, 2008 - Title: Antibodies for preventing and treating attaching and effacing Escherichia coli (AEEC) associated diseases - Biogen Idec MA Inc. (Cambridge, MA) via Biogen Idec MA Inc. (Cambridge, MA) via www.pharmcast.com

►November 4, 2008 - Title: Polymer conjugates of interferon beta-1A and uses - Biogen Idec MA Inc. (Cambridge, MA) via Biogen Idec MA Inc. (Cambridge, MA) via www.pharmcast.com

►November 4, 2008 - Title: Delivery of sedative-hypnotics through an inhalation route - Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Mountain View, CA) via www.pharmcast.com

►November 4, 2008 - Title: Methods for assaying for antidepressant therapy markers - The Board of Trustees of The University of Illinois (Urbana, IL) via www.pharmcast.com

►November 4, 2008 - Title: Glutathione based delivery system - Industrial Technology Research Institute (Hsinchu, TW) via www.pharmcast.com

►November 4, 2008 - Title: Conformationally abnormal forms of tau proteins and specific antibodies thereto - Axon Neuroscience Forschungs-Und Entwicklungs GmbH (Vienna, AU) via www.pharmcast.com

►November 3, 2008 - Scans Reveal Brain Abnormalities in Fibromyalgia Patients (requires registration) - HealthDay via Washington Post

►October 31, 2008 - Melamine: It's What's for Dinner? - China's latest food safety scandals reveal prevalence of melamine in food supply - ABC News

* ►October 29, 2008 - Doctor says an oil lessened Alzheimer's effects on her husband - St. Petersburg Times via TampaBay.com

* ►October 27, 2008 - Fluoride Added To Children’s Milk In Schools Throughout UK City - PrisonPlanet.com - "A recent Scientific American study 'Concluded that fluoride can subtly alter endocrine function, especially in the thyroid — the gland that produces hormones regulating growth and metabolism.'  The report also notes that 'a series of epidemiological studies in China have associated high fluoride exposures with lower IQ.'"

* ►July 1998 - Universal childhood hepatitis B vaccination: infants vs. preadolescents, the Canadian perspective. - journal article (Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal)

* ►The Big Question - Monday November 10 - Friday November 14 - CryShame

►December 1, 2008 - Children's and Adolescents' Use of Mental Health Care Is a Family Matter - journal article (Medical Care Research and Review)

►December 2008 - Impact of conjugate pneumococcal vaccines on antibiotic resistance - journal article (The Lancet Infectious Diseases)

►December 2008 - Malaria vaccines: into a mirror, darkly? - journal article (Trends in Parasitology)

►December 2008 - Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Bordetella pertussis in Taiwan prompted by a case of pertussis in a paediatric patient - journal article (Journal of Medical Microbiology)

►December 2008 - Age-specific cut-offs for the tuberculin skin test to detect latent tuberculosis in BCG-vaccinated children - journal article (International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease)

►December 2008 - Two-step tuberculin skin test and booster phenomenon prevalence among Brazilian medical students - journal article (International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease)

►December 2008 - Myelin basic protein-specific T lymphocytes proliferation and programmed cell death in demyelinating diseases - journal article (Clinical Immunology)

* ►December 2008 - Genetic testing for paediatric neurological disorders. - journal article (Lancet Neurology)

* ►December 2008 - Why do many psychiatric disorders emerge during adolescence? - journal article (Nature Reviews Neuroscience)

►December 2008 - Antibiotic use in the first year of life and risk of atopic disease in early childhood - journal article (Clinical & Experimental Allergy)

►December 2008 - Allergic asthma: a tale of many T cells - journal article (Clinical & Experimental Allergy)

►December 2008 - Allergen-specific immunotherapy alters the expression of B and T lymphocyte attenuator, a co-inhibitory molecule, in allergic rhinitis - journal article (Clinical & Experimental Allergy)

* ►December 2008 - Should children with a history of anaphylaxis to foods undergo challenge testing? - journal article (Clinical & Experimental Allergy)

* ►December 2008 - Effects of Lactobacillus GG treatment during pregnancy on the development of fetal antigen-specific immune responses - journal article (Clinical & Experimental Allergy)

* ►December 2008 - Maize food allergy: a double-blind placebo-controlled study - journal article (Clinical & Experimental Allergy)

►December 2008 - Dopamine in amygdala gates limbic processing of aversive stimuli in humans - journal article (Nature Neuroscience)

►December 2008 - Estimating the sources of motor errors for adaptation and generalization - journal article (Nature Neuroscience)

►December 2008 - Beyond polemics: science and ethics of ADHD - journal article (Nature Reviews Neuroscience)

►December 2008 - Predicting the number and sizes of IBD regions among family members and evaluating the family size requirement for linkage studies - journal article (European Journal of Human Genetics)

►December 2008 - Acupuncture for the Management of Chronic Headache: A Systematic Review - journal article (Anesthesia & Analgesia)

►November 28, 2008 - Cardiovascular manifestations associated with influenza virus infection - journal article (International Journal of Cardiology)

►November 24, 2008 - What's behind the rankings (requires registration) - Los Angeles Times - "Burlington, Vt., was billed in a blizzard of reports this month as the nation's healthiest city -- and Huntingon, W.Va., as least healthy -- based on survey results compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

* ►November 23, 2008 - Debate rages over need for vaccines - St. Petersburg Times via Tampabay.com - "Eight years ago, two of Janet's triplets, Nikki and Dougie, were diagnosed with autism, a dis­order marked by difficulties communicating and interacting. She blames vaccines. After their 15-month shots, she said, the children began to change. She doesn't know how vaccines hurt them, and she is not sure why the third triplet, Alex, wasn't affected. But she is so certain vaccines are harmful that she warns neighbors and friends not to vaccinate."

►November 22, 2008 - Meningitis shots mandatory for local pilgrims - Arab News

►November 22, 2008 - Nigeria Targets 25m Children for Immunisation - ThisDay

* ►November 21, 2008 - Boston launches flu shot tracking - City to pinpoint areas of low rates of vaccination (requires registration) - Boston Globe - "The trial starts this afternoon, when several hundred people are expected to queue up for immunizations at the headquarters of the Boston Public Health Commission. Each of them will get a bracelet printed with a unique identifier code. Information about the vaccine's recipients, and the shot, will be entered into handheld devices similar to those used by delivery truck drivers. ... 'Anything you can do to better pinpoint who's vaccinated and who's not, that's absolutely vital,' said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy at the University of Minnesota. 'I wish more cities were doing this kind of thing.'"

►November 21, 2008 - Boston Creates Flu Vaccination Map - All Headline News

►November 21, 2008 - Pandemic influenza drill spans agencies and counties - Journal-Advocate

►November 21, 2008 - Flu season is here - News of Delaware County

►November 21, 2008 - St. Pete Mayor, Council Try To Set Flu-Shot Example - Tampa Bay Online

►November 21, 2008 - Health department ordering more flu vaccines - Mt. Vernon Register-News

►November 21, 2008 - Vaccination rates steady in first year of FluMist offering - The Daily Princetonian

* ►November 21, 2008 - Md. health officials track flu with e-mail queries (requires registration) - Baltimore Sun - "People who sign up online provide their birth date, county of residence, ZIP code and e-mail address. They report whether they've had a flu vaccination and whether they work in a health care setting. Then, once a week during flu season, they receive an e-mail reminder to log on to the survey's Web site."

* ►November 21, 2008 - Glaxo forms Chinese flu vaccine joint venture - Reuters - "'The joint venture will combine the potential of GSK's adjuvant technology and expertise in vaccine development together with NIBT's extensive experience of the Chinese vaccines market and make use of their access to specific local influenza antigens,' said Jean Stephenne, president of GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals."

* ►November 21, 2008 - Teaching moment springs from school's shared sadness - Parents have started a series of after-school clinics to ensure that the Laurelhurst Elementary community is immunized. Students. Teachers. Parents. - Seattle Times

* ►November 21, 2008 - Flu shots: Right for everyone? Not a shot. - Diamondback Online

* ►November 21, 2008 - Health Department Sets Record For Mass Dispensing Flu Exercise - Today's THV - "The Arkansas Department of Health set a new record for its Mass Dispensing Flu Exercise and immunized 123,172 Arkansans against influenza last week."

* ►November 21, 2008 - 2nd National Stakeholder Meeting. Review of Priorities in the National Vaccine Plan - Event Date: December 01, 2008 - Institute of Medicine - "This meeting will be AUDIO WEBCAST in real-time. This link will be activated at 8 a.m. PST on December 1, 2008."

* ►November 21, 2008 - Mom, Others Question Gardasil's Safety - Deaths Reported After Vaccine Administered Worry Some (includes video) - WBAL Baltimore - "Chris Tarsell's death has been reported to federal authorities to a system called the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, that's maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. At last report on Aug. 31, VAERS had received reports of 27 deaths among girls or women who had been injected with Gardasil."

* ►November 21, 2008 - Biological Product Shortages - Meruvax (Rubella Virus Vaccine Live) - FDA/CBER - "According to Merck’s web page, MERUVAX® II (Rubella Virus Vaccine Live) is no longer available for order. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/acip/default.htm) has recommended the use of combined measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (M-M-R® II - Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Virus Vaccine Live) for appropriate individuals to help protect against measles, mumps, and rubella."

* ►November 21, 2008 - GlaxoSmithKline Signs China JV Deal To Develop Flu Vaccine - GlaxoSmithKline via Dow Jones via eacyBourse - "GlaxoSmithKline said Friday it has signed agreement for establishing a joint venture company that will seek to co-develop seasonal influenza vaccines and pre-pandemic/pandemic influenza vaccines, firstly targeting against strains of the virus specific to China, Hong Kong and Macau."

* ►November 21, 2008 - Cervical cancer vaccine bid - Beverly Guardian - "Health Minister Mary Harney announced earlier this month free vaccinations for 12-year-old girls would not be rolled out. But INO general secretary Liam Doran said the three unions, who represent over 90,000 health workers, were determined to salvage the vaccine plan."

* ►November 21, 2008 - Vical Announces Strategic Restructuring and Staff Reduction - PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX via MarketWatch - "The restructuring is designed to preserve capital and focus the company's efforts on its most advanced product development programs: its Allovectin- 7(R) immunotherapeutic currently in a pivotal Phase 3 trial in patients with advanced metastatic melanoma, and its DNA vaccine for cytomegalovirus (CMV), currently in a Phase 2 trial in stem cell transplant recipients. The company is exploring partnering opportunities for the congenital disease application of its CMV vaccine and for its pandemic influenza DNA vaccines."

* ►November 21, 2008 - Talk Is Not Cheap: NPR Host Has Ties To Pharma - Pharmalot

* ►November 21, 2008 - Harvard Med School Students Say ‘No’ To Conflicts - Pharmalot

►November 21, 2008 - Tulane to unveil $27.5 million biosafety lab at Covington primate center next month - The Times-Picayune

►November 21, 2008 - Crisis In The Lab: Biotech Bankruptcies Are Looming - Pharmalot

* ►November 21, 2008 - Science orgs. praise HHS pick (requires registration) - The Scientist - "Daschle's post-Senate activities have included writing a book about health care policy reform entitled, Critical: What We Can Do About the Health Care Crisis. The New York Times reported today (Nov. 20), however, that Daschle would carry some baggage with him into his new post. Daschle has been a board member at the Mayo Clinic and has advised health care clients at a law and lobbying firm in Washington, DC, since leaving the Senate."

►November 21, 2008 - More money and strong leader wanted at FDA - Reuters

►November 21, 2008 - FTC Holds Roundtable On Follow-On Biologics - Pharmalot

►November 21, 2008 - Study of ancient and modern plagues finds common features - In 430 B.C., a new and deadly disease—its cause remains a mystery—swept into Athens. The walled Greek city-state was teeming with citizens, soldiers and refugees of the war then raging between Athens and Sparta. As streets filled with corpses, social order broke down. Over the next three years, the illness returned twice and Athens lost a third of its population. It lost the war too. The Plague of Athens marked the beginning of the end of the Golden Age of Greece. - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases via Psysorg

* ►November 21, 2008 - Antibiotics Can Disrupt Digestive Tract - Canadian Press via NewsInferno.com

* ►November 21, 2008 - The AAP NY Immunization Coalition Targets David Kirby and Age of Autism - Age of Autism

* ►November 21, 2008 - Dr. Sears on Growing Vaccination Concerns - Age of Autism

* ►November 21, 2008 - Paul Offit Acts As A Spokesman For The AAP - Adventures in Autism

►November 21, 2008 - Autistic Boy Rides School Bus For Hours Daily - http://wcbstv.com

* ►November 21, 2008 - The Infection Schedule versus the Vaccination Schedule - Science-Based Medicine - "Compared to the antibody response to the antigens of life, the vaccine exposure and schedule is minimal, a wee dribble of a smidgeon of an immunologic challenge. The ability of the immune system to respond to antigens is vast, with a capacity that exceeds the minds ability to comprehend. The immune system is big. Really, really big. You just don’t realize how incredibly vast the immune system is. I mean, you might think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to the immune system. I hear Carl Sagen chanting billions and billions."

* ►November 21, 2008 - Asthma her chief challenge - Dowagiac Daily News - "Dowagiac Union Schools nurse Eva Hecht has been taking insulin for type 1 since she was 10, going through Battle Creek schools without ever knowing another diabetic. ... Hecht told Dowagiac Rotary Club Thursday noon at Elks Lodge 889 that she considers asthma the most serious health issue with which she deals because of its prevalence. 'So many kids have it,' Hecht said. ... Dr. Fred L. Mathews noted that childhood diabetes used to be primarily type I. With today's obesity epidemic from fast food and sedentary pursuits, type II shows up in kids, too, although she said all 12 insulin-dependent diabetic Dowagiac students are type I. Nine wear insulin pumps. 'They're not sure why type I is increasing,' said Hecht."

* ►November 21, 2008 - Radio Host Has Drug Company Ties (requires registration) - The New York Times - "An influential psychiatrist who served as the host of public radio’s popular 'The Infinite Mind' program earned at least $1.3 million between 2000 and 2007 giving marketing lectures for drug makers, income not mentioned on the program. The psychiatrist and radio host, Dr. Frederick K. Goodwin, is the latest in a series of doctors and researchers whose ties to drug makers have been uncovered by Senator Charles E. Grassley, a Republican from Iowa."

* ►November 21, 2008 - Conflicts of Interest May Ensnare Journalists, Too (requires registration) - The New York Times - "Health reporters may become entangled in the same kinds of ethical conflicts they often expose when accepting industry-sponsored awards and relying on corporate public relations offices, three researchers warn. Journalism awards consisting of cash prizes and all-expense-paid trips given out by drug companies are among the more “astonishing” financial ties between journalists and drug companies, the authors said. The paper appears in the online edition of the British medical journal BMJ."

* ►November 21, 2008 - Lilly Loses Ontario Appeal to Limit Damages in Zyprexa Lawsuit - Bloomberg

* ►November 21, 2008 - The Science of the Future of War - and excerpt from Sex and War - Wired Science via Wired.com - "Many other pox viruses and other infectious agents provided by nature could potentially be used as weapons. But the Frankenstein-like creation of novel germs is perhaps an even greater fear. A lethal virus might be assembled accidentally, as happened in Australia in 2000 when an experiment to sterilize rodent pests turned sour. The unintentionally lethal virus killed all the experimental animals, despite attempts at vaccination. And the deliberate quest to make germ warfare more effective by genetically modifying existing bacteria and viruses has already begun. Sergei Popov, a Russian molecular biologist who worked in the Soviet biological weapons program, developed a microbe with the potential to cause a slow death from multiple sclerosis."

►November 21, 2008 - GAO: Cost of CDC's biosurveillance system remains unknown - Government Health IT

►November 21, 2008 - Updated FDA Calendar of 75 Decision Dates - Motley Fool

►November 21, 2008 - Cancer protection for 12 and 13-year-olds - Barking & Dagenham Recorder, UK

* ►November 21, 2008 - Coroner: Virus likely killed Pa. teen athlete - AP via The Intelligencer via Philly.com - "A coroner says an inflamed heart muscle likely brought on by an intestinal virus is what killed a 14-year-old Quakertown student who collapsed during soccer practice in August."

* ►November 21, 2008 - Toddler died from rare infection hours after seeing doctor - A toddler died from a rare form of blood poisoning just four hours after he was seen by an emergency out-of-hours doctor. - Camden New Journal

* ►November 21, 2008 - Chickenpox outbreak in Monroe - Health officials told about 300 elementary students in Monroe to stay home Friday because of a chickenpox outbreak. - The Herald via Seattle Times

►November 21, 2008 - Measles epidemic looms in Warwickshire - Coventry Telegraph

►November 21, 2008 - ImClone Systems wins FDA approval for manufacturing facility - Datamonitor via COMTEX via Trading Markets

►November 21, 2008 - Blood Component That Turns Anthrax Bacteria Virulent Identified - Scientists from the Scripps Research Institute have discovered the key chemical that signals Bacillus anthracis, the bacterium that causes anthrax, to become lethal. This finding opens up new avenues of exploration for the development of treatments for bacterial infections. - Scripps Research Institute via ScienceDaily

►November 21, 2008 - Ancient And Modern Plagues Show Common Features -  In 430 B.C., a new and deadly disease—its cause remains a mystery—swept into Athens. The walled Greek city-state was teeming with citizens, soldiers and refugees of the war then raging between Athens and Sparta. As streets filled with corpses, social order broke down. Over the next three years, the illness returned twice and Athens lost a third of its population. It lost the war too. - NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS via ScienceDaily

►November 21, 2008 - AIDS official: HIV spreading fast in Russia - AP via Google

►November 21, 2008 - Lawsuit says Ind. teen with HIV bullied at school - AP via International Herald Tribune

* ►November 21, 2008 - Hope for Rabies Victims: Unorthodox Coma Therapy Shows Promise - First a U.S. girl--and now two South American kids survive onset of the deadly virus - Scientific American

►November 21, 2008 - FDA Approves New Drug for Severe Epilepsy - Trials showed Banzel proved effective against Lennox-Gastaut syndrome - HealthDay via U.S. News & World Report

►November 21, 2008 - Vitamin D intake should be increased – study - Irish Medical News

* ►November 21, 2008 - Allergies – the growing threat - It has been estimated that one in five people have some form of allergy. Sometimes it can be life-threatening. Health Editor Barry Nelson looks at this growing problem and asks mother-of-five Ruth Campbell how allergies affect her sons’ everyday lives. - Northern Echo, UK

* ►November 21, 2008 - Autumn Babies More Prone to Asthma - Winter viruses may be to blame, study suggests - HealthDay via U.S. News & World Report

* ►November 21, 2008 - Formula For Tragedy: Milk-Based Powdered Formula - Powdered Baby Formula Could Be Dangerous For Some Infants - http://cbs11tv.com

►November 21, 2008 - FDA cracks down on Calif. raw milk supplier (requires registration) - AP via Fresno Bee via San Jose Mercury News

►November 21, 2008 - Chelation breakthrough help for cardiovascular disease - Great Falls Tribune

* ►November 21, 2008 - Mercury Emissions Up at Coal-Burning Power Plants - Environment News Service

►November 21, 2008 - McKesson Settles Wholesale Pricing Suit For $350M - Pharmalot

►November 21, 2008 - Cases Of Extensively Drug-resistant TB Declining Each Year In The US, But New Cases Still - A new report suggests that the number of cases of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) in the U.S. has declined in the past fifteen years, but new cases continue to be reported, according to a new study. Researchers note the decrease in the number of XDR-TB cases coincides with improved TB and HIV/AIDS control. - JAMA via ScienceDaily

►November 21, 2008 - Novartis highlights innovative approach to drug discovery with dynamic advance in exploratory pipeline - Novartis via PR-USA.Net

* ►November 20, 2008 - Cervarix, GSK’s cervical cancer vaccine, wins tender for Dutch national immunisation programme - GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) cervical cancer vaccine, Cervarix, was today confirmed by the Netherlands Vaccine Institute (NVI) as the cervical cancer vaccine for the Dutch National Immunisation Programme (NIP). - GlaxoSmithKline

* ►November 20, 2008 - Despite rumors, Novartis affirms commitment to Holly Springs plant - WRAL.com - “Leaders from Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics met yesterday with leaders from the town of Holly Springs,” the spokesperson said. “As part of that meeting they saw the facility under construction. Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics also reaffirmed its strong commitment to meet all established investment and staffing objectives for the Holly Springs site.”

* ►November 20, 2008 - Merck plans big vaccine expansion in India - FierceVaccines via Trading Markets

* ►November 20, 2008 - Novartis says genetic insights improve trial efficiency - AP via FierceBiotech

* ►November 20, 2008 - Better Tracking of a Childhood Infection Needed, Officials Say (requires registration) - The New York Times

* ►November 20, 2008 - Waxman Replaces Dingell As E&C Committee Chair - Pharmalot

►November 20, 2008 - Waxman Wins Key Vote In Fight With Dingell - Pharmalot

* ►November 20, 2008 - Pharma Bigs Meet To Plot Their Obama Strategy - Pharmalot

►November 20, 2008 - More research needed into foodborne diseases: WHO - Reuters

* ►November 20, 2008 - Pharma firm gets federal contract funds - The Philadelphia Inquirer

* ►November 20, 2008 - More Than 2,000 New Medicines in Development for Older Americans - Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America via PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX via MarketWatch

* ►November 20, 2008 - Merck Offering To Help Patients—Or Itself? - Pharma's Market via CNBC - "In full-page ads in major newspapers today, the Dow component is fashioning itself as a compassionate drug company. The big, boldface type says, "In these challenging times, Merck is here to help."

►November 20, 2008 - Volumetric and anatomical MRI for hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy: relationship to hypothermia therapy and neurosensory impairments - journal article (Journal of Perinatology)

* ►November 20, 2008 - Psychotic Reaction: Treating ADHD In Maine - Pharmalot - "The trend, however, to prescribe these meds for teenagers and children has actually been widespread, with Medicaid programs in several states reporting rising expenditures for antipsychotics to treat ADD or ADHD. A report issued last year by the University of South Florida found that among children 5 years or younger, 53.8 percent were prescribed antipsychotics for a diagnosis of ADHD. The figure was 48.8 percent for children between 6 and 12 years old (see page 22)."

►November 20, 2008 - Weather Forecasts Project to Reduce African Meningitis Epidemics Set for Launching - Africa Science News via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►November 20, 2008 - Hospitals could be fined millions of pounds even if they reduce infection risk - Analysis: Fairness of financial penalties to improve control of Clostridium difficile controL - BMJ via EurekAlert!

►November 20, 2008 - Looking For A Job? Pharma Is Hiring… In India - Pharmalot

►November 20, 2008 - AstraZeneca axes jobs and plants - Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has said it will cut 1,400 jobs by 2013 and close three European factories in a cost-cutting effort. - BBC

►November 20, 2008 - FDA Approves New Drug to Treat Severe Form of Epilepsy - FDA

►November 20, 2008 - Abbott Settles Tri-Cor Litigation For $184 Million - FDA

►November 20, 2008 - Amgen Drug for Lung Cancer Suspended After Deaths - Bloomberg

►November 20, 2008 - Merck and Unbound Extend Merck Manual Franchise - Expansion of The Merck Manual Product Line Powered by Unbound Medicine Writing, Editing, and Distribution Accomplished with End-to-End Digital Publishing Platform - PharmaLive

►November 20, 2008 - Study Shows Endoluminal Image Analysis With Capsule Endoscopy Is an Effective Test for Assessing Intestinal Motility - New Approach Is Less Invasive and May Be as Effective as Current Standard of Care - Given Imaging via The Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network

►November 20, 2008 - Merck says 24-Week Study of Januvia Records Reduction in Blood Sugar Levels in Elderly Patients with Type 2 Diabetes - Quick Facts - RTTNews

* ►November 20, 2008 - Excess Body Weight May Be Involved in Course of Hepatitis B (requires registration) - J Clin Oncol via Reuters via Medscape - "A report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggests a role for excess body weight in the transition from healthy hepatitis B virus (HBV) carrier state to hepatoma and liver-related death."

* ►November 20, 2008 - Medication Nation? - Feds blast widespread prescription of antipsychotics to kids - video - FOX News

* ►November 20, 2008 - Growing Controversy Surrounds Vaccination Schedule - video - 10News.com

* ►November 20, 2008 - Costly program with a shady past // Sickening results - Anthrax Vaccine -- posts by Meryl Nass, M.D.

►November 20, 2008 - 'Muzzle your dog or he'll be destroyed' - South Devon Herald Express - "Mr Sewell said Mr Ross was demanding compensation from Braund as he suffered a reaction to the tetanus injection he received for the dog bite."

* ►November 20, 2008 - Nut allergy warning after devoted dad's death - The Northern Echo, UK

►November 20, 2008 - State wants new rules to reduce mercury - Lexington Herald-Leader via Kentucky.com

►November 20, 2008 - White House Rally to Seek Obama Guarantees for Funding, Fighting AIDS - Voice of America

►November 20, 2008 - Living, years later, with HIV - "Philadelphia" and AIDS Law Project mark anniversaries. - Philadelphia Inquirer

►November 19, 2008 - Nursing Home Faces Fine for Not Providing Condoms to Sexually Active Patient With HIV - A Norman nursing home could face fines of up to $3,000 a day after a state investigation uncovered numerous deficiencies including failing to fully investigate abuse allegations. - AP via FOX News

►November 19, 2008 - Viral Genetics, Inc. Completes Acquisition of V-Clip Pharmaceuticals, Inc. - Completion of M&A in Response to Proven Success of V-Clip's Mechanism of Action to Further Research in HIV/AIDS & Other Immune Based Diseases - press release - Viral Genetics, Inc. via Business Wire via MarketWatch

* ►November 19, 2008 - Mandatory flu vaccination - journal article (BMJ)

* ►November 19, 2008 - (Not) warts and all All data on both vaccines must be considered - journal article (BMJ)

►November 19, 2008 - Could Marijuana Substance Help Prevent Or Delay Memory Impairment In The Aging Brain? - Ohio State University scientists are finding that specific elements of marijuana can be good for the aging brain by reducing inflammation there and possibly even stimulating the formation of new brain cells. - Ohio State University via ScienceDaily

►November 19, 2008 - UT trainees tackle health information technology issues - UT trainees tackle health information technology issues via EurekAlert!

* ►November 19, 2008 - 1st ever retraction for JEB (requires registration) - The Scientist - "The Journal of Experimental Biology (JEB) has issued the first retraction in its 85 year history, the journal reported in an editorial and a retraction notice in its December 1 issue. Although the authors' institution told JEB their reuse of images was a careless error, the journal's editor-in-chief called it a case of outright fraud."

►November 19, 2008 - Study to Examine Early, Inherited Form of Alzheimer's - NIH News

►November 19, 2008 - Merck eyes deals, growth through 2013 - Reuters

►November 18, 2008 - Influenza vaccine in the over 65s - journal article (BMJ)

►November 18, 2008 - Heel lance in newborn during breastfeeding: an evaluation of analgesic effect of this procedure (pdf) - journal article (Italian Journal of Pediatrics)

►November 18, 2008 - Workshop: Globalization, Movement of Pathogens (and their hosts) and the revised International Health Regulations - Event Date: December 16, 2008 - Institute of Medicine

►November 17, 2008 - Drops in blood oxygen levels may be key to sudden death in some epilepsy patients - University of California - Davis - Health System via EurekAlert!

►November 17, 2008 - “Super-aged” brains reveal secrets of sharp old-age memory - Northwestern University via World Science

* ►November 13, 2008 - Risperidone-Induced Enuresis in Two Children with Autistic Disorder. - journal article (Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology)

►November 13, 2008 - Facing the Challenge of Data Transfer from Animal Models to Humans: the Case of Persistent Organohalogens (pdf) - journal article (Environmental Health)

►November 12, 2008 - A comprehensive functional analysis of tissue specificity of human gene expression (pdf) - journal article (BMC Biology)

►November 12, 2008 - Nanotechnology in Food Products: Impact on Food Science, Nutrition and the Consumer - Event Date:   December 10, 2008 - Institute of Medicine

►November 12, 2008 - Dietary Reference Intakes - Institute of Medicine - "The IOM's Food and Nutrition Board is convening a new committee to assess the DRIs for vitamin D and calcium. The two-year study, sponsored jointly by the U.S. and Canadian governments, will review available data and update as necessary the DRIs for both nutrients."

►November 11, 2008 - Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis Infections in the United States - Institute of Medicine

* ►November 11, 2008 - Human IgA-secreting cells induced by intestinal, but not systemic, immunization respond to CCL25 (TECK) and CCL28 (MEC) - journal article (European Journal of Immunology)

* ►November 11, 2008 - Lymphatic drainage of the brain and the pathophysiology of neurological disease. - journal article (Acta Neuropathologica) - "Tracers injected into grey matter, drain out of the brain along basement membranes in the walls of capillaries and cerebral arteries. Lymphatic drainage of antigens from the brain by this route may play a significant role in the immune response in virus infections, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and multiple sclerosis. Neither antigen-presenting cells nor lymphocytes drain to lymph nodes by the perivascular route and this may be a factor in immunological privilege of the brain."

* ►November 10, 2008 - Risk of stillbirth and neonatal death linked with maternal mental illness: A national cohort study - journal article (Archives of Diseases in Childhood)

►November 10, 2008 - Systematic review of worldwide variations of the prevalence of wheezing symptoms in children (pdf) - journal article (Environmental Health)

►November 4, 2008 - Concentrations versus amounts of biomarkers in urine: a comparison of approaches to assess pyrethroid exposure (pdf) - journal article (Environmental Health)

* ►November 2008 - Influenza vaccinations: Don’t stop now - Vaccination efforts should continue into December and beyond. - www.infectiousdiseasenews.com - "Data that track influenza vaccination patterns confirm what most of us know intuitively: If you’re not vaccinated by Thanksgiving, it’s unlikely you’ll be vaccinated at all this year. However, there is no medical rationale for this arbitrary cut-off date. It is medically relevant to keep vaccinating against influenza through December and beyond. By vaccinating for a longer period, we’ll reach more patients and help them solidify good habits. Past vaccination history is a key factor in vaccination decisions; once people have received an influenza vaccine they are more likely to get it again."

►November 2008 - Hepatitis B vaccine: a seven-year study of adherence to the immunization guidelines and efficacy in HIV-1-positive adults - journal article (International Journal of Infectious Diseases)

►November 2008 - Rapid diagnostic tests can improve quality of treatment if used appropriately (requires registration) - Physicians must understand the limitations of individual tests and how to properly interpret results to achieve optimal efficacy. - www.infectiousdiseasenews.com

►November 2008 - ICAAC/IDSA meeting highlights (requires registration) - www.infectiousdiseasenews.com

►November 2008 - Increasing risk of antibiotic resistance demands immediate global action (requires registration) - Resistance trends may be moving at a faster pace than previously believed. - www.infectiousdiseasenews.com

►November 2008 - The 2008 ICAAC/IDSA meeting: a retrospective (requires registration) - www.infectiousdiseasenews.com

►November 2008 - New evidence dates diverse HIV strains from Africa to 1960 (requires registration) - Urban development may have facilitated spread of the disease as early as the late 1800s. - www.infectiousdiseasenews.com

►November 2008 - Are all carbapenems the same? (requires registration) - www.infectiousdiseasenews.com

►November 2008 - Glanders: an ancient zoonosis revisited (requires registration) - www.infectiousdiseasenews.com

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

►November 2008 - Innate responsiveness of CD8 memory T-cell populations nonspecifically inhibits allergic sensitization - journal article (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology)

►November 2008 - Intussusception. - journal article (Pediatric Emergency Care)

►November 2008 - A 7-year-old Girl with a Pruritic Facial Eruption (pdf) - journal article (Pediatric Annals)

►November 2008 - Folic acid - The right dose - journal article (Canadian Family Physician)

►October 2008 - Natural History of Pediatric Crohn's Disease: A Population-Based Cohort Study - journal article (Gastroenterology)
 
►September 17, 2008 - PCR diagnostics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in historic human long bone remains from 18th century burials in Kaiserebersdorf, Austria (full text)- journal article (BMC Research Notes)

►August 5, 2008 - Are residential and nursing homes adequately screening overseas healthcare workers? (full text) - journal article (BMC Research Notes)

►June 24, 2008 - Chocolate bar as an incentive did not increase response rate among physiotherapists: a randomised controlled trial (full text) - journal article (BMC Research Notes)

►May 9, 2008 - Stealth Marketers - Are doctors shilling for drug companies on public radio? - Slate

* ►November 21, 2008 - Implementation of Newborn Hepatitis B Vaccination --- Worldwide, 2006 - MMWR/CDC

* ►November 21, 2008 - Continued Shortage of Haemophilus influenzae Type b (Hib) Conjugate Vaccines and Potential Implications for Hib Surveillance --- United States, 2008 - MMWR/CDC

►November 21, 2008 - Rotavirus Surveillance --- Worldwide, 2001--2008 - MMWR/CDC

►November 21, 2008 - QuickStats: Percentage of Large-for-Gestational-Age* Births,† by Race or Hispanic Ethnicity --- United States, 2005 - MMWR/CDC

►November 21, 2008 - Notifiable Diseases/Deaths in Selected Cities Weekly Information - MMWR/CDC

►November 21, 2008 - Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance --- Selected Steps Communities, United States, 2007 - MMWR/CDC

►November 21, 2008 - Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance --- Pacific Island United States Territories, 2007 - MMWR/CDC

►November 21, 2008 - Baby could have meningococcal - Northern Daily Leader, Australia - "If confirmed, it will be the eighth case of meningococcal disease in the Hunter New England Health region this year."

►November 21, 2008 - Missouri Foundation for Health helps inoculate against HPV - The Chart

* ►November 21, 2008 - New strain of Ebola virus - Straits Times - "Scientists said on Friday an outbreak of Ebola that killed 37 people in Uganda last year was sparked by a hitherto unknown species of one of the world's most notorious viruses."

►November 21, 2008 - Romania starts campaign of free cervical cancer vaccination - Xinhua via China View

►November 21, 2008 - New route developed for rapid production of antibodies - Alibaba News Channel

►November 21, 2008 - Fading physicians - commentary - Patriot-News via PennLive.com

►November 21, 2008 - Polio-free certified car stickers launched - Inducts polio vaccination facility through its emergency helpline ‘130’ - The News International, Pakistan

* ►November 21, 2008 - Md. lawmakers consider anthrax investigation commission - Baltimore Examiner

* ►November 20, 2008 - Vaccine Injury Compensation: A Failed Experiment in Tort Reform? by Barbara Loe Fisher - Vaccine Awakening

* ►November 20, 2008 - NVIC Vaccine E-Newsletter

Vaccine Injury Compensation: A Failed Experiment in Tort Reform? by Barbara Loe Fisher

On Nov. 14, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 into law, instituting first-time vaccine safety reforms in the U.S. vaccination system and creating the first no-fault federal vaccine injury compensation program alternative to a lawsuit against vaccine manufacturers and pediatricians. Twenty-two years later, on Nov. 18, 2008, I made a statement to the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines (ACCV) and questioned whether the compensation program is fatally flawed and so broken that it should be repealed. Many parents are wondering whether it would be better to return to civil court without restrictions to sue vaccine manufacturers and doctors for injuries and deaths their children suffered after receiving federally recommended vaccines.

During its two-decade history, two out of three individuals applying for federal vaccine injury compensation have been turned away empty-handed even though to date $1.8B has been awarded to more than 2,200 plaintiff's out of some 12,000 who have applied. Today, nearly 5,000 vaccine injury claims are sitting in limbo because they represent children, who suffered brain and immune system dysfunction after vaccination but have been diagnosed with regressive autism, which is not recognized by the program as a compensable event. There is $2.7B sitting in the Trust Fund which could have been awarded to vaccine victims.

At the time of the law's creation in 1986, Congress said they were committed to setting up a fair, expedited, non-adversarial, less traumatic, less expensive no-fault compensation mechanism alternative to civil litigation. But Congress also acknowledged that any legislation providing liability protection must also be equally committed to preventing vaccine harm. The Act contains strong safety provisions, including first-time mandates for doctors to record and report serious health problems, hospitalizations, injuries and deaths after vaccination and give parents written benefit and risk information before a child is vaccinated.

But few of the safety provisions have been enforced and, as I testified in Congress in 1999 and again at the Nov. 18 ACCV meeting, there has been a betrayal of the promise that was made to parents about how the compensation program would be implemented. Obtaining compensation has become a highly adversarial, time-consuming, traumatic and expensive process for families of vaccine injured children and far too many vaccine victims have been denied compensation while vaccine makers and doctors have enjoyed liability protection and dozens of doses of nine new vaccines have been added to the childhood vaccine schedule.

I pointed out that federal court judges are beginning to look back at the legislative history of the Act, which so clearly affirms the intent of Congress when creating it. In recent court decisions, judges have agreed with parents and their attorneys that the compensation program has become far too difficult for plaintiffs. A recent state Supreme Court ruling also reiterated that Congress never intended to shield vaccine manufacturers from ALL liability for vaccine injuries and deaths when it could be demonstrated that a safer product could have been marketed.

In a Supreme Court of Georgia ruling on October 6, 2008 in American Home Products v. Ferrari, the justices unanimously held that the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act does not give a vaccine manufacturer blanket immunity from vaccine injury lawsuits if it can be proven that the company could have made a safer vaccine. Georgia Supreme Court Justice George Carley wrote that the 1986 law and "the congressional intent behind it shows that the Vaccine Act does not pre-empt all design defect claims." He added that Congress did not "use language which indicates that use of the compensation system is mandatory" but only "an appealing alternative" to the courts.

Justice Carley wrote that there is no evidence that "FDA approval alone renders a vaccine unavoidably safe" and said "We hesitate to hold that a manufacturer is excused from making changes it knows will improve its product merely because an older, more dangerous version received FDA approval," adding that to do so would have "the perverse effect" of granting complete immunity from liability to an entire industry and he concluded that "in the absence of any clear and manifest congressional purpose to achieve that result, we must reject such a far-reaching interpretation."

During the ACCV meeting, longtime plaintiff's attorney Sherry Drew gave a moving description of the suffering that families with vaccine injured children endure and, during public comment at the end of the meeting, Jim Moody, of SafeMinds, and Vicky Debold, RN, PhD joined me in urging the Committee to recommend to the new Secretary of DHHS that more vaccine injured children be compensated. This was echoed by outgoing parent ACCV member Tawny Buck, of Alaska, who has a DPT vaccine injured daughter and new ACCV parent member Sarah Hoiberg, of Florida, who has a DTaP vaccine injured daughter.

In the 1986 Vaccine Injury Act, the Institute of Medicine was directed to review the medical literature for scientific evidence that vaccines can cause injury and death, which resulted in landmark reports to Congress in 1991 and 1994 providing that evidence. IOM announced at the ACCV meeting that it has recently been contracted by the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) to assemble a Committee of scientific experts to review of the medical literature for evidence regarding the biological mechanisms for injury and death in association with varicella zoster (chicken pox), hepatitis B, meningococcal and HPV vaccine. There will be several public workshops during the Committee's two- year study.

NVIC has been calling for basic science research into the biological mechanisms of vaccine injury and death for more than two decades. Without understanding how and why vaccines can cause brain and immune system dysfunction, there will be no way to develop pathological profiles to help scientifically confirm whether or not an individual has been injured or died from vaccination.

The truth about vaccine risks lies in the science, properly designed and conducted. The upcoming IOM review may be hampered by a lack of biological mechanism studies published in the medical literature but the review is also an opportunity to point the way to fill in those gaps in knowledge and the need for additional research that could become part of a national vaccine safety research agenda.

In the absence of scientific certainty, all children who regress into poor health after vaccination should be given a fair hearing in the federal vaccine injury compensation program and generously compensated when no other plausible cause can be found for what happened to them after vaccination. Congress intended the vaccine injury compensation program to be non-adversarial, fair, generous and humane. If it cannot function the way it was intended to function, then parents have every right to call for its repeal and a return to unrestricted lawsuits.

Click here to read my entire ACCV statement with live links to the 1986 Vaccine Injury Act, U.S. Court of Appeals decisions, congressional testimony and other original sources.

Click here for ACCV meeting minutes and dates for upcoming meetings, which can be accessed via tele-conference call by the public who cannot attend the Rockville, Maryland meetings in person.

* ►November 20, 2008 - Costly program with a shady past - Baltimore Examiner

* ►November 20, 2008 - The Pentagon responds to anthrax articles - Baltimore Examiner

* ►November 20, 2008 - Sickening results - Baltimore Examiner - "Eddie Norman is only 43 years old, but he gets confused when he tries to remember important dates. The Fort Meade veteran walks with an old man’s shuffle and has twice experienced kidney failure. To combat this misery, he takes 13 pills a day. ... Norman is not a victim of the anthrax letter attacks of 2001. He is a casualty of the Army’s Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program, instituted in 1998 to protect American troops from the threat of biological warfare. About 2.1 million troops have received the vaccine."

* ►November 20, 2008 - Gulf War illness is real, the government says - Triage Blog via Chicago Tribune

* ►November 20, 2008 - Father claims vaccines based more on faith - letter - Straight.com - "As the father of a vaccine-damage child, I take exception to health experts like Monika Naus, director of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control's immunization program, who respond to criticisms of vaccines as "really dumb" ["It's in your back yard, so get tetanus savvy", October 30–November 6]. Having a child with an uncontrolled-seizure disorder, neurological damage, and diminished cognitive functioning as a result of a vaccine is evidence enough for me that vaccines are not as safe and effective as claimed. I spent 10 years researching vaccine damage after my son was damaged and discovered that the amount of vaccine damage is substantial."

* ►November 20, 2008 - Coroner rules babies deaths accidental - HOI-29 Hoinews.com - "Coroner's juries have ruled the deaths of two local babies accidents. Both babies, 5-month-old Jaylin Maxison, and 2-month old Kendrick Franklin Jr. were co-sleeping with adult caregivers on adult beds. The infants were two of five that have died in similar ways in the past few weeks."

* ►November 20, 2008 - Listen Live Friday to the Federal Plan for Autism Research - Age of Autism - "Perhaps the most important meeting of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee HERE will take place in Washington on Friday, November 21 from 9am - 4pm."

* ►November 20, 2008 - On Autism, Somalis Feel the Chill in Minnesota By Anne Dachel - Age of Autism

* ►November 20, 2008 - A Political Trial in London By John Stone - Age of Autism - "By now everyone has forgotten what it is all about: all they need to know is that Andrew Wakefield ... has been 'discredited', that there is no link between MMR and autism, and he is appearing before the General Medical Council with his colleagues Professors John Walker-Smith and Simon Murch in a protracted hearing, which may lead to them being barred from medical practice in the United Kingdom."

* ►November 20, 2008 - First Senate bill on autism - AP via KTEN.com - "A bill to require insurance companies to cover diagnosis and treatment of autism in children is the first bill filed in the state Senate for the 2009 legislative session. Senate Bill 1 is entitled 'Nick's Law' and is named for 11-year-old Nick Rhode of Edmond, who suffers from autism. Wayne Rhode - Nick's father - lobbied without success last year to get the measure out of a House committee."

* ►November 20, 2008 - Autism bill goes to Gov. - Chicago Breaking News - "Insurance companies would be required to cover autism diagnosis and treatment up to  $36,000 a year under legislation sent to Gov. Rod Blagojevich today."

* ►November 20, 2008 - Allergies, Asthma and Autism: How Did Our Children Get So Sick? - Mom and AllergyKids Founder Robyn O'Brien Fights for Awareness - Daily Green

* ►November 20, 2008 - An Unofficial Vote of No Confidence in Pediatricians from the Autism Community - Autism Blog via http://autism.about.com

►November 20, 2008 - Teen basketball player advocates for Autism awareness (includes video) - KVBC.com

►November 20, 2008 - Columbus expo spreads autism awareness - The Lantern

►November 20, 2008 - Local school district responds to rise in students diagnosed with autism - Greene News

►November 20, 2008 - The anti-immunization fiasco - The Spectator

* ►November 20, 2008 - Spain to test vaccine to treat cocaine addiction - AFP via Google

* ►November 20, 2008 - CDC Monitors Shortage of Hib Vaccine - The shot protects against infection that can cause meningitis, pneumonia in young children - HealthDay via U.S. News & World Report - "Merck spokeswoman Amy Rose said that problems with the vaccine's sterilization process necessitated recalling the vaccine and then stopping production. The vaccines are marketed as PedvaxHIB and Comvax."

* ►November 20, 2008 - Rat Poison Chemical Found in Ingredient List For HPV Vaccine - NaturalNews.com - "What do rat poison and the HPV vaccine have in common? The answer is a hazardous chemical known as sodium borate. Savvy readers may wonder what a toxin that is commonly used to kill rats is doing in the ingredient list for the HPV vaccine that is currently being pushed on girls as young as nine and is even being considered for men and boys."

* ►November 20, 2008 - Cervarix, GSK’s cervical cancer vaccine, wins tender for Dutch national immunisation programme - GSK via WebWire

* ►November 20, 2008 - Dutch pick Glaxo's Cervarix for vaccine programme - Reuters

* ►November 20, 2008 - Ontario School Board Flip Flops on HPV Vaccine Decision - LifeSiteNews.com - "Yesterday the board voted 5-4 to reverse the previous decision after trustee Laurie Aceti, who last year voted against the vaccine, moved to hold another vote on the issue, based on a survey which purported to show that a majority of parents wanted their daughters inoculated with the vaccine in school. ... Trustee Kathleen Rosilius, who has resolutely opposed the vaccine, said she was disappointed in the vote, but had expected the reversal of last year's decision. Rosilius told the Sault Star that she opposes the vaccine on moral grounds, questions the vaccine's safety, and believes too much money - $300 million from the federal government and $117 million from the province - is being spent on the inoculation program."

►November 20, 2008 - Catholic board reversal: HPV vaccine now okay in schools - SooToday.com

* ►November 20, 2008 - In Young Men, HPV Vaccine Prevents Conditions That Lead to Cancer - UCSF Today

►November 20, 2008 - Viruses can cause cancer - The Cornwall Standard Freeholder

►November 20, 2008 - HPV proves common among young population - Daily Beacon

* ►November 20, 2008 - Wyeth vaccine plant cuts 124: Few options exist for those laid off - The News & Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX via Trading Markets - "The Sanford plant, which primarily produces the childhood vaccine Prevnar, is one of Wyeth's largest plants. After the layoffs it will employ nearly 1,000 people."

* ►November 20, 2008 - Important Message for 2008 Universal Children's Day - "Unacceptable and Inexcusable" - 25,000 young children will die today for lack of basic survival needs - UNICEF USA Appeals for Public Involvement, Presidential Initiative to Save 9.2 Million Children Annually - press release - US Fund for UNICEF via PRNewswire

►November 20, 2008 - Is Bobby Kennedy Really the “Anti-Science” Choice for EPA Head? - Reality Base Blog via Discover Magazine

►November 20, 2008 - Butler & West: Appeal to President-elect Obama - This column was sent as a letter to President-elect Barack Obama and signed by 22 scientists, including 19 Nobel laureates, on the 10th anniversary of the first embryonic stem cells grown in a lab by UW-Madison researcher James Thomson. - Wisconsin State Journal via Madison.com - "Lastly, for the past 40 years many of the common human virus vaccines, including those directed to measles, rubella, hepatitis A, rabies and poliovirus, have been derived from cells derived from human aborted fetal tissue, and these vaccines have provided benefit to tens of millions of people. Thus, there is a clear path to advancing the field of regenerative medicine in a manner consistent with the values of the majority of Americans."

►November 20, 2008 - U.S. Sen. Harkin: Discusses role leading prevention and public health working group - Iowa Politics

►November 20, 2008 - IPSSSDR gives back to communities - Little Chicago Review - "Known as the 'race to immunize' as part of its mission, the 14-year-old International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race (IPSSSDR), which mushes through Wyoming again January 30 – February 7, 2009, has worked to promote the need to immunize children under the age of two."

►November 20, 2008 - The CDC contains an ‘Outbreak’ of cultural curiosities - Fresh Loaf Blog via Creative Loafing - "Outbreak: Plagues that Changed History. Through Jan. 30. Free. Mon.-Wed. and Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thurs., 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Global Health Odyssey Museum, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road. 404-639-0830. www.cdc.gov/gcc/exhibit."

►November 20, 2008 - USFoodSafety.com, A One-Stop Source for the Latest Food Recalls, Alerts, Food Safety Articles and Professional Food Safety Practices, Launches Today - USFoodSafety.com Members To Receive Free Food Recall Alerts Directly to their Inboxes, as well as the Latest Food Safety Advice From Leading Experts - press release - US Food Safety Corporation via PRNewswire via Comtex via MarketWatch

►November 20, 2008 - Virginia prepares for a pandemic flu outbreak (includes video) - WSLS 10

* ►November 20, 2008 - Malaria one-two could stop bird flu - Irish Times

* ►November 20, 2008 - Health Department Uses Flu Clinic as Drill - New Canaan News Review

* ►November 20, 2008 - There's another side of flu shots - letter - Caledon Citizen - "Today, with unlimited amounts of money and mass communications, the spin doctors, with the help of health care professionals, are once again at work promoting a questionable product. Forty years from now, history may once again prove that those who chose not to be vaccinated were not the ignorant ones, but were the people who did their homework and fought to protect themselves and their loved ones. There is also the legal aspect of this controversy. A person in Canada is protected by the Charter of Rights to be free of discrimination based on religion or belief. The Canadian Medical Law and Informed Consent Act defines vaccinations as an invasive medical procedure which carries the risk of injury and death, and as such, is subject to legal principle under Canadian medical law, that grants every individual the right to information on material risks and the fundamental right of persons to be free from unwanted physical interference."

►November 20, 2008 - U of M report: Influenza pandemic could disrupt electricity - Minnesota Daily

►November 20, 2008 - State prepares for pandemic flu - WAVY.com

►November 20, 2008 - Keeping the flu bug away - Trumann Democrat

►November 20, 2008 - Cincinnati Offers Free Flu Shots - WCPO.com

►November 20, 2008 - Common Cold May Have Taken Wing In Birds - HMPV Causes Respiratory Infections, Especially In Kids - WLWT Cincinnati - "Dr. Ron Fouchier of ErasmusMC in the Netherlands said that the virus is closely related to one in birds, AMPV-C, and tracing the quick evolution could help scientists monitor emerging viruses. 'Besides the evolutionary history of metapneumoviruses, we also investigated the mutation rates and the selection pressures of these viruses. An understanding of how viruses evolve and how they adapt to new hosts and their immune systems is important, especially if we are to prepare for new, potentially pandemic diseases,' he said."

* ►November 20, 2008 - Vaccination did not save youth - Canterbury University student Bowen Holgate, 19, of Timaru, woke up with a severe headache on Sunday. Two days later meningococcal disease claimed his life. - The Timaru Herald via Stuff.co.nz - "A Timaru family are grieving the loss of a son and brother who died from a disease that he was immunised against a few years ago."

* ►November 20, 2008 - Midshipman who died of meningitis fourth to die this year - Baltimore Examiner - "Bacterial meningitis led to the death of a fourth U.S. Naval Academy midshipman this year despite the 20-year-old having been vaccinated against the infectious and contagious disease. Fourth-class or freshman Midshipman Frederick Henry Eissler, 20, of West Chester, Pa., died Monday at the University of Maryland Medical Center from complications caused by meningitis..."

* ►November 20, 2008 - Parents urged to look out for meningitis symptoms as child dies in Burley-in-Wharfedale - Wharfedale & Airedale Observer, UK

►November 20, 2008 - Author to discuss her experience with polio - Toledo Blade

►November 20, 2008 - Mumps cases in colleges - Cherwell Online - "Oxford University is seeing an increase in the incidence of mumps. College doctors are believed to have diagnosed eleven cases in the last week, eight of which have been attributed to Oriel alone."

* ►November 20, 2008 - UNICEF: Measles Initiative Supports Disease Prevention for Children in China's Earthquake Zone - MaximsNews Network

* ►November 20, 2008 -  Whooping cough increases in Lake County - Vernon Hills Review via Pioneerlocal.com - "'I'd say it's a dramatic increase,' said Victor Plotkin, an epidemiologist for the Lake County Health Department....He said the most recent outbreak is a bit more puzzling because many of the children who are becoming ill are younger children who were recently vaccinated. 'Unfortunately, during this outbreak, even people that have been recently vaccinated are becoming sick anyway,' he said. 'Their symptoms are milder, but they still can pass the bacteria along to others and make others sick.'"
 
* ►November 20, 2008 - St. Louis County reports rise in pertussis - AP via Belleville News Democrat - "'The cases we've seen (are children who) have been immunized,' said Cindy Butler, a state Department of Health epidemiologist for eastern Missouri. 'The problem is waning immunity, meaning their immunity level fades over time. We may need to evaluate the immunization schedule as a nation.'"

►November 20, 2008 - 28 confirmed cases of whooping cough in county - News-Enterprise

►November 20, 2008 - West Middlesex whooping cough outbreak spreads; students vaccinated - Sharon Herald

►November 20, 2008 - St. Louis County Reports More Whooping Cough Cases - AP via MyFox St. Louis

►November 20, 2008 - Doctors Find Four Cases of Whooping Cough - WTVQ-TV

►November 20, 2008 - Hepatitis Outbreak Concerns Kennebunkport Parents - Several Students Diagnosed With Liver Disease - WMTW.com

►November 20, 2008 - Biovitrum and Symphogen Report Positive Clinical Results in Novel Rh- immunization Prevention Project - Biovitrum AB via Market Wire via Comtex via MarketWatch

►November 20, 2008 - Sweet success for new stem cell ID trick - Biomaterial scientists in Manchester believe they have found a new way of isolating the ‘ingredients’ needed for potential stem cell treatments for nerve damage and heart disease. - University of Manchester

►November 20, 2008 - Public Health & Education | Health Care Workers Face Increased Risk of Mortality From HIV, Other Bloodborne Diseases, Study Finds - www.kaisernetwork.org

►November 20, 2008 - Chile May Use Police to Find HIV Patients After 512 Not Told - Bloomberg

►November 20, 2008 - HIV Testing Not 'Routine as a Flu Shot' at Hospitals - Bloomberg

* ►November 20, 2008 - Physicians Reluctant to Follow CDC Call for Routine HIV Testing - MedPage Today

* ►November 20, 2008 - WRHA says 17 people exposed to HIV, hepatitis risk - Doctors say chance of disease very low - Winnipeg Sun - "The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority is trying to contact 17 people who may have been exposed to infections because of a nurse's improper use of a blood-sampling device at a St. Boniface clinic. The exposure risk of infections possibly including hepatitis B and C occurred between May 2007 and last month during the nurse's work with a finger-stick blood-sampling tool, in which the employee cleaned its cap with alcohol between every use rather than changing the cap as required."
 
* ►November 20, 2008 - 25,000 Americans don't know they have HIV - United Press International

* ►November 20, 2008 - Anthrax case lacks 'simple' cause - A medical expert has told a fatal accident inquiry there was no "simple answer" why only one man had contracted anthrax from infected drums. - BBC - "'One of the parts of this inquiry is to establish why Pascal Norris suffered from anthrax when so many other people who were exposed to this did not,' said Mr Macari. 'Obviously one major health factor was that he had leukaemia and was in remission. 'Would that explain why he alone was affected?'"

* ►November 20, 2008 - Report: Deadly Mercury Pollution Up at Most of Top 50 Worst U.S. - Coal-Fired Power Plants, Underscoring Need to Fix Lax Bush EPA Handling of Problem - press release - Environmental Integrity Project via PRNewswire via COMTEX via MarketWatch

* ►November 20, 2008 - Lilly Chair: Pharma's future is personalized meds - FiercePharma

►November 20, 2008 - ADHD Medications Do Not Cause Genetic Damage In Children, Study Shows - In contrast to recent findings, two of the most common medications used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) do not appear to cause genetic damage in children who take them as prescribed, according to a new study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Duke University Medical Center. - NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences via ScienceDaily

* ►November 20, 2008 - Boy, 12, collapsed and died after 'using too much Lynx deodorant' - Daily Mail, UK

►November 20, 2008 - Miami Physicians Sentenced to Prison for Their Roles in a $6.8 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme - press release - U.S. Department of Justice via PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX via MarketWatch

 ►November 19, 2008 - Obama Advisers May Signal New Approach to Health Policy - Wall Street Journal

* ►November 19, 2008 - GM Maize Disturbs Immune System of Young and Old Mice - New research add to the weight of damning evidence against the safety of GM food - Dr. Mae-Wan Ho - Institute of Science in Society

* ►November 19, 2008 - Local Autism Study Focuses On Environment - News10.net - "UC Davis researcher Irva Hertz-Picciotto is leading the study called 'MARBLES,' which stands for Markers of Autism Risk in Babies - Learning Early Signs. 'Autism is very clearly not a single cause type of condition. It's got to be multiple factors,' said Hertz-Picciotto, who hopes her study will reveal environmental factors that combined with genetics can trigger autism."

►November 19, 2008 - When Autism Treatments Don't Work - Your Advice Requested - Autism Blog via http://autism.about.com

►November 19, 2008 - Still many misconceptions about autism - EastBayRI.com

►November 19, 2008 - Gibbons creates Commission on Autism Spectrum Disorder - KRNV.com

►November 19, 2008 - Area family holding benefit for autism service dog - Mt. Vernon Register-News

* ►November 19, 2008 - Just don't shoot me - Democrat Herald - "Second, while I’ve been blessed with outstanding health, I have a history of reacting poorly to vaccinations. Mainly they just tend to make me feel ill, but one of the reactions was fairly dramatic: It’s speculated that the violent illness caused by a measles vaccine when I was 4 is what cost me my sense of smell."

►November 19, 2008 - Warnings after Bristol meningitis death - This is Bristol, UK

►November 19, 2008 - City student dies from meningitis - A first-year student at the University of Bristol has died from meningitis. - BBC

►November 19, 2008 - Forecasters take aim at meningitis outbreaks - AP via Examiner.com

►November 19, 2008 - Surviving spinal meningitis - The News-Review

►November 19, 2008 - Local doctors treat whooping cough - Albert Lea Tribune

►November 19, 2008 - Area Rotary Club fights polio at dinner table - Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin

►November 19, 2008 - Nurses warn over needle injuries - Nurses are calling for safer needles, after a poll suggested nearly half of them have been accidently jabbed. - BBC

►November 19, 2008 - New U.S. Army Mosquito Control Technology Licensed for Deployment Against Dengue - SpringStar, Inc. via Business Wire via MarketWatch

►November 19, 2008 - PharmAthene signs deal with Israeli firm to market biodefense drugs - Baltimore Business Journal

►November 19, 2008 - Anthrax found on teacher's drums - A drumming teacher has told a fatal accident inquiry she had not "thought deeply" about the possible health risks of importing West African drums. - BBC

►November 19, 2008 - Man Indicted For Anthrax Hoax - The Hartford Courant

►November 19, 2008 - Federal appeals court vacates Locy contempt order in anthrax reporting case - JURIST

* ►November 19, 2008 - State, UAlbany partner for infant screening program - Daily Gazette - "With the high cost of health care, there may be a less expensive way to screen infants for risk factors for developmental disorders like autism - a new screening program unveiled this morning by state Health Department and University at Albany officials."

* ►November 19, 2008 - Drawing the Line on Drug Testing (requires registration) - The New York Times - "The proposed random drug testing plan for Ridge High is similar to ones already in place at the 27 other New Jersey school districts. Any students wanting to play a sport, join a club or get a parking permit — about 80 percent of Ridge High’s 1,600 kids — would have to consent to random testing or would not be able to participate. About seven kids a week would be selected by computer and called to the nurse’s office to urinate in a cup."

►November 19, 2008 - Science & Medicine | Higher Risk of Certain Cancers Being Recorded in HIV-Positive People - www.kaisernetwork.org

* ►November 18, 2008 - Statement of the National Vaccine Information Center - Barbara Loe Fisher, Co-founder & President - Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines - November 18, 2008 - The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program: A Failed Experiment in Tort Reform? - www.nvic.org

* ►November 18, 2008 - Link Between Nicotine Addiction And Autism - Ohio State University via Medical News Today

►November 18, 2008 - Court orders release of anthrax search documents - Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

►November 14, 2008 - Whooping Cough Outbreaks Reported in Illinois, Minnesota - Health officials in Minnesota and Illinois say have reported whooping cough outbreaks in their states. - FOX News

* ►November 14, 2008 - Science Reporting by Press Release - An old problem grows worse in the digital age - Columbia Journalism Review

* ►November 10, 2008 - Prescription Drugs Kill 300 Percent More Americans than Illegal Drugs - http://rinf.com

►November 3, 2008 - Kids Swallow More Pills as Big Waistlines Become Growing Pain - Bloomberg

►November 3, 2008 - More Kids Are Taking More Meds Than Ever Before - Pharmalot

* ►October 30, 2008 - Doctors want to encourage facility staffers to get flu shots - Caledon Citizen - "The number of people working at Peel Region's long-term care centres who don't get flu shots is 'unconscionable,' according to the medical director of the Davis Centre in Bolton."

►October 29, 2008 - FDA ignored evidence when calling BPA safe - USA Today

►Childhood Diseases: Reality, Care & Treatment - next class Wednesday December 3 - Sheri Nakken, Vaccination Information & Choice Network