* ►October 2009 - Copy number variation and association analysis of SHANK3 as a candidate gene for autism in the IMGSAC collection - journal article (European Journal of Human Genetics)

► October 2009 - Penetrance of FMR1 premutation associated pathologies in fragile X syndrome families - journal article (European Journal of Human Genetics)

► October 2009 - Assessing the impact of FOXP1 mutations on developmental verbal dyspraxia - journal article (European Journal of Human Genetics)

► October 2009 - The interaction index, a novel information-theoretic metric for prioritizing interacting genetic variations and environmental factors - journal article (European Journal of Human Genetics)

► October 2009 - Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Attention Networks - journal article (Neuropsychopharmacology)

* ►September 25, 2009 - Payment fear for swine flu vaccinations - Patients could be forced to pay $60 or more to be vaccinated against swine flu, as GPs brace for a massive influx of patients seeking protection from the virus. - Herald Sun, AU

* ►September 25, 2009 - Performance of Rapid Influenza Diagnostic Tests During Two School Outbreaks of 2009 Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) Virus Infection --- Connecticut, 2009 - MMWR/CDC

►September 25, 2009 - Anaplasmosis and Ehrlichiosis --- Maine, 2008 - MMWR/CDC

* ►September 25, 2009 - Progress Toward Measles Control --- African Region, 2001--2008 - MMWR/CDC

* ►September 25, 2009 - Updated Recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for Revaccination of Persons at Prolonged Increased Risk for Meningococcal Disease - MMWR/CDC - "Although the duration of protection from MCV4 is unknown, most entering college students will have received MCV4 [Menactra, Sanofi Pasteur, Swiftwater, Pennsylvania] within the preceding 4 years. Because of the limited period of increased risk, ACIP currently does not recommend that college freshmen living in dormitories who were previously vaccinated with MCV4 be revaccinated. However, college freshmen living in dormitories who were vaccinated with MPSV4 ≥5 years previously are recommended to be vaccinated with MCV4."

►September 25, 2009 - Announcement: World Heart Day --- September 27, 2009 - MMWR/CDC

►September 25, 2009 - Announcement: NHANES 50th Anniversary and Conference - MMWR/CDC

►September 25, 2009 - Announcement: Epidemiology in Action: Intermediate Analytic Methods Course - MMWR/CDC

►September 25, 2009 - QuickStats: Average Total Cholesterol Level Among Men and Women Aged 20--74 Years --- National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, United States, 1959--1962 to 2007--2008 - MMWR/CDC

►September 25, 2009 - Erratum: Vol. 58, No. 34 - MMWR/CDC

►September 25, 2009 - Notifiable Diseases/Deaths in Selected Cities Weekly Information - MMWR/CDC

►September 25, 2009 - Hope rekindled as scientists announce possible Aids vaccine - The East African Standard

►September 25, 2009 - Bellsmyre mum opens heart on meningitis drama - Lennox Herald, UK

* ►September 25, 2009 - Huntersville physician faces revised charges of unprofessional conduct - Charlotte Observer - " Dr. Rashid Buttar is again facing charges of unprofessional conduct from the N.C. Medical Board. ... Buttar, 43, who owns an alternative medicine practice in Huntersville, will get a second chance to present his case that unconventional treatments have helped patients with cancer, autism and other ailments."

* ►September 25, 2009 - CDC has Made 'Limited' Improvements to Security of Bio-Safety Labs - CNSNews.com

►September 25, 2009 - Locals take preparations to combat H1N1 - Fitchburg Pride

►September 25, 2009 - Most parents won't have kids get H1N1 flu shots, study finds - A national survey suggests parents are confused about the risks of the virus and its vaccine. - Los Angeles Times

* ►September 25, 2009 - Hospitals Warned Against H1N1 Jab - Khaleej Times - "The Ministry of Health has warned of legal action against private medical facilities dispensing seasonal flu vaccine claiming that it gives immunity against the Influenza
A (H1N1) virus. A circular issuing warnings and instructions was sent to heads of all medical establishments last week."

* ►September 25, 2009 - American health workers worry about swine flu vaccine amid fears of autumn outbreak - Health department staffers scrambling to answer 100 calls a day. Harried hospital workers rushing to swab hundreds of sore throats. Out of practice school nurses learning how to give vaccines all over again. - Reuters via BusinessWorld Online

* ►September 25, 2009 - My concerns about the swine flu vaccine - Adelaide Independent Weekly

* ►September 24, 2009 - Sanofi H1N1 Influenza Vaccine Administered at Different Dose Levels With and Without AS03 Adjuvant in Healthy Adult and Elderly Populations - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) via clinicaltrials.gov

* ►September 24, 2009 - Evaluation of Immunogenicity and Safety of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine Co-administered With Another Vaccine in Healthy Female Subjects - Sponsored by:  GlaxoSmithKline via clinicaltrials.gov - "Condition  Human Papillomavirus Infection - Intervention Biological: Engerix B Phase and Biological: HPV Vaccine (GSK580299) -  Phase III"

* ►September 24, 2009 - Swine Flu (Novel Influenza A H1N1) Vaccine Study - Sponsored by:  University of Oxford via clinicaltrials.gov

* ►September 24, 2009 - Peds Sanofi H1N1 Influenza Vaccine Administered at Two Dose Levels - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) via clinicaltrials.gov

* ►September 24, 2009 - H5N1 Vaccine Intramuscular Versus Intradermal in Healthy Adults - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) via clinicaltrials.gov

* ►September 24, 2009 - Sanofi Pasteur, TIV + H1N1, Pediatric Population - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) via clinicaltrials.gov

* ►September 24, 2009 - Clinical Study in Children, 6 Months to 3 Years of Age, to Assess Two Dose Levels of an Experimental Flu Vaccine, Using a Licensed Influenza Virus Vaccine, Vaxigrip® as the Control - Sponsored by: GlaxoSmithKline via clinicaltrials.gov

* ►September 24, 2009 - Vaccination With GSK 1024850A in Children Primed With GSK 1024850A & Boosted With Pneumovax 23™ - Sponsored by: GlaxoSmithKline via clinicaltrials.gov

* ►September 24, 2009 - Comparison of GSK Biologicals' Meningococcal Vaccine (GSK134612) and Licensed MenC-CRM197 Vaccine in Healthy Children - Sponsored by: GlaxoSmithKline via clinicaltrials.gov

* ►September 24, 2009 - Persistence of Antibodies at 3, 4 and 6 Years of Age After Vaccination With Meningococcal, Pneumococcal and Hib Vaccines - Sponsored by: GlaxoSmithKline via clinicaltrials.gov

* ►September 24, 2009 - Safety, Tolerability and Immunogenicity of Novartis Meningococcal B Recombinant Vaccine Administered to Healthy Adolescents According to Different Vaccination Schedules - Sponsored by: Novartis via clinicaltrials.gov

* ►September 24, 2009 - Multi-Year Study of Fluzone High-Dose Influenza Vaccine Compared With Fluzone® Vaccine in Adults Aged 65 Years and Older - Sponsored by: Sanofi-Aventis via clinicaltrials.gov

* ►September 24, 2009 - Safety and Efficacy of an H1N1 Influenza Vaccine in People With Asthma - Sponsored by:  National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) via clinicaltrials.gov

* ►September 24, 2009 - 2009 Meeting Materials, Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee - Material is organized by meeting date, with more recent meeting first. - FDA

* ►September 24, 2009 - Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccines Composition and Lot Release - The four manufacturers will make the Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent vaccines using the established manufacturing processes for their seasonal influenza vaccines.  FDA approved these vaccines as a strain change to each manufacturer’s seasonal influenza vaccine.  There is considerable experience with seasonal influenza vaccine development and production and influenza vaccines produced by this technology have a long and successful track record of safety and effectiveness in the United States.  The Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent vaccines will undergo the usual testing and lot release procedures that are in place for seasonal influenza vaccines. - FDA

* ►September 24, 2009 - Influenza Virus Vaccine for the 2009-2010 Season - Cumulative 2009/2010 Season Lot Release Status (Updated 9/24/2009) Flu vaccine lots that have been released by FDA and are available for distribution by the manufacturers. For information on flu vaccine distribution schedules, please contact the manufacturers directly. - FDA

* ►September 24, 2009 - What does informed consent mean when it comes to swine flu vaccination? - Further to the earlier post about Minister Roxon’s spruiking of swine flu vaccination (you can see various interviews here, here and here – what a busy day she’s had), I’ve been pondering the issue of informed consent. - Croakey.com.au - "MIPS will indemnify its members for administering the H1N1 vaccine however, members are required to: • provide patients with adequate informed consent including a succinct summary of the current information needed to make an informed decision about H1N1 vaccination.  This should include information about the risks of the vaccine, the general risks of an injection and risks of electing not to have the vaccine; • follow the current draft RACGP Guidelines for the use of multi-dose vials (MDV’s) available at http://www.racgp.org.au/h1n1/33545; and • meet MIPS general requirements of appropriate qualifications, training and experience."

* ►September 24, 2009 - WithoutConsent Launches - Explosive Swine Flu Vaccine Information - The One Click Group - "Launched today is Gary's new website, WithoutConsent. From an impeccable investigative journalism background, Gary [Matsumoto] reveals in his inaugural Newsletter what governments around the world don't want you to know about Swine Flu vaccine adjuvants and the vaccination programme."

* ►September 24, 2009 - Local Woman Fights Law That Could Force People To Get Vaccines (includes video) - WEAR ABC 3 - "A Navarre woman is suing Florida's governor, attorney general and surgeon general. She's fighting a law that says if there's a severe public danger, the state can force people to be vaccinated. ... Carmen Reynolds, 'I nearly died from my first vaccination as a child. Smallpox. They almost had to amputate my arm.'  Retired Lieutenant Colonel Carmen Reynolds says vaccinations administered during her 20 years in the military destroyed her bodybuilder's physique inside and out. ... Reynolds says she suffered excruciating pain and her immune system was permanently damaged. While researching ways to protect her health, she learned about a Florida law that allows forcible vaccinations if there's a severe public danger. Carmen, 'But I refuse to be killed by another vaccine.' ... There will be a hearing October 1st at the Santa Rosa Courthouse in Milton."

* ►September 24, 2009 - Mandatory Flu Vaccination Riles Health Care Workers – They'll March (includes video) - 13WHAM.com - "New York is requiring some health care workers to get  a seasonal flu shot now and the H1N1 shot later- -or lose their jobs. But now, a lawsuit filed in new Jersey may help workers in Rochester. A lawsuit filed in New Jersey calls the mandatory flu shot unconstitutional, but so far a federal judge has denied an injunction which would halt forced vaccinations in any state while the case moves forward. 'It makes me feel very vulnerable,' said one nurse. 'It makes me feel like I'm a guinea pig.' This nurse is like many who are concerned that speaking out will cost her her job."

* ►September 24, 2009 - Baptist Hospital Makes Flu Vaccines Mandatory - Exemptions Apply Only To Those With Medical, Religious Reasons - WXII The Triad - "Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is requiring all faculty, staff, students, post-doctoral trainees and volunteers to be vaccinated for the flu as part of a new policy announced Thursday. Exemptions from the new policy will be considered only for medical or religious reasons, the hospital said, and those who receive exemptions will be required to wear surgical or isolation masks in all patient care areas during the flu season."

* ►September 24, 2009 - Swine flu vaccine ready next month - Medical experts say the chances of surviving the virus are high, if precautionary measures are taken. - Berkshire Eagle - "As some New York and New Hampshire officials consider making flu vaccinations mandatory for health care workers, health officials in Massachusetts are emphasizing the voluntary nature of flu shots. DPH Commissioner John Auerbach stressed that "mandatory vaccination is not, and has never been, part of the plan or discussion in Massachusetts' pandemic response.'"

* ►September 24, 2009 - Swine Flu Document Lists Sports Arena As Mass Vaccination Centre - Separate documents cite need to keep locations of mass inoculation sites secret from public - PrisonPlanet.com

* ►September 24, 2009 - Pandemic influenza vaccines: current status - Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 briefing note 11 - WHO

* ►September 24, 2009 - Director-General Statement following the fifth meeting of the Emergency Committee - WHO

* ►September 24, 2009 - Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses: systematic review/BMJ - Anthrax Vaccine -- posts by Meryl Nass, M.D.

* ►September 24, 2009 - Mass vaccinations for Swine Flu: learning from hindsight by Australian Infectious Diseases professor Peter Collignon at the ANU - Anthrax Vaccine -- posts by Meryl Nass, M.D.

* ►September 24, 2009 - Washington OKs mercury in swine flu vaccine - The state Health Department will allow more mercury than usual in some of the swine flu vaccine to make sure shots are available to pregnant women and children under three. - AP via Seattle Times - "The suspension of the mercury limit announced Thursday lasts six months and applies only to the swine flu vaccine expected to become available in October."

* ►September 24, 2009 - In wake of study concerns, Ontario delays seasonal flu shots for all but +65 - Canadian Press via Canadaeast.com - "Faced with puzzling but unconfirmed evidence that suggests a seasonal flu shot may raise the risk of catching swine flu, Ontario announced Thursday it is rescheduling its seasonal flu vaccine program to delay most of it until after pandemic vaccine has been administered. At a news conference in Toronto, Dr. Arlene King, the province's chief medical officer of health, said the seasonal and pandemic vaccines will be delivered in three waves, starting in October."

* ►September 24, 2009 - WHO probes study seasonal shot may raise H1N1 risk - Reuters

* ►September 24, 2009 - Several Fear Swine Flu Vaccine - Individuals Fear Upcoming Vaccine (includes video) - MyFox Memphis

* ►September 24, 2009 - Sebelius: More than enough H1N1 vaccine in United States (includes video) - CNN - "Ten to 20 million doses of the vaccine will be available each week after the first week in October, [Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen] Sebelius said. Sebelius aimed to dispel another myth: that the vaccine will be too expensive. 'The vaccine is paid for by the federal government,' she said."

* ►September 24, 2009 - Parents May Underestimate the Risks of H1N1 Flu for Their Children - University of Michigan - "The C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health finds less than half of parents plan to have their children vaccinated against H1N1 flu, despite higher disease risk."

* ►September 24, 2009 - Parents Polled on H1N1 Vaccine - MyFox Detroit - "In a recent Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health, 40-percent of parents indicated they will get their kids vaccinated against the H1N1 flu. When it comes to seasonal influenza, 54-percent of parents indicated they will get their children vaccinated. ... 1,678 parents across the United States were surveyed for the poll between August 13 and August 31, 2009. Click here for more information about this poll."

* ►September 24, 2009 - Swine flu vaccinations will soon be on their way - USA Today - "States are expected to begin ordering their share of the nation's H1N1 flu vaccine on Wednesday, said Paul Jarris, executive director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. That day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention brings its secure ordering site online."

* ►September 24, 2009 - Medical Ethics Experts Address Key Issues in H1N1 Pandemic - Infection Control Today - "The anticipated onset of a second wave of the H1N1 influenza pandemic could present a host of thorny medical ethics issues best considered well in advance, according to the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB), which today released nine papers for public discussion."

* ►September 24, 2009 - Swine flu vaccine recipients could be tracked with RFID bracelets using Big Brother medical technology (requires registration for full article) - NaturalNews.com - "This RFID vaccine tracking technology isn't fiction. It exists right now and was reported by the Boston Globe (http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma...) which revealed that vaccine-tracking bracelet trials were in place nearly a year ago. 'Several hundred people are expected to queue up for immunizations at the headquarters of the Boston Public Health Commission,' the Boston Globe reports. '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.'"

* ►September 24, 2009 - Manufacturers to blend swine flu vax into seasonal shot - FierceVaccines

►September 24, 2009 - Does Last Year's Flu Vaccine Make you More Susceptible To H1N1? - Age of Autism

►September 24, 2009 - New studies help mold market for flu vaccines - FierceVaccines

►September 24, 2009 - Tampa International Airport to sell flu vaccines - AP via USA Today

►September 24, 2009 - Pearls before swine - The University should continue to take safeguards against a potential swine flu outbreak - The Cavalier Daily - "When asked about the University’s handling of the swine flu outbreak, Second-year CLAS student Jamie Daily said, 'I feel that the University is doing a good job handling swine flu, but I also feel that people make too much of a fuss over it. Swine flu isn’t that bothersome to me because it’s no worse than the regular flu.'"

* ►September 24, 2009 - IV Vitamin C Used to Recover Terminal Swine Flu Case - Foodconsumer.org

►September 24, 2009 - Poor Sensitivity Mars Rapid H1N1 Flu Testing - MMWR via MedPage Today

►September 24, 2009 - Tamiflu ingredient grows in Bhutan - Kuensel, Buhutan

* ►September 24, 2009 - Another Nasty Side Effect from Vaccinations: A Lifetime Fear of Dying from Eating By Barbara F. Gregory - VacTRUTH - "So what is going on with our scientific research and food allergies? How come we can have all that fancy medical equipment and so many people have studied allergies and nobody has a clue where these food allergies are coming from? Why do they have sesame allergies in Israel but no peanut allergies? They eat peanuts. They’re clean, too. Why does the Hispanic population of the United States have a lower incidence of food allergies? They’re living in the same 'overly clean' country as the rest of us. Why have food allergies increased substantially in the last 6-7 years? Did we suddenly get 'cleaner'? My only claim to having any kind of learned abilities in compared to these highly trained physicians and scientists who have studied food allergies is I can read and write, add and subtract, and I actually looked at the ample data available. It doesn’t take a medical degree to see the connection between vaccines and food allergies. I read the package inserts for vaccines. The first vaccine given to children, Hepatitis B(10), contains casein. It is often given before the baby leaves the hospital.(11) Casein allergy usually appears in children in the first few months of life. (12) The same company that manufactures the Hepatitis B vaccine (13) also sells baby formula.(14) Gee, what a coincidence!"

* ►September 24, 2009 - Drug industry clout reflected in Senate vote - Optimum.net - "The Senate Finance Committee voted 13-10 to reject an amendment that would have required the industry to rebate $106 billion over 10 years to the government for medications used by low-income Medicare beneficiaries."

* ►September 24, 2009 - UK Government Farce Over New Adult Autism Study By John Stone - Age of Autism

►September 24, 2009 - A Horse and His Boy - Can equine companionship help autism? - Wall Street Journal - "Ask most parents how far they'd go for their child, and the usual answer is "to the ends of the earth." It's a turn of phrase that Rupert Isaacson and Kristin Neff took literally. 'The Horse Boy,' directed by Mr. Isaacson and Michel Orion Scott, and opening in New York on Sept. 30, is travelogue of sorts."

* ►September 24, 2009 - HIV Vaccine Regimen Demonstrates Modest Preventive Effect in Thailand Clinical Study - press release - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) - "Following a final analysis of the trial data, the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, the trial sponsor, announced today that the prime-boost investigational vaccine regimen was safe and 31 percent effective in preventing HIV infection. 'These new findings represent an important step forward in HIV vaccine research,' says Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, which provided major funding and other support for the study."

* ►September 24, 2009 - AIDS Vaccine Success Is 'Modest' - First-Ever Protective Effect Is Small but Suggests HIV Vaccine Is Possible - WebMD - "Even so, the study results are puzzling. It was expected that vaccine recipients who became infected would at least have some protection against the virus. But the study found no evidence of such protection. HIV levels were just as high in vaccine recipients who became infected as in placebo recipients who contracted the virus. Perhaps more importantly, the study fell far short of its goal of reducing the risk of HIV infection by 50%."

* ►September 24, 2009 - What should we make of the HIV vaccine 'triumph'? - New Scientist - "Results of the RV144 trial on 16,000 volunteers in Thailand show that those receiving the vaccine reduced their risk of HIV infection by about a third – the first evidence that a vaccine might work. The two largest previous vaccine trials, in 2003 and 2007, failed, and that had researchers wondering if there would ever be an effective vaccine. So is this result – announced on Thursday by the US National Institutes of Health, which funded the trial – the momentous breakthrough we've been waiting for, or are the results too modest to get excited about? New Scientist takes a look."

* ►September 24, 2009 - AIDS vaccine protects people, shocks researchers - Reuters - "An experimental AIDS vaccine made from two failed products has protected people for the first time, reducing the rate of infection by about 30 percent, researchers said on Thursday. Developers said they were now debating how to test the limited amounts of vaccine they have left to find out if there are ways to make it work better. Scientists said they were unsure how or why the vaccines worked when used together in the trial, which took place in Thailand, and will study the volunteers to find out. ... The vaccine is a combination of Sanofi-Pasteur's ALVAC canary pox/HIV vaccine and the failed HIV vaccine AIDSVAX, made by a San Francisco company called VaxGen and now owned by the nonprofit Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases. The trial was sponsored by the U.S. government and conducted by the Thai Ministry of Public Health. It cut the risk of infection by 31.2 percent among 16,402 volunteers over three years. 'We had 74 infections in the placebo group and 51 in the vaccine group,' Dr. Jerome Kim, a U.S. Army colonel at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Maryland, who helped lead the trial, said by telephone."

* ►September 24, 2009 - Army's AIDS Research 1 Example Of Broad Program - Army's AIDS Vaccine Work Only 1 Example Of Broad Military Medical Research Program - AP via CBS News

* ►September 24, 2009 - Dr. Don Francis and the 21st Century's Holy Grail - City Brights Blog via San Francisco Chronicle - "Dr. Don Francis, San Francisco's scintillation vial-wielding version of Indiana Jones, is getting ever closer to finding the 21st Century's Holy Grail. Today, Dr. Francis and his colleges at Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases, a non-profit in South San Francisco, announced they are close to creating a vaccine for HIV."

* ►September 24, 2009 - AIDS researcher knows the value of persistence - San Francisco Chronicle

* ►September 24, 2009 - Scientists praise AIDS vaccine trial - but urge patience - San Francisco Chronicle

* ►September 24, 2009 - HIV 'vaccine' a false dawn for Big Pharma? - Management Today, UK - "Drug companies took a step towards the Holy Grail of an HIV jab today. But it's still only 30% effective... The announcement that researchers in Bangkok have completed a trial which shows a 30% reduction in the risk of infection by HIV has been greeted around the world with huge excitement today. Not without reason - scientists have been working hard (and spending freely) on just such a jab for 25 years, and this is the best result they have got so far. The spoils for any drug company that can market an effective HIV vaccine are potentially vast. But the key word is effective. We do generally like to look on the bright side here at MT, but we can’t help thinking that a vaccine which only provides a 30% reduction in infection isn’t really the answer here. It might even make things worse, encouraging those inoculated to believe they were immune from infection when in reality they were anything but."

* ►September 24, 2009 - Vaccine to give fight against AIDS booster shot - Hindustan Times - "The vaccine may not work in Africa and India, where different subtypes of HIV-1 drive the infection. HIV-1 subtype B is predominant in the US and Europe, subtype E in Thailand and South East Asia, and subtype C in Africa and India. 'The Thailand vaccine was formulated specifically to protect against HIV-1 subtypes E and B, so it’s premature to say whether it will work in India, where subtype C is predominant. We need trials in India before we know,' said Sujatha Rao, director general, National AIDS Control Organisation."

* ►September 24, 2009 - Drugmakers' HIV Treatments Live On - Motley Fool - "Data from a trial testing an HIV vaccine, a combination of products developed by sanofi-aventis' (NYSE: SNY) and VaxGen, looks potentially promising, but it still has a long ways to go. The vaccine reduced the infection rate by 31%, although the absolute numbers -- 74 infected on placebo, versus 51 infected on the vaccine, with 8,200 people in each group -- were so small that you have to wonder how statistically significant that reduction is. ... Don't get me wrong. I'd like to see a HIV vaccine as much as the next person. But companies that make HIV drugs could lose billions of dollars in revenue if an effective vaccine is developed. All drug-company investors need to keep an eye on up-and-coming drugs from competitors that could take market share -- or, in this case, disintegrate the market."

* ►September 24, 2009 - New vaccine helps prevent AIDS infection - AP via The Washington Times - "The vaccine cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by more than 31 percent in the world's largest AIDS vaccine trial of more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand, researchers announced Thursday in Bangkok."

* ►September 24, 2009 - Aids/HIV: Where it came from and how it spread - Aids is now generally acknowledged to be caused by HIV which was originally transferred to humans from chimpanzees from West Africa. - Telegraph, UK - "Another controversial theory is that it was transferred through live polio vaccinations which were grown in chimp kidney cells and then given to around a million people in the Belgian Congo, Rwanda and Urundi in the late 1950s, while conspiracy theorists claim it was developed by the CIA to kill off blacks and homosexuals."

►September 24, 2009 - HIV vax testers react to Thai trial (requires registration) - The Scientist

►September 24, 2009 - Merck Statement on HIV Vaccine Trial - Merck.com

* ►September 24, 2009 - Pneumococcal vaccine for drug-resistant strains shows promise - AAP SmartBrief - "Study results show an investigational 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine may help eliminate new drug-resistant pneumococcal strains, researchers said. The two teams said the results are good enough for the CDC to consider suggesting FDA recommend a catch-up vaccination for children 2 to 4 years of age with underlying health conditions."

►September 24, 2009 - Government hails "fantastic" cancer vaccination rate - Figures show ninety percent of teen schoolgirls have opted for the cervical cancer jab. - STV News

►September 24, 2009 - Leon County Health Department confirms meningitis case - Tallahassee Democrat

►September 24, 2009 - Breaking News: Whooping cough confirmed in Umatilla County - An infant who contracted the illness is recovering at home, officials say. - Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

►September 24, 2009 - Health officials fight spread of plague - New Vision, Uganda - "[Dr. Patrick] Anguzu said since last year, 17 people had died, 38 confirmed sick and 90 are suspected to have contracted the disease."

►September 24, 2009 - The Debate Over Mandatory Health Insurance (includes transcript and audio) - Talk of the Nation via NPR

* ►September 24, 2009 - Toxic Air Systems In Planes Cause Brain Damage In Crew And Passengers - The One Click Group

* ►September 24, 2009 - UK Assisted Suicide Guidelines Published - The One Click Group

* ►September 24, 2009 - Tylenol Recalls Child and Infant Liquids - Bacteria Found in Raw 'Inactive' Ingredient, Already Packaged Products OK - ABC News - "Click here for the full list of products Tylenol is recalling."

►September 24, 2009 - Sleep and SIDS - MyHighPlains.com - "The National Institute of Child Health & Human Development and the National SIDS Resource Center offer these additional statistics about SIDS: * Approximately 2,247 babies died of SIDS in 2004. * Most SIDS deaths occur between 2 and 4 months of age. * African-American babies are twice as likely to die of SIDS as white babies. * Boys are at greater risk for SIDS than girls. * SIDS cannot be caught. It is not contagious, and no symptoms exist before death. * SIDS is not caused by the diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus (DPT) vaccines or any other immunizations."

* ►September 24, 2009 - Mass vaccinations for Swine Flu: learning from hindsight - Crikey.com.au

* ►September 24, 2009 - Swine on decline - The Daily Mississippian - "The number of individuals diagnosed with swine flu has decreased each day this past week at the University of Mississippi, according to a press release issued by the University P.R. Department and Student Health Services."

►September 24, 2009 - Swine flu concerns keep Children's ER in Dallas busy - The Dallas Morning News

►September 24, 2009 - Hospitals prepare for H1N1, plan ER "swine flu drive through" - The Coloradoan

►September 24, 2009 - 2009 Meeting Materials, Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee - Material is organized by meeting date, with more recent meeting first. - FDA

►September 24, 2009 - Waivers for Conflict of Interest for the October 9, 2009 Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee - FDA

►September 24, 2009 - Everyone should be a part of flu prevention - The Observer & Eccentric Newspapers and Hometown Weeklies

* ►September 24, 2009 - NICE guidance hopes to tackle variation in uptake of childhood jabs - PharmaTimes - "But Jackie Fletcher, from the campaign group Jabs, told The Telegraph that the drive will put parents under pressure to get their children vaccinated. “Many parents would like to vaccinate their children but they cannot have the single measles, mumps and rubella vaccines on the NHS. This will put extra pressure on parents that they could do without, particularly because we do not have compulsory vaccination in this country”, she stressed."

* ►September 24, 2009 - Key Issues In H1N1 Pandemic Identified, Addressed By Medical Ethics Experts - University of Toronto Joint Center for Bioethics via Medical News Today

►September 24, 2009 - Pandemic preparedness - First District Health Unit holds flu clinic/preparedness exercise - Minot Daily News

* ►September 24, 2009 - Pushing the importance of a flu vaccine - WTHR.com

* ►September 24, 2009 - "Excessive pay" campaign targets Novartis boss - Novartis chief executive Daniel Vasella has come under renewed fire from Ethos, an institutional investor and pressure group, over his pay package and powerful position. - Swissinfo.ch

►September 24, 2009 - Pioneering efforts pay off with grants - Six local scientists to get millions for research - San Diego Union-Tribune

►September 24, 2009 - University researchers launch pharmacological study for treatment of ADHD amongst college students - University of Rhode Island via News-Medical.Net

►September 24, 2009 - Common disorders and how to spot them - The Straits Times via asiaonehealth

►September 24, 2009 - Denying health care to immigrants would be harmful to America - Belleville News-Democrat

►September 24, 2009 - Senators spar over Medicare cuts, drugs - The Washington Times

►September 24, 2009 - Some doubt hand washing stops H1N1 - CNN

* ►September 23, 2009 - 14 in Beijing given H1N1 flu vaccinations show 'adverse effects'+ - AP via Breitbart

* ►September 23, 2009 - Is it fair to check medical records to see if children have been vaccinated? - Under new guidance health visitors should check to find out if children starting school or nursery have had all their vaccinations and offer parents the jabs where they have been missed. There is no system of compulsory vaccination in Britain as there is in some states in America, but will this put unfair pressure on parents? - Telegraph, UK

* ►September 23, 2009 - Rubella outbreak in the Netherlands, Canada emphasizes importance of vaccination - Immune responses similar to those observed with seasonal influenza vaccine. - Pediatric Supersite

* ►September 23, 2009 - Swine flu windfall (requires registration) - The Scientist - "The companies -- Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, MedImmune, Australian drug maker CSL, and Sanofi-Pasteur -- have been hard at work developing and testing vaccines since the H1N1 surfaced in the US, Mexico, and Canada early this spring. Though drug companies don't tend to make production costs public, these five will likely make a pretty penny as swine flu hits in earnest this fall. Rachael David, a spokesperson for CSL, Australia, said in an email to The Scientist that the company has contracts to supply 21 million doses of a swine flu vaccine to the Australian government and USD $180 million worth of bulk antigen to the US. "Analysts have predicted that [CSL's profits from sale of the vaccine and ingredients] will be between AUS $250 and $300 million [USD $218 - $262 million]," David wrote."

►September 23, 2009 - Chan Calls For Additional H1N1 Vaccines For Poor Countries During WHO Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting - Kaiser Family Foundation via Medical News Today

►September 23, 2009 - Town seeks residents' feedback via online flu survey - The Daily News

►September 23, 2009 - Flu-Related Hospitalizations On Rise In Colorado - Hospitalizations Represent Small Fraction Of Actual Cases - CBS4Denver.com

►September 23, 2009 - Get your own beer! Swine flu is on campus - AP via Miami Herald

* ►September 23, 2009 - Whoops! Docs' H1N1 pay shrinks - Edmonton Sun - "Ron Liepert yesterday set out how much docs will get paid for H1N1 duty and it's not the $518 an hour the medical folks spouted off about last month. Instead, Rockin' Ron says physicians will earn $295 hourly on nights, $270 an hour for evenings and weekends and $225 per hour on a regular weekday shift."

* ►September 23, 2009 - Swine flu epidemic predicted to end in 4 years - Experts calculate that in the next two years, Vietnam will have around 16 million people infected with A/H1N1 flu and this pandemic will be no longer dangerous when most people become immune. - Viet Nam Net

* ►September 23, 2009 - Industry and greens battle over pseudoscience in EU capital - EUobserver - "Newspapers, internet bulletin boards and the blogosphere have been crammed with exposures of homeopathy as quackery, discussions of the fall-out in the UK from unwarranted scares over infant vaccinations, and laments about the general poverty of science reporting. A stream of best-selling books such as How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World by Francis Wheen and a host polemical documentaries have firmly established the "defence of reason" as a dominant meme in the second half of the decade."

►September 23, 2009 - Savirs Pharmaceuticals – Defeating Influenza - onepharm and EMBL establish new company with the help of AWS. Focus on development of novel anti?influenza drugs - Savira via PharmaLive

►September 23, 2009 - Pregnant women needed for nutrition study - CBC News

►September 23, 2009 - GoScan Helps State of Connecticut Track Swine Flu Cases - GoScan® today announced that the State of Connecticut Department of Public Health (CTDPH) has purchased a statewide license of GoScan software to help track cases of the pandemic H1N1 (swine) flu virus. This is the third in a series of GoScan contracts with local and state government focusing on tracking H1N1 (swine) flu outbreaks. - GoScan Inc. via PRWeb

►September 23, 2009 - Food insecurity is associated with iron deficiency anemia in US adolescents - journal article (The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition)

►September 23, 2009 - Nature to launch OA journal (requires registration) - The Scientist

* ►September 23, 2009 - MOH cautious on flu shot fears - Canadian Press via HealthZone.ca - "Unpublished Canadian data are raising concerns about whether it's a good idea to get a seasonal flu shot this season. Drawn from a series of studies from British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario, the data appear to suggest that people who got a seasonal flu shot last year are about twice as likely to catch swine flu as people who didn't. ... [Dr. Donald] Low said it is important to get to the bottom of the issue, but in the meantime, delaying the use of seasonal flu vaccine makes sense for logistical reasons. ... Low admitted the controversy could undermine the public's willingness to be vaccinated against influenza. 'This is obviously difficult for public to be able to digest this,' he said. 'There's a crying need here for a prospective randomized controlled study.'  That type of study – which is not the kind on which the findings are based – is considered the gold standard of medical evidence."

Comment:  Although a prospective, randomized controlled study is indeed considered the “gold standard” of medical evidence, it has almost never been used in examining vaccines.  That is why I have been calling for studies using “never-vaccinated” controls  for at least 20 years.  It is why Rep. Caroline Maloney has a bill in Congress requiring that such studies finally be conducted.  But that bill has been languishing there for years.  It is high time the media, medical profession and public stop brushing this critical fact under the rug,  acknowledge that such studies have not been done and demand that they be conducted.  What we don’t know can hurt us, and probably is.

* ►September 23, 2009 - Swine flu virus should be in next year's seasonal flu vaccine - Booster Shots Blog via Los Angeles Times - "The pandemic H1N1 influenza virus should be a component of the seasonal flu vaccine prepared for the coming winter in the Southern Hemisphere and probably in next year's vaccine for the Northern Hemisphere as well, the World Health Organization said today."

►September 22, 2009 - Meningitis case diagnosed at Purdue - Doctor: disease not highly communicable - WLFI.com

* ►September 22, 2009 - Cordova Says Mexico to Buy Vaccine From GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi  - Bloomberg - "Mexico will buy 150 million euros ($222 million) of swine flu vaccine doses from GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Sanofi-Aventis SA, said Jose Angel Cordova, the country’s health minister."

* ►September 22, 2009 - UK Regional Swine Flu Plans Outline Mass Vaccination Centres - Police to be alerted by local authorities to prevent public disorder - Infowars.net

* ►September 22, 2009 - ALERT ALERT! Navy soliders DYING after swine flu injections! - video - YouTube

* ►September 22, 2009 - Mystery surrounds 'plague death' victim - Short Sharp Science via New Scientist - "Before Malcolm Casadaban died on ►September 13, the 60-year-old microbiologist at the University of Chicago had been suffering from flu-like symptoms. ... But the case reminds me of misgivings that have been voiced about weakened strains, which might not be as safe as they seem. The strain seems likely to have been EV76, which is used as a vaccine in Russia and Madagascar. It is considered unlikely to revert to the virulent strain - but even without reverting, it kills some mice immunised with it.  Worse, up to a fifth of people vaccinated with EV76 develop flu symptoms such as fever, headache, weakness and malaise, according to Rick Titball of the University of Exeter, UK, a leading Yersinia expert. Some even need hospitalisation, he says, though no deaths have ever been reported that we know of. "

►September 22, 2009 - Pharma | Natco plans paediatric version of Tamiflu - Lifemint

* ►September 22, 2009 - Rapping doc wins chance to star in swine flu ads - Newsday

* ►September 22, 2009 - Seeking Chemical Culprits for Those Deformities - Science casting wide net in search of chemicals seen as likely suspects in feminization and reproductive anomalies being spotted worldwide. - Miller-McCune Online Magazine

* ►September 22, 2009 - Judge Overturns Approval of Roundup Ready Beets - Judge rules orders feds take "hard look" at genetically engineered sugar beets - AP via ABC News

►September 22, 2009 - HIV/AIDS Presents New and Different Security Threats, says report - Voice of America

►September 22, 2009 - Pharmacies report Tamiflu shortage - MyFox Tampa Bay

►September 22, 2009 - Dr. Andy: Resistance to Tamiflu would make swine flu more dangerous - The News-Press

* ►September 22, 2009 - Fever Plus Mitochondrial Disease Could Be Risk Factors for Autistic Regression - journal article (Journal of Neurology) - "A subgroup of these individuals has mitochondrial disease. Because a variety of metabolic disorders, including mitochondrial disease show regression with fever, a retrospective chart review was performed and identified 28 patients who met diagnostic criteria for autistic spectrum disorders and mitochondrial disease. Autistic regression occurred in 60.7% (17 of 28), a statistically significant increase over the general autistic spectrum disorder population (P < .0001). Of the 17 individuals with autistic regression, 70.6% (12 of 17) regressed with fever and 29.4% (5 of 17) regressed without identifiable linkage to fever or vaccinations. None showed regression with vaccination unless a febrile response was present. Although the study is small, a subgroup of patients with mitochondrial disease may be at risk of autistic regression with fever. Although recommended vaccinations schedules are appropriate in mitochondrial disease, fever management appears important for decreasing regression risk."

* ►September 22, 2009 - Reportlinker Adds Vaccines 2009: World Market Analysis, Key Players, and Critical Trends in a Fast-Changing Industry Report - Reportlinker.com via PRNewswire via IT News Online - "Few areas of pharmaceuticals have seen the fast-moving developments in the marketplace that the vaccine market has in 2008. Since Kalorama Information last updated Kalorama Information's The World Market for Vaccines last year, new products and better than expected profits have transformed the vaccine marketplace. Continued sales of influenza vaccines and cervical cancer vaccines have provided a foundation for growth in the adult market. The competitive dynamics have changed with mergers, and many new products are on the way."

* ►September 22, 2009 - Shingles vaccine administered to the first Quebec patient at the Clinique Sant De-voyage de la Fondation du CHUM - CNW Telbec via Canadian Business

►September 22, 2009 - Officials seek flu cooperation - Mankato Free Press

* ►September 22, 2009 - Home Autism Detector Worries Some Doctors - A Device Designed to Detect Autism in Toddlers' Chatter Has Some Doctors Concerned - ABC News - "To use LAS, parents simply let their 24-month to 48-month-old children wear the device and overalls for a full 12-hour day. Then parents can ship the device back to LENA where employees use their acoustic algorithms to compare the child's vocalizations to those of other children analyzed in the LENA database. Parents then get an assessment in the mail."

* ►September 22, 2009 - FDA addresses unmet pediatric medical device needs with three grants - Immune responses similar to those observed with seasonal influenza vaccine. - Pediatric Supersite

* ►September 22, 2009 - University of Iowa Scientists Use Blood-Brain Barrier as Therapy Delivery System - Enzyme delivered through the bloodstream corrects deficiencies in the brain - University of Iowa via Biocompare

►September 22, 2009 - Predictors of the early introduction of solid foods in infants: results of a cohort study (pdf) - journal article (BMC Pediatrics)

►September 22, 2009 - Age related diseases may increase thanks to deficiency of Vitamin K - The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition via Health Jockey

* ►September 21, 2009 - Preliminary data from pediatric influenza A H1N1 vaccine trials encouraging - Immune responses similar to those observed with seasonal influenza vaccine. - Pediatric Supersite

►September 21, 2009 - Taiwan counters fears of Tamiflu after pregnant woman dies - Central News Agency via eTaiwannews.com

►September 20, 2009 - Tamiflu warning as swine flu cases rise - Shields Gazette

►September 20, 2009 - Woman Dies After Taking Tamiflu - Korea Times

►September 20, 2009 - HIV fighter lives to tell tale - Ex-prep-school gal sheds stigma - Regan Hofmann, 42, grew up in Princeton, NJ, attended private high school and rode thorough bred horses while hiding a deep secret for nearly a decade: that she was HIV-positive. After 10 years of silence, she disclosed her HIV status to the world when she became the editor in chief of POZ, a magazine for people with HIV/ AIDS. With her memoir "I Have Something To Tell You" hitting shelves Sept. 22, she tells her story to The Post. - New York Post

* ►September 19, 2009 - Call for research into flesh-eating epidemic - There's a call for urgent research into a growing epidemic of flesh-eating disease. - Radio New Zealand - "Researchers at Otago University's Wellington School of Medicine have found a five-fold increase since 1990 of the disease known as "necrotising fasciitis" to about 80 cases a year. A public health physician and senior lecturer at the University of Otago, Michael Baker, says the incidence of the disease is growing in the way the meningococcal disease did a decade ago. Associate Professor Baker says the disease is now causing about 15 deaths a year and not enough is known about how to stop it."

►September 19, 2009 - Rare infection may have caused death of Chicago scientist - The University of Toronto

►September 19, 2009 - Texas students must get their shots by Oct. 1 - Houston Chronicle

►September 19, 2009 - Pregnant woman is 24th H1N1 victim - Times of India

* ►September 19, 2009 - School bus drivers give kids Tamiflu - India Today

►September 18, 2009 - Fourth swine flu death reported by family in St. Lucie County - TCPalm

►September 18, 2009 - Pune housewife, kid triumph over H1N1 - Times of India

►September 18, 2009 - IG: Improvements in VA endoscopic equipment use - AP via Yahoo!

►September 17, 2009 - Opportunities to prevent meningitis in young babies 'being missed' - Up to half of cases of a serious infection which causes meningitis in young babies could be prevented if more mothers were given antibiotics during labour, experts have warned. - The Telegraph, UK

►September 17, 2009 - Spreading HIV nets former Idaho athlete a 30-year sentence - Idaho Statesman

►September 16, 2009 - Danone Says Trial Paves Way for Marketable HIV Immunity Product - Bloomberg

►September 16, 2009 - Insurer to Pay $10M for Rescission Based on HIV - Courthouse News Service

►September 16, 2009 - Does Tamiflu resistant swine flu virus really spread less well? - Effect Measure via ScienceBlogs

* ►September 15, 2009 - Age-Dependent B Cell Autoimmunity to a Myelin Surface Antigen in Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis - journal article (The Journal of Immunology)

►September 15, 2009 - Gates Foundation: Dr. Stefano Bertozzi To Direct HIV Efforts - United Nations via MaximsNews Network - "Stefano Bertozzi joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation this month as the director of HIV, where he now leads the team to manage the Foundation’s portfolio of grants in HIV vaccine development, diagnostics, biomedical prevention research, development and resistance monitoring, and develops efforts to introduce and scale-up new interventions."

►September 15, 2009 - Billie Piper supports Meningitis in Babies Awareness Week - This Is The Westcountry - "TV actress Billie Piper, mother of baby Winston, is supporting the Meningitis in Babies Awareness Week campaign which runs from September 21-27."

►September 14, 2009 - Liverpool sister’s run for meningitis victim - Liverpool Daily Post - "Lucy Evans, 41, from Childwall, decided to take up running after she lost her older sister, Carol English, in January. ... Lucy hopes to raise over £700 towards Meningitis UK’s Search 4 a Vaccine Campaign, which aims to make £7m towards the development of a vaccine."

  ►September 11, 2009 - Risk and resilience: genetic and environmental influences on development of the stress response. - journal article (Depression and Anxiety)

►September 3, 2009 - Efficacy of Short Course, <4 Days, of Antibiotics for Treatment of Acute Otitis Media in Children A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials. - journal article (Indian Pediatrics)

* ►September 3, 2009 - Military to receive mandatory swine flu vaccines - Defense official: 'Noncompliance is not an option' - WorldNetDaily

* ►September 3, 2009 - Swine Flu Action Plan - Dr. Renee Tocco and Mary Tocco discuss the concerns about the mandated swine flu vaccine program and how America can take action to stop our government from removing our rights. - video - Vimeo.com

►September 2009 - Antibiotic use in children: another (pdf) - journal article (Breathe)

►September 2009 - Dimmer-switch Drugs (requires registration) - A growing number of companies are exploring molecules that modulate targets, rather than just switching them on or off. - The Scientist

► August 22, 2009 - Swine flu: People with mild symptoms 'need not be given Tamiflu' - Healthy people with mild symptoms of swine flu need not be given Tamiflu, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said, appearing to call into question how the drugs are given out in this country. - The Telegraph, UK

► July 6, 2009 - Autoimmune Diseases Linked to Autism - video - ABC News

► November 2008 - Legal Limits of Mercury-Containing Vaccines in Washington State (pdf) - Washington State Department of Health

* ►Swine Flu Action Plan - http://childhoodshots.com

►H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu): Preparedness Tools for Professionals - CDC

►H1N1 Flu Mobile Texting Pilot - CDC

►Recommended composition of influenza virus vaccines for use in the 2010 southern hemisphere influenza season - WHO

►Unintended side effects of genetic engineering - Conference with Craig Holdrege 25 September 2009 - Location: European Economic and Social Committee 74, Rue de Trèves, 1040 Brussels (pdf) - Institute of Science in Society