►January 3, 2004 - Vaccinate your child - National Post via www.canada.com - "As a general rule, parents know better than any one else how best to look after their children. That said, it seems more and more parents are making the wrong choice when it comes to vaccinating their offspring against potentially deadly diseases...Concerned than ever about the safety of vaccines, with many citing unfounded worries that the preventive shots are 'unnatural' and will cause everything from brain damage to multiple sclerosis."

Comment:  Perhaps these fears are unfounded, but it is more likely they are not.  For instance, a recent study, Risk factors of multiple sclerosis: a case-control study, found a highly significant relationship between measles vaccination and MS.  And there has always been considerable evidence of brain damage, among the most noteworthy being the report co-authored by the "father of pediatric neurology", Dr. John Menkes, entitled Workshop on neurologic complications of pertussis and pertussis vaccination.  Among the findings, it was reported that "Although the majority of seizures following pertussis vaccination are associated with fever, it was the consensus of the neurologists attending the workshop, that these do not represent febrile convulsions, but are non-benign convulsions (my emphasis)."  The Institute of Medicine, in its safety review of vaccines, found, among other things, "that the evidence is consistent with a causal relation between DPT vaccine and acute encephalopathy and shock and 'unusual shock-like state'..." While it is unknown exactly how many actual vaccine-associated adverse reactions would be identified were they assiduously followed,  cavalierly dismissing the over 100,000 of them, as if they must all be meaningless, is simply absurd.  Some idea of their full extent and import can be gleaned from examination of VAERS reports, as long as estimates of under-reporting, ranging from 90-99%, are factored in.  For instance, there were 269 reports of vaccine-associated encephalopathy, probably representing between 2,690 and 26,900 cases.  There were another 371 reports (overlap unknown) of encephalitis, representing a possible additional 3,710 to 37,100 cases.  If one takes into consideration the time between administration of vaccine and reports of infant death, and the extremely high percentage that appear to be occurring even within one day of vaccination, it should be clear that neither jubilation nor relief about the benign nature of vaccination is warranted.  If reports of vaccine reactions are taken seriously, as they should be, it becomes apparent that the only thing that is truly unfounded is the notion that fears about vaccines are "unfounded".

►January 4, 2004 - A Novel Way to Boost Childhood Immunizations: Use Baby Pictures - Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center via www.newswise.com

►January 2, 2004 - Infant formula milk contains dangerous bug - Traces of a bacterium that can cause serious illness in newborns has been found in each of four infant formula milk factories tested...A study, published in the Lancet, looked for the presence of a bug called E. sakazakii, which can cause meningitis or severe gut infections...Several outbreaks among premature babies have been recorded, and in this vulnerable group, mortality is high - between 40% and 80%...Cases have not emerged among babies more than a few weeks old unless their immune systems have been already weakened by other conditions...Some premature babies cannot breastfeed, or are deliberately given specially enriched formula feed from birth in an effort to maximise weight gain in the first weeks of life."

Comment:  Call me crazy, but maybe even premature infants who "cannot" breastfeed could be fed breast milk.  And perhaps the notion that infants need to  "maximise weight gain in the first weeks of life" should be reexamined if the method for accomplishing that is to feed formula rather than breastmilk.

►January 5, 2004 - Beth Clay Response to the WSJ Article The Politics of Autism - "As the former Congressional Staffer who, for five years, led Chairman Burton’s investigations into the autism epidemic and vaccine safety concerns, I applaud the Wall Street Journal for reporting on the rise in autism rates.  There are, however, numerous factual errors in the December 29 Commentary, 'The Politics of Autism.'"

►January 2, 2004 - Hepatitis B immunisation induces higher antibody and memory Th2 responses in new-borns than in adults - journal article (Vaccine) - "The high antibody response to neonatal hepatitis B vaccination contrasts with low responses to many other vaccines. Indeed, young infants produce lower concentrations of antibodies in response to diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, Haemophilus influenzae type B and measles vaccines than adults [1]. The mechanism underlying the strong antibody response to hepatitis B vaccine is not clear but could be related to the particulate structure of the HBs Ag [1 and 15]...We conclude that hepatitis B vaccine induces higher primary and memory antibody responses in new-borns than in adults. These strong antibody responses are associated with low primary IFN- responses and increased post-primary Th2 responses. The upregulation of Th2 cytokine production by BCG suggests that neonatal responses could be relatively resistant to Th1-promoting adjuvants."

►Diagnosis: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (presumptive) - Summary and Discussion - Baylor neurology case of the month - "Several infectious agents are thought to precede the development of ADEM, including: Measles (most common, 1/1000 measles cases, with autoreactive T-cells and antibodies to MBP), Rubella, Corona virus, Mycoplasma, influenza, parainfluenza, CMV, EBV, HHV-6, Varicella-chicken pox, and nonspecific URI's. Vaccines to smallpox, rabies (Semple vaccine), mumps, rubella, influenza and live measles have also been reported to antedate development of this condition."

►December 2003 - Lymphocyte distribution in the tonsils prior to and after influenza vaccination. - journal article (Vaccine) - "This shows that dynamic changes takes place in the tonsils after parenteral influenza vaccination, which may point to an important role of the tonsils in combating respiratory pathogens."

►January 5, 2004 - No bovine vaccines coming from U.S. - http://calgary.cbc.ca - "The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has temporarily suspended the importation from the United States of any vaccines made from ruminant protein. It wants to make sure that there is no risk of them carrying bovine spongiform encephalopathy."

Comment:  Human vaccines routinely use bovine serum.  For more on this go to Scandals: On "mad cows" and sick monkeys: From the people who brought you SV40 in vaccines....

►January 5, 2004 - Immune boost 'widens cancer fight' - Scientists may have found a way to harness the immune system and strike at hidden tumours throughout the body. - BBC - "Animal tests suggest that a treatment given to just one tumour produces an immune response that targets secondary growths in other places...Researchers from Chicago University now hope the same effect can be reproduced in humans with cancer...If so, it could offer a way to tackle cases where more advanced cancers have a foothold in many parts of the body."

►January 3, 2004 - Toxins lead to healthier lives? - 'Revolutionary' research suggests billions can be saved in cleanup costs - Insight Magazine via www.worldnetdaily.com - "Hormesis, the scientific theory that humans actually need small amounts of poison in their diets, could be the most important environmental event of the 21st century if proved valid. Billions of dollars could be saved in environmental cleanup costs, say researchers, while at the same time improving the health of all organisms, including humans...But at first examination, hormesis appears kooky. The knee-jerk reaction is to reject this phenomenon as pseudoscience or propaganda by polluters, and a few uninformed observers have done just that."

►January 5, 2004 - Nasal spray flu vaccine may help prevent influenza in healthy children - JAMA and Archives Journals Website via www.eurekalert.org

►January 5, 2004 - Nasal Flu Vaccine Safe for Kids - HealthDayNews via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

►December 30, 2003 - Removing brain metals may aid Alzheimer's - www.palmbeachpost.com

►January 5, 2004 - Prions: More reason to eat organic meat - by Randal Neustaedter OMD - The Natural Health Newsletter

►January 5, 2004 - Anthrax ruling a victory for local mom - Missoula woman says judge's decision isn't end of fight over vaccine - Missoulian Online - "'I went looking on the Internet for something that was not hysterical, not emotional; I wanted facts,' says Hubbell, who runs a public relations firm out of her Missoula home. 'I found that when I came across the site sponsored by Maj. Sonnie Bates.'...Bates, Hubbell says, is the highest-ranking officer to refuse the anthrax vaccine, costing him his military career...'His letter to his commanding officer explaining why he would not take it had a military precision to it,' she says. "'t was just fact, fact, fact, fact. It convinced me there was a real problem here, and I had to get involved. The people this is affecting can have their pay docked, be demoted, be court-martialed. They can't speak up, so I figured it's up to the parents to do it.'

►January 6, 2004 - Needle-free vaccines may cause more harm than good: study - AEDT via www.abc.net.au - "Professor Alan Baxter says the onset of auto immune diseases accelerated when the patches were tested on mice...This can lead to inflammation of the pancreas or brain."

►January 12, 2004 - Public health found still not ready for bioterrorism - Past neglect of the system requires a lengthy and consistently funded repair effort, officials say.  - www.ama-assn.org

►January 12, 2004 - Insurers to cover nasal flu vaccine - An early, brutal flu season and a demand for injectable vaccine that exceeded supply has convinced some insurers to cover the more expensive FluMist. - www.ama-assn.org

►January 2004 - Effect of thimerosal, a preservative in vaccines, on intracellular Ca(2+) concentration of rat cerebellar neurons. - journal article (Toxicology) - "Results indicate that thimerosal exerts some cytotoxic actions on cerebellar granule neurons dissociated from 2-week-old rats and its potency is almost similar to that of methylmercury."

►January 5, 2004 - Smallpox vaccine elusive - Public demand for vaccination has subsided.  Concerns about side effects may outweigh fear of disease. -  The Morning Call Online - "Even a potentially safer experimental vaccine against the deadly disease being tested by the National Institutes of Health has insufficient takers. After a year, program officials have enrolled 130 of the 185 participants needed."

Comment:  Given that the smallpox vaccine is known to have (an unknown number of) serious reactions and the risk of getting smallpox is probably small, it would seem that the public does know best.

Comment:  Unless they expect serious adverse reactions to occur in more than 1/185 people, a study of this size certainly cannot be expected to identify serious adverse reactions.

►January 5, 2004 - Computerized ordering cuts medication errors - www.tennessean.com

►January 5, 2004 - Needless appendix surgery cited - The Boston Globe - "Surgeons needlessly remove the appendixes of thousands of children who don't have appendicitis -- a problem most acute at hospitals that perform the operation infrequently -- according to a new study that raises difficult questions about improving pediatric care."

►January 5, 2004 - Good bugs getting more notice - Probiotics: Researchers say friendly bacteria can improve intestinal functioning and may be a source of treatment for a range of diseases. - www.sunspot.net

►January 5, 2004 - Phase 3 Study of Secretin for Autism Fails to Meet Dual Primary Endpoints - Development of Secretin for Schizophrenia to Continue - Repligen Press Release via PRNewswire-FirstCall via Yahoo!

►January 5, 2004 - MMR ‘scare stories’ are not putting parents off - This is Guernsey

►January 2004 - Infectious and uterus related complications during pregnancy and development of atopic and nonatopic asthma in children - journal article (Allergy)

►December 2003 - Childhood illnesses and the use of paracetamol (acetaminophen): a qualitative study of parents' management of common childhood illnesses - journal article (Family Practice)

►January 3, 2004 - A tough time for paediatricians - journal article (BMJ)

►February 2003 - PopMod: a longitudinal population model with two interacting disease states -  journal article (Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation)

►December 23, 2003 - Does the risk of cerebral palsy increase or decrease with increasing gestational age? - journal article (BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth)

►December 1, 2003 - Effect of zinc supplementation on growth in West African children: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial in rural Burkina Faso -  journal article (International Journal of Epidemiology)

►January 3, 2004 - Meadow faces GMC over evidence given in child death cases - journal article (BMJ)

►January 1, 2004 - Low dose radiation in infancy may affect intellect - BMJ via www.eurekalert.org

►January 2, 2004 - Scans 'may damage infant brains' - Doctors have been urged not to use powerful CT scans to assess possible brain injuries in young infants. - BBC Health News

►December 2003 - Low Breastfeeding Rates and Public Health in the United States - journal article (American Journal of Public Health)

►January 2, 2004 - Districts put to the test - The Sacramento Bee via The Modesto Bee - "Experts say these intensive treatments are the only technique proven effective in giving autistic children the skills they need to live independent lives...Yet, with the state's autistic population doubling in four years, the success of these lessons and their high costs -- as much as $60,000 a year per child -- threaten to overwhelm school districts already struggling to balance budgets."

►December 30, 2003 - Invasion of the Virtually Indestructible Protein - Newsday - "Mad cow disease belongs to a small group of lethal disorders, caused by an infectious agent that is impervious to heat, ultraviolet light and an array of caustic chemical compounds...These agents, bizarre proteins known as prions, have been the subject of two major government investigations within the past year. Just last month, the Institute of Medicine, a division of the National Academies, released a report and recommended increased government funding to study these disorders."

Comment:  Not everyone agrees that mad cow is caused by prions.  (For more on this, go to the Online Mad Cow Conference at www.redflagsdaily.com.)

►December 29, 2003 - Public Health And the Limits of Private Rights - The Providence Journal via Healthy News

►January 2, 2004 - Potential For Pathogens To Evolve Missing From Emerging-disease Models - University of Washington via ScienceDaily - "Tracking the evolution of pathogens is not a new concept, but mutations are usually not taken into account in the models used to assess the emergence of infectious disease."

Comment:  Nor is the role vaccines might play in the emergence of mutant disease.

►January 4, 2004 - 'Epidemic' of autism: Parents turn to alternative cures as number of cases skyrockets - Oakland Tribune - "THE day care center workers first noticed the problem with Kaleb...At the Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto, a child's piercing scream filled the air. The other children rushed over, concerned and alarmed. Their classmate sobbed indignantly: Someone had stepped on her hand...Only Kaleb, nearly 3, was unfazed. He continued to sit by himself, as usual, preoccupied with carefully lining up toy cars in a pin-straight row."

►January 4, 2004 - Government says feed restrictions are enough to protect consumers, but some leading scientists disagree - The San Diego Union-Tribune

►January 4, 2004 - A sampling of the 375 bills set for debate - www.centralmaine.com - "An Act to Ban the Sale of Novelties Containing Batteries with Mercury."

Comment:  But inject mercury into the bodies of infants?  No problemo.

►January 5, 2004 - Appeal to SAARC Summit in Islamabad on Autism - "Autism is on the rise in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives - the countries within the SAARC region...There are 30,000 autistic people in Sri Lanka, according to international experts there will be a massive rise in 5 years time - in Sri Lanka and all over the SAARC region...Scientists are still divided as to the causes of autism - parents are still asking the question - is ithe MMR, is it genetic, is it caused by foetal distress at birth. Asian parents need answers to these pressing questions on Autism."

Comments:  As do we all, as do we all.

►January 5, 2004 - Update 2 - Repligen autism treatment not effective in trial - Reuters

►December 28, 2003 - Editorial: Deals with scientists taint NIH research - San Antonio Express- News - "National Institutes of Health scientists are damaging the credibility of their work by receiving consulting fees, stock options or other types of pay from drug companies whose products they research for the federal government...The Los Angeles Times this month exposed the disturbing trend among senior NIH scientists of moonlighting for biomedical companies and legally being able to keep that information from the public...The situation isn't fair to American taxpayers, and the potential conflicts of interest are phenomenal."

►January 5, 2004 - Health Officials Warn of China's Plan to Kill Cats Over SARS (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times

►January 5, 2004 - National Journal Article Reveals Admission From CDC, Latest Vaccine Study Data Contained Many Children Too Young To Be Diagnosed As Autistic - Official Accepts Critics' Charge, Parents Say Data Was Manipulated To Cover Up Hidden Dangers Of Mercury Additive, Congressman Weldon Asks Data Be Shared With Outside Researchers - Safe Minds Press Release via PRNewswire - "An article released by National Journal reveals disturbing new information about a Vaccine Safety DataLink (VSD) study by the Centers for Disease Control published in November's Pediatrics. A journalist for the National Journal, Neil Munro, reports that Frank DeStefano, a CDC official and co-author of the latest VSD study, admitted the study contained many children too young to be diagnosed as autistic. The article quotes DeStefano as stating, 'This is true.'"

►January 4, 2004 - A Suicide Side Effect? - What parents aren't being told about their kids' antidepressants - www.sfgate.com - "'If there was a warning that said 'Caution: this drug may cause suicide in some people,' then doctors are going to know about it,' Farber says...Instead of warning people, Farber charges, Glaxo-SmithKline tried to hide the true numbers. 'They cooked the books,' says Farber during a recent interview. 'They cheated on the results. And the FDA is part of this.'"

Comment:  Sound familiar?

►January 3, 2004 - Chinese tea 'may cure jaundice' - A herbal tea used widely in China to treat jaundice could soon be used by doctors in the West. - BBC

►January 5, 2004 - Ward off those winter ailments - The Telegraph, UK - "Who gets them (colds)? Almost everybody. Adults suffer an average of two to five a year and children seven to 10 a year. Because we produce antibodies each time we have a cold, we get fewer as we grow older."

Comment:  Vaccines are given under the assumption that they trick the body into producing antibodies and react otherwise similarly to what occurs naturally.  But is that actually the case?  And what are the ramifications if it is not?

►January 5, 2004 - Hope For New Meningitis Vaccine - University of Surrey via www.innovations-report.com - "The Surrey researchers used genetic engineering technology to make a mutant group of the meningococcus that was incapable of causing disease in mice. The mutant was made in a C group of the meningococcus. However, mice that were inoculated with the mutant group developed antibodies that killed not only C groups but also B and A groups. It appears that, by inoculating with the disabled group, the mice have effectively been immunised against all groups."

Comment:  But what about the problem of changing serotypes, with them sometimes becoming more virulent, due to outside pressure like vaccines and antibiotics?

►January 5, 2004 - Full story needs airing on military anthrax vaccine (Editorial) - www.pantagraph.com - "Having 800,000 service people vaccinated without positive proof that the vaccines caused any deaths would seem to be sufficient evidence to continue the program for service people heading into areas where the threat of anthrax might be high...However, the problems the manufacturer had with the FDA suggests a full court hearing should be conducted to bring out all of the facts surrounding the manufacturing process before any members of the armed forces are required to take more shots. This hearing should be scheduled quickly."

►January 4, 2004 - More families have children with learning disorders - Alameda Times-Star Online - "One in every three American families has had to cope with a child with a learning disability or a mental illness and most people believe such problems are increasing, according to a poll by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University."

Comment:  What's it going to take for the "experts" to take seriously that vaccines may well be involved in this devastating public health problem? 

►January 5, 2004 - Mad Cow Forces Beef Industry to Change Course (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "The financial motive that drove the industry to defend practices like selling downers has been turned on its head by the discovery of mad cow disease. Now, in an attempt to rescue the market for American beef, the industry is being forced to accept regulation it has long fought."

Comment:  They were clearly "penny-wise, but pound foolish".

►January 5, 2004 - The Ephedra Ban Is Not Enough (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times

►January 2, 2004 - Flu Season Haunted by Ghost of the Tuskegee Experiment - The Wilmington Journal

►January 4, 2004 - Greater awareness of smallpox threat advocated - Star-Telegram - "The risk of a smallpox attack may have waned in the public's eyes. But some still regard smallpox as a credible bioterrorist threat, and they have criticized the health care community's weak response."