►January 8, 2004 - U.S. Awards Tenet Whistle-Blowers $8.1 Million (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "Federal prosecutors announced yesterday that the government had awarded $8.1 million to two men who filed the first whistle-blower suit contending that unnecessary cardiac procedures were being performed at a California hospital owned by Tenet Healthcare."

►January 9, 2004 - MedImmune Executive Steps Down - Exit Follows Weak FluMist Rollout - Washington Post - "His tenure overlapped with MedImmune's purchase and commercial launch of FluMist, a nasal spray influenza vaccine that the company had predicted would sell at least 4 million doses and generate $120 million to $140 million in revenue in 2003...Instead, it sold just 400,000 doses by December, and MedImmune cut its FluMist revenue forecast to between $55 million and $85 million. Sales picked up steadily after manufacturers ran out of the traditional flu shot, but analysts still consider the vaccine's first season a disappointment...'It is an inopportune time for him to be leaving,' said Dennis R. Harp, an analyst at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc."

►January 9, 2004 - Nakanishi backs bill to warn of mercury in fish - Lodi News - "Nakanishi is sponsoring a bill that would have the state post signs along all waterways warning of the dangers of eating too much fish because of the levels of mercury...Actually, it's been a warning that's been around since 1994, when the Environmental Protection Agency began warning fishers of the mercury level in some of their catches, particularly the older and darker fish. But the warning hasn't spread throughout the state's waterways where people fish."

►January 9, 2004 - New warning over monkeypox threat - The US could face further outbreaks of dangerous monkeypox if the virus has gained a foothold among native animals, say experts. - BBC

►January 9, 2004 - Safe Water Handling Key in Controlling Cholera - While a safe water source is important to prevent the transmission of cholera, a recent outbreak in the Marshall Islands shows that handling and storing the water safely is also critical. - Reuters via www.planetark.com

►January 8, 2004 - HEALTH: South Unprepared for 'Flu' Pandemic - Experts - IPS

►January 9, 2004 - Researchers unlock key secrets showing how tumors hide from immune system - University of South Florida Health Sciences Center via www.eurekalert.org

►January 9, 2004 - Immune Molecule Might Warn of Miscarriage - HealthDay via Yahoo!

►January 8, 2004 - Buyer Beware: Echinacea - Consumer Reports via www.wistv.com

►January 8, 2004 - Diphtheria Vaccination Important for Travelers - Reuters Health via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►January 8, 2004 - Flu-Vaccine Firms Join to Speed Production - USA Today via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract) - "Aventis Pasteur has formed an agreement with the biotechnology company Crucell that will cut the production time of its influenza vaccine from about five months to about four months. Currently, Aventis Pasteur grows flu virus strains in chicken eggs to develop the vaccine, but that method is too slow to keep up with significant demand. Crucell's technology uses human cells genetically engineered to replicate without end. The outcome is a flu vaccine that is faster to produce and is more consistent. Human cell cultures could allow researchers to identify new virus strains and produce more flu vaccine doses depending on demand, which is impossible with the current egg-based method."

►January 7, 2004 - Satellites to Monitor Epidemic Diseases - Economic Times of India via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract) - "The system uses Geographical Information Systems and mathematical modeling to map disease locations."

►January 8, 2004 - Parents of Children with Autism Turn to Medical Alternatives - Newswise/Life News via Healthy News - "One in three children recently diagnosed with autism received complementary or alternative medicine treatments and 9 percent used a potentially harmful type, according to a new study of patients in Philadelphia...Latino children were more likely to use complementary and alternative medicine compared to other groupings, according to Susan E. Levy, M.D., and colleagues, while those with additional, non-autistic disorders or deficits in thinking, learning and memory were less likely to do so...'The goal of many of these treatments is most likely not to treat autism per se, but rather to address some of the associated problems faced by these children,' she says."

►January 8, 2004 - Public Meeting on How to Proceed with Emergency Smallpox Vaccinations in the Northwest Corner will be held Jan. 20 - Kent Tribune

►January 8, 2004 - An Issue Comes to a Head - www.commondreams.org - "One mad cow is messy; two are messier. And in the next few months, if and when North American regulators actually begin to gather some real science by testing thousands of cows, the picture will likely get even dirtier...Many experts on bovine spongiform encephalopathy now suspect that BSE/mad cow has been in North America for at least a decade, that the beef industry and regulators have fought proper regulation from day one, that the current surveillance system is a don't-look-don't-find model and that the public-health risk from contaminated meat could be greater than most are prepared to admit."

►January 8, 2004 - Parents facing a difficult choice; Say they will fight to keep gov’t aid for their disabled children - Citizen Online - "Without the Katie Beckett waiver giving the family eligibility for Medicaid, DiMartino said she said her family would essentially be broke..."We want our son to be with us forever," she said as tears welled up in her eyes. 'I want to take care of my son. It would be very hard to do without the safety net of the Katie Beckett waiver.'...However, budget cuts at the state Department of Health and Human Services may jeopardize the current eligibility requirements, leaving many families without access to Medicaid."

►January 10, 2004 - Query on bug vaccine - The Mercury - "The Health Department is investigating whether a meningococcal C vaccine may have failed after a child contracted the illness...Last month there were four suspected cases of meningococcal C...Three of the cases were from one family and the children had received the meningococcal C vaccine. ..Further testing found only one child contracted the illness, while the other two received precautionary treatment."

Comment:  Given the fact that there are no short or long-term, properly designed studies comparing the vaccinated to the never vaccinated (or those vaccinated, but not against meningitis), it is impossible to know how well the vaccine works.  For more on the new meningitis vaccine, and possible ramifications of its use, go to Scandals: Another Unnecessary Vaccine?  Here Comes the Hype for a New Meningitis Vaccine (originally published under another title).

►January 9, 2004 - B.C. to immunize students against whooping cough - The Globe And Mail

►January 9, 2004 - Teens re-immunized for whooping cough - The Province via www.canada.com - "The move was prompted by the discovery that the vaccine administered to young children tended to wear off by the time they reached their teens, provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall said yesterday...'In 2000, we were seeing a marked increase in teenagers and pre-teenagers, and the disease can be more serious in them because they're older.'"

Comment:  This is what the CDC had to say in 1993: "The two groups currently at greatest risk for severe complications are infants aged less than 6 months (the age by which children are recommended to have received three doses of DTP) and preschool-aged children who are undervaccinated."  So, unless something drastically different is happening these days, once again an "expert" has the facts all wrong.

►January 9, 2004 - Worst of Flu Epidemic May Be Over, CDC Says - Vigilance Urged, as Second Wave Is Possible  - The Washington Post - "The flu has killed at least 93 young Americans so far this winter -- about double the count as of last month -- but there are indications that the epidemic may have peaked, federal health officials said yesterday... Gerberding stressed, however, that because flu deaths are not routinely tallied by the federal government, it remains unclear whether this year's flu season has been unusually deadly for children."

Comment:  According to the CDC, mathematical modeling predicted about 92 influenza related deaths each year for the period 1990-1999 just among children less than 5.  Although not based on serological confirmation, it suggests that the recent numbers are still below what might be predicted or expected.