*For most of the Wakefield "conflict of interest" articles posted on the site, click here (check periodically for updates)

►March 2, 2004 - Doctor's diary: a jab in the dark - The truth about MMR must be revealed, says Dr James Le Fanu - "The Government finds itself in an invidious situation over the MMR/autism controversy, having painted itself into a corner by denying parents the option of the single measles vaccine. They, thus, have no alternative other than to insist the MMR is totally safe - irrespective of evidence that might emerge to suggest the contrary."

►February 10, 2002 - Dogma on MMR does not work - Parents need information and choice - The Observer via The Guardian, UK - "The MMR debate goes to the heart of the relationship between the individual and society. This is an age in which people expect to exercise choice; but there are times when the collective good must prevail. The great programmes against cholera, polio and smallpox could never have taken place had they not been enforced. Yet here we have the makings of a public health disaster, with drift, fear and confusion. The unconfirmed findings of maverick scientists such as Dr Andrew Wakefield prey upon a public which has grown at once more consumerist and more sceptical of authority, with good reason after the BSE and foot and mouth fiascos."

►March 1, 2004 - Fat cells may help fight disease - UPI via The Washington Times

►March 1, 2004 - Scientists discover increased benefits of Vitamin D - Chicago Tribune via www.kentucky.com

►March 2, 2004 - Asthma Study: Waiting to Exhale - 40 percent of homeless children in shelters in New York City have the respiratory disease, but many are not getting help, authors say - Newsday

►March 1, 2004 - MedImmune Plans to Keep FluMist Alive - MedImmune to Keep FluMist Alive Despite Dismal Sales, Lowering Outlook for the Coming Year - AP via ABC News 

►March 1, 2004 - Injecting New Life into the Vaccine Industry - Harvard Business School - "Vaccines for preventable diseases save millions of lives every year, yet as an industry, the vaccine business suffers a host of ailments, the CEO of Merck & Co. contends...Speaking at a Harvard Business School forum recently, Raymond V. Gilmartin (HBS MBA '68) said the vaccine industry needs to overcome hurdles that include a feeble distribution infrastructure, a thin pipeline of competition to inspire more innovation, and a poor diet of incentives for the development of vaccines for which there is no natural market such as vaccinations against anthrax or ricin." 

►March 2, 2004 - Study: U.S. May Get Pediatrician Surplus - AP via The Herald-Sun 

►March 2, 2004 - Study: Anti-Bacterial Soaps Don't Deliver - AP via The Herald-Sun 

►March 1, 2004 - HRT Risks Could Have Been Found Earlier - British Medical Journal via Ivanhoe Newswire

►March 1, 2004 - Greek Scientists Find Way to Weaken Cancer Cells - Reuters

►March 2, 2004 - Researchers Halt Hormone Therapy Trial - Reuters - "The National Institutes of Health said on Tuesday it had stopped a trial of women taking estrogen replacement therapy after finding the pills not only failed to improve their health but also may have slightly raised the risk of strokes...It was the second broad trial of hormone replacement therapy to have been halted in two years."

►March 2, 2004 - Should parents with philosophical objections to vaccinations be able to get exemptions for their kids? - online poll alert

►March 1, 2004 - Military Vaccine Flattens GI, 17 - CBS News - "Amid all the war stories that have come out of the conflict with Iraq, Tyran Duncan's hasn't been widely told. The willing soldier became an unwitting victim to the vaccinations he was required to take to deploy. And as CBS News Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports, he's not the only one."

►March 1, 2004 - Polio Vaccine: Agent of Life Or Death? - analysis - This Day via www.allafrica.com - "Over the last 20 years, the world has witnessed miraculous developments in child survival. First, smallpox was eradicated in 1979. Then during the 1980s, infant mortality fell by more than five per cent each year. This means that in one generation, the number of childhood deaths fell by half - an astounding achievement...But 11 million children are still slipping through the safety net each year that many children die from preventable diseases or malnutrition. Today an estimated 1.2 million children are infected with HIV and 10 per cent of new infections occur in children under the age of five. Imagine the fear that a parent in sub-Saharan Africa lives with every day, knowing that their child has a one in 10 chance of dying before reaching their first birthday, and a one in five chance of not seeing their fifth birthday."

►March 1, 2004 - Breathing easier - New medication shows promise for severe allergic asthmatics - The Flint Journal via www.mlive.com

►March 1, 2004 - Anthrax Jabs Blamed for Baby Deaths - PA News via The Scotsman

►March 1, 2004 -  Soldiers link baby deaths to jabs - Some UK Soldiers who served in Iraq have expressed fears for their unborn babies after claiming a number of child deaths are linked to anthrax jabs. - BBC

►March 1, 2004 -  Troubled FluMist Vaccine to Remain in Production - Status of Saatchi on $40 Million Account Still Unknown - www.adage.com - "MedImmune today said it will continue producing troubled nasal flu vaccine FluMist, despite slumping sales and the possibility of a $75 million write-off if Wyeth bows out of a co-marketing agreement on the drug."

►March 1, 2004 - FluMist Flop Dogs MedImmune - www.thestreet.com - "Medimmune said Monday that it would stick with FluMist, its inhaled flu vaccine, conceding that the product wouldn't produce meaningful financial results until the 2007-2008 flu season. FluMist has been a flop, but the company insisted that an improved version of the drug launched in September could eventually produce annual U.S. sales of $500 million."

►March 2, 2004 - Bird-flu shot ready for trials - The Standard - "A vaccine for the deadly H5N1 virus is ready for testing on humans and is expected to be available in six months, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday...The United Nations health agency had said in January that a vaccine may not be available until next winter...The new vaccine was developed by using a technology that involves genetic modification of the virus."

Comment:  It may sound great on the surface, but what are the risks?  For instance, it was recently reported that genetic modification of vaccines may may pose considerable problems: "Genetically engineered pox viruses in cell cultures recombined with natural viruses to create new hybrid viruses with unpredictable and potentially dangerous characteristics".  Dr. Bonnie Dunbar, a vaccine researcher, testified that the recombinant hepatitis B vaccine causes serious side effects.

►February 29, 2004 - One of largest ever genetic studies of autism launched - Arizona Republic via www.awares.org

►March 1, 2004 - Antioxidants: A radical departure - Are the millions spent on antioxidants wasted, as a new study suggests? - Times Online, UK

►March 1, 2004 - Gluten may trigger schizophrenia - More evidence of that wheat and gluten sensitivity may be a factor in the development of schizophrenia - Times Online, UK

►March 1, 2004 - Unexpected lessons learned this flu season - New influenza strain reminds the public that influenza is not harmless while making health officials aware of the vaccine program's shortcomings. (requires registration) - The Los Angeles Times - "As it turns out, the 2003-04 flu season appears to have been no worse than many other seasons. Even though it peaked extremely early — in December — the numbers of people who became sick or died weren't unusual...The season did have an impact, however. As health officials prepare for a new season, they're paying special attention to the last season's legacy — both in public awareness and in their strategies to deal with new outbreaks."

►March 1, 2004 - Parents: Autism curable - San Mateo Daily Journal

►March 1, 2004 - MMR uptake causes worry - www.edp24.co.uk

►Bio-Terrorism Countermeasures – Requirements & Funding - King Publishing Group - conference alert - March 9-10, 2004 at The George Washington University in Washington, DC

►Ensuring the Safety and Security of the U.S. Medicine Supply - King Publishing Group - conference alert - April 13-14, 2004 at The George Washington University in Washington, DC

►The Origin Of Aids - A Scientific Controversy - Tuesday March 2nd at 7.30pm - Special Broadcasting Service Television via www.sbs.com.au - "In his 1999 book The River, author Edward Hooper, a former BBC journalist, charts a remarkable journey to the possible origins of AIDS. He presents strong circumstantial evidence that points to the inadvertent contamination of an experimental oral polio vaccine administered in Africa in the late 1950’s. Hooper argues that this vaccine most likely became the vehicle by which a simian precursor of HIV/AIDS carried by chimpanzees was able to jump the species barrier into humans. If his conclusions are correct it would indicate that the very people who were working to save lives were themselves responsible for unleashing this terrible disease."

►September 25, 1999 - A controversial HIV/AIDS hypothesis - The River - A Journey Back to the Source of HIV and AIDS (requires registration) - journal article (The Lancet)

►Military Vaccine Dangers - CBS News Video

►February 27, 2004 - Parents gather at State Capitol to protest autism-treatment cuts - Green Bay Press-Gazette

►Voyages In Autism:  Behaviors and Advocacy (pdf) - conference alert - March 20, 2004 in San Pablo, CA

►March 1, 2004 - Studying Hyperlexia May Unlock How Brains Read - Children With Rare Disorder Have Heightened Reading, Learning Skills (requires registration) - The Washington Post

►February 23, 2004 - Termites, Crayfish and Autism - www.about.com

►January 2004 - Seroprevalence of measles, mumps and rubella antibodies in Luxembourg: results from a national cross-sectional study. - journal article (Epidemiol Infect.)

►March 1, 2004 -How Mild Hepatitis C Unfolds -  One in three people with mild hepatitis C infection will experience rapid worsening of the condition, says a study in the current issue of Gut. - Pak Tribune

►New Treatment For Hepatitis C - More Cures, Less Side Effects With Pagylated Interferon - www.about.com

►March 1, 2004 - Chronic Fatigue, Irritable Bowel Mistaken For Celiac Disease - Celiac Disease Often Considered Child's Ailment - www.wbalchannel.com

►March 1, 2004 - Booster May Be Needed For Failing Chicken Pox Shot - Researchers Study Lake Oswego Outbreak - www.koin.com - "In 2001, 18 children at Forest Hills Elementary School in Lake Oswego developed the illness -- despite previous chicken pox vaccinations...Researchers who studied the outbreak found that the big jump in cases came five years after vaccination. Now they believe that a booster shot may be needed after five years."

Comment:  Maybe it would be better to let children get the chickenpox.  For more on this, go to Scandals: When is an oops not really an oops?  When you get to solve the problems you cause, and make money doing both!, Scandals: Playing With Fire - It's Not EASY To Fool Mother Nature, and Scandals: Prescription For Disaster - Is Vaccine Policy A "House of Cards"?

►March 2, 2004 - Vaccinated GIs spread infections - Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer - "Thirty people in the military have transferred infections to other people after being vaccinated for smallpox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

►March 1, 2004 - Anthrax Vaccine Paralyzes Soldier - WVLT via www.volunteertv.com

►March 1, 2004 - Autism research falls behind - The Western Mail via http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk

►March 2, 2004 - 'I had to become an autism expert' - As experts call for more UK research into the causes and treatment of autism, BBC News Online talks to the mother of a nine-year-old autistic boy. - BBC - "Anna Parton, from Bromley, Kent, had to spend £12,000 and devise her own care plan to give her son Robert the help she felt he needed."

Comment:  It is a disgrace that so much of the cost of research and care falls so squarely on the shoulders of parents already over-burdened by the needs of their precious children.
 
►March 2, 2004 - Flu Season Seems Over, Officials Say (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "The flu season appears to have ended early and as abruptly as it started, and was not much more severe than usual seasonal outbreaks, federal health officials said here on Monday...'The influenza season has wound down very dramatically, declining to levels lower than we often expect at this time of year,' said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, a top influenza expert at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

Comment:  So much for the benefits of creating hysteria (unless you consider vaccine manufacturer profits a benefit of vaccination).  For more on this, go to How the Mass Media in the U.S. Created Flu Hysteria and Helped Drive the Vaccine Markets for the Makers of FluMist And Fluzone. - by RFD columnist Sherri Tenpenny, DO in the Online Vaccines Conference @ www.redflagsdaily.com

►March 2, 2004 - Flu threatens world, experts say - Pandemic risk at 30-year high, scientists report - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

►March 1, 2004 - CDC warns of pandemic dangers posed by avian flu - USA Today - "The flu season is fading away, but experts warn that a far greater menace may be on the horizon: The avian flu galloping across Asia poses "the most serious pandemic threat since 1968," Keiji Fukuda said Monday at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases...A pandemic caused by a flu strain that is new, deadly to humans and highly contagious "is inevitable," he said, but no one knows when it may strike."

Comment:  From the people who just brought you the 2003-2004 flu season hysteria and who apparently believe you just can't have too much hysteria (warranted or not).

►March 1, 2004 - Screening removes West Nile from blood supply - American Society for Microbiology via www.eurekalert.org

►March 1, 2004 - Vaccine Could Stop Breast Cancer in its Tracks - Primes the body to fight altered cells that precede disease - Journal of Clinical Investigation via www.betterhumans.com

►March 2, 2004 - Troops ‘gagged’ over anthrax jab concerns - The Herald, UK - "SOLDIERS calling for an inquiry into the possible effects of Iraq war anthrax vaccinations on the health of their unborn children have accused the Ministry of Defence of attempting to gag them."

►March 2, 2004 - Parents urge more autism research - Manchester Online

►March 2, 2004 - Regulations on practice of herbal medicine - The Scotsman

►March 2, 2004 - Even With Vaccination, the 'Whoop' Is Back (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "Get used to it. Pertussis, better known as whooping cough, is here to stay...So are pertussis-related deaths among vulnerable infants, unless steps are taken to stem the increasing number of cases of the highly contagious disease."

►March 1, 2004 - CDC Searches for Cause to Mystery Deaths - AP via Yahoo! - "In a project resembling something out of the X Files, federal health officials say the causes of a quarter of the deaths that have stumped coroners in recent years appear to be from ordinary, treatable conditions."

►March 1, 2004 - Autism Goes Public (requires registration) - The Washington Post - "Last year an employee of a Fairfax movie theater asked the Ortega family to leave a matinee of 'Finding Nemo.' The problem: Every time characters in the movie screamed, so did 4-year-old Nicholas Ortega...While some members of the audience found the cries objectionable, the child's behavior wasn't all that startling for his parents, Fidel and Gretchen Ortega. The Fairfax couple understood such outbursts to be fairly common for Nicholas, as they are for other children with autism."

►March 2, 2004 - Harrowing tale of one father's struggle against autism - Borneo Bulletin via www.brunei-online.com