|
|
|
|
|
| Are celebrities crossing the line on medical advice? |
|
| USA Today |
|
| December 22, 2009 |
|
| Actress Jenny McCarthy, who has an autistic son, has written several books linking autism with childhood vaccinations, even though a host of scientific studies show that vaccines are safe and not the cause of increasing autism rates. |
|
| Editorial: Accepting immunity |
|
| Ottawa Citizen |
|
| September 21, 2009 |
|
| "With a second wave of H1N1 flu
on the doorstep, Canadian public health officials face a serious stumbling
block in their battle to contain the coming pandemic: the anti-vaccine
movement. People who refuse to be vaccinated -- because they have misguided
medical fears or because they're making a quasi-political statement against
the scientific 'establishment'-- could derail progress aimed at reducing the
effects of this disease, the result being that a lot of people could get
seriously ill and die. Individual voices of concern about the H1N1 flu
vaccine have grown into a chorus in recent weeks, and the time has come for
health officials to mount a counter-offensive if they don't want to see
their vaccination programs sabotaged. This needs to be done quickly..." |
|
| Vaccines Offer Preventative Solutions to High Childhood Pneumonia Rates |
|
| Voice of America |
|
| September 21, 2009 |
|
| "A recent World Health
Organization (WHO) study of two strains of pneumonia is providing African
governments with their first ever country-by-country figures on the leading
global killer of children under the age of five. The results, which appeared
in the September 12 edition of The Lancet, track the rates of pneumococcal
(streptococcus pneumonia) and Hib (haemophilus influenza type b) strains of
the infection..." |
|
| New York Health Care Workers Resist Flu Vaccine Rule |
|
| New York Times |
|
| September 20, 2009 |
|
| "When she cleans the rooms of
patients with swine flu symptoms, Jana Newton, a housekeeper at Maimonides
Medical Center in Brooklyn, has to suit up for her own protection in a mask,
gloves, gown and hairnet. Jana Newton, an aide at Maimonides Medical Center
in Brooklyn, said she has not been sick and sees no reason for a shot. But
she still does not want the one thing that would give her a far better
defense — a flu shot. 'Some people's immune system is good, like me,'
Ms. Newton said. 'I've been here five years and never been sick. Why mess
with something that's not broken...'" |
|
| Metro Health Nearly Mandates Health Care Workers Receive Flu Shots |
|
| Cleveland Leader |
|
| September 19, 2009 |
|
| "Metro Health workers that
don't receive a flu shot will be sticking out like sore thumbs this year.
The hospital system is urging their workers receive a vaccination as Swine
Flu threatens to wreak havoc on the United States. Metro sent an email to
staff saying whoever does not receive a flu shot this year will be forced to
wear surgical masks while working with patients..." |
|
| Distribution of Swine Flu Vaccine Will Begin in October |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| September 19, 2009 |
|
| "Vaccine for the H1N1 influenza
pandemic will be distributed on a three-day turnaround time from four
regional warehouses around the country next month. The vaccine deliveries,
expected to equal 20 million doses a week by the end of October, will be
distributed among 90,000 immunization 'providers,' including health
departments, hospitals, clinics, doctors' offices and pharmacies. Those were
among the details unveiled Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention as part of the federal government's increasingly complex response
to the pandemic of H1N1 influenza, also known as swine flu. 'This is a huge
logistical process. There's not [going to be] a sudden appearance of vaccine
in 90,000 refrigerators around the country,' said Jay Butler, an
epidemiologist who leads the CDC's task force on the vaccine..." |
|
| CDC: 1 in 3 Teen Girls Got Cervical Cancer Vaccine |
|
| USA Today |
|
| September 18, 2009 |
|
| "One in three teenage girls
have rolled up their sleeves for a vaccine against cervical cancer, but
vaccination rates vary dramatically between states, according to a federal
report released Thursday. The highest rates were in Rhode Island, New
Hampshire and Massachusetts, where more than half of girls ages 13 through
17 got at least one dose of the three-shot vaccination. The lowest rates
were in Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina, where fewer than 20% got at
least one shot..." |
|
| Flu on Campus: What Works, What Doesn't |
|
| Reuters |
|
| September 18, 2009 |
|
| "Cramped living quarters on
college campuses increase students' chances of being infected with all kinds
of flu, but scrupulous hand hygiene and simple face masks may help some stay
healthy, at least until swine flu vaccines become available next month,
health experts say. Last week, U.S. colleges and universities reported a 21
percent increase in new cases of influenza-like illness, or 6,432 cases, at
253 schools tracked by the American College Health Association. So far this
academic year, there have been 13,434 reported cases of flu-like illness,
most of which are presumed to be swine flu because seasonal flu has not
gotten under way..." |
|
| Swine Flu Virus Causing Confusion; It's still a mystery why H1N1 often
strikes the young yet tends to be fatal in middle-aged, but not elderly,
adults |
|
| Los Angeles Times |
|
| September 18, 2009 |
|
| "As health officials brace for
a new onslaught of illness from the novel H1N1 virus, they remain perplexed
by one of the most unusual and unsettling patterns to emerge from this
pandemic -- the tendency of the so-called swine flu to strike younger,
healthier people. The initial explanation was that the elderly, who are
usually most vulnerable to the flu, have built-in immunity as a result of
their exposure more than 50 years ago to ancestors of today's pandemic
strain. But the limits of the theory are becoming more clear. For starters,
only a third actually have antibodies to the new H1N1..." |
|
| Australia's Swine Flu Vaccination Plan to Test Global Interest |
|
| Bloomberg |
|
| September 18, 2009 |
|
| "Australia will begin
immunizing people against swine flu in 12 days, heralding a global health
campaign that will test public interest in the inoculation. The nationwide
program will start Sept. 30 after regulators approved CSL Ltd.'s pandemic
vaccine, Health Minister Nicola Roxon said today. More than 4 million doses
are in major cities ready for delivery to hospitals and medical clinics next
week..." |
|
| Shortages of Flu Supply are Spotty |
|
| Minneapolis Star Tribune |
|
| September 18, 2009 |
|
| "So many Minnesotans have
rushed to get seasonal flu shots that temporary spot shortages have cropped
up around the state. But, according to the Minnesota Health Department,
there doesn't appear to be a full-blown shortage of the vaccine. 'There's no
reason to believe we're going to run out,' department spokesman Buddy
Ferguson said Friday. 'We aren't anticipating a shortage.' That said, the
department's advice that people get vaccinated early, coupled with intense
media coverage of the looming H1N1 flu pandemic, has caused a stampede at
clinics and commercial businesses selling the vaccine..." |
|
| Hospitals Pushing Workers to get Flu Vaccines |
|
| St. Petersburg Times (FL) |
|
| September 17, 2009 |
|
| "Health care workers usually
don't follow their own advice. Every year, fewer than half of them get
vaccinated... Hospitals here and nationally are stepping up efforts to
vaccinate workers against both seasonal flu and H1N1. One state - New York -
is even making flu vaccinations mandatory for health care workers..." |
|
| Surviving H1N1 -- with Baby in Belly |
|
| CNN |
|
| September 17, 2009 |
|
| "For the past several months,
Amy Wolf has been glued to the television, intently watching for information
on how best to prepare for H1N1 flu. Eight months pregnant, Amy Wolf signed
up for an H1N1 vaccine trial. She usually does not worry about the flu, but
this year is different: Wolf is eight months into her second pregnancy. 'I
watch the news like crazy, and it seems like every time I would watch or
read something, there was a picture of a pregnant woman,' Wolf says. She's
right to be concerned..." |
|
| US to Donate 10 Percent of Swine Flu Vaccine to WHO |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| September 17, 2009 |
|
| "The United States plans to
donate 10 percent of its supply of pandemic H1N1 influenza vaccine to the
World Health Organization for use in low-income countries. The nation has on
order 195 million doses of the swine flu vaccine, which is due to start
arriving early next month. The White House said it "is taking this action in
concert" with eight other countries..." |
|
| Low Levels of Key Antibodies May Lead To Severe Disease, Study Suggests |
|
| Metronews (Toronto) |
|
| September 16, 2009 |
|
| "Australian researchers may
have uncovered a clue as to why some people who catch swine flu suffer
life-threatening illness. And if they are right, there is an existing weapon
in the treatment arsenal that could help reduce the pandemic death toll. The
group found that pregnant women who became severely ill with the pandemic
(H1N1) 2009 virus had low levels of a particular antibody that is known to
fight off viruses and help the body respond to vaccine. Moderately ill women
were much less likely to have significantly suppressed levels of the
antibody, the researchers reported..." |
|
| American Lung Association's Faces of Influenza Campaign Stresses the
Importance of Seasonal Influenza Vaccination |
|
| Reuters |
|
| September 16, 2009 |
|
| "The American Lung Association
is intensifying its seasonal influenza public education initiative to urge
families to get vaccinated as soon as possible. The Faces of Influenza
campaign aims to ensure Americans get immunized against seasonal influenza,
which each year causes an estimated 36,000 deaths and over 226,000
hospitalizations from the virus and its related complications. The Faces of
Influenza campaign, which includes expanded awareness initiatives nationally
and in many major cities, supports the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention's (CDC) call for Americans to get vaccinated against seasonal
influenza this and every year..." |
|
| FDA Approves H1N1 Flu Vaccines |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
|
| September 15, 2009 |
|
| "The Food and Drug
Administration on Tuesday approved vaccines designed to protect against the
H1N1 influenza virus, a key step before starting a vaccination campaign. The
approval was announced by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen
Sebelius at a hearing that was held by the House Energy and Commerce
Committee. An FDA spokeswoman said the agency approved vaccines made by a
unit of Sanofi-Aventis SA, Novartis AG, CSL Ltd. and AstraZeneca PLC's
MedImmune unit. MedImmune makes a vaccine in the form of mist delivered
through the nose rather than a shot. Ms. Sebelius said a large-scale
vaccination program will begin in mid-October..." |
|
| HHS Chief: Swine Flu Vaccines Ready Soon |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| September 15, 2009 |
|
| "As the administration wrestles
with health-care reform, there was some good health news for a member of the
team in the past few days: Help is on the way for the swine flu. Health and
Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said upwards of 50 million doses
of a new vaccine for the H1N1 virus will be available in mid-October,
earlier than expected, with millions more doses quickly following. The
initial vaccines will go to what Sebelius calls 'priority populations' --
caregivers, young people ages 6 to 24, hospital workers, pregnant women and
some seniors..." |
|
| Rabies Alert Continues For North Escambia; Person Bit By Rabid Fox |
|
| NorthEscambia.com (FL) |
|
| September 13, 2009 |
|
| "A Rabies Alert continues for
North Escambia after one person was bit by a rabid fox and two raccoons that
bit dogs tested positive for rabies. Robert Merritt, director of
environmental health for the Escambia County Health Department, said that a
dog was bitten by a rabid raccoon on Crabtree Church Road in Molino in May,
and a dog was bitten by a rabid raccoon on Handy Road in Cottage Hill last
month. He said a fox that bit a person somewhere in North Escambia last
month also tested positive for rabies, but, due to patient privacy laws, he
was not able to identify in which community the incident occurred..." |
|
| Hospitals to Require Flu Shots
for Workers |
|
| Des Moines Register |
|
| September 10, 2009 |
|
| "Des Moines' two main health-care companies will require most of their
employees to receive flu shots this fall. Mercy
Medical Center and Iowa Health-Des Moines told workers this week that they
must be immunized against seasonal influenza
unless they have a medical or religious reason not to be. If they receive an
exemption, they will be required to wear masks
when treating patients after Dec. 1..." |
|
| Child Deaths Fall, But 'Grossly Insufficient': U.N. |
|
| Reuters |
|
| September 10, 2009 |
|
| "Childhood deaths have declined
across the world, data released on Thursday showed, but mortality is
increasingly concentrated in poor countries. A study by the United Nation's
children's fund (UNICEF) showed that thanks to better prevention methods for
malaria and action to reduce mother-to-child AIDS virus transmission, some
8.8 million children under five died in 2008 compared with 12.5 million in
1990. But 99 percent of child deaths occurred in poor countries..." |
|
| Business Not Ready for Flu, Study Says |
|
| Boston Globe |
|
| September 10, 2009 |
|
| "Many American businesses are
unprepared to deal with widespread employee absenteeism in the event of a
swine flu outbreak, a Harvard School of Public Health study says. The
survey, released yesterday, found that two-thirds of more than 1,000
businesses questioned said they could not maintain normal operations if half
their workers were out for two weeks. Four-fifths expect severe problems if
half are out for a month..." |
|
| Small Doctor Practices Worry about Flu Impact |
|
| Reuters |
|
| September 9, 2009 |
|
| "Doctors asked the government
on Wednesday to pay them more for giving vaccines and prescribing drugs on
the telephone as the flu pandemic hits their communities. Meanwhile, small
bankers said they should get relief from some regulatory requirements during
the worst of the pandemic, as they may not have staff to fill out forms and
mail out statements. The H1N1 pandemic is moderate now, and communities and
governments have been planning for such a pandemic for years. But doctors,
bankers and others told the House Committee on Small Business that they need
some regulatory changes to handle it..." |
|
| CDC Says Most Won't Need Drugs for Flu |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| September 9, 2009 |
|
| "With pandemic influenza cases
on the rise across the country, federal public health authorities on Tuesday
urged physicians to prescribe antiviral medicines to high-risk patients
promptly but reminded the public that most people won't need, and shouldn't
expect to get, the drugs if they come down with the flu. The guidance is
aimed at getting optimal benefit from Tamiflu and Relenza while preventing
overuse, hoarding and shortages of the drugs, as was seen briefly during the
spring outbreak of swine flu. Specifically, authorities said, practitioners
shouldn't wait for lab tests to confirm the presence of the novel strain of
the H1N1 virus before starting antivirals in high-risk patients who show
symptoms of flu..." |
|
| FDA Panel Urges HPV Vaccine Be Given to Boys |
|
| CNN |
|
| September 9, 2009 |
|
| "Boys may soon be able to get
Gardasil, the vaccine given to girls and young women to prevent infection by
four types of human papillomavirus. Gardasil, a vaccine against human
papillomavirus, would be given to boys exactly as it is to girls. A Food and
Drug Administration advisory committee voted Wednesday to recommend that the
vaccine be made available to boys and young men aged 9 to 26 for protection
against genital warts caused by HPV..." |
|
| Researcher Develops Inhalable Measles Vaccine |
|
| Voice of America |
|
| August 31, 2009 |
|
| "Most vaccines are given as a
liquid shot using a needle and syringe, but this method can lead to
infection if needles are reused or not disposed of safely. Bob Sievers is a
chemistry professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and the head
of a small chemical company called Aktiv-Dry. With a grant from the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, Sievers is developing a dry powder form of the
measles vaccine that would be inhaled, instead of injected..." |
|
| Outbreak of Chickenpox Reported at SLU |
|
| August 31, 2009 |
|
| "Three students at St. Louis
University are suspected to have chickenpox, according to a health alert
sent to the campus on Friday. Chickenpox is a virus marked by a skin rash
and fever. Public health officials consider three cases of chickenpox in one
school an outbreak. Chickenpox is contagious through contact with sores,
coughing and sneezing. The disease is generally not considered threatening
but can be more serious in adolescents and adults..." |
|
| Rare but Deadly Meningitis: Don't forget kid shots |
|
| Seattle Times |
|
| August 31, 2009 |
|
| "Fever, chills, vomiting: It
starts like a stomach bug or the flu. But bacterial meningitis can go on to
kill terrifyingly fast — one of the few infections in the U.S. where someone
can feel fine in the morning and be dead by night. And prime targets are
tweens, teens and college freshmen. Amid all the publicity about children's
flu shots this year is quiet concern that vaccination against meningococcal
meningitis not fall by the wayside, just as doctors are charting some
progress against the rare but devastating infection..." |
|
| Your Doctor may Give You Swine Flu This Fall |
|
| Newsweek |
|
| August 31, 2009 |
|
| "The CDC says health-care workers should
be among the first in line to receive the swine-flu (H1N1) vaccine, which
the government hopes will be available by mid-October. But will your
doctors, nurses, and other medical providers roll up their sleeves? Only 45
percent of health-care workers get a seasonal flu shot every year..." |
|
| CVS, Walgreens to Offer Free Flu Shots to Unemployed |
|
| Bloomberg |
|
| August 31, 2009 |
|
| "CVS and Walgreens, the
nation's two largest drugstore chains, will soon offer millions of dollars
of free seasonal flu shots to unemployed and uninsured people. CVS Caremark
Corp. will offer 100,000 free shots valued at about $3 million to job
seekers, the Rhode Island-based company said yesterday in a statement.
Walgreen Co., based in Illinois, will distribute $1 million in shots to the
uninsured through its 7,000 U.S. stores and clinics..." |
|
| Back to Flu |
|
| Boston Globe |
|
| August 31, 2009 |
|
| "He's one of the nation's top
flu fighters. But for Dr. Marty Cetron, the battle begins at home. That's
where, like parents all across the country, he is preparing his three
children - they're 9 to 15 years old - for the arrival of a fall flu season
unlike any in their lifetimes. This will be the season of our dual
discontent: Disease trackers expect both seasonal influenza and the novel
swine strain to circulate. And swine flu, which made its US debut in the
spring, has shown an unusual propensity for making the young sick while
sparing the old..." |
|
| U.S. Childhood Vaccine Rates Good but Could Be Better: CDC |
|
| HealthDay News |
|
| August 27, 2009 |
|
| "More than three-quarters of
U.S. children have received the recommended vaccinations, but greater
efforts are needed to reach youngsters who are not fully immunized, a U.S.
government report finds. A 2008 survey of children from 19 months to 35
months of age, born between January 2005 and June 2007, found that 76.1
percent had received the recommended series of vaccines (called the
4:3:1:3:3:1 series), a rate statistically similar to the estimate of 77.4
percent in 2007. The national goal for coverage is 80 percent. 'Vaccination
is one of the most important things parents can do to protect their
children's health,' Dr. Melinda Wharton, deputy director of the National
Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a CDC news
release..." |
|
Op-ed: Not Enough Children Get Vaccinated for the Flu
Dr. Howard Schlansky is a pediatrician with St. John's Mercy Children's
Hospital |
|
| St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
|
| August 27, 2009 |
|
| "The annual flu season will
soon be upon us, peaking anywhere from October to May. This year there are
additional concerns about the swine flu virus. The flu is a viral illness
with symptoms that include fever, cough, sore throat, aches, chills and
fatigue, and also can result in more severe symptoms including pneumonia. It
is the No. 1 vaccine preventable illness in the United States. Vaccinations
could help prevent many of the nearly 60 million illnesses, 25 million
doctor visits, 225,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths that occur each
year resulting from the flu..." |
|
| Poll: 2/3 in U.S. Plan to Get Swine Flu Vaccine |
|
| Reuters |
|
| August 27, 2009 |
|
| "More than 90 percent of
Americans plan to do something to protect themselves from the H1N1 pandemic
flu virus and more than 60 percent will get vaccinated, according to an
American Red Cross survey released on Thursday. Only 11 percent say they are
very worried about the new swine flu and another 29 percent are somewhat
worried. The rest -- 60 percent -- say they are not worried." |
|
| Experts Field Questions about Novel Flu Vaccines for Pregnant Women |
|
| CIDRAP |
|
| August 27, 2009 |
|
| "Federal health officials today
hosted a Web telecast to help pregnant women and new mothers prepare for an
uptick in novel H1N1 flu infections, a day after a federal judge rejected an
advocacy group's request to limit use of the H1N1 vaccine in pregnant women.
Pregnant women in the United States and other countries have had high rates
of severe infections and deaths from the novel flu virus, which prompted a
federal vaccine advisory group in July to recommend that pregnant women be
placed high on the priority list to receive the vaccine..." |
|
| CDC Turns to Social Sites to Get Flu Message Out |
|
| Reuters |
|
| August 27, 2009 |
|
| "U.S. health authorities are
turning to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter in a bid to
prepare people to be vaccinated against the pandemic H1N1 virus. But efforts
to distribute accurate information about the dangers of swine flu and the
importance of vaccination are hampered by the sheer complexity of the
message that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aims to
convey. For a start, the vaccine will not be ready for widespread
distribution until mid-October, after the traditional flu season has begun.
The U.S. government hopes to target around 50 percent of the population for
vaccination, focusing on key groups including pregnant women and healthcare
workers." |
|
| E.U. Officials Lay
Out Priorities for Swine Flu Vaccine |
|
| New York Times |
|
| August 26, 2009 |
|
| "European Union health officials issued a list Tuesday of people who should
be the first in line for vaccinations against the
H1N1, or swine flu, virus. People at risk of severe disease, pregnant women
and health care workers should be given priority
for inoculations before the winter flu season, said the officials, who
represent 27 E.U. countries and the European
Commission. Prioritizing those groups is necessary because 'there will
probably not be vaccine available for everyone
initially, and even if there is, distribution will take time,' the officials
said in a statement...In the United States,
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius reached a similar
verdict Tuesday, saying that large-scale school
closings would be ineffective in halting the spread of the virus. Instead,
Ms. Sebelius said on NBC television, vaccinations
would be the defense..." |
|
| Agency Urges Caution
On Estimates Of Swine Flu |
|
| New York Times |
|
| August 26, 2009 |
|
| "Up to 90,000 deaths from swine flu in the United States, mostly among
children and young people? Up to 1.8 million people
hospitalized, with 50 percent to 100 percent of the intensive-care beds in
some cities filled with swine flu patients? Up to
half the population infected by this winter? On Monday, a White House
advisory panel issued a report with these estimates,
calling them "a plausible scenario" for a second wave of infections by the
new H1N1 flu. The grim numbers by the panel, the
President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology, got considerable
play in the news media. On Tuesday, however,
officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the agency with
the most expertise on influenza pandemics,
suggested that the projections should be regarded with caution.." |
|
| AAFP Launches Awareness Campaign for Pertussis Vaccination |
|
| AAFP News Now |
|
| August 25, 2009 |
|
| "Although the CDC estimates
that 600,000 cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, occur each year in the
United States, only 2 percent of American adults received the tetanus
toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid and acellular pertussis vaccine, or Tdap,
from 2005 through 2007, the agency says..." |
|
| Health Officials Warn of Whooping Cough |
|
| Pensacola News Journal (Fla.) |
|
| August 25, 2009 |
|
| "With a large increase in
outbreaks of pertussis, commonly called whooping cough, health department
officials in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties want families to consider
booster vaccinations. 'In a normal year, there are three to five cases
reported,' said Dr. John Lanza, Escambia County Health Department director.
'But already in 2009, we have 50 cases.' Santa Rosa County also has had 50
cases of pertussis this year, epidemiologist Samantha Rivers said. Last
year, it had one. 'Pertussis has a natural four- to five-year waxing and
waning, and it's been that amount of time since the last (outbreak),' she
said. Pertussis is contagious, and especially dangerous to newborns too
young to get vaccinated, Lanza said. The vaccination is among those given to
infants at about 6 weeks of age. 'Because it can be dangerous for newborns,
it is important for the teenage and adult family members to talk with their
physician about getting vaccinated,' he said..." |
|
How Safe Are New Vaccines For H1N1, HPV?
Listen to the Story [3 min 58 sec] |
|
| NPR |
|
| August 25, 2009 |
|
| "School officials in
Washington, D.C., are requiring all school girls 13 and older get vaccinated
for Human Papillomavirus (HPV), which can lead to cervical cancer. And a
vaccine for the swine flu - also known as H1N1 virus - is expected to become
available later this fall. Guest host Jennifer Ludden talks with Dr. Paul
Offit, Chief of Infectious Diseases at The Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia, about the safety of the new vaccines. Dr. Offit also has the
latest on plans to conduct a mass immunization for Swine flu - which is
expected to be a national program of historic proportions..." |
|
| HPV Vaccine Could Prevent Many Penile Cancers |
|
| Health Day News |
|
| August 25, 2009 |
|
| "The human papillomavirus (HPV)
causes about half of penile cancer cases in the world, and giving vaccines
to males could greatly reduce the incidence of the disease, a new study
suggests. Penile cancer remains rare, accounting for less than 1 percent of
adult male cancers in North America and Europe, but that rate jumps to as
high as 10 percent in Africa and Asia, according to Spanish researchers
reporting online Aug. 25 in the Journal of Clinical Pathology. More than
26,300 cases of penile cancer are thought to occur around the world each
year..." |
|
| Swine Flu Could
Infect Half of U.S. |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| August 25, 2009 |
|
| "Swine flu could infect half the U.S. population this fall and winter,
hospitalizing up to 1.8 million people and causing as
many as 90,000 deaths -- more than double the number that occur in an
average flu season, according to an estimate from a
presidential panel released Monday. The virus could cause symptoms in 60
million to 120 million people, more than half of
whom might seek medical attention, the President's Council of Advisors on
Science and Technology estimated in an 86-page
report to the White House assessing the government's response to the first
influenza pandemic in 41 years..." |
|
| CDC's Advice to
Parents: Swine Flu Shots for All |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| August 25, 2009 |
|
| "The first swine flu precaution that the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention suggests for parents: As soon as a
vaccine is available, try to get it for everyone in your family. 'We're
going to continue to stress that the vaccine is the
most important thing that parents can do to protect their children,' said
Tom Skinner, a CDC spokesman. This H1N1 vaccine
should be taken in addition to the seasonal flu vaccine, and not as a
replacement for it..." |
|
| Scientists Probe Pertussis Cases: CDC experts seek reason for high number in
county |
|
| Durango Herald (Colo.) |
|
| August 23, 2009 |
|
| "Experts from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are in Durango looking for clues as to
why an unusually large percentage of the pertussis cases reported in
Colorado in 2009 occurred in La Plata County. 'It warrants investigation
because of the wide spectrum of symptoms atypical of pertussis,' Dr. Sema
Mandal said during an interview at the San Juan Basin Health Department.
It's not unusual for the CDC to investigate unusual trends such as the
extraordinarily high number of pertussis cases, but they do so only at the
invitation of state and local health authorities, said Matt Griffith, a CDC
epidemiologist. A CDC team visited the Four Corners in 1993 during a hanta
virus outbreak and more recently sent a team to New York to help with
investigation into H1N1 (swine) flu, Griffith said. Experience has taught
the CDC that it's important to get detailed histories of illnesses and not
to rule out anything, Mandal said..." |
|
| No Side Effects So
Far in Trial of Swine Flu Shot |
|
| New York Times |
|
| August 22, 2009 |
|
| "There have been no serious side effects from the first set of injections of
the new swine flu vaccine, federal health
officials said Friday in predicting that nearly 200 million doses could be
produced by year's end. Clinical trials in adults
began on Aug. 7, and those in children on Wednesday..." |
|
| Bringing Science Back into America's Sphere |
|
| Los Angeles Times |
|
| August 22, 2009 |
|
| "Chris Mooney, author of
'Unscientific America,' talks about the significance of Pluto's demotion
from planet, the belief that vaccines are linked to autism, and the role
played by religion. 'Science has become much less cool,' journalist Chris
Mooney writes in "Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens
Our Future" (July 2009, Basic Books). Mooney, author of the 2005 bestseller
The Republican War on Science, and his coauthor Sheril Kirshenbaum, a marine
scientist at Duke University, seek to explain how Americans have come to
minimize science in a time when, they assert, we will need it most -- as
global warming, advances in genetics and the possibility of large-scale
engineering of the Earth's climate loom in our future..." |
|
| FDA Approves Glaxo's Hiberix Vaccine |
|
| Philadelphia Inquirer |
|
| August 21, 2009 |
|
| "GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C. has won
swift approval from the federal government to produce and sell a booster
vaccine against Haemophilus influenzae type b, which should help eliminate
shortages of the shot against the deadly disease. The London drugmaker,
which has large operations in the Philadelphia region, said late Wednesday
that its Hiberix vaccine was approved as a booster dose for children 15
months to 4 years old. The vaccine targets the bacterial infection known as
Hib, which can cause meningitis, pneumonia, and other deadly illnesses..." |
|
| Who Should Get Swine Flu Shots First? |
|
| TIME Magazine |
|
| August 21, 2009 |
|
| "Influenza vaccinations are
usually an afterthought for most people. Despite the easy availability of
the shots, fewer than 40% of Americans get them in any one year — never mind
that flu kills some 36,000 of us annually. But this flu season is likely to
be different. Thanks to the new H1N1/09 virus, to which almost none of us
are immune, flu anxiety is high — and demand for the new vaccine should be
too. Washington is now gearing up to respond, hoping to inoculate millions
of Americans and blunt the severity of the first pandemic in four
decades..." |
|
| College Students with Flu Advised to Avoid Others |
|
| Associated Press |
|
| August 21, 2009 |
|
| "Health officials are offering
some basic advice for college students with flu symptoms: Avoid other people
until 24 hours after a fever is gone. At colleges across the country,
planning for flu season, particularly the swine flu, is well under way.
Recommended safeguards could mean students with a private dorm room should
stay in their rooms and find a 'flu buddy' to deliver meals and notes from
class. Or it could mean students with roommates might need to move to some
kind of temporary housing for sick students. And if sick students can't
avoid close contact with other people, they need to wear surgical masks. The
point is for sick students to isolate themselves, Education Secretary Arne
Duncan said." |
|
| CDC to Seek Public's Advice on H1N1 Vaccination Drive |
|
| CIDRAP |
|
| July 31, 2009 |
|
| "The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) plans to gather the public's thoughts in August on how big
this fall's H1N1 influenza vaccination drive should be. The CDC will hold 10
'public engagement' meetings around the country to get the citizenry's
advice on whether the vaccination program should be an all-out effort or
something more modest, according to Roger Bernier, PhD, MPH, senior advisor
in the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. The
agency wants to take the public pulse on the issue because there's so much
uncertainty about the scale and of the severity of the pandemic and the
demand for the vaccine this fall and winter, Bernier said..." |
|
| Vaccine Plan in U.S. May Endanger Supply, Lancet Says |
|
| Bloomberg News |
|
| July 31, 2009 |
|
| "U.S. plan to rely on swine flu vaccines
without ingredients to stretch the supply would reduce the number of
available shots just when other countries need them most, the British
journal Lancet said in an editorial. The ingredients, called adjuvants, have
never been approved for flu vaccines in the U.S. and are controversial
because some studies show they cause immune disorders in mice..." |
|
| Nasal Vaccine Holds Promise Against Swine Flu |
|
| New York Times |
|
| July 30, 2009 |
|
| "As the nation girds for a possible swine
flu pandemic, one of the big weapons may come from an unexpected source - a
vaccine squirted or dropped into the nose. MedImmune, which already makes
the nasal spray vaccine FluMist for seasonal flu viruses, says it is on
track to produce about five times as much swine flu vaccine as it had
expected - so much, in fact, that it will run out of nasal spray devices and
is looking to administer the vaccines with droppers instead..." |
|
| Flu Vaccine Panel Creates Priority List |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| July 30, 2009 |
|
| "A complicated list of who should get
pandemic flu vaccine in the fall is now set. When the vaccine starts
arriving in September, first in line will be pregnant women; the caretakers
of infants; children and young adults; older people with chronic illness;
and health-care workers. That's the advice of a 15-member committee of
experts, which met all day Wednesday at the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta to advise the federal government on vaccine policy..." |
|
| Wal-Mart Weighs Role in U.S. H1N1 Vaccination Plans |
|
| Reuters |
|
| July 30, 2009 |
|
| "Wal-Mart Stores Inc is discussing with
U.S. health officials the possibility of putting vaccination sites at some
of its stores for an H1N1 swine flu inoculation campaign this fall, a
company official said on Thursday. Federal officials met with Wal-Mart
executives on Wednesday in Arkansas to discuss the issue, Dr. John Agwunobi,
president of health and wellness for Wal-Mart U.S., told public health
leaders at a conference in Orlando..." |
|
| Volunteers Swarm for Shot at Swine Flu Vaccine |
|
| MSNBC |
|
| July 29, 2009 |
|
| "It's been just a week since Monica
Hankins first heard scientists were looking for volunteers to test an
experimental vaccine to prevent the H1N1 swine flu, but the Festus, Mo., mom
and her family already are signed up. She wants her two young daughters,
Isabella, 3, and Maya, 19 months, to be among the first to be protected
against the previously unknown virus that has launched a global pandemic and
claimed more than 800 lives worldwide, including more than 300 in the United
States..." |
|
| Federal Panel Issues H1N1 Vaccine Guidelines |
|
| CNN |
|
| July 29, 2009 |
|
| “A federal advisory committee issued sweeping guidelines Wednesday for a vaccination campaign against the pandemic swine flu strain, identifying more than half the U.S. population as targets for the first round of vaccinations. The advisory panel's guidelines don't trigger the start of vaccinations but are usually accepted by the government. The priority groups include pregnant women; health care and emergency services personnel; children, adolescents and young adults up to age 24; household and caregiver contacts of children younger than six months; and healthy adults with certain medical conditions..." |
|
| CDC Says Pregnant Women with Flu Symptoms Should Receive Anti-Viral Drugs |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
|
| July 29, 2009 |
|
| “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday pregnant women suspected of having the flu should be promptly treated with antiviral medications. The CDC, in a study set to be published in the medical journal Lancet, said pregnant women are more severely impacted by the H1N1 virus. CDC said pregnant women had higher rates of hospitalization and a greater risk of death compared to the general population...“ |
|
| First Defense Against Swine Flu - Seasonal Vaccine |
|
| Reuters |
|
| July 24, 2009 |
|
| “U.S. health officials strengthened their recommendations for seasonal flu vaccines on Friday, saying all children aged 6 months to 18 years should be immunized -- especially because of the H1N1 flu pandemic. The seasonal vaccine provides little or no protection against H1N1 swine flu, but immunization will help prevent people from being infected with both at once and can help minimize the effects of the pandemic on schools, workplaces and the economy in general, health experts say....“ |
|
| EU Panel to Review H1N1 Vaccines Before Flu Season |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
|
| July 24, 2009 |
|
| “The European Medicines Agency said Friday it has started to receive data on H1N1 pandemic vaccines following the review beginning in July, with the commitment from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, to fast-track the review of data as vaccine manufacturers make them available....
“ |
|
| Henderson Led WHO's Effort to Rid the World of Smallpox |
|
| USA Today |
|
| June 30, 2009 |
|
| “One day in 1947, two cases of smallpox turned up in New York City. An investigation identified more cases. The outbreak's source turned out to be a visitor from Mexico who stayed in a hotel with 3,000 guests from 28 states. Health workers raced to vaccinate each one. And they didn't stop there. Over the next four weeks, to make sure smallpox didn't take hold in the USA, health workers vaccinated 6 million New Yorkers, all to contain a 12-person outbreak with just two deaths..." |
|
| Wayne Marasco: A Shot at a Universal Flu Vaccine |
|
| US News and World Report |
|
| June 30, 2009 |
|
| “Wayne Marasco is no doubt the only Harvard medical researcher who abandoned a successful construction firm, Waymar Roofing and Siding, to become an immunologist. The man with the unorthodox history recently made a striking discovery: a human antibody that attacks a newfound vulnerability in flu viruses. His finding could be the key to a single, perennial vaccine against all forms of influenza, including swine flu. Vaccines work by training the body's immune system to recognize distinctive molecules on the surface of a virus. The body then makes antibodies that grab those molecules and disable the virus. But flu viruses constantly change the shape of their surface molecules. So the vaccine that 143 million Americans get annually has to be matched each year to the mutating virus. That process takes months, making it hard to quickly cook up a vaccine for a new bug. After SARS, Marasco started searching for antibodies to the H5N1 bird flu virus. By 2007, he had found an antibody that stuck to all four circulating bird flu strains, the 1918 pandemic flu, and representatives of 8,000 other flu strains..." |
|
| Swine Flu 'Shows Drug Resistance' |
|
| BBC News |
|
| June 29, 2009 |
|
| "Experts have reported the 1st case of swine flu that is resistant to Tamiflu, the main drug being used to fight the pandemic. Roche Holding AG confirmed a patient with H1N1 influenza in Denmark showed resistance to the antiviral drug. David Reddy, company executive, said it was not unexpected given that common seasonal flu could do the same..." |
|
| Study Shows Swine Flu's Spread Can Be Tracked Through Air Travel |
|
| Chicago Tribune |
|
| June 29, 2009 |
|
| "In a startling measure of just how widely a new disease can spread, researchers accurately plotted swine flu's course around the world by tracking air travel from Mexico. The research was based on an analysis of flight data from March and April last year, which showed more than 2 million people flew from Mexico to more than 1,000 cities worldwide. Researchers said patterns of departures from Mexico in those months varies little from year to year; swine flu began its spread in March and April this year..." |
|
| U.S. Cases of New Flu Hit a High This Week |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
|
| June 29, 2009 |
|
| “The new H1N1 swine flu may cause more-severe illness than similar seasonal strains but may spread less easily, according to preliminary findings from a study of ferrets to be published soon by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists. CDC officials said Friday they received reports of nearly 6,300 new U.S. cases in the past week, more than in any other week since the outbreak began in late April, signaling the virus isn't letting up despite summer's arrival. Almost all flu cases now tested are the new H1N1 flu rather than regular seasonal flu, the agency said. U.S. government officials and manufacturers are preparing to produce 600 million doses of vaccine for the H1N1 virus, an effort that would dwarf seasonal-flu campaigns and would include enough for those vaccinated to receive two doses. As many as 60 million doses could be ready by September, they said at a meeting Friday of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. But federal officials haven't decided whether to go ahead definitively with the campaign, determined who would get vaccinated, or worked out logistics for carrying out a campaign alongside seasonal-flu vaccinations...” |
|
| Federal Circuit Reverses Denial of Vaccine Injury Claim |
|
| National Law Journal |
|
| June 26, 2009 |
|
| “A recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decision reversing the U.S. Court of Federal Claims' denial of a vaccine injury claim highlights the widening gulf between the Federal Circuit and Federal Claims court on vaccine cases. On June 18, the Federal Circuit reversed the Federal Claims court's decision to deny the petitioner compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The Federal Circuit case, brought on behalf of Enrique Andreu, alleged that he began having seizures the day after receiving a diphtheria, whole-cell pertussis and tetanus (DPT) vaccine at the age of eight weeks. According to the case, the seizure disorder ultimately led to a low IQ and language and developmental delays..." |
|
| AMA Rejects Call for More Research on Vaccine Link to Autism, Reaffirms Immunization Policies |
|
| AAFP News |
|
| June 26, 2009 |
|
| “There's no need for more research into a possible link between vaccines and autism. But there is a continuing need for support of ongoing research into the true etiology of autism and its treatment. And physicians should continue to take a lead role in extolling the benefits of vaccines to health policymakers and the public. Those were among the messages recently sent by the AMA House of Delegates, which met June 13-17 in Chicago. A resolution submitted by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law initially proposed that the AMA reaffirm its support for universal vaccination, asked the AMA Council on Science and Public Health to review the most recent research on vaccines and autism, and urged the association to continue to support research into the etiology and treatment of autism. Although delegates at the meeting overwhelmingly supported the first and third resolves, they steadfastly opposed the request for a council review of vaccine research…" |
|
| CDC to Reinstate Booster Shots of Hib Vaccine |
|
| Reuters |
|
| June 26, 2009 |
|
| “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday it plans to reinstate booster shots of a vaccine that protects children against bacterial meningitis. The CDC said in a statement it now believes manufacturers will have enough supply of the vaccine to resume giving a booster shot of HiB (Haemophilus influenza type b) to children aged 12 to 15 months. Booster shots will resume on July 1. Scarce supplies of the vaccine starting in 2007 prompted U.S. health authorities to recommend dropping the booster shot, which is typically given to children at 12 to 15 months who were not at high risk of infection..." |
|
| Talk of 'Underlying Conditions' May Add
to Flu Worries |
|
| New York Times |
|
| May 28, 2009 |
|
| "In announcing this week that swine flu had been implicated in the
deaths of two more New Yorkers, the city's health
commissioner, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, added a by-now familiar caveat:
Both of them, he said, had ''underlying conditions." He
went on to enumerate a list of conditions that could aggravate the
effects of swine flu and that characterize a large portion
of New York's population: diabetes, asthma, heart disease, lung disease,
a weakened immune system and, possibly, obesity. He
did not even mention three other risk factors that alone apply to more
than 1.2 million New Yorkers and 50 million Americans:
pregnancy, being younger than 2, or being older than 65..." |
|
| Editorial: New Perspective for Vaccine 'Refusers' |
|
| Star Tribune (MN) |
|
| May 28, 2009 |
|
| "At first glance, there seems little
in common between Danny Hauser's Minnesota family and a group of
Colorado parents
causing concern in a sobering recent medical journal article. The Hausers, who made headlines in refusing chemotherapy for
their cancer-stricken 13-year-old, eke out a living with their seven
other children on a farm near Sleepy Eye. The Colorado
parents needed only routine care for their children and tended to come
from metro neighborhoods indicating a 'higher
socioeconomic status,' according to the study published in June's issue
of Pediatrics..." |
|
| Officials: Hospital Safe Despite Fatal Case of Meningitis |
|
| The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio) |
|
| May 27, 2009 |
|
| Officials at Mary Rutan Hospital in
Bellefontaine say they don't know how two women in separate rooms of the
maternity ward -- one of whom later died -- contracted bacterial
meningitis late last week. But they say there is no threat of an
outbreak and that expectant mothers ready to deliver their babies at the
Logan County hospital have no cause for concern. The hospital has pulled
batches of any medications the women may have been given and what
remains of any supplies that were used and they will be tested as a
possible source, said hospital spokeswoman Tammy Allison. She did not
know whether hospital employees would be tested for the bacteria...." |
|
| Health Department 'Closely Monitoring' 3 Measles Cases |
|
| The Intelligencer (Philadelphia) |
|
| May 27, 2009 |
|
| "State and county health officials
are saying little about three measles cases involving unvaccinated
residents - at least one a school-age child - other than the situation
has been contained..." |
|
| Measles outbreak in Wales could cause deaths |
|
| Western Mail (UK) |
|
| May 27, 2009 |
|
| "It is only a matter of time before
someone dies from measles in Wales, public health experts warned last
night. There are also fears children could be left with permanent brain
damage as the number of people affected by the potentially lethal virus
in a series of outbreaks across Wales has risen to 207. The outbreaks
and disease are so serious 26 people have been hospitalised and some
patients have even been treated in intensive care units..." |
|
| Editorial: Refusing to Immunize Raises Kids' Health Risks |
|
| Denver Post (CO) |
|
| May 27, 2009 |
|
| "Parents who ignore the research and
refuse to have their kids vaccinated increase the risk for everyone.
It's a selfish stance. So many horrible diseases have been all but
eradicated over the years by routine vaccinations that it's easy to lose
touch with the devastation those illnesses can inflict. Polio-stricken
children in wheelchairs are images typically confined to old
photographs. The terrifying wheeze of a child with whooping cough is
virtually unknown. And who among us has seen someone gone rigid with
tetanus? Unfamiliarity with the horrors of such diseases is likely one
reason why a small minority of parents decline to vaccinate their
children against preventable diseases..." |
|
| Swine Flu, with 63 More Confirmed Cases,
Closes Boston's Biggest Charter School |
|
| Boston Globe |
|
| May 27, 2009 |
|
| "Public health authorities in Boston announced that they are temporarily
closing the city's biggest charter school, Boston
Renaissance, for a week because of a suspected outbreak of swine flu.
Classes are suspended at the Theatre District school
starting today and are expected to resume June 4. The closing was prompted by an unusually high number of absences in recent
days, the Boston Public Health Commission said. Boston Renaissance is
the eighth public or private school in the city to shut
down because of swine flu fears..." |
|
| China Quarantines Teens, Teachers from
Md. |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| May 27, 2009 |
|
| "Twenty-one students and three teachers from a Silver Spring private
school who flew last week to China for a weeklong tour
have been confined to their hotel rooms, quarantined for possible
exposure to swine flu during their flight from the United
States. The group arrived in Guizhou province in southwestern China on Friday for an "extended study week," one of several
such excursions from the Barrie School, which stresses experiential
learning. Government officials quarantined the students
and chaperons at a hotel in the city of Kaili because a passenger on the
plane was suspected of having swine flu..." |
|
| Op-ed: Preparing Ourselves for the Next
Epidemic |
|
Oregonian
By Jay Nelson, director of OHSU's Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute |
|
| May 27, 2009 |
|
| "While it's still hard to tell just how big the H1N1 (also known as
swine flu) outbreak will be, it has already highlighted
some urgent needs for our country. We must continue to improve our
methods for rapidly detecting and tracking outbreaks. We
must improve communications between international, national, state and local health officials. We must also use our limited
research resources to improve and speed up vaccine development. As a
scientist who has devoted most of my professional
career to researching infectious disease, I know there is still an
enormous amount of work to accomplish before the next
epidemic comes. How serious is the threat? Consider this: Each year up
to 20 percent of the American population gets the
common flu. More than 200,000 people are hospitalized due to
complications and about 36,000 people die annually from flu-related causes. Now imagine the impact and casualties from a more
serious outbreak..." |
|
| Swine Flu Spreads in Australia |
|
| Voice of America |
|
| May 27, 2009 |
|
| "The number of H1N1 flu cases in Australia has doubled in the past day
to 59. The federal government has warned that the H1N1
influenza A virus is spreading fast. Health experts say its rapid
transmission coincides with the southern hemisphere's
traditional winter flu season. The H1N1 flu has been confirmed in most Australian states and territories. The epicenter of
the outbreak is in Victoria, where a group of children are among those
being treated. Virus origin unknown. Tests have yet to
reveal if the infections in Australia have been imported from other
countries or whether the virus has started to spread
among those who have not traveled overseas..." |
|
| W.H.O. Alert Says a Global Spread of Flu Is Likely |
|
| New York Times |
|
| April 30, 2009 |
|
| "For the first time since it rolled
out the pandemic warning system in 2005, the World Heath Organization
(WHO) has increased the alert level to Phase 5, which is the
second-highest level. The increase is in response to the ongoing spread
of the swine flu in the United States and Mexico, with the number of
U.S. cases rising to 91 in 10 states from 64 in five states on April 28,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The
first swine flu-related death in the United States was reported on
Wednesday, a 23-month-old child from Mexico who was being treated in
Houston. WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan has urged every country
to activate their pandemic preparedness plans right away, while at the
same time encouraging people to remain calm. Dr. Anthony Fauci of the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases says the lack of
background immunity in the population is a major concern and, along with
human-to-human transmission, could lead to a pandemic..." |
|
| Officials Face a Tough Decision over Ordering Vaccine |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
|
| April 30, 2009 |
|
| "Global health officials trying to
gauge the severity of the swine-flu outbreak face a tough call on how
quickly to move on creating a vaccine for the new virus. As confirmed
cases of the new A/H1N1 flu virus mount and spread around the world,
health officials must balance the desire to stop the spread quickly with
some serious risks of moving too fast. Even with a full push, it would
take months to get a vaccine ready, and the effort could force drug
companies to cut corners or reduce production of regular flu vaccine
needed for the winter. But waiting too long could allow the swine-flu
virus to have a much more deadly impact. Work has already begun on a
vaccine. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta
has the basic components for a swine-flu vaccine, and is studying the
makeup of the virus to better understand a central mystery: why it has
caused serious illness and deaths in Mexico but generally milder
symptoms elsewhere." |
|
| Swine Flu Case in Spain May Point to Global Pandemic, WHO Says |
|
| Bloomberg |
|
| April 30, 2009 |
|
| "A swine-flu patient in Spain who
hadn't traveled to Mexico may signal a new front of the outbreak,
potentially heralding the first influenza pandemic in 41 years. The
World Health Organization raised its six-tier alert to 5, the
second-highest, and said a pandemic declaration may come soon. It urged
countries to make final preparations to deal with a virus that may sweep
across the globe. The WHO has confirmed 154 cases in nine countries, and
hundreds of people are being tested for the virus from Australia to New
York. Eight of those known to have had swine flu have died, though many
more may be carrying the virus and not getting seriously ill, the WHO
said..." |
|
| Vaccine Makers Await Critical Swine Flu Samples; Swine Flu Won't Be in
Seasonal Flu Vaccines |
|
| April 29, 2009 |
|
| "As the World Health Organization
(WHO) today acknowledged the spreading swine influenza virus by moving
the pandemic threat awareness level up one notch to 5, the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control (CDC) worked to get drug companies the materials
they need to create a vaccine. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS) said it is unlikely that any new swine flu
vaccine would be included in the batches of seasonal influenza vaccines
already in production for the typical August vaccine ship date..." |
|
| CHOP, Penn Research Points to Genetic Link in Autism |
|
| Philadelphia Inquirer |
|
| April 29, 2009 |
|
| "By analyzing DNA from more than
2,000 autistic children, researchers have uncovered the best evidence
yet for genetic links to the disorder - all tied to the way brain cells
form and dissolve connections. The research effort, led by Hakon
Hakonarson at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, used much larger
samples than had been analyzed before to identify genetic differences
between autistic subjects and controls. The CHOP group collaborated with
Penn, UCLA, and other institutions, announcing their findings in two
papers in today's issue of the journal Nature. One paper revealed the
first common genetic variation found to occur more often among autistic
people. The other paper announced 13 rarer genetic mistakes that are
strongly associated with autism. Both papers back the consensus that
there is no single autism gene, but perhaps 100 ways to develop the
disorder..." |
|
| Obama Says Flu-Hit Schools May Need to Close |
|
| NPR |
|
| April 29, 2009 |
|
| "President Barack Obama suggested
Wednesday that school closings may be necessary in an escalating global
health emergency that claimed the first death in the United States — a 23-month-old child in Texas. Obama said educators with confirmed swine
flu infections should weigh shutting down classes if conditions
worsen..." |
|
| Swine Flu Vaccine May Be Months Away, Experts Say |
|
| New York Times |
|
| April 29, 2009 |
|
| "Federal officials said it would take
until January, or late November at the earliest, to make enough vaccine
to protect all Americans from a possible epidemic of swine flu. And
beyond the United States and a few other countries that also make
vaccines, some experts said it could take years to produce enough swine
flu vaccine to satisfy global demand. Although production is much faster
than would have been possible even a few years ago, it still may not be
in time to avert death and illness if the virus starts spreading widely
and becomes more virulent, some experts said. In this country, the
biggest problem is that despite years of effort, the country is still
relying on half-century-old technology to make the flu vaccines..." |
|
| The Naming of Swine Flu, a Curious Matter |
|
| New York Times |
|
| April 29, 2009 |
|
| "What to call the new strain of flu
raising alarms around the world has taken on political, economic and
diplomatic overtones. Pork producers question whether the term "swine
flu" is appropriate, given that the new virus has not yet been isolated
in samples taken from pigs in Mexico or elsewhere. While the new virus
seems to be most heavily composed of genetic sequences from swine
influenza virus material, it also has human and avian influenza genetic
sequences as well, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta..." |
|
| Op-ed: Understanding Swine Flu |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
|
| April 29, 2009 |
|
| "The trouble starts in poor countries
where too many people live in proximity to pigs and poultry. The extent
and impact of the swine flu epidemic, which appears to have originated
in Mexico and spread rapidly to a dozen countries and parts of the U.S.,
is still unknown. The epidemiology of such disease outbreaks is rather
like a jigsaw puzzle, and we are now at the stage where the picture is
intriguing even if we're not sure what we're seeing..." |
|
| Swine Flu Kills First Victim in U.S. |
|
| Los Angeles Times |
|
| April 29, 2009 |
|
| "A 23-month-old child in Texas has
become the first swine flu fatality in the U.S. The child was one of six
people with confirmed cases of swine flu in the Lone Star State, in
addition to the 10 confirmed cases in California, two in Kansas, and one
in Ohio, according to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease
Control. Another 45 cases have been confirmed in New York City. That
brings the total number of confirmed cases in the U.S. to 64. Meanwhile,
President Obama is calling for action to contain the spread of the
virus. He noted that health authorities across the country need to be
diligent in monitoring the outbreak of swine flu, and said that schools
with suspected cases of the virus should follow the advice of public
health officials and consider closing temporarily. Obama has also asked
for $1.5 billion to deal with swine flu, and has put his new Health and
Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, to work on dealing with the
outbreak..." |
|
| The Checkup; Circumcise Your Son? |
|
| The Washington Post |
|
| March 31, 2009 |
|
| "There's new evidence that men who are circumcised are less likely to
get infected with sexually transmitted viruses, according to a study
published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Previous research had
found that men who were circumcised were 50 to 60 percent less likely to
get infected with the AIDS virus. Now, researchers have found that
circumcision also significantly reduces a man's risk of being infected
with the herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), which causes genital
herpes, and the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause genital
warts in men and cervical cancer in women. Researchers at the Johns
Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Health in Baltimore..." |
|
| Vaccine Approved for Japanese Encephalitis: Mosquito-borne virus strikes
mostly in Asia |
|
| US News and Reports |
|
| March 31, 2009 |
|
| "The Ixiaro vaccine to prevent Japanese encephalitis (JE) has been
approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as the only sanctioned
JE vaccine in the United States. The mosquito-transmitted virus is found
mostly in Asia, where it affects up to 50,000 people each year and
causes as many as 15,000 deaths, the FDA said in a news release. Though
rarely seen in the United States, a few cases have been reported among
people traveling to and from Asia..." |
|
| Case of Whooping Cough Reported at Terra Linda High |
|
| Marin Independent Journal |
|
| March 30, 2009 |
|
| "A suspected case of whooping cough, a highly contagious respiratory
tract infection, at Terra Linda High School has prompted health
officials to send letters to the parents of the school's 1,200 students.
Also known as pertussis, whooping cough can cause serious illness in
children and adults.." |
|
| Concern over Vaccination Rate in N.J.; Responding to a reported drop, a
doctors' group says parents and government must do more |
|
| The Philadelphia Inquirer |
|
| March 30, 2009 |
|
| "Both parents and government must do more to ensure timely
vaccination of children, a New Jersey doctors' group says, pointing to a
new national survey that suggests the state may have dropped from the
top 10 in the country to the bottom 10 in less than a year. "We live in
the most urban state in the nation," Robert Morgan, a pediatrician and
member of the Medical Society of New Jersey, said in an interview. "When
you choose not to vaccinate your child, you are making choices for every
other child as well." It is not clear that the latest National
Immunization Survey results in New Jersey accurately reflect actual
vaccination rates. The survey, conducted from July 2007 through June
2008, found that 70.5 percent of children in New Jersey had received the
standard series of vaccines - down from 80.5 percent during the
January-to-December 2007 period..." |
|
| Immunization Laws and Attitudes Vary |
|
| Los Angeles Times |
|
| March 29, 2009 |
|
| "States have long been able to require students to be vaccinated before
entering school, a power
upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1922. But how strictly immunization
laws are enforced varies,
with tougher requirements leading to higher rates of compliance. A study
published in the Journal
of the American Medical Assn. in 2006 found that states that made it
easiest to opt out of mandated
vaccinations were nearly twice as likely to have cases of whooping cough
as states with more
difficult procedures. The authors, who noted that California was among
the most lenient, urged all
states to "balance parental autonomy with the tremendous public health
benefit of vaccines" and
consider tougher standards for exemptions..." |
|
| Measles Case Led to Concern, Quarantines |
|
| Los Angeles Times |
|
| March 29, 2009 |
|
| "Once vaccination rates dip below a
certain point, outbreaks of childhood diseases can spread quickly. Last
year, Hilary Chambers, a San Diego radio host and mother of a baby girl,
saw firsthand how fast measles can be passed among children. A
7-year-old boy brought back a case of the disease from Switzerland and
infected his two siblings and nine other children at his public charter
school and doctors' office. One of those children, a 10-month-old boy
too young to be vaccinated, went to day care with Chambers' daughter
Finlee. Public health officials informed Chambers that her daughter was
at risk for contracting measles. Finlee had just turned 12 months old,
meaning she was eligible for her first measles shot, but that
inoculation appointment hadn't yet been scheduled. Chambers was told
that she needed to keep Finlee quarantined at home, 24 hours a day, for
three weeks. "So I totally freaked out," Chambers said. "The child at
our day care that contracted measles was hospitalized with a 106-degree
fever." Finlee was one of about 70 children who were quarantined in the
case..." |
|
| California Schools' Risks Rise as Vaccinations Drop |
|
| Los Angeles Times |
|
| March 29, 2009 |
|
| "Parents fear shots more than measles or mumps. A rising number of
California parents are choosing to send their children to kindergarten
without routine vaccinations, putting hundreds of elementary schools in
the state at risk for outbreaks of childhood diseases eradicated in the
U.S. years ago. Exemptions from vaccines -- which allow children to
enroll in public and private schools without state-mandated shots --
have more than doubled since 1997, according to a Times analysis of
state data obtained last week. The rise in unvaccinated children appears
to be driven by affluent parents choosing not to immunize. Many do so
because they fear the shots could trigger autism, a concern widely
discredited in medical research. But with autism rates rising, some
parents find that fear more worrisome than the chance that their child
could contract diseases that, while now very rare in this country, can
still be deadly..." |
|
| Sonoma County at Center of Anti-vaccine
Debate |
|
| Santa Rose Press Democrat (CA) |
|
| March 28, 2009 |
|
| "Whether it's a decision of the well-informed, non-traditional,
alternative or paranoid,
vaccinations are not considered a must-do by many North Bay parents.
Long gone are the days when
vaccinating infants and toddlers prior to kindergarten is done as a matter of course and without
question. Especially in western Sonoma County. A study conducted by the
Los Angeles Times reveals
that the North Bay, and Sonoma County in particular, is a hot bed of
anti-vaccine sentiment..." |
|
| Health Dept. Prepares for Immunization Week |
|
| Moultrie Observer (GA) |
|
| March 28, 2009 |
|
| "During the 1950s, nearly every child
developed measles, an easily spread virus known for causing a rash,
fever, cough and watery eyes -- and feared because it can also cause
pneumonia, seizures, brain damage or death. Today, thanks to childhood
immunizations, the disease is extremely rare in the United States..." |
|
| President Barack Obama Talks about Daughter Sasha's Meningitis Scare
During Infancy |
|
| Chicago Tribune |
|
| March 28, 2009 |
|
| "She may be her parents' "precious
pea," but Sasha Obama gave them quite a scare as an infant. Sasha
developed meningitis when she was 3 months old and underwent a battery
of frightening tests, President Barack Obama recalled during his
Internet town hall meeting Thursday. It was the first time aides could
recall him publicly discussing the family's medical crisis. "The doctors
did a terrific job," Obama said, "but, frankly, it was the nurses that
were there with us when she had to get a spinal tap, and all sorts of
things that were just bringing me to tears." The White House could not
confirm Friday which type of meningitis Sasha developed or other details
about the illness. Sasha, now a spirited 7-year-old whom Obama referred
to as "our little precious pea" during the Internet chat, does not seem
to have suffered lasting effects. Her father, however, said the
experience changed the way he viewed medical care, prompting him to
promise to give nurses a voice in an upcoming health-care summit..." |
|
| Meningitis Kills 3 in Sedgwick County |
|
| February 27, 2009 |
|
| "Three people in Sedgwick County have
died of bacterial meningitis since January, but only one of the victims
suffered from a more contagious variety of the illness, health officials
said Friday. A Sedgwick County resident died in January, and two others
died in February, according to Jennifer McCausland, spokeswoman for the
Sedgwick County Health Department. The person who died in January had a
more contagious strain of bacterial meningitis, called neisseria
meningitidis, said Janice McCoy, public health emergency coordinator for
the health department..." |
|
| 2nd Md. Teen's Death Also Blamed on Flu; Officials Urge Shots |
|
| The Washington Post |
|
| February 27, 2009 |
|
| "The flu-related deaths of two
Maryland teenagers in the past two weeks have prompted health officials
across the region to urge people of all ages to get flu shots if they
haven't already. Zachary Weiland, 15, of Woodbine in Howard County died
Sunday at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, and Ian M. Willis, 13, of
Urbana in Frederick County died Feb. 19 at Children's National Medical
Center in the District, health officials said..." |
|
| Sanofi "Micro" Flu Shot Wins European Approval |
|
| Reuters Health |
|
| February 26, 2009 |
|
| "A new kind of "micro" vaccine
against seasonal flu from Sanofi-Aventis has been cleared for sale by
the European Commission, the French drugmaker said on Thursday. The
green light had been expected following a positive recommendation from
the European Medicines Agency in December. Sanofi's Intanza vaccine is
the first intradermal microinjection flu shot and was developed in
collaboration with Becton Dickinson. The shot is approved for use in
adults 60 years of age and older, especially in those who run an
increased risk of influenza-associated complications. Older people tend
to become less responsive to vaccination and are expected to benefit
particularly from a vaccine that provides direct access to the immune
system through the dermal skin layer. Sanofi has tested the new shot in
clinical trials involving more than 7,000 adult or elderly
participants..." |
|
| Taiwan DOH on Guard Against Measles Outbreak |
|
| Taiwan News |
|
| February 25, 2009 |
|
| "The Department of Health (DOH) is
monitoring the conditions of individuals having had contact with a child
who was infected with the measles after traveling to China, a DOH
official said Tuesday. Chou Jih-haw, deputy director of the DOH's Center
for Disease Control, said that although no one has been infected after
coming into contact with the baby boy, the DOH will not let down its
guard until mid-March. The 15-month-old baby boy living in central
Taiwan caught the measles when he was hospitalized for diarrhea while
traveling with his mother in Hunan, China, Chou said..." |
|
| Polio Infects Child in Kenya, First Case Since 2006 |
|
| Reuters |
|
| February 25, 2009 |
|
| "Polio has infected a four-year-old
girl in northern Kenya in the country's first case of the disease since
2006, the government said on Wednesday. The girl is believed to have
contracted the virus from neighbouring southern Sudan, which has
struggled to improve its health sector since a 2005 peace deal ended a
two-decade civil war. Shahnaaz Sharif, Kenya's director of public health
and sanitation, said a vaccination campaign would begin in the area on
March 7 and would aim to immunise more than 95,000 children. Youngsters
under three are most at risk from the disease, which can cause
irreversible paralysis..." |
|
| CDC Urging Docs to Complete Hib Primary Series |
|
| AAFP News |
|
| February 25, 2009 |
|
| "With the nation's shortage of
Haemophilus influenzae type b, or Hib, vaccine now stretching into its
15th month, the CDC is directly contacting thousands of health care
providers with a reminder that all children should complete the primary
Hib immunization series. The CDC is including this message in a letter
dated Feb. 10..." |
|
| Panel Widens Recommendations on Hepatitis A Jab |
|
| Reuters |
|
| February 25, 2009 |
|
| "U.S. citizens who expect to have
close contact with an adopted child from countries with high rates of
hepatitis A should be immunized if they have not been already, U.S.
immunization advisers said on Wednesday. The Advisory Committee on
Immunization Practices, which advises the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, said unvaccinated people who will have close
contact with such a child should get the vaccine within 60 days of the
adoptee's arrival in the United States..." |
|
| Op-ed: A dose of reality on vaccines and autism |
|
| Los Angeles Times |
|
| February 25, 2009 |
|
| "A special court found no significant
link between the two, but that probably won't mean anything to a vocal
group of parents who keep the debate alive. The unsubstantiated belief
that vaccines are to blame for increasing rates of autism has diverted
too much attention from the quest to find the causes of this complex
syndrome. Sadly, a decision by the nation's vaccine court won't make
much difference to the very vocal parents who refuse to let this theory
die..." |
|
| With More Deaths, Hepatitis Toll Now 43 |
|
| Hindu Times |
|
| February 24, 2009 |
|
| "The toll in the hepatitis-hit
Sabarkantha district climbed to 43 with the report of 5 new deaths.
Meanwhile, state health department launched a mass vaccination drive in
Modasa town on Monday. According to district health officials, 6 new
cases of hepatitis have been registered on Monday from Modasa town and
nearby villages. The officials said that people of all ages had queued
up since morning to get themselves vaccinated..." |
|
| Vaccines Still Blamed for
Autism |
|
| Science News Examiner |
|
| January 30, 2009 |
|
| "A new study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases is taking on one
of the most bitter battles
in the medicinal world: the link between autism and vaccines. Complied
by researchers at Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia, the article considered large-scale experiments
conducted all over the
world and came to a conclusion that has already been made by scientists:
there simply is no
evidence that vaccines cause autism..." |
|
| For Ian's Sake, Take Flu
Seriously |
|
| Kansas City (MO) Star |
|
| January 30, 2009 |
|
| "Julie Moise thought she knew the flu. Sure it could knock you flat. But
in several days you'd be
fine. Tons of people got it. It was no big deal. The Southwest Airlines
flight attendant knows
better now. The flu is serious. And it can be deadly. Julie Moise lost
her son Ian to the flu in
2003She learned that in the hardest of ways. In December 2003, her
6-month-old son, Ian, started
showing mild influenza symptoms. Less than two days later, he was dead.
Now the 42-year-old
Northland mother wants to spread the word about the dangers of flu and
the importance of flu
vaccines..." |
|
| Invasive Hib Disease Cases
in Minnesota Linked to Vaccine Shortage
Parents' Refusal to Vaccinate Also a Possible Factor |
|
| January 28, 2009 |
|
| "A nationwide shortage of Haemophilus influenzae type b, or Hib, vaccine
and the refusal by some
parents to vaccinate their children may have sparked a re-emergence of
invasive Hib disease in
Minnesota. In the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report released Jan.
23, CDC officials said that
five cases of invasive Hib disease in children younger than age 5 years
were reported last year to
the Minnesota Department of Health. Three of the five children were
completely unvaccinated against
the disease. One child died..." |
|
| Influenza May Trigger
Guillain-Barre Syndrome |
|
| Reuters Health Medical News |
|
| January 28, 2009 |
|
| "Influenza may trigger Guillain-Barre syndrome Influenza infection can
infrequently precipitate the
occurrence of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), French researchers report
in the January issue of
Clinical Infectious Diseases. GBS "is usually triggered by infectious
disease or vaccine," senior
investigator Dr. Elyanne Gault told Reuters Health. "To date, influenza
was associated with GBS
through vaccination, based on the report of a high number of GBS cases
during a mass vaccination
campaign against swine influenza in the US." The current study reports "virological
evidence that
influenza infection is a trigger for GBS, with a frequency related to
the level of influenza
epidemics," she explained..." |
|
| CDC Expands Pneumonia
Vaccine Recommendations |
|
| American Medical News |
|
| January 27, 2009 |
|
| "The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated
its recommendations for whom
should be vaccinated against pneumococcal disease to include adults who
smoke and those with
asthma. The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices approved
the changes, which apply
for individuals age 19 to 64 years, late last year. The CDC already recommended that adults 65
years or older and those with chronic illnesses receive the 23-valent
pneumococcal polysaccharide
vaccine, or PPSV23. Research published several years ago revealed that
approximately 50 percent of
otherwise healthy adults with invasive pneumococcal disease smoked
cigarettes. The CDC published
its recommendations in the Jan. 9 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality
Weekly Report..." |
|
| Vaccine Study Backs Safety
of Chemical |
|
| Atlanta Journal-Constitution |
|
| January 26, 2009 |
|
| "A new study of about 1,400 children exposed to thimerosal in routine
vaccinations during the 1990s
adds further evidence to the safety of the mercury-based preservative
for children. Brain-function
tests of the children who received two different levels of the
preservative via routine
inoculations revealed only one case of autism 10 years later, and that
was in the group that
received a lower level of thimerosal. The study, published in the
February issue of the journal
Pediatrics, was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention..." |
|
| Hib Illness Rise Could Be
Linked to Vaccine Shortages |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
|
| January 26, 2009 |
|
| "Sanofi Aventis currently is the only supplier of the Haemophilus
influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine,
as bacteria contaminated equipment forced Merck & Co. to cease
production in late 2007. Due to the
short supply, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
requests that healthcare
providers administer the first few doses to babies, but put off the
final booster shot typically
provided between the ages of 12 months and 15 months..." |
|
| Vaccine Call after 16 Mumps
Cases |
|
| BBC News |
|
| January 24, 2009 |
|
| "The National Public Health Service for Wales reports that there have
been 16 cases of mumps in
Anglesey and Gwynedd in the last month, and 15 of those affected have
received the recommended
doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. Area doctors have been
alerted of the problem,
and 10 secondary school students were reportedly sent home with mumps.
All cases arose since Dec.
27, and the Anglesey Local Health Board sent letters about the situation
to parents..." |
|
| Rare Sickness Kills Child;
Officials Urge Vaccination |
|
| CNN.com |
|
| January 23, 2009 |
|
| "A childhood illness that has mostly been curbed through vaccinations
has killed one child and
sickened four others in Minnesota, health officials said Friday.
Authorities recommend that those
younger than 2 years be vaccinated against 14 diseases, including Hib.
The five children were
infected with a bacterial infection known as Hib: Haemophilus influenzae
type b. Three of the
affected children had not received any vaccinations, including the
7-month-old who died, according
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention..." |
|
| Don't Risk Going
Unvaccinated |
|
| Huffington Post |
|
| January 22, 2009 |
|
| This past year the United States witnessed a measles epidemic that was
the largest in more than a
decade. About 135 people, mostly children, were infected with measles;
some of those children were
hospitalized with severe dehydration and others with pneumonia caused by
the virus. Why did this
happen? The answer can be found in a study published in December 2008 in
the American Journal of
Epidemiology that received little attention from the media. The authors,
epidemiologists from Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, examined school children in
Michigan whose parents had
chosen not to vaccinate them. They compared clusters of unvaccinated
children with clusters of
documented whooping cough (pertussis) outbreaks. Not surprisingly, the
clusters overlapped. The
authors concluded: "Geographic pockets of vaccine exemptors pose a risk
to the whole community..." |
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