|
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..." |
|
ACIP Amends Poliovirus Vaccine Recommendations |
|
| Pediatric SuperSite |
|
| May 26, 2009 |
|
| “Members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices affirmed a recommendation for a fourth dose of inactivated poliovirus-containing vaccine for 4-to-6-year olds if the three-dose vaccine series is completed before the child is 4…" |
|
|
Swine Flu Halts Muscular Dystrophy Camps |
|
| Philadelphia Inquirer |
|
| June 25, 2009 |
|
| "Thousands of Jerry's Kids will not
attend camps this summer after officials halted the program in the face
of 17 suspected swine-flu cases among campers, including six in
Montgomery County. The cancellation, which came after about 1,800
attended 33 camps, affects 2,500 children scheduled to attend 47 other
camps. The children's hereditary muscle weakness and compromised immune
systems leave them vulnerable to the H1N1 strain of influenza, Muscular
Dystrophy Association officials said..." |
|
|
Whooping Cough Diagnosed in Tierrasanta Child |
|
|
| June 24, 2009 |
|
| "A 10-year-old student at a
Tierrasanta elementary school has been diagnosed with whooping cough,
the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency announced today.
The child attends Kumeyaay Elementary School and was involved in a
Christian Youth Theater Group production in May, according to the HHSA.
'Whooping cough is very active this season and is highly
contagious,'said Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county's public health
officer..." |
|
|
ACIP Revises Immunity Requirements for HCW MMR Vaccination |
|
| Pediatric Supersite |
|
| June 24, 2009 |
|
| "The Advisory Committee on
Immunization Practices has updated a decade-old policy about immunity
requirements regarding measles-mumps and rubella vaccination for health
care workers. Kathleen Gallagher, DSc, from the Division of Viral
Diseases at CDC, said her working group recommended changing four areas
of the immunity requirements for healthcare personnel, originally
published in 1997 in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The first
change regarded the addition of laboratory confirmation of disease as
adequate proof of immunity against MMR. She said this recommendation was
consistent with routine surveillance practices that accept this data as
proof of immunity..." |
|
|
Federal Advisory Panel: Just 4 Rabies Shots Needed |
|
| Boston Globe |
|
| June 24, 2009 |
|
| "People exposed to rabies need only
four vaccinations, not the five currently recommended, a vaccine
advisory committee said Wednesday. In the past, rabies shots were
dreaded almost as much as the disease itself. Until the 1970s, an
encounter with a rabid animal led to at least 14 shots in the abdomen.
But vaccines have improved, and five shots in the arm or thigh have been
the U.S. standard for more than 20 years. The Advisory Committee on
Immunization Practices voted unanimously that four shots -- all given
within the first 14 days after exposure to rabies -- are sufficient..." |
|
|
US Invests in Advanced Flu Vaccine Method |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| June 24, 2009 |
|
| "The U.S. government is investing in
a new technique for making flu vaccines that it hopes will help the
nation respond quickly to outbreaks such as the H1N1 swine flu virus.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Tuesday
her department had awarded a $35 million contract to privately held
Protein Sciences Corp Inc of Meriden, Connecticut, to use its new
gene-based techniques to develop a vaccine and test it in clinical
trials. If testing goes well, the contract could be expanded over five
years for a total of nearly $150 million..." |
|
|
U.S. Panel Backs New Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine |
|
|
| June 24, 2009 |
|
| "A U.S. immunization panel has voted
to include a new vaccine for Japanese encephalitis, a mosquito-borne
disease, made by Intercell AG, in its list of recommended vaccines for
U.S. travelers, the company said on Wednesday. Intercell said the
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, which advises the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approved the vaccine
for U.S. travelers to Asia, military personnel and others at high risk.
The vaccine, called Ixairo, protects against Japanese encephalitis,
which affects 30,000 to 50,000 people each year across Asia, killing up
to 15,000..." |
|
|
Cost of Immunizing Children to go up July 1st |
|
| KTVB-TV (Idaho) |
|
| June 23, 2009 |
|
| "The cost to immunize one third of
Idaho children is going to go up on July first. In a move to save money,
the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare will no longer pay for
vaccines for all children in the state. This is just another cutback on
the state level which now puts more responsibility onto Idaho families.
This change will only affect Idaho families that have health insurance.
So children who are uninsured, under insured, are on Medicaid, American
Indian or an Alaska native will see no change. The state will still
cover their vaccines. Families with insurance will now be responsible to
pay co-pays or deductibles for vaccine only visits..." |
|
|
In New Theory, Swine Flu Started in Asia, Not Mexico |
|
| New York Times |
|
| June 23, 2009 |
|
| "Contrary to the popular assumption
that the new swine flu pandemic arose on factory farms in Mexico,
federal agriculture officials now believe that it most likely emerged in
pigs in Asia, but then traveled to North America in a human. But they
emphasized that there was no way to prove their theory and only sketchy
data underpinning it. There is no evidence that this new virus, which
combines Eurasian and North American genes, has ever circulated in North
American pigs, while there is tantalizing evidence that a closely
related 'sister virus' has circulated in Asia. American breeding pigs,
possibly carrying North American swine flu, are frequently exported to
Asia, where the flu could have combined with Asian strains. But because
of disease quarantines that make it hard to import Asian pigs, experts
said, it is unlikely that a pig brought the new strain back West. 'The
most likely scenario is that it came over in the mammalian species that
moves most freely around the world,' said Dr. Amy L. Vincent, a swine
flu specialist at the Agriculture Department's laboratory in Ames, Iowa,
referring, of course, to people. But a sample taken from a pig in Hong
Kong in 2004 was recently found to have a virus nearly matching the new
flu. That flu, which had seven of the new flu's eight genome sequences,
was noted in an article in Nature magazine on June 11, which called it a
'sister virus.'..." |
|
|
Editorial: Pandemic Reality Check |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| June 23, 2009 |
|
| "This month, the World Health
Organization finally declared that the new H1N1 virus has become
pandemic.Yesterday it reported a big jump in cases and fatalities since
Friday. How many people this virus will sicken and kill depends,
ultimately, on three things: the virus itself; the impact of what are
known as 'non-pharmaceutical interventions,' or NPIs; and the
availability and effectiveness of a vaccine. The virus will be the most
important factor. Influenza is one of the fastest-mutating organisms in
existence, which makes it unpredictable, and a virus newly infecting the
human population is likely to be even more unpredictable as it adapts to
a new environment...But we do have non-pharmaceutical interventions and
the possibility of a vaccine. Such interventions would come into play
primarily in a moderate or severe pandemic..." |
|
|
State's Only Swine Flu Death still a Mystery
Specialists Hunting for Clues to Explain Woman's Decline |
|
| Boston Globe |
|
| June 23, 2009 |
|
| "The only person known to have died
of swine flu in Massachusetts suffered from none of the underlying
medical conditions that can turn a relatively mild viral infection into
a life-threatening illness, city disease trackers disclosed yesterday.
The finding deepens the mystery around the June 14 death of a
30-year-old Boston woman who arrived at Boston Medical Center already
gravely ill from symptoms associated with the respiratory disease, known
by the scientific designation H1N1. Investigators with the Boston Public
Health Commission delved through medical records obtained from the
woman's primary care physician, hunting for clues that might explain her
precipitous decline. But there was no evidence she had ever been
diagnosed with asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, or any other
chronic malady known to intensify the risk of dying from a flu virus..." |
|
|
More Whooping Cough Reported in Buchanan County |
|
| Gazette (Iowa) |
|
| June 22, 2009 |
|
| "More cases of whooping cough have
been reported in Buchanan County, in Northeastern Iowa. As of today, 11
cases have been confirmed, said Amy Marlow, director of Buchanan County
Public Health. The health department has contacted more than 300 people
who may have been in contact with patients who have the highly
contagious disease. Marlow said people who have had the disease or were
vaccinated as a child could still be susceptible to getting whooping
cough, also known as pertussis. Pertussis booster shots are combined
with tetanus shots, so adults and adolescents may need to get a tetanus
booster to be protected, she said. Cases in the county date back to
mid-May, making it difficult to determine the source..." |
|
|
Editorial: A Pandemic's Dry Run |
|
| Boston Globe |
|
| June 21, 2009 |
|
| "Although Massachusetts recorded its
first swine-flu death this month, the effect of the disease has not been
as dire as many feared. As a result, public health officials have been
able to view the health system's response to the pandemic as a test case
for an even more dangerous outbreak of flu. Among the lessons learned is
the need for better coordination between the public-health sector and
the private suppliers of the tools needed to contend with flu: face
masks, swabs, and antiviral medicines such as Tamiflu..." |
|
|
Opinion: Kids' Vaccines Aren't the Problem |
|
| Cherry Hill Courier Post (NJ) |
|
| June 21, 2009 |
|
| "Over the years, there has been
considerable controversy concerning vaccines and their possible link to
autism. More recently, some people have claimed that infants and young
children receive too many vaccines at one time, and that as a result
they somehow overwhelm the immune system. However, researchers from The
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), the University of
Pennsylvania, UCLA and other institutions recently found instead a
genetic link to autism. Lead researcher Dr. Hakon Hakonarson of CHOP
said he hopes this breakthrough will help dispel fears that autism is
triggered by vaccines..." |
|
|
Guest Voices: A Danger for Doctors' Bottom Line |
|
| San Antonio Express News |
|
| June 20, 2009 |
|
| "An open letter to President Obama:
I'm a pediatrician and writing to let you know, because not many people
do seem to know, that small, private, primary care doctors' offices
around the country, including mine -- where the majority of people
receive their immunizations - are being reimbursed chronically under
cost for purchase and operating expenses when we administer vaccines. If
we refuse to immunize at a loss, we put our patients at risk for disease
and risk losing our insurance contracts (and therefore our ability to
provide continuity of care) because not immunizing is bad medicine. The
success of the national immunization program depends on the consistency
with which immunizations are provided around the country, and it is in
peril of becoming "moth-eaten" and therefore ineffective in optimally
preventing disease because practitioners increasingly have to choose
between purchasing immunizations and having our offices survive..." |
|
|
Experts See Bad, but not Disastrous, Flu Season |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
|
| June 19, 2009 |
|
| "So what are health officials doing
to help us prepare for the upcoming flu season? According to the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, which also oversees the Centers
for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration, the government
has now shifted its pandemic planning focus from H5N1 to H1N1 for the
upcoming flu season. Seasonal flu still remains a priority. The
government is still asking the five U.S.-licensed flu vaccine makers to
supply the U.S. market with about 100 million doses of seasonal flu
vaccine, a request on par with those of recent years..." |
|
|
Camps Seeing Outbreaks of Swine Flu, Agency Says |
|
| New York Times |
|
| June 19, 2009 |
|
| "Although it is fading in much of the
nation as warmer weather comes on, swine flu is causing outbreaks in
summer camps just as it has in schools, federal officials said Thursday.
The advice to camp administrators and parents is basically the same as
for schools, said Dr. Daniel B. Jernigan, deputy director of the flu
division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Camps should
be on the alert for sick children, who should be kept home for a week or
until 24 hours after symptoms have finished. (Not all camps offer
refunds, the American Camp Association noted.) Parents should be
prepared to take sick children home on short notice. Religious camps in
Clayton, Ga.; Santa Rosa, Calif.; and Cleveland, Ga., and a Boy Scout
camp near Asheville, N.C., all reported probable swine flu cases in
local newspapers this week..." |
|
|
Editorial: Death from the Flu |
|
| Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |
|
| June 19, 2009 |
|
| "The swine flu pandemic passed
another tragic milestone in Wisconsin this week with the first deaths of
youths from the disease. Health officials and family members said
14-year-old Tiara Mosely of Milwaukee did not appear to have any of the
underlying medical conditions that put those who contract the disease at
high risk...." |
|
|
Malaysia Introduces Stricter Measures to Fight A/H1N1 Flu |
|
| English News Service |
|
| June 19, 2009 |
|
| "Malaysia has introduced ten new
measures to prevent A/H1N1 flu from spreading in the country. Malaysian
Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said that one of the measures was
compulsory health declaration form by all travelers arriving in the
country, which would be gazetted next week, according to local
newspapers on Friday. Any travelers whoever fail to do so could be
liable to a 10,000 ringgit (2,857. 1 U. S. dollars) fine or two years'
jail or both, under the Malaysian Disease Prevention Act, Muhyiddin told
reporters here on Thursday. Other measures included sending health
officers on board flights to scan body temperatures of passengers coming
from the United States, Melbourne of Australia and Manila of the
Philippines..." |
|
|
Experts See Bad, but not Disastrous, Flu Season |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
|
| June 19, 2009 |
|
| "So what are health officials doing
to help us prepare for the upcoming flu season? According to the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, which also oversees the Centers
for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration, the government
has now shifted its pandemic planning focus from H5N1 to H1N1 for the
upcoming flu season. Seasonal flu still remains a priority. The
government is still asking the five U.S.-licensed flu vaccine makers to
supply the U.S. market with about 100 million doses of seasonal flu
vaccine, a request on par with those of recent years..." |
|
|
Bellefontaine Hospital Takes Steps to Prevent Infection; Meningitis
Death Prompts Changes at Mary Rutan |
|
| Columbus Dispatch |
|
| June 18, 2009 |
|
| "Mary Rutan Hospital in Bellefontaine
has said it has removed all outdated medicines and supplies from its
maternity unit and has put new infection-control procedures in place in
response to a state inspection. The hospital filed a correction plan
with the state this week to address violations issued by the Ohio
Department of Health, which licenses maternity units. Inspectors visited
the hospital in late May after the death of Susan Ryan Finch Simpson,
30..." |
|
|
No Signs of H1N1 Flu in Babies at NC Hospital |
|
| News & Observer (NC) |
|
| June 18, 2009 |
|
| "Officials say seven of the 33 babies
who may have been exposed to H1N1 swine flu have been sent home from a
North Carolina hospital and that none show flu symptoms. The News &
Record of Greensboro reported Tuesday that a respiratory therapist who
unknowingly exposed the babies at The Women's Hospital tested positive
for the virus last week. The babies are in the hospital's neonatal
intensive care unit. Hospital officials are asking anyone with flu-like
symptoms to stay at home away from others, drink fluids and use
over-the-counter medicine to treat their symptoms..." |
|
|
H1N1 Cases in Health Workers Show Need for Protection |
|
| CIDRAP News |
|
| June 18, 2009 |
|
| "An analysis of novel H1N1 influenza
cases in healthcare workers in the early weeks of the epidemic shows
that half of them were probably infected on the job, and most of those
weren't using respiratory protection, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) said today. Among 26 cases for which detailed
information was available, 13 of the healthcare personnel (HCP) were
believed to have been infected in a healthcare setting, the CDC said.
Only three of the infected workers reported using a surgical mask or an
N-95 respirator. The findings suggest that health workers are being
infected both at work and in the community and that healthcare
facilities need to reinforce messages about current infection control
recommendations, the CDC said in the Jun 19 issue of Morbidity and
Mortality Weekly Report..." |
|
|
Vaccinate Kids to Control H1N1 Flu |
|
| Reuters |
|
| June 18, 2009 |
|
| "Targeting children for vaccination
may be the best way of using limited supplies of vaccine to control the
current H1N1 flu pandemic, British researchers said on Thursday.
Drugmakers are racing to make a vaccine against the new flu strain but
if the disease increases significantly in the northern hemisphere
autumn, as many experts fear, there are unlikely to be enough shots to
vaccinate entire populations. Researchers from the University of Warwick
said that vaccinating children rather than adults would not only help
protect a group at greatest risk of exposure to the virus, but would
also offer protection to unvaccinated adults..." |
|
|
Idaho Changes Vaccine Laws |
|
| KIDK CBS 3 |
|
| June 16, 2009 |
|
| "In just about two weeks, Idaho will
go from free vaccines for all to VFC-Only coverage. A VFC child is
someone who is uninsured, under-insured, on Medicaid, and Native
American or Alaskan Natives. But the July 1st change will cost those of
you with health insurance some big bucks. A visit that now costs between
14 and 30-dollars could now be up to 500. 'Vaccine is very expensive
just in the state of Idaho. I don't think people are aware of that
because we've had this universal coverage,' says Amy Gamett, nurse
manager Eastern Idaho Public Health District. And that's been the case
since 1994. Now budget cuts don't allow that..." |
|
|
Sebelius Says Kids May Get Swine Flu Shots First |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| June 16, 2009 |
|
| "Schoolchildren could be first in
line for swine flu vaccine this fall - and schools are being put on
notice that they might even be turned into shot clinics. Health and
Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday she is urging
school superintendents around the country to spend the summer preparing
for that possibility, if the government goes ahead with mass
vaccinations..." |
|
|
Flu Pandemic Spurs Queries about Vaccine |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
|
| June 15, 2009 |
|
| "Governments and drug companies
ramping up production of a vaccine against the swine-flu virus are
facing a tough question: Who really needs it? The world's biggest drug
companies have started producing vaccines against the H1N1 virus and
expect the first doses to be available by the fall. Many Western
countries have ordered millions of doses, at a cost of more than $1
billion. But they have yet to figure out who should be first in line to
get the shots, or to what extent they are even needed, given that the
virus has so far proved less deadly than feared..." |
|
|
China’s Sinovac Enters Race for Flu Vaccine |
|
| Reuters |
|
| June 15, 2009 |
|
| "Chinese vaccine maker Sinovac
Biotech Ltd hopes to put its H1N1 vaccine through its first clinical
trial by the end of July, as pharmaceutical firms race to put vaccines
against the new flu virus into commercial production. Workers at
Sinovac's laboratory in Beijing readied thousands of chicken eggs to
grow the H1N1 virus on Monday, after the World Health Organization
declared a pandemic last Thursday and warned governments to prepare for
a long battle against the virus. On Friday, Novartis AG said it expected
its H1N1 vaccine to be available by autumn after it produced a first
batch for testing and clinical trials..." |
|
|
Swiss Drugmaker Novartis Says Produces First Batch of Swine Flu Vaccine
Grown in Cells |
|
| Reuters |
|
| June 15, 2009 |
|
| "Swiss pharmaceuticals company
Novartis AG said Friday it has successfully produced a first batch of
swine flu vaccine weeks ahead of expectations. The vaccine was made in
cells, rather than grown in eggs as is usually the case with vaccines,
the company said..." |
|
|
Vaccine Plan Aims to Spur Drug Development for Poor Nations |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
|
| June 12, 2009 |
|
| "A group of wealthy nations is
launching a first-of-its-kind program designed to encourage
pharmaceutical companies to develop vaccines for diseases common to poor
countries. The $1.5 billion program marks a departure from previous
charitable efforts to increase poor countries' access to vaccines.
Instead of buying existing drugs and giving them away, the donors will
guarantee pharmaceutical companies a future market big enough to justify
developing and manufacturing new vaccines needed in nations too
impoverished to afford them on their own...The first target will be a
vaccine to prevent pneumococcal disease, which kills 1.6 million people
in the world a year, the majority of them young children in the
developing world..." |
|
|
Swine Flu Declaration Will Speed Work on Vaccine |
|
| Los Angeles Times |
|
| June 12, 2009 |
|
| "One immediate effect of the
declaration of an H1N1 flu pandemic will be to speed the production of a
vaccine against the new virus, but it will be fall at the earliest
before the first doses are available. Scientists have encountered some
problems in paving the way for such a vaccine. The H1N1 virus grows more
slowly in eggs than the seasonal flu virus does, so it has taken longer
than expected to prepare the seed stocks of virus that manufacturers
will use to start production. But all have now received the starting
material, which will allow them to begin full-scale efforts at
production, according to Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny of the World Health
Organization. Some companies that do not manufacture a seasonal flu
vaccine have already started growing the virus, she said, and others
will do so as soon as they finish their current vaccine runs, probably
within the next week or two. But it is not yet clear whether the
slow-growth problems encountered in producing the seed stock will carry
over into production..." |
|
|
OU Reports New Meningitis Case; 2 Students Hospitalized This Week with
'Probable' Infections |
|
| Columbus Dispatch |
|
| June 11, 2009 |
|
|
"A second Ohio University
student has been hospitalized this week in Columbus after having a
probable case of potentially serious bacterial meningitis diagnosed. The
first-year male student lives in Tiffin Hall on the East Green of the
Athens campus, officials said. OU officials and physicians met with
Tiffin Hall residents yesterday afternoon to provide information about
the disease and distribute antibiotics.On Monday, a freshman woman who
lives in Washington Hall on the East Green also had probable bacterial
meningitis diagnosed and was hospitalized in Columbus. Officials were
investigating the possibility both attended a residence-halls social
event Friday, said Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi..." |
|
|
Litigation, Regulation, and Education - Protecting the Public's Health
through Childhood Immunization |
|
| New England Journal of Medicine |
|
| June 11, 2009 |
|
| "Recently, three special masters of
the U.S. Court of Federal Claims issued carefully reasoned, strongly
worded opinions rejecting claims that medical and scientific evidence
could demonstrate causal links between thimerosal-containing vaccines or
measles–mumps–rubella (MMR) vaccination and the development of chronic
health conditions such as autism, immune dysfunction, and
gastrointestinal dysfunction..." |
|
|
When Vaccine Injury Claims Go to Court |
|
| New England Journal of Medicine |
|
| June 11, 2009 |
|
| "In February 2009, the National
Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) released decisions for the
first three test cases heard under the program's Omnibus Autism
Proceeding. In each of the cases - Cedillo v. Secretary of Health and
Human Services, Hazlehurst v. Secretary of Health and Human Services,
and Snyder v. Secretary of Health and Human Services - the petitioners
alleged that a child's autism spectrum disorder was caused by the
combination of the measles– mumps–rubella (MMR) vaccine and
thimerosal-containing vaccines. The decisions will have a substantial
effect on vaccine policy and practice in the United States and will
influence the analysis of more than 5300 similar, pending claims..." |
|
|
WHO: Full Pandemic Flu Vaccine Production To Start In 2 Weeks |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
|
| June 11, 2009 |
|
| "The World Health Organization
Thursday said vaccine makers should continue producing shots to protect
against the common flu, a process that will take another two weeks, and
then start producing a vaccine to combat the (A) H1N1 swine flu virus.
Vaccine makers have now received the seed virus that will allow them to
start developing the vaccine. The first doses of a pandemic vaccine
could be available in September, but supply will be limited, Margaret
Chan, WHO's director general, told journalists at a news briefing..." |
|
|
WHO Declares Swine Flu Pandemic |
|
| VOA News |
|
| June 11, 2009 |
|
| "The World Health Organization has
declared the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years, as
infections of the H1N1 swine flu virus continue to spread. WHO
Director-General Margaret Chan announced Thursday that the U.N. agency
is raising the pandemic alert level from Phase 5 to the maximum Phase 6
following a meeting of experts in Geneva. Officials note that declaring
a pandemic does not mean the disease has become more severe, but that
there is an increasing number of infections in different geographical
locations..." |
|
|
Flu Pandemic? U.S. Has Been There for Weeks |
|
| Reuters |
|
| June 11, 2009 |
|
| "The World Health Organization may
have just declared a pandemic of the H1N1 flu virus, but the United
States has been acting as if a pandemic was under way for weeks, health
officials said on Thursday. The new swine flu virus was first identified
in two U.S. children in April and by the time the news was out, it had
already begun spreading. CDC experts estimate that hundreds of thousands
of people are likely infected in every state..." |
|
|
FDA Strengthens Warnings on Gardasil |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
|
| June 10, 2009 |
|
| "The Food and Drug Administration on
Wednesday strengthened warnings on Merck & Co.'s Gardasil vaccine about
fainting after receiving reports of 'traumatic injuries' among some
vaccine recipients. In a posting aimed at health-care professionals
posted on the agency's Web site, the FDA said all vaccine recipients
should remain seated or lying down and be closely observed for 15
minutes following vaccination, 'to prevent falls and injuries.' Gardasil
was approved in June 2006 and is designed to protect against four
strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV, two of which account for
about 70% of cervical-cancer cases. It's recommended that girls ages 11
to 12 receive the vaccine in a three-dose series before they are
sexually active, and it coincides with recommendations on other
vaccines..." |
|
|
Five New Cases of Measles Have Been Reported in Wales |
|
|
| June 10, 2009 |
|
| "The National Public Health Service
[NPHS] for Wales said there is one new case in Carmarthenshire, one in
Pembrokeshire, one in Neath Port Talbot, one in Wrexham and one in
Merthyr Tydfil. The new cases in Merthyr and Wrexham are the 1st to be
reported in these counties. 16 counties in Wales are now affected..." |
|
|
Parental Knowledge of Vaccinations Important |
|
| Reuters |
|
| June 10, 2009 |
|
| "When parents are more knowledgeable
about vaccinations' their children are more likely to get them' a new
study shows. The study' which included parents of 630 Spanish children'
found that while most children received the recommended vaccinations'
parents' vaccine knowledge influenced the likelihood. When parents
scored below the average on a test of vaccine knowledge' their children
were 55 percent to 60 percent less likely to be on schedule with their
immunizations' according to findings published in the online journal BMC
Public Health. The findings suggest that if doctors do more to inform
parents about vaccine effectiveness and safety' they will be more likely
to keep their children on the recommended schedule' according to the
researchers' led by Dr. Eva Borras of the Department of Health in
Barcelona..." |
|
|
H1N1 Flu Vaccine a Step Closer as Firms Test Vaccines |
|
| Reuters |
|
| June 10, 2009 |
|
| "Drugmakers are on track to have a
vaccine against the new H1N1 strain of flu ready for the northern
hemisphere autumn after receiving seed virus samples, company officials
said on Wednesday. Sanofi-Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Solvay
all said their vaccine teams had obtained the new influenza A (H1N1)
seed virus within the past fortnight, enabling them to begin the
production process. What is still unclear, however, is how much vaccine
they will be able to manufacture, since this depends on how easily the
new virus strain grows within a commercial production environment..." |
|
|
Rotavirus: Every Child Should Be Vaccinated Against Diarrheal Disease,
W.H.O. Says |
|
| New York Times |
|
| June 9, 2009 |
|
| "The World Health Organization
recommended last week that the vaccine against rotavirus, a diarrheal
disease that kills 500,000 children a year, be given to every child in
the world. More than 85 percent of those deaths are of poor children in
Africa, Asia and Latin America, and the W.H.O. endorsement allows donor
money to be used for the vaccine..." |
|
|
More Cases of Flu in Egypt and Lebanon Peninsula (Qatar) |
|
|
| June 9, 2009 |
|
| "Five New Cases of Foreigners
Infected with Swine Flu Were Discovered at a Cairo University Dormitory
Yesterday. Egypt's health ministry said, bringing the total number of
cases there to 7. Lebanon also discovered 5 new cases of swine flu but
they were under control, the health ministry said, bringing the total
number of cases there to 8..." |
|
|
WHO Says Swine Flu Pandemic 'Very Close,' Expresses Concerns About
Australia And Canada |
|
| Los Angeles Times |
|
| June 9, 2009 |
|
| "The World Health Organization said
Tuesday a spike in swine flu cases in Australia may push it to finally
announce the first flu pandemic in 41 years. It also expressed concern
about an unusual rise in severe illness from the disease in Canada.
WHO's flu chief Keiji Fukuda said the agency wanted to avoid "adverse
effects" if it announces a global outbreak of swine flu. Fukuda said
people might panic or that governments might take inappropriate actions
if WHO declares a pandemic..." |
|
|
Supreme Court Interested in Vaccine Lawsuit Shield |
|
| Bloomberg |
|
| June 8, 2009 |
|
| "The U.S. Supreme Court expressed
interest in an appeal by Madison-based Wyeth and units of
GlaxoSmithKline Plc that seeks to give the pharmaceutical industry a
broader shield from lawsuits over injuries allegedly caused by vaccines.
The justices sought the Obama administration's views on a Georgia
Supreme Court ruling that allowed a lawsuit by the family of an autistic
boy injected with vaccines containing the mercury-based preservative
thimerosal. The state court said a 1986 federal law that protects
vaccine makers doesn't preclude suits claiming that a manufacturer
should have used a safer formulation..." |
|
|
Risks: Pertussis Protection? Not From the Herd |
|
| New York Times |
|
| June 8, 2009 |
|
| "The theory of herd immunity holds
that when most people in a group are vaccinated' everyone is protected —
even those who refuse the vaccine' as many families are doing these days
out of a belief that vaccinations cause autism and other illnesses. But
the theory does not appear to work well with whooping cough. Researchers
studied children enrolled in a Colorado health plan in the period 1996
to 2007' and found 156 laboratory-confirmed cases of pertussis. They
recorded the vaccination status of each and matched them to 595 randomly
selected control subjects. After controlling for sex' age' season of
infection and other factors' they found that the unvaccinated children
were about 23 times as likely as vaccinated children to get whooping
cough. In other words' about 1 in 20 unvaccinated children were
infected' compared with 1 in 500 who were vaccinated. The study appears
in the June issue of Pediatrics..." |
|
|
Bipartisan WMD Panel Criticizes Obama Plan to Fund Flu Vaccine |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| June 8, 2009 |
|
| "President Obama's contingency plan
to help finance production of a swine flu vaccine with funds set aside
to develop defenses against biological attacks would weaken the nation's
preparedness for terrorism, the leaders of a bipartisan commission on
weapons of mass destruction said yesterday..." |
|
|
Is Oprah Winfrey Giving Us Bad Medicine? |
|
| Toronto Star (CAN) |
|
| June 7, 2009 |
|
| "We've all speculated about why the
anti-scientific emotion-based notion that vaccines somehow must cause
autism persists in spite of mountains of evidence to the contrary, but I
think the question goes much deeper than that. The anti-vaccine movement
is but one of the most visible components of a much deeper problem in
our public discourse, a problem that values feelings and personal
experience over evidence, compelling stories and anecdotes over science.
I'm referring to the Oprah-fication of medicine..."." |
|
|
Schools Lax on Vaccinations |
|
| Atlanta Journal-Constitution |
|
| June 7, 2009 |
|
| "As the school year ends, district
officials across metro Atlanta have been trying to educate parents that
their children must be properly vaccinated before they return next fall.
Georgia schools continued to violate state law during the 2008-09 school
year, allowing children to enroll and remain in class despite missing
required shots or having no vaccination records at all, according to new
data obtained under the state Open Records Act..." |
|
|
A Marine's Hard Fight: Leukemia and a smallpox vaccine infection |
|
| Los Angeles Times |
|
| June 7, 2009 |
|
| "Reporting from San Diego -- First
came the stomachaches and low fevers. Then Lance Cpl. Cory Belken broke
out in a rash. His temperature shot up to 104.6 degrees. The young man
became delirious, telling his mother, Barbara Skaggs, that he wanted to
go to the smoking section even though he had never smoked. His blood
pressure dropped. Belken, a 20-year-old Marine, had been dealing with
two potentially life-threatening conditions at once -- a recent onset of
acute leukemia and a blooming infection from a smallpox vaccination. He
was that unlucky one-in-a-million case, his doctors said, but one they
hoped would end well..." |
|
|
Why Advice on Oprah Could Make You Sick |
|
| Newsweek |
|
| June 5, 2009 |
|
| "Wish Away Cancer! Get A Lunchtime
Face-Lift! Eradicate Autism! Turn Back The Clock! Thin Your Thighs! Cure
Menopause! Harness Positive Energy! Erase Wrinkles! Banish Obesity! Live
Your Best Life Ever!..." |
|
|
Avian Flu Fears Said to Help U.S. Prepare for Swine Flu |
|
| New York Times |
|
| June 5, 2009 |
|
| "Six years of worrying about bird flu
did much to prepare the United States for the current swine flu
outbreak, federal officials and an independent monitoring group said
Thursday, but they cautioned that there were still gaps in planning.
After the H5N1 avian flu emerged widely in Asia in 2003, killing about
60 percent of those infected by it, many countries took steps to head
off the crisis that would emerge if that virus were to acquire the
ability to jump easily from human to human. It has not, but a number of
the measures were helpful. These are some of them: The federal
government stockpiled 50 million courses of Tamiflu. New vaccine
factories were opened. Pandemic plans were written, and emergency drills
were held..." |
|
|
City Reports Eighth Death Connected With Swine Flu |
|
| New York Times |
|
| June 5, 2009 |
|
| "New York City's Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene has confirmed an eighth death linked to swine flu,
the first of a person older than 65, officials said Friday. Jessica
Scaperotti, a spokeswoman for the department, declined to release
further identifying details, but she said the victim had underlying
complications that increased the risk of death. Health officials have
said such complications include being over 65 or under 2, having
respiratory or immune system problems or being obese, among others.?.." |
|
|
Officials Don't Track All Possible Swine Flu Cases: Only a third of 266
samples submitted here were tested |
|
| Columbus Dispatch |
|
| June 5, 2009 |
|
| "Just because someone has swine flu
doesn't mean that public-health workers monitoring the outbreak will
track the case. Recently, a test at Nationwide Children's Hospital
showed that an 11-year-old girl from suburban Columbus had influenza A,
raising the probability that she had swine flu..." |
|
|
Contra Costa County Child Infected with Swine Flu Dies |
|
| Los Angeles Times |
|
| June 4, 2009 |
|
| "An elementary school-aged child
infected with the H1N1 swine flu virus in central Contra Costa County
has died, health officials said Thursday. It was not immediately clear
whether the child died from the flu, a secondary bacterial infection the
child also suffered from, or another cause..." |
|
|
Chicago Swine Flu Death: New mom dies of flu a day after giving birth;
woman, 20, had other underlying medical conditions; baby is in neonatal
ICU |
|
|
|
June 4, 2009 |
|
| "Chicago woman became the fourth
person in the state to die of the H1N1 swine flu a day after she gave
birth, officials said Wednesday. The latest death was a 20-year-old
woman from Chicago who died Saturday at the University of Illinois
Medical Center, said Sherri McGinnis Gonzalez, a hospital spokeswoman.
The woman was admitted to the hospital May 23 with flulike symptoms. Her
condition quickly deteriorated, and her baby, a 27-week fetus, was
delivered by Caesarean section on Friday, officials said..." |
|
|
2nd Pa. Swine Flu Death Reported in Philadelphia? |
|
|
Philadelphia Inquirer |
|
| June 4, 2009 |
|
| "A Philadelphia woman has become the
second Pennsylvanian to die from swine flu. Health department officials
say the 26-year-old woman died Sunday. Philadelphia Department of Public
Health spokesman Jeff Moran says the woman was very ill when she was
hospitalized. The state's first swine flu death happened last week when
a 55-year-old woman from Berks County died. At least 29 people have died
nationwide from the H1N1 influenza outbreak..." |
|
|
Rare Hib Disease Increases in Minnesota |
|
| City Pages |
|
| June 3, 2009 |
|
| "As the ultrasound tech spread the
cool gel over her swollen belly, Brendalee Flint held her breath. Would
it be another boy? Or would she finally get the daughter she'd always
wanted? She'd be happy either way, she reminded herself for the
umpteenth time.Flint peered at the strange white shape on the black
monitor. Even after three kids, the image still amazed her—watching the
heartbeat was so cool. The ultrasound tech pointed out the lungs, the
tiny hands, the little brain. The tech waited patiently. There! Now she
could see. It was a girl..." |
|
|
Booster Shots: HPV may benefit older women |
|
| Los Angeles Times |
|
| June 1, 2009 |
|
| "A vaccine to prevent infections of
four strains of human papilloma virus is available to girls ages 9 to
26. The 2006 approval of the vaccine was heralded because some strains
of HPV can cause cervical cancer. Studies have continued, however, on
whether the vaccine may be useful for other groups of people, such as
boys and older women. A study published today in the Lancet suggests
that women ages 25 to 45 not already infected with HPV may be protected
by the vaccine as well..." |
|
|
Editorial: A Dangerous Denial; Parents Who Choose Not to Vaccinate Are
Imperiling Public Health |
|
| Baltimore Sun |
|
| June 1, 2009 |
|
| "People believe all kinds of strange
things' and most of the time it doesn't matter. Trouble arises' however'
when their odd beliefs affect other people's health. Such'
unfortunately' is the case with parents who choose not to immunize their
children against diseases that killed and crippled millions before
vaccines were developed and made widely available. The anti-vaccine
movement is driven largely by parents who believe that certain vaccines
can cause autism' a suspicion that has been thoroughly investigated and
authoritatively debunked..." |
|
|
Will This Doctor Hurt Your
Baby? |
|
By Jason Fagone
Philadelphia Magazine |
|
| June 1, 2009 |
|
| "Thanks to celebrity anti-vaccine crusaders like Jenny McCarthy and
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.' Children's Hospital doctor and
vaccine inventor Paul Offit gets death threats from parents frantic
about autism - and worse. He's had enough. He's taking
his critics on. A few years ago' Paul Offit found himself in a small
room with a bob-haired American mother of three who was
so mad at him she had tears in her eyes' and she was standing above him'
sort of rearing up - this is his recollection - as
if she was preparing herself' mentally' physically' to call him
something cutting and mean'..." |
|
|
Why Does the Vaccine/Autism Controversy Live On?: Research has soundly
disproved the alleged connection, yet fears about vaccines continue to
be a major risk to public health. |
|
| Discover Magazine |
|
| June 2009 |
|
| "Vaccines do not cause autism. That
was the ruling in each of three critical test cases handed down on
February 12 by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C.
After a decade of speculation, argument, and analysis—often filled with
vitriol on both sides—the court specifically denied any link between the
combination of the MMR vaccine and vaccines with thimerosal (a
mercury-based preservative) and the spectrum of disorders associated
with autism. But these rulings, though seemingly definitive, have done
little to quell the angry debate, which has severe implications for
American public health..." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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..." |
|
|
Whooping Cough Case at School |
|
| Evening Sun (Pennsylvania) |
|
| May 27, 2009 |
|
| "A recent visitor to Rolling Acres
Elementary who had been in 'close contact' with children later tested
positive for the contagious infection commonly known as 'whooping
cough,' according to a letter sent home with students on Friday.
Superintendent Donald Wills of the Littlestown Area School District said
he was pulled from a meeting at about 2:10 p.m. Friday to take a call
from the Pennsylvania Department of Health advising him of the
situation..." |
|
|
Moderate-to-Severe RA Patients at Higher Risk for Herpes Zoster |
|
| Medscape |
|
| May 26, 2009 |
|
| "Patients being treated for
moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are more likely to develop
herpes zoster than are patients treated for mild RA.This finding stems
from a study of more than 20,000 RA patients in the Veterans Affairs
healthcare system, reported in the May 15th issue of Clinical Infectious
Diseases. immunosuppression..." |
|
|
Unvaccinated Children at Increased Risk, Study Finds |
|
| Baltimore Sun |
|
| May 26, 2009 |
|
| "Children who are not vaccinated
against pertussis, or whooping cough, are 23 times more likely to
develop the disease than children who receive immunizations, according
to a study published online on Tuesday in the journal Pediatrics, the
Baltimore Sun reports..." |
|
|
Most mothers oppose HPV vaccination for younger daughters |
|
| Reuters |
|
| May 26, 2009 |
|
| "New research suggests that most
mothers in the US do not intend to have a 9- to 12-year-old daughter
vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV), even though the national
HPV vaccination guidelines specifically target 11- to 12-year-old girls.
HPV vaccination has been advocated as a key means of preventing cervical
cancer. According to the report in the June issue of Pediatrics, 48% of
mothers intended to have a 9- to 12-year-old daughter vaccinated against
HPV. This contrasts with the intention to vaccinate 68% and 86% of girls
13 to 15 and 16 to 18 years of age, respectively..." |
|
|
CDC: H1N1 Flu Infections Slowing In Most
Parts of US |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
|
| May 26, 2009 |
|
| "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says number of outpatient
visits for influenza-like illnesses declined in most
part of US last week; states in New England along with New York and New
Jersey are still seeing elevated levels of H1N1
influenza activity..." |
|
|
Q&A: Barnyard Pestilence |
|
| New York Times |
|
| May 26, 2009 |
|
"Q: Did all human infectious diseases
originate in domesticated animals?
A: Of 25 infectious diseases that have historically caused high
mortality in human beings, many probably or possibly reached humans from
domesticated animals, according to a major review article published in
Nature in 2007. The main ones among so-called temperate diseases are
diphtheria, influenza A, measles, mumps, pertussis, rotavirus, smallpox
and tuberculosis. Three others probably came from apes (hepatitis B) or
rodents (plague and typhus), the review says, and four other temperate
diseases (rubella, syphilis, tetanus and typhoid) came from sources that
are still unknown. Among the important tropical diseases, the review
says, domestic animal origins can be ruled out for 6 of the 10: AIDS,
dengue fever, vivax malaria and yellow fever, all derived from wild
primates; cholera, from aquatic algae and invertebrates; and falciparum
malaria, from birds. The case is not clear for Chagas' disease, West and
East African sleeping sickness and visceral leishmaniasis, because the
ancestors of the agents that cause them infect both domestic and wild
mammals." |
|
|
Shifting Interest on Flu? It's Fishy;
Study of Twitter Says Reactions Swing Quickly |
|
| Chicago Tribune |
|
| May 26, 2009 |
|
| "As two Stanford University researchers described their experience
watching public reactions in the initial days of the H1N1
flu outbreak, it sounded like one of those nature films in which tiny
fish dart back and forth in perfect unison -- thousands
of individuals behaving as if they were one body. But what the
researchers were watching was in cyberspace, and instead of
schools of fish, they were tracking thousands of Twitter-posts pouring
into an Internet site in response to shifting news
developments on the flu. With every twist and turn of the flu reports,
the mass of Twitters swung in near perfect unison, the
researchers noticed, even though the individual Twitterers had no
contact with each other outside the Web site..." |
|
|
U.S. to Spend $1 Billion on H1N1 Flu
Vaccine Production |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
|
| May 24, 2009 |
|
| "Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Friday the
U.S. will spend $1 billion to start the process of
making an H1N1 influenza vaccine. The money, which comes from funds
already set aside for pandemic influenza, will fund new
and existing contracts with influenza vaccine makers such as Sanofi
Aventis SA, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis..." |
|
|
Blog: Should a Former Playboy Model Trump an Experienced Health Care
Expert? You Decide |
|
| Huffington Post |
|
| May 22, 2009 |
|
| "This weekend' Chicago-area parents
wondering whether or not to vaccinate their babies' toddlers' school-age
kids or teenagers face a tough decision when it comes to expert advice:
should they listen to Jenny McCarthy or to their pediatrician? McCarthy
is slated to give the key-note speech at the Autism One conference in
Rosemont on Saturday..." |
|
|
Get Your Shots for Seasonal Flu — A Hidden Threat |
|
| Seattle Times |
|
| May 22, 2009 |
|
| "The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention estimated that at least 13,000 people died from influenza in
the United States in four months. That recent news item is not a fiction
or a forecast, it is fact. But there's a twist. This CDC estimate is
from one month ago, before the arrival of the new A H1N1 flu strain
(also referred to as swine flu). These 13,000 deaths between January and
late April were from seasonal influenza that strikes this country every
winter and that over the past several months has been killing 800
Americans a week..." |
|
|
Blog: Should a Former Playboy Model Trump an Experienced Health Care
Expert? You Decide |
|
| Huffington Post |
|
| May 22, 2009 |
|
| "This weekend, Chicago-area parents
wondering whether or not to vaccinate their babies, toddlers, school-age
kids or teenagers face a tough decision when it comes to expert advice:
should they listen to Jenny McCarthy or to their pediatrician? McCarthy
is slated to give the key-note speech at the Autism One conference in
Rosemont on Saturday..." |
|
|
Essayist: Vaccines Under Scrutiny – Again |
|
| Rochester Democrat & Chronicle (NY) |
|
| May 22, 2009 |
|
| "The Center for Disease control
reported 503, 282 measles cases in the United States in 1962. In 1998:
67 cases, most due to importation from unprotected countries with
measles related death rate totaling between one and five percent.
Vaccines, injections of less virulent or inactive viruses that promote
the development of an immune response, have directly contributed to
decline in mortality rates associated with infectious disease. Unlike
previous generations, Americans of the twenty-first century are
virtually free from infectious diseases such as polio, mumps, measles,
rubella, human papilloma virus, hepatitis, and a host of other
diseases..." |
|
|
The Next Steps for Swine Flu:
Predictions, Protection and Prevention |
|
| New York Times |
|
| May 22, 2009 |
|
| "Federal health officials will probably recommend that most Americans
get three flu shots this fall: one regular flu shot and
two doses of any vaccine made against the new swine flu strain. Having
had annual flu shots for the last several years gives
'little or no immune benefit' against the new virus, the officials said
on Thursday as they released more details of blood
tests briefly described on Wednesday..." |
|
|
Autism Drug Lupron: Father-and-son team's crusade shows cracks |
|
Chicago Tribune
By Steve Mills and Tim Jones |
|
| May 21, 2009 |
|
| "Dr. Mark Geier has, he says, solved
the riddle of autism. He says he has identified its cause and, in the
powerful drug Lupron, found an effective treatment — what he calls a
'major discovery.' But behind Geier's bold assertion is a troubling
paper trail that undercuts his portrayal of himself as a pioneer tilting
against a medical establishment that refuses to embrace his novel ideas.
Time and again, reputable scientists have dismissed autism research by
Geier and his son, David, as seriously flawed. Judges who have heard
Mark Geier testify about vaccines' harmful effects have repeatedly
called him unqualified, with one describing his statements as
'intellectually dishonest'..." |
|
|
U.S. Says People Born Before 1957 May
Have Some Immunity to New Virus Strain |
|
| New York Times |
|
| May 21, 2009 |
|
| "Confirming the first impressions of many American and Mexican doctors,
federal health officials said on Wednesday that
people born before 1957 appear to have some immunity to the swine flu
virus now circulating. Tests on blood serum from older
people showed that they had antibodies that attacked the new virus, Dr. Daniel Jernigan, chief flu epidemiologist at the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a telephone news
conference...." |
|
|
F.D.A. Commissioner to Be Sworn In |
|
| New York Times |
|
| May 20, 2009 |
|
| "Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg is expected
to join the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) next week and begin to
focus on whether and how to manufacture a vaccine for swine flu. The
Senate voted unanimously on Monday night to confirm Hamburg, and she
will be sworn in as commissioner of the FDA this week. Hamburg, 53, is a
former New York City health commissioner and was an assistant health
secretary in the Clinton Administration..." |
|
|
Survey Finds Link Between Obesity and
Flu Severity |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| May 20, 2009 |
|
| "A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey of the
30 people hospitalized in California due to the
swine flu shows that about 67 percent had an underlying medical
condition. According to the report, 11 people had a lung
condition, six had an immune disorder, five had heart disease, another
five were pregnant, four had diabetes, and another
four were obese..." |
|
|
Flu signs shutter Boston Latin
Nearby Winsor also halts classes |
|
| Boston Globe |
|
| May 20, 2009 |
|
| "Boston's biggest public school, Boston Latin, will be shuttered for a
week in hopes of halting a suspected outbreak of swine
flu, city authorities said yesterday. The decision came after more than
250 students called in sick or were sent home because
of respiratory symptoms. In a hastily arranged City Hall press conference, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, flanked by his top health
and school administrators, acknowledged the move was inconvenient for
Latin's 2,400 students and their families..." |
|
|
U.S. Officials Consider Bumping Up Flu
Shot Season |
|
| Reuters |
|
| May 20, 2009 |
|
| "U.S. health officials said on Wednesday they are considering starting
the vaccination campaign for seasonal flu earlier this
year to make room for a possible second round of shots against the new
H1N1 flu. The United States also reported its eighth
death from the new swine flu virus, in a patient in Arizona. 'If
possible we do want to have an earlier rollout of seasonal
vaccine,' Dr Daniel Jernigan of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention told reporters in a telephone
briefing..." |
|
|
'We Are Not Out of the Woods' with New
Flu, CDC Warns |
|
| CNN |
|
| May 19, 2009 |
|
| "Health officials say the H1N1 virus, commonly known as the swine flu,
is likely to cause more illnesses and deaths in the
United States, even though much of the initial anxiety has eased. A
researcher investigates swine flu at the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention reported higher levels of
flu activity than the average for mid-May and an unusual number of
outbreaks in schools. Some clinics reported high numbers
of respiratory diseases more commonly seen during the peak of flu
season. "We do think that the way the virus is spreading in
the U.S., we are not out of the woods, and the disease is continuing,"
said Dr. Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director for
science and public health program at the CDC in a news conference this
week..." |
|
|
Options, and Hurdles, in Speeding Vaccines |
|
| New York Times |
|
| May 19, 2009 |
|
| "While a universal flu vaccine would be ideal, the world's best hope for
now might be to speed up the production of strain-specific vaccines. The World Health Organization estimates that the
world has the capacity to produce one billion to two
billion doses of a vaccine against the new swine flu virus in one year.
That would leave most of the world's population
dangerously unprotected if the virus, known as H1N1, leads to a
pandemic..." |
|
|
The Slippery Slope From Fear to Panic |
|
| New York Times |
|
| May 19, 2009 |
|
| "Could a reason for the panicky reaction to the swine flu outbreak be
that it diverted our attention, however briefly, from
the devastating effects of the global financial crisis, not to mention
the myriad chronic health issues that threaten
millions of lives? Or is it simply human nature to overreact to threats
over which we have little control? 'The fact is that
we love to be scared,' argue two British statisticians, Simon Briscoe
and Hugh Aldersey-Williams, in 'Panicology,' published
in the United States this year by Skyhorse Publishing..." |
|
|
A Long Search for a Universal Flu
Vaccine |
|
| New York Times |
|
| May 19, 2009 |
|
| "Scientists and vaccine manufacturers are working on a universal flu
vaccine, with a goal of providing at least several years
of protection against seasonal and pandemic flu strains. A universal
vaccine would eliminate the need for scientists to guess
which strains will be dominant during the upcoming flu season, and it would make vaccination more affordable for countries
with limited funds for immunization campaigns. However, some experts
believe a universal flu vaccine would be a supplement to
the seasonal flu vaccine, rather than a replacement. Proteins on the
outside of the flu virus that come in contact with
antibodies do not vary as much as those on the inside, but researchers
working on a universal flu vaccine are targeting the
M2 protein that sticks out of the virus..." |
|
|
New York Reports Its First Swine Flu Death |
|
| New York Times |
|
| May 18, 2009 |
|
| "An assistant principal at a New York
City public school died of complications from swine flu in an intensive
care unit of a Queens hospital on Sunday night, the first death in New
York State of the flu strain that has swept across much of the world
since it was first identified in April. Hours before the death of the
assistant principal, Mitchell Wiener, city officials announced that five
more Queens schools had closed. On Friday, Dr. Daniel Jernigan, head of
flu epidemiology for the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, said there had been 173 hospitalizations and 5 deaths
reported to the agency. But he emphasized that most cases in the United
States — possibly "upwards of 100,000" — were mild. In Japan, the
number of swine flu cases soared over the weekend, and authorities
closed more than 1,000 schools and kindergartens..." |
|
|
New Virus Appears to Be a Factor in Extended Flu Season |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| May 16, 2009 |
|
| "More than half of the states are
reporting higher levels of flu-like illness when the respiratory disease
should be disappearing, and about half of the people with flu are
testing positive for the new swine flu virus. As a precaution in the
event of a widespread outbreak, Britain, France, Belgium and Finland
have collectively placed orders for 127 million doses of a vaccine that
GlaxoSmithKline will develop. The vaccine will include an adjuvant that
boosts the body's immune response, and the ingredient is not licensed by
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)..." |
|
|
New York City Official Is Obama Pick for C.D.C. |
|
|
| May 15, 2009 |
|
| "President Obama will announce on
Friday that he has chosen Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the New York City
health commissioner, as the next director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, administration officials said Thursday. Dr.
Frieden, a 48-year-old infectious disease specialist, has cut a high and
sometimes contentious profile in his seven years as New York's top
health official under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. He led the crusade to
ban smoking in restaurants and bars, pushed to make H.I.V. testing a
routine part of medical exams, and defended a program that passes out
more than 35 million condoms a year..." |
|
|
Letter to the Editor: Taking Shots for the Greater Good |
|
| TC Palm (FL) |
|
| May 14, 2009 |
|
| "Every day, as parents, we make
decisions we believe are in the best interest of our children...There is
another decision to be made: whether to vaccinate your child. The
difference here is that this choice not only affects your family, but
every family. There is ongoing debate whether vaccines cause autism.
Autism is a serious health concern that needs more funding and research
from government and pharmaceutical companies. To date, the evidence does
not support the theory that autism occurs from vaccinations. What we do
know is that life-threatening diseases are prevented with vaccinations.
Children don't have to suffer and die needlessly from diseases that are
preventable. This is why the American Academy of Pediatrics is very
strong in its recommendations for vaccines. Decades of scientific,
evidenced-based research prove that vaccines save lives. As parents, we
must not let fear overrule fact. I, too, fear autism, but the facts are
overwhelming in support of vaccinating my 9-month-old son. Because he is
not fully protected yet, he contracted a life-threatening illness which
vaccines easily prevent..." |
|
|
Another Nail in the Coffin for the Thimerosal-Autism Thesis |
|
| PointofLaw.com |
|
| May 14, 2009 |
|
| "Maryland's High Court confirmed its
intermediate appellate court and made it more difficult for plaintiffs
to qualify as expert witnesses in vaccine cases. In a suit against
vaccine maker Wyeth, the Blackwell family claimed that their son's
autism and mental retardation were caused by thimerosal-containing
vaccines given when the boy was young. However, attorneys for Wyeth
asserted that the scientific community generally does not accept the
causal connection between thimerosal and autism and said the family's
five experts were not qualified to testify under the state's version of
the 'Frye rule.' The court held that none of the five expert witnesses
had sufficient "knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education,
primarily in the field of epidemiology, to proffer reliable expert
testimony on matters of complex and novel scientific inquiry. ..." |
|
|
Analysis of Flu Virus Could Lead to Better Vaccines |
|
| Science Daily |
|
| May 13, 2009 |
|
| "Researchers from Princeton
University suggest that a phenomenon known as antibody interference may
help scientists develop a more effective flu vaccine. The study is
described in the May 11 online edition of the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences. In antibody interference, a virus prompts
the creation of different types of antibodies, which may sometimes crowd
each other out in an attempt to attach themselves to a virus' surface.
Antibodies that are less effective at protecting the body against a
specific virus are often better able to attaching to the virus, which
blocks the more effective antibodies..." |
|
|
'Alarm' at Suspect Measles Cases |
|
| BBC News (UK) |
|
| May 12, 2009 |
|
| "Health officials say they are
"highly alarmed" that the number of measles cases being investigated in
mid and west Wales has reached 109. They have issued an urgent warning
that vaccination is the only way to stop the virus spreading but are
disappointed with the uptake in schools so far. There are 11 confirmed
cases, five are in Pembrokeshire and six in Llanelli.There are also
suspected cases in Powys, Ceredigion, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and
Bridgend. Dr Mac Walapu, consultant in communicable disease control for
the National Public Health Service said the 109 figure was alarming as
there were only 39 cases in Wales last year, 13 in 2007 and none in
2005. He said anyone who had not received the full two doses of the MMR
vaccine was at risk from measles and should come forward for
immunisation. Cases are occurring across all age groups from children as
young as five months to adults in their late 40s..." |
|
|
Bill to Give Kids Information on HPV Vaccine Approved |
|
| St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
|
| May 12, 2009 |
|
| "Conservative and liberal groups have
teamed up to support a bill that would give parents of public school
girls information about a controversial vaccine that could help prevent
cervical cancer. The bill, which passed the Senate last week by a 28-5
vote, would give information about the HPV vaccine to parents of
sixth-grade girls enrolled in public school. It would also pay for the
$120 vaccine in some cases. It does not mandate that parents vaccinate
their daughters with Gardasil, which is intended to prevent the human
papillomavirus, HPV, a sexually transmitted virus that has been linked
to cervical cancer..." |
|
|
Race for Pandemic Vaccine |
|
| Financial Times |
|
| May 12, 2009 |
|
| "The World Health Organization (WHO)
says requests for wild type virus samples of the A (H1N1) virus to
prepare a pandemic vaccine have been received from major vaccine
manufacturers Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, and Sanofi-Aventis, with
samples also being sent to MedImmune, Baxter, CSL, Solvay, Microgen,
Nobilon International, Omnivest Vaccines, and Vivaldi. The WHO plans to
make a recommendation in the coming weeks on whether a pandemic vaccine
is needed and how to go about producing one. First, health officials
must determine whether this flu strain is as severe as the seasonal flu,
which results in 500,000 deaths annually..." |
|
|
Obituary: Woman Who Spent Years In Iron Lung Remembered |
|
| NPR |
|
| May 11, 2009 |
|
| "All Things Considered: Martha Mason,
who lived more than 60 years in an iron lung, died last week at the age
of 71 at her home in Lattimore, N.C. Mary Dalton, who directed a
documentary about Mason, Martha In Lattimore, offers her insight..." |
|
|
Other Illness May Precede Worst Cases of Swine Flu |
|
| New York Times |
|
| May 9, 2009 |
|
| "Individuals infected with the H1N1
flu who have underlying conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease,
are at greater risk of hospitalization or death, according to experts
from the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC). These preliminary observations are based on discussion
of about 40 deaths in Mexico and half of the 57 hospitalizations in the
United States. Most of the Americans hospitalized had an additional
health problem, said Dr. Richard E. Besser, acting director of the CDC.
Seven of the cases involved asthma, which has become more common in the
United States, along with diabetes and obesity..." |
|
|
A Shot to Live: Meningitis Immunization in Chad |
|
| UNICEF |
|
| May 8, 2009 |
|
| "The Minister of Health in Chad said
last month that the area near the capital, N'Djamena, is in the midst of
a meningitis outbreak. Six areas are experiencing an epidemic, with more
than 10 deaths per 100,000 people per week. More than 1,160 cases and
128 deaths have been reported since the end of December. The health
ministry worked with UNICEF and the World Health Organization on a
five-day vaccination campaign in late April, and citizens were urged by
local radio stations and religious and community leaders to have their
children vaccinated. Enough vaccine for 700,000 children and young
adults has been provided by UNICEF so far..." |
|
|
Fear of Vaccines Spurs Outbreaks, Study Says |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
|
| May 7, 2009 |
|
| "Parental doubts about the safety of
childhood vaccinations are leading to outbreaks of largely eradicated
diseases like measles and whooping cough, doctors warned in a new
report. A U.S. measles outbreak last year -- almost exclusively among
unvaccinated people -- has sparked concern about places where many
parents opt out of having their children vaccinated. In Ashland, Ore.,
more than a quarter of kindergartners aren't vaccinated, leading the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to hold a town-hall
meeting on vaccination there earlier this year. 'A lot of folks are
counterculture-type independent thinkers [who] do not have faith in all
the modern medicine-type stuff," said Myles Murphy, city editor of the
town's newspaper, the Ashland Daily Tidings. Too many abstainers can put
a town at risk, wrote Dr. Saad Omer, of Emory University in Atlanta, the
lead author in the report in this week's New England Journal of
Medicine..." |
|
|
Say It Ain't So, O |
|
| Slate |
|
| May 7, 2009 |
|
| "Chastising a celebrity is an
exercise in futility. You feel like a kitten being held by the scruff of
its neck, scrabbling wildly in the air without drawing blood. Pointless
as this may be, though, I will try to talk some sense into Oprah
Winfrey, who has decided to go into business with vaccine skeptic Jenny
McCarthy. There is abundant evidence that vaccines don't cause autism.
More than a dozen studies, as well as trend data from California and
other states, show that neither the mercury-containing preservative
thimerosal nor the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine causes autism. In
March, a federal court dismissed both of these theories in a most
definitive way after hearing weeks of testimony and gathering thousands
of pages of evidence. Jenny McCarthy begs to differ..." |
|
|
Vaccine Would Be Spoken For |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| May 7, 2009 |
|
| "No final decision has been made yet
to produce a vaccine against the H1N1 swine flu virus, but some
wealthier countries reportedly have made "pre-production contracts" that
claim substantial quantities of the vaccine, if made. The worldwide
capacity for making a pandemic vaccine ranges between 1 billion and 2
billion, and the United States' preexisting contracts allow it to
purchase at least 600 million of those doses. This would provide the
U.S. population of about 305 million with almost two doses for each
person, as immunity may need two shots to be stimulated against the
swine flu strain. A panel of scientific experts are expected to meet
next week to advise the World Health Organization on whether it should
ask manufacturers to begin large-scale vaccine production and how to
provide more equal access to the vaccine for developing countries..." |
|
|
Officials Note Youth of Serious Flu Cases |
|
| New York Times |
|
| May 7, 2009 |
|
| "Dr. Richard Besser, acting director
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says the swine flu
has caused only 35 hospitalizations in the United States, but there are
concerns that the median age of these patients is 15 years. In contrast,
the elderly, infants, and the sick account for a majority of deaths each
year from the seasonal flu. Besser says teenagers may be more prone to
infection because a bulk of the early cases were tied to students who
traveled to Mexico for spring break. Additionally, individuals born
prior to 1957 may have some immunity, as the H1N1 seasonal flu was
replaced by the H2N2 "Asian flu" strain that year..." |
|
|
Measles Makes Unwelcome Return |
|
| Washington Times |
|
| May 6, 2009 |
|
| "While the uproar continues over a
potential swine flu pandemic, there is a quiet controversy brewing about
the return of an old disease that had once been nearly eradicated in the
United States. Last month, Maryland health officials said at least four
people had been diagnosed with measles in Montgomery County - including
an 8-month-old infant who contracted the disease in a hospital waiting
room..." |
|
|
Nigeria Meningitis Death Toll Rises Above 2,000 |
|
| Reuters |
|
| May 6, 2009 |
|
| "The death toll from a meningitis
outbreak in Nigeria has risen to 2,148 since the first case was recorded
in December. The number of reported cases increased more than eightfold
in the same period, reaching 47,902 in a population of 140 million.
UNICEF said last month that this could be the worst epidemic for five
years, with meningitis killing more than 2,500 people this year in West
and Central Africa. Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Chad are
considered the high-risk zones in Africa, where basic healthcare is
limited in rural areas..." |
|
|
U.S. May Add Shots for Swine Flu to Fall Regimen |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| May 6, 2009 |
|
| "The Obama administration is
considering an unprecedented fall vaccination campaign that could entail
giving Americans three flu shots -- one to combat annual seasonal
influenza and two targeted at the new swine flu virus spreading across
the globe. If enacted, the multibillion-dollar effort would represent
the first time that top federal health officials have asked Americans to
get more than one flu vaccine in a year, raising serious challenges
concerning production, distribution and the ability to track potentially
severe side effects..." |
|
|
Cooking Up Millions of Viruses for a New Vaccine |
|
| New York Times |
|
| May 6, 2009 |
|
| "As soon as Doris Bucher learned that
a new strain of swine flu had turned up in the United States, she
e-mailed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offering to send
materials that might be useful in making a vaccine. Her colleagues at
the C.D.C. had a better idea. Less than a week later, they sent a sample
of the new type of virus, influenza A(H1N1), to Dr. Bucher, an associate
professor of microbiology and immunology at New York Medical College.
Dr. Bucher, a cheerful, fast-talking scientist who has been involved in
flu research for 40 years, runs a laboratory here in Westchester County
that is highly regarded for its skill at turning flu viruses into 'seed
stock’ — a form of the virus that will grow rapidly in eggs so that drug
companies can use it to
make hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine..." |
|
|
Keeping Appointments Key to Keeping Vaccines on Track |
|
| HealthDay News |
|
| May 5, 2009 |
|
| "Scheduling issues, communication
problems and a lack of belief in the importance of vaccinations have
been identified as some of the biggest hurdles to getting parents to
bring their children in for immunization appointments, U.S. researchers
report. Missed appointments were linked to children being 2.5 times more
likely to be behind in their immunization requirements, according to
investigators in New York City..." |
|
|
Swine Flu School Closures Not Recommended by U.S. |
|
| Bloomberg |
|
| May 5, 2009 |
|
| "Swine flu shouldn’t close schools
unless so many students or teachers get sick that the institutions can’t
function, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said,
reversing earlier advice. The agency today changed its recommendation
that schools consider closing if they suspect swine flu. That advice led
to the closure today of at least 726 schools in 24 states and the
District of Columbia, keeping about 468,000 students out of class,
according to the U.S. Education Department..." |
|
|
Verify Internationally Adopted Children's Immunization Records |
|
| Newswise |
|
| May 4, 2009 |
|
| "Written records tend to overestimate
the immunizations received by internationally adopted children,
according to a study by researchers at Case Western Reserve University
School of Medicine. Researchers examined the predictive value of
immunization records in 465 children from China, Russia, and Guatemala,
identifying those whose records may not accurately reflect the
antibodies actually present in the children's bodies. Such inaccuracies
may be due to falsified vaccine certificates, inaccurate entries, or
impaired immune response from stress or malnutrition. The researchers
also performed serologic testing on the children to identify antibodies,
finding that the immunization levels were inconsistent with the written
records. The researchers recommend that U.S. parents who adopt children
from overseas try to obtain a vaccination record before the child
arrives, to guide the evaluation of their immunization status, but not
rely solely on written records..." |
|
|
Flu, Mostly Mild, Has Spread Across U.S. |
|
| New York Times |
|
| May 4, 2009 |
|
| "Swine flu has become widespread in
the United States, with 226 cases in 30 states and more expected to turn
up in additional states in the next few days, federal health officials
said Sunday. 'I think it’s circulating all over the U.S.,' Dr. Anne
Schuchat, the interim deputy director for science and public health at
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a news
conference..." |
|
|
Swine Flu Breaking News Update: Global case update, eyeing phase 6,
probable cases, southern hemisphere viruses, WHO gathers clinical
experts |
|
| CIDRAP |
|
| May 4, 2009 |
|
| "The World Health Organization (WHO)
reported 1,085 confirmed cases of influenza A/H1N1 (swine flu) and 26
deaths in 21 countries as of 18:00 GMT (noon US EST) today, up from 985
cases in 20 countries reported earlier in the day. Mexico has reported
590 confirmed cases and 25 deaths. The WHO's latest total reflects
today's updated US numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), which stand at 286 cases and 1 death..." |
|
|
Rash Actions and Dire Consequences |
|
| Guardian (UK) |
|
| May 1, 2009 |
|
| "My baby daughter is desperately ill
and her life has been put at risk by the selfishness of a sizable
minority of north London parents and their wrong-headed beliefs about
the MMR vaccine. Earlier this week my normally vigorous and feisty
11-month-old was reduced to drowsy, snot-filled lethargy. She refused
food, became uncharacteristically listless and developed a hacking
cough. Then that evening the measles rash appeared over most of her..." |
|
|
Op-Ed:The Autism/Vaccine Myth: Parents who refuse to have their children
vaccinated are putting them, and other children, at risk |
|
| Los Angeles Times |
|
| May 3, 2009 |
|
| "A mother gently places her beautiful
1-year-old boy on the examining table, unwrapping his soft, blue
blanket. To my opening question, his mother says "No," she has no
concerns. A thorough exam confirms the boy's good health. His heart and
lungs are clear; his growth and development right on target. Even his
crying as we screen his blood for anemia and lead are signs of a normal
child..." |
|
|
WHO Says Existing Vaccine Little Use Against New Flu |
|
| Reuters |
|
| May 1, 2009 |
|
| "Testing shows that the current
vaccine against seasonal flu would not be effective against the new H1N1
strain, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday. Marie-Paule
Kieny, director of the WHO's initiative for vaccine research, said that
making a successful vaccine against the new strain is possible, but it
would take between four and six months for it to be available. Samples
needed to make a vaccine would be ready for manufacturers by mid to late
May..." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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..." |
|
|
Oh, Baby: Jennifer Lopez visits Key Biscayne |
|
| Miami Herald |
|
|
April 28, 2009 |
|
| "Even at 8 in the morning on a
Saturday, the singer-actress also known as Jennifer Lopez was chirpy,
affable and sexy. She bounded on the stage at Key Biscayne's Crandon
Park to kick off the March of Dimes March for Babies 2009. Dressed in
tight white jeans and a hoodie, Lopez, 39, looked like anything but a
harried new mom, with huge movie-star sunglasses, dazzling smile and
long curls blowing in the wind. The 5,000-plus crowd -- peppered with
parents of premature infants -- went wild..." |
|
|
Health Officials Stress Need for Infant Immunizations |
|
| The York Dispatch (PA) |
|
|
April 28, 2009 |
|
| "As the swine flu dominates
headlines, health officials gathered in York Monday to remind residents
that even illnesses that had become relatively rare in the U.S. have
resurfaced and pose a risk to the nation's youngest citizens: infants.
The goal: to stress the importance of vaccines for children in
recognition of National Infant Immunization Week..." |
|
|
Pneumonia: Rwanda Receives Vaccine to Shield Babies Against Bacterial
Infections |
|
| New York Times |
|
|
April 28, 2009 |
|
| "A vaccine that protects babies
against fatal bacterial infections was introduced in Rwanda last week,
its first distribution in a third world country. The pneumococcal
conjugate vaccine has been sold under the Prevnar brand name in the
United States since 2000, and Rwanda will get three million doses --
enough for all its children under age 5 -- donated by Wyeth
Pharmaceuticals. By next year, Rwanda hopes to get a more powerful form
and donor money to help pay for it..." |
|
|
'Very High' Uptake of MMR School Vaccination |
|
| Irish Times (Ireland) |
|
|
April 28, 2009 |
|
| "Ireland's Health Service Executive
launched a measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination campaign in
second-level schools on April 24 to combat a nationwide mumps outbreak.
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre reported 2,194 mumps cases at
the end of the week, up by about 2,000 from the same period in 2008, and
the number is expected to rise as areas that have not yet reported to
the center do so. The center says vaccine uptake is 'very high' since
the start of the campaign, and health officials say the vaccine will be
offered again in September for students who do not receive it prior to
summer vacation..." |
|
|
Past Epidemics Have Current Import |
|
| Boston Globe |
|
| April 28, 2009 |
|
| "In responding to the swine flu,
public health officials can take some lessons from previous outbreaks.
Because epidemics are unpredictable, each outbreak must be examined 'on
its own terms,' said Dr. Harvey Fineberg, president of the Institute of
Medicine. An outbreak of swine flu emerged at Fort Dix, N.J., in 1976,
with more than 200 soldiers infected, including one death. Fearful of
greater spread of the virus, more than 40 million Americans were
vaccinated, though that flu cluster never did move beyond Fort Dix.
Analysis of the 1918 flu pandemic has also helped scientists identify
strategies to control the spread of disease, including shutting down
schools and isolating those who are sick. The most important thing to
examine at the beginning of an outbreak, experts say, is the mortality
rate and knowing how it is being transmitted..." |
|
|
US Wants Ingredient in Swine Flu Vaccine by May |
|
| Seattle Times |
|
|
April 28, 2009 |
|
| "U.S. scientists hope to have a key
ingredient for a swine flu vaccine ready in early May, but are finding
that the novel virus grows slowly in eggs — the chief way flu vaccines
are made. Even if all goes well, it still will take a few months before
any shots are available for the first required safety testing, in
volunteers. 'We're working together at 100 miles an hour to get material
that will be useful,' Dr. Jesse Goodman, who oversees the Food and Drug
Administration's swine flu work, told The Associated Press. Using
samples of the new swine flu, taken from people who fell ill in Mexico
and the U.S., scientists are engineering a strain that could trigger the
immune system without causing illness. 'We're about a third of the way'
to that goal, Dr. Ruben Donis of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention said in an interview Tuesday..." |
|
|
Editorial: The New Swine Flu |
|
| New York Times |
|
|
April 28, 2009 |
|
|
"Is the new swine flu virus that has killed many people in Mexico and
has spread to the United States and other countries the start of a much
feared pandemic? Or is this yet another false alarm - the latest in a
long history of worrying that some day a hugely lethal flu strain might
sweep through the world and kill tens of millions of people, much as it
did in 1918-1919? The answer at this point is that nobody knows for
sure. There are some disquieting elements about the severity of the
symptoms appearing in Mexico, offset by the apparently far milder
behavior of the virus in the United States. Experts clearly need to
learn more about the origins, transmissibility and lethality of the new
virus in coming weeks..." |
|
|
Letter: Love your children by immunizing them |
|
| Post-Standard (NY) |
|
| April 28, 2009 |
|
| "To the Editor: Immunizations remain
important. Even though parents of young children may not have ever seen
a case of polio or rubella, the recent outbreaks of mumps and measles in
the United States remind us that the diseases we immunize against have
not disappeared. Without up-to-date shots for our children, the risks of
contracting a serious illness are very real. Children should be
immunized against 14 different diseases by the age of 2. It is easy to
do an Internet search and find lots of misinformation on vaccines.
Misinformation linking vaccines to autism has put fear in many parents.
But experts on immunizations who have reviewed all the scientific data
available have found there is no link between vaccines and autism. These
experts include the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Institute of
Medicine, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention...Many more children benefit from vaccines than
suffer serious side effects. By Cynthia B. Morrow, Onondaga County
commissioner of health" |
|
|
Europe Warned on U.S. Travel |
|
| New York Times |
|
| April 27, 2009 |
|
| "Hoping to head off a global pandemic
of swine flu that has surfaced in North America, the European Union’s
health commissioner on Monday urged Europeans to avoid traveling to the
United States or Mexico if doing so was not essential. The warning came
as health officials in Spain confirmed early Monday that a man
hospitalized in eastern Spain had tested positive for swine flu,
becoming what appeared to be Europe’s first case of the disease..." |
|
|
U.S. Steps Up Alert as More Swine Flu Is Found; Precaution Taken Despite
Mildness of Cases Detected Domestically |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| April 27, 2009 |
|
| "The United States declared a "public
health emergency" yesterday as countries from New Zealand to Scotland
investigated suspected cases of illness that they feared might be a
strain of swine flu that has been identified in Mexico, the United
States and Canada. As of yesterday, however, no confirmed cases of the
newly emerged flu strain had been found outside those three countries.
Many of the people under observation around the world reported recent
travel to Mexico. With the U.S. announcement, civilian and military
stockpiles of antiviral drugs were being readied for rapid distribution
in the event that transmission of swine flu virus accelerates. The
declaration also called for greater vigilance at border crossings and in
airports for travelers who are coughing or appear ill..." |
|
|
As Vaccine Development Kicks Off, Caution Urged |
|
| NPR |
|
| April 27, 2009 |
|
| "The last time the nation raced to
contain an outbreak of swine flu, the result was a controversial - and
ultimately flawed - national immunization program. That 1976 outbreak,
which began with the death of a military recruit at Fort Dix, N.J., was
believed to have been the first major incidence of swine flu in humans
since the 1918-19 pandemic. Known as the "Spanish" flu, the 1918 strain
killed more than 50 million people..." |
|
|
Swine Flu Vaccine Would Take Months to Develop, Distribute |
|
| USA TODAY |
|
| April 27, 2009 |
|
| "As new swine flu cases continue to
mount, the question of developing a vaccine is a growing concern. World
Health Organization officials say we are more prepared for a potential
flu pandemic than we were five years ago. Yet, if the decision is made
to create one for this flu strain, it will still likely take months
before it's available..." |
|
|
Science Races to Parse New Virus; Bug, a Genetic Hybrid, Contains
Elements Foreign to Humans, Posing Pandemic Risk |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
|
| April 27, 2009 |
|
| "Avian flu and SARS rudely awoke the
world to the possibility of a new pandemic. Could a seemingly more
mundane bug now put the world to the test? The swine flu virus that may
have killed more than 80 people in Mexico and appears to have sickened
hundreds more is still a mystery contagion. But this much is known: The
virus is unusually made up of genetic material from avian, pig and human
viruses; it can transmit from person to person; and in many people, it
only triggers mild symptoms seen in garden-variety influenza..." |
|
|
South Florida Meningitis Outbreak Baffles Health Experts |
|
| Miami Herald |
|
| April 24, 2009 |
|
| "Local, state and national health
experts are baffled as to how a rare and deadly strain of meningitis
killed four people and infected eight others in South Florida since
December, an unprecedented outbreak in the United States. The cases of
the W135 strain of meningitis were disclosed Wednesday by Miami-Dade
health officials. On Thursday, they were recommending vaccinations for
those in high-risk groups--mainly those living in close and crowded
situations such as college dorms or military barracks..." |
|
|
What If Vitamin D Deficiency Is a Cause of Autism? |
|
| Scientific American |
|
| April 24, 2009 |
|
| "A few researchers are turning their
attention to the sunshine vitamin as a culprit, prompted by the
experience of immigrants that have moved from their equatorial country
to two northern latitude locations. As evidence of widespread vitamin D
deficiency grows, some scientists are wondering whether the sunshine
vitamin—once only considered important in bone health—may actually play
a role in one of neurology's most vexing conditions: autism..." |
|
|
TB Vaccine Enters New Trial Stage |
|
| BBC News |
|
| April 24, 2009 |
|
| An experimental tuberculosis vaccine
will be given to nearly 2,784 infants in South Africa as part of the
next stage of trials for the first new TB vaccine in 80 years.
Researchers at Oxford University say the effectiveness of MVA85A will be
tested, following trials in 2007 which showed the vaccine was safe. The
experimental vaccine is designed to stimulate T-cells to produce a
stronger response to the current BCG jab. Researchers say the vaccine
could be available by 2016 if the tests are successful. |
|
|
No Needles in a Nano Universe |
|
| Brisbane Times (Australia) |
|
| April 23, 2009 |
|
| "Australian scientists are developing
a vaccine "nanopatch" that delivers immunization against diseases
without the use of needles. These patches could be sent to remote areas
that do not have refrigeration or disposable syringes used in
traditional vaccines. The patches consist of a centimeter-square silicon
device, with thousands of very sharp, microscopic spikes. These spikes
are coated with dried vaccine and penetrate the skin less than a hair's
thickness below the surface, causing no pain and delivering the vaccine
close to the immune cells, called dendritic cells..." |
|
|
Va. Home to Area's 6th Measles Case |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| April 22, 2009 |
|
| "A sixth case of measles has been
reported in the Washington Area, this time in Prince William County, the
first sign of the disease in Virginia this year. The Virginia Department
of Health announced the case yesterday, a day after D.C. officials
reported finding the highly infectious disease in a District man who
contracted it during a recent three-week trip to India. There is no
known link between the Virginia case and the others in the region,
health officials said. The source of the measles virus in the Virginia
resident has not been identified..." |
|
|
Vaccine Bill Has Passions Flaring: A face-off over a measure once
believed to be dead |
|
| Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL) |
|
| April 22, 2009 |
|
| "Florida pediatricians are doing
battle in the final days of the state's annual lawmaking session, trying
to head off the passage of a law they say will create the least
protective immunization standard in the country. 'If this thing goes
we'll be the laughingstock of the nation,' said Dr. Jerome Isaac, a
Sarasota pediatrician and the president of the American Academy of
Pediatrics' Florida chapter. 'It's simple. If we do this, children will
die.' The proposed law would ban the ingredient thimerosal, a
mercury-derived preservative some people believe causes autism, from
vaccines given to pregnant women and children 4 and under. It would also
allow parents to delay giving children vaccines until they enter school.
Federal standards call for vaccinations beginning at birth..." |
|
|
Swine Flu Cases Prompt a Search for the Source |
|
|
Los Angeles Times |
|
|
April 22, 2009 |
|
|
"Two mysterious cases of swine flu have been found in Imperial and
San Diego counties, leading to an investigation by local, state and
federal health officials to find the source. A 9-year-old girl in
Imperial County and a 10-year-old boy in San Diego County were
identified as having had the virus, officials said Tuesday. Neither
needed hospitalization and both have recovered. But health officials
remained puzzled because neither patient had been in contact with pigs
or with each other, and the strain of the flu is one never seen before
in the United States..." |
|
|
Polio: New Outbreak of Polio in Africa Prompts Appeal for Vaccine
Financing |
|
| New York Times |
|
| April 21, 2009 |
|
| "The International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies has made an emergency appeal for
millions of dollars to fight a new polio outbreak across Africa. 'Polio
is spreading again, including in countries such as Uganda which had been
polio-free for more than a decade,' said Dr. Tamman Aloudat, who is in
charge of health emergencies for the federation. Despite more than 20
years of eradication efforts, two strains of polio have spread out from
northern Nigeria and northern India — both places where many Muslims
have resisted vaccines because of rumors that vaccine efforts are a
Western plot to sterilize them..." |
|
|
5th Area Measles Case Is Reported |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| April 21, 2009 |
|
| "Health officials said yesterday that
a D.C. man has measles, and authorities are retracing his steps earlier
this month in the District and Montgomery and Arlington counties to
determine whether anyone might have been exposed to the highly
infectious disease. It is the fifth case of measles in the region this
year, but is not related to the others. The rare outbreak has prompted
health officials in the District, Virginia and Maryland to focus on
small pockets of unimmunized individuals, mainly babies who have not yet
been vaccinated and people born outside the United States. The District
man contracted the virus during a three-week trip to India but did not
show symptoms until after he returned home, said D.C. Health Department
Director Pierre Vigilance..." |
|
|
Patient-to-Patient Transmission of Hepatitis B Tied to Lapses in
Infection Control |
|
| Medscape |
|
| April 20, 2009 |
|
| "Breaches in infection-control
measures during several routine clinical practices can result in
patient-to-patient transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV), according to
a systematic review by Italian researchers. The review, which sought to
identify the most frequent infection pathways and clinical settings
involved in such instances, is reported in the online journal BMC
Medicine for April 8. The authors identified 30 published papers that
reported on a total of 33 HBV outbreaks in the United States and the
European Union involving 471 patients and 16 fatalities..." |
|
|
Opinion: Parents, Don't Be Immune to Vaccine Truths By Rahul Parikh, MD |
|
| Los Angeles Times |
|
| April 20, 2009 |
|
| "As a second-year pediatric resident,
I went to India to work in a hospital in Mumbai. There, among the rows
of sick, poor children, were ones dying from vaccine-preventable
diseases. Among them, most starkly, was a 9-year-old boy in the most
severe stage of tetanus -- every muscle in his body was locked in spasm,
the sides of his face pointed upward in a grimaced smile -- "risus
sardonicus," as it's known in pediatric textbooks..." |
|
|
Iowa Measles Case Puts Health Officials on Alert |
|
| Omaha World-Herald (NE) |
|
| April 20, 2009 |
|
| "Public health officials in Nebraska
are keeping a close eye on a measles case in northwest Iowa because of
how easily the disease can spread. Measles, a respiratory disease,
spreads more easily than the flu or even the common cold, said Dr. Tom
Safranek, state epidemiologist for Nebraska. 'It's a scary disease,' he
said. Iowa health officials recently reported a case of measles in a
child in Clay County in northwest Iowa. The child is recovering. The
state is trying to determine how the child was infected...." |
|
|
Free Hepatitis B Shots Coming for Some Minnesota Inmates |
|
| St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN) |
|
| April 18, 2009 |
|
| "Inmates in the Steele County jail
will soon have access to free hepatitis B vaccines under a program run
by state and federal health officials. Hepatitis B is an infectious
disease that attacks the liver and is spread through bodily fluids or
intravenous drug use. The vaccine can often cost $300 from a private
provider. The jail is one of 16 facilities in the state in the program.
The others include jails, the state women's prison, methadone clinics
and sexually transmitted disease clinics..." |
|
|
State Confirms 1st Case of Rubella since 2000; Vaccinations Advised |
|
| Star Tribune (MN) |
|
| April 18, 2009 |
|
| "A Twin Cities woman has come down
with the state's first case of rubella, or German measles, in nine
years, Minnesota health officials reported Friday. The unidentified
woman, who is in her 30s, had not been vaccinated against the illness
but is now recovering, said Kris Ehresmann, who heads the state
immunization program..." |
|
|
Measles Case Reported in Northwest Iowa |
|
| Des Moines Register |
|
| April 17, 2009 |
|
| "A case of measles has been reported
in northwest Iowa, the Iowa Department of Public Health said Thursday.
Health officials are determining how a child was exposed. Measles is
highly contagious and can cause serious disease and death..." |
|
|
Letter to the Editor: Rubella Is Danger Without Vaccination |
|
| Columbus Dispatch (OH) |
|
| April 16, 2009 |
|
| "The birth of a baby should be a
happy day, but what if the child was blind, deaf and covered in blue
spots? This "blueberry muffin" baby could be the result of rubella
infection in his mother during pregnancy. The "R" of the MMR vaccine,
rubella, is a rather mild infection, often having no symptoms, but it
can have devastating effects in an unborn child whose mother contracts
the disease during pregnancy. Long-term medical follow-up would be
required for this infant, but no specific treatment exists. With the
outbreak of measles in Pennsylvania this last month related to children
not receiving the MMR vaccine, one must wonder if there will be a
resurgence of babies with congenital rubella syndrome down the road.
While it is the parents' right to decline the MMR vaccine for their own
children, I hope they recognize that it may be their future
grandchildren who are horribly affected by their decision. By Dr. Andrea
Hahn" |
|
|
Whooping Cough Reported in Northwestern Schools: District takes
precautions in light of 3 student cases |
|
|
Morning Call (PA) |
|
|
April 16, 2009 |
|
|
"Three students in the Northwestern Lehigh School District have been
diagnosed with whooping cough, a highly contagious respiratory disease
that could lead to pneumonia. Parents in the 2,400-student district
received a letter Wednesday informing them of the cases, which have
affected two students in the middle school and one at Northwestern
Elementary school. The district sent out automated phone and e-mail
messages as well, said Superintendent Susanne Meixsell. Any students
under the age of 7 who have not been vaccinated against whooping cough,
also known as pertussis, will not be able to return to school until a
family physician certifies that they do not have the disease, Meixsell
said..." |
|
|
Mumps Suspected in Four NU Students |
|
| Boston Globe |
|
| April 16, 2009 |
|
| "Four Northeastern University
students have suspected cases of the mumps, Boston public health
officials said yesterday, urging any unvaccinated students and staff to
get immunized against this once-common childhood illness. Though
laboratory results are not yet back to confirm the diagnosis, Dr. Anita
Barry, director of infectious diseases at the Boston Public Health
Commission, said the four students - two of whom had just returned from
Ireland where there was a recent mumps outbreak - have symptoms
consistent with mumps. Given the relative ease with which the illness
can be spread, she said, 'it's likely we'll see more cases.''..." |
|
|
Measles Case Reported in NW Iowa |
|
| Chicago Tribune |
|
| April 16, 2009 |
|
| "Health officials say they'll offer
measles vaccination clinics to people who think they may have been
exposed to a child in northwest Iowa who has the disease. Spencer
Hospital Community Health Services plans a clinic on Thursday night and
Friday. The Iowa Department of Public Health says officials are working
to determine how the child was exposed and who the child may have
exposed to the illness. Symptoms of measles include a fever, cough, red
or pink eyes, runny nose and a rash. It can cause pneumonia, deafness
and in rare cases death. Health officials say measles is highly
contagious and people should make sure they're up to date on their
vaccinations. To be fully vaccinated, a person should have two doses of
the vaccine." |
|
|
Stanford Study of Malaria Vaccine Needs Participants |
|
| CNBC.com |
|
| April 16, 2009 |
|
| "Researchers at the Stanford
University School of Medicine need additional participants to complete
the first study of a new vaccine against malaria. The phase-1 clinical
trial, which is under way at both Stanford and Vanderbilt University in
Nashville, Tenn., aims to test the safety of and immune response to
different doses of the vaccine in a total of 72 healthy adults. It is
funded by the National Institutes of Health. Results from this study
will allow a second trial to begin in Africa this year.' This a chance
for those who know that malaria causes millions of deaths every year to
step forward and help in the search for preventive vaccine,' said
Cornelia Dekker, MD, medical director of the Stanford-Lucile Packard
Children's Hospital Vaccine Program..." |
|
|
Oregon House OKs Bill to Fight Cervical Cancer |
|
| The Oregonian |
|
| April 15, 2009 |
|
| "Health insurers would be required to
cover the cost of a cervical cancer vaccine given to girls and young
women if a bill that passed the Oregon House on Wednesday becomes law.
The vaccine, known as the HPV vaccine, was approved by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration in 2006 for girls and young women ages 9 to 26. It
is intended to be administered in three shots to girls before they
become sexually active as a means to combat the human papilloma virus,
linked to cervical cancers..." |
|
|
6 Schools Will Offer Nasal Influenza Vaccine |
|
|
Newnan Times-Herald (GA) |
|
|
April 15, 2009 |
|
|
"A half-dozen or more elementary schools in Coweta County, Ga., will
be taking part in Academic Clinics LLC's "Flu-Free Schools" program next
fall. In conjunction with District 4 Public Health Services, county
health departments, Emergency Medical Services, nursing schools, and the
Foundation for Education, Academic Clinics will offer the FluMist nasal
vaccines to students. Given that fewer than 20 percent of school-age
children receive the yearly flu vaccine, the program aims to vaccinate
students to minimize flu-related illness and curb absenteeism. Parents
will need to give permission to have their children vaccinated, and
those with private health insurance will pay a small fee for the
vaccine..." |
|
|
Vaccine Developed For E. Coli Diarrheal Diseases That Kill Millions Of
Children |
|
| Science Daily |
|
| April 15, 2009 |
|
| "A Michigan State University
researcher has developed a working vaccine for a strain of E. coli that
kills 2 million to 3 million children each year in the developing world.
Enterotoxigenic E. Coli, which is responsible for 60 percent to 70
percent of all E. coli diarrheal disease, also causes health problems
for U.S. troops serving overseas and is responsible for what is commonly
called traveler’s diarrhea..." |
|
|
Op-ed: Early Warning; Our View: A measles outbreak threatens the
region's immigrant communities |
|
| Baltimore Sun |
|
| April 15, 2009 |
|
| "Measles, long a scourge of childhood
before the development of effective vaccines, has practically
disappeared in the United States. Today, most Americans either were
vaccinated as children or got the disease before they entered school and
are now immune. That's not the case for people who weren't born in this
country, however, many of whom remain vulnerable. That's why health
department officials are taking urgent steps to contain an outbreak of
measles in Montgomery County, where four cases were reported this year.
That may not sound like a lot, but because measles is very contagious,
every precaution must be taken to keep it from spreading through the
area's large immigrant community. Prevention requires identifying and
isolating victims so they can't infect others. Officials have linked
three of the four victims to a traveler from China who brought the
disease back with him; they have yet to determine how the fourth victim,
a Hispanic woman, got infected..." |
|
|
Beware the Herd, Health Officials Say |
|
| Marin Independent Journal (CA) |
|
| April 15, 2009 |
|
| "Health officials say the rising
number of Marin parents who choose not to vaccinate their children
against infectious disease could be putting other children and adults at
risk - a phenomenon known as "herd immunity." Marin has one of the
state's highest rates of personal belief exemptions, parental waivers
that allow children to enroll in kindergarten without receiving
vaccinations against diseases like measles, polio or whooping cough. The
number of exemptions in the county increased to 6.3 percent from 1999 to
2008, while the state's rate of exemption grew to only 1.9 percent
during the same period. Health officials say the growing number of
children who aren't vaccinated could be putting other children at risk
for infection - even those who have been immunized..." |
|
|
Four Measles Cases Diagnosed in Maryland |
|
| Baltimore Sun |
|
| April 14, 2009 |
|
| "Montgomery County, Md., has
confirmed four cases of measles since February, marking the state's
first outbreak in eight years. A man who caught the disease on an
overseas trip infected a co-worker, who then infected an eight-month-old
baby when seeking hospital treatment. The most recent infection is not
tied to the other three, and health officials--who stress the need for
vaccination--are working to contact people who may have been exposed to
the disease. Foreign-born residents who have not been vaccinated are
especially vulnerable. Fran Phillips, Maryland's deputy secretary for
public health services, says: 'That is really quite a new development.
But it does make sense that we see these cases in Montgomery County,
which has one of the highest percentages of foreign-born residents.'..." |
|
|
Whooping Cough Update: Students not vaccinated excluded from school |
|
| Daily Record (Ohio) |
|
| April 14, 2009 |
|
| "Recent confirmation of a positive
case of whooping cough translates to a week off school for an amended
list of 50 students at Berlin Elementary School. Originally, East Holmes
District records indicated 62 students at the school were under- or
unvaccinated, according to Holmes County Health Commissioner Dr. D.J.
McFadden, made aware Thursday of a non- diagnostic test that indicated
an 11-year-old boy showed signs of the disease. Confirmation of a
positive test result, taken from one of the boy's siblings, was received
Sunday night, said McFadden, who said Berlin students not properly
vaccinated against pertussis will be excluded from school until April
20, 10 days from when they would have last been exposed to the
communicable disease..." |
|
|
Whooping Cough Not Over in Cobb |
|
| Atlanta Journal-Constitution |
|
| April 14, 2009 |
|
| "At least three more cases of
whooping cough have been reported at east Cobb County schools. Keheley
and Shallowford Falls elementary schools both reported confirmed cases
Monday, according to school officials. Addison Elementary recently had a
case, too, according to Cobb-Douglas Public Health. Whooping cough, also
called pertussis, is highly contagious and can be very serious in babies
and young children. Numerous cases have been reported in Cobb schools
this year, despite a majority of the children receiving pertussis
vaccinations. The Addison student also was immunized. Other elementary
schools with previous cases include Mountain View, Garrison Mill, Timber
Ridge and Rocky Mount. Current research shows that the vaccine may wear
off over time, leaving more children susceptible to the disease..." |
|
|
Whooping Cough Outbreak at New Concord School |
|
| Zanesville Times Recorder (OH) |
|
| April 14, 2009 |
|
| "There are seven confirmed cases of
pertussis, or whooping cough, at Larry Miller Intermediate School in the
East Muskingum School District. Zanesville-Muskingum County Health
Department Epidemiologist Bob Brems said students, as a preventative
measure, are being asked to see their family doctor or pediatrician
after the cases popped up among fourth- and fifth-graders. 'We have what
we are calling an outbreak of pertussis, also known as whooping cough.
It's a vaccine preventable illness that symptom-wise causes severe
coughing episodes where you can lose breath, have rapid coughing and at
times have rapid coughing that sometimes has a high-pitched whoop as you
breath in, hence the name whooping cough,' Brems said..." |
|
|
Breast-Feeding Blocks Pain of Infant Vaccination |
|
| Reuters |
|
| April 14, 2009 |
|
| "Turkish investigators report that
breast-feeding an infant appears to significantly reduce the pain
associated with vaccination. "Even young children have a pain memory,
causing them to anticipate painful procedures and react more intensely
if they have undergone previous painful procedures with inadequate
analgesia," the team writes in the March issue of The Journal of
Pediatrics. Dr. Dilek Dilli and colleagues at Ankara Training and
Research Hospital randomized 158 infants younger than 6 months of age to
breast-feeding or no breast-feeding during routine immunization. They
also randomized another 85 children between 6 and 48 months of age to
receive 12% sucrose solution, topical lidocaine-prilocaine cream, or no
intervention during immunization. All children were evaluated for crying
time and pain by pediatricians using the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale
(NIPS) for those less than 12 months of age and the Children's Hospital
of Eastern Ontario Pain Scale (CHEOPS) for those older than 12
months..." |
|
|
State Health Official Calls Polio Case Extremely Rare |
|
| Minneapolis Star Tribune |
|
| April 14, 2009 |
|
| "For the second time in four years,
health officials have discovered a rare case of polio infection in a
Minnesota patient with a severely weakened immune system. The patient,
who died in March, was infected with a live virus found in the oral
polio vaccine, said Dr. Aaron DeVries of the Minnesota Department of
Health. DeVries called it extremely rare and said there is no danger to
the public. He said it's not certain whether polio played a role in the
death, because the patient had multiple health problems. The oral
vaccine, which contains a live virus, has not been used in this country
since 2000. Polio was virtually wiped out in the United States 30 years
ago. But since 1961, the oral vaccine has been linked to nearly four
dozen cases of polio, worldwide, in people with immune deficiencies. In
2005, Minnesota health officials discovered that five unvaccinated Amish
children from central Minnesota were infected with the polio virus,
including a baby with a weakened immune system. Investigators said that
the baby, who was especially vulnerable, probably contracted the virus
from someone who had been vaccinated with the live virus. None of the
children actually developed polio, and DeVries said there is no
connection between the Amish cases and the patient who died last month.
These are the only cases of vaccine-related polio infection reported in
the United States since 2000, the Health Department said." |
|
|
Antibiotic Losing Punch |
|
| Chattanooga Times Free Press
(Tennessee) |
|
| April 13, 2009 |
|
| "The growing ineffectiveness of a
popular and widely requested antibiotic has local doctors emphasizing
the importance of responsible antibiotic use. Chattanooga physicians say
between one-half and two-thirds of the most-common bacteria --
streptococcus pneumoniae -- is showing resistance to azithromycin, the
generic name for the antibiotic Zithromax. The antibiotic often is
dispensed in a packet called the "Z-pak." Streptococcus pneumoniae is an
important germ because it is the No. 1 bacterial cause of pneumonia,
bronchitis, sinusitis, ear infections and even meningitis, said Dr. Mark
Anderson, an infectious disease specialist..." |
|
|
National Infant Immunization Week Highlights Importance of Vaccinations;
Recent Outbreaks Show Need for Education of Parents |
|
| AAFP News |
|
| April 13, 2009 |
|
| "The following information was
released by the American Academy of Family Physicians: National Infant
Immunization Week, or NIIW, is scheduled for April 25-May 2, giving
doctors and public health officials an opportunity to emphasize the
importance of protecting children from 14 vaccine-preventable diseases.
Immunization expert Paul Offit, M.D. A list of nationwide NIIW events
and various online resources for parents and health professionals is
available from the CDC. "I think it's great to have a time set aside to
recognize the importance of vaccinations, but ... with the recent
outbreak of Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b infection) in Minnesota
and Pennsylvania and in other areas -- as well as measles outbreaks --
it seems like every week is infant immunization week," said Paul Offit,
M.D., chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Maurice R.
Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology at The Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia..." |
|
|
State Health Officials on Alert for More Measles |
|
| Washington Post |
|
|
| April 13, 2009 |
| "Health officials said yesterday that
they are trying to contain Maryland's first measles outbreak since 2001
after a fourth case was diagnosed in Montgomery County. Since February,
three adults and an 8-month-old have developed measles, a highly
infectious virus characterized by a red skin rash. Most Americans are
vaccinated for measles, which has largely disappeared in the United
States. But last year the number of cases doubled throughout the nation,
which health officials attributed mostly to people who traveled overseas
and might not be inoculated or have poor immune systems. The virus,
which causes high fevers, can lead to pneumonia and, in rare cases, can
be fatal to those who have not been vaccinated. In Montgomery, a man
contracted the disease while traveling abroad in February and infected
an employee at his company, officials said..." |
|
|
Health Officials Release List of Possible Measles Exposure |
|
| Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
|
| April 11, 2009 |
|
| "The Allegheny County Health
Department and state Department of Health have provided a comprehensive
list of places and times that exposure to measles might have occurred
last month throughout southwestern Pennsylvania. The source of the
measles was a child from India who arrived March 7 in the United States.
Since then, five other people have contracted measles, which is highly
contagious, with possibly more awaiting confirmation. Health officials
continue to track down unvaccinated or susceptible people who might have
been exposed to people with measles and face a risk of infection..." |
|
|
Whooping Cough Reported in Lincoln County |
|
| FOX12Idaho.com |
|
| April 10, 2009 |
|
| "South Central Health District
officials say five cases of whooping cough have been confirmed in
Lincoln County. The contagious disease, also called pertussis, can be
complicated by pneumonia and ear infections, especially in infants.
Symptoms include explosive bursts of coughing followed by a high-pitched
whooping sound as the person catches their breath. Health officials are
asking parents in the region to check their children's vaccination
status and consider receiving booster vaccines themselves to halt any
further spreading of the disease. Cases of whooping cough have also been
reported in Elmore and Ada counties in recent weeks..." |
|
|
Second Novato High Student Contracts Whooping Cough |
|
| Marin Independent Journal (CA) |
|
| April 10, 2009 |
|
| "For the third time in the past seven
weeks, county health officials have confirmed that a high school student
has tested positive for whooping cough, a highly contagious respiratory
tract infection. Health officials say the Novato High School student's
case had no apparent connection to that of a Novato High School student
diagnosed April 2 or a Terra Linda High School student diagnosed March
20. 'We sent a letter to every parent, just in case their student
somehow contracted or has this illness, so they know what to listen
for,' said Novato High Principal Rey Mayoral, who said the two whooping
cough cases were the first he has experienced in his five years at the
school. The student will remain at home for at least the next five days
while he receives antibiotics..." |
|
|
Whooping Cough Outbreak Reported in South County |
|
| Orange County Register (CA) |
|
| April 10, 2009 |
|
| "Seven cases of whooping cough have
been identified in one Ladera Ranch medical office over the past three
months, according to Drs. John Mersch and Eric Ball of Southern Orange
County Pediatric Associates. The outbreak equals the total number of
pertussis, or whooping cough, cases reported county-wide in the first
quarter of 2006. In the first three months of 2007, just one case of
whooping cough was reported to the County of Orange Health Care Agency.
In 2008, nine cases were reported..." |
|
|
Measles in Western Pa. Came from India |
|
| Pittsburgh Tribune Review |
|
| April 10, 2009 |
|
| "A traveler from India infected at
least six people in Western Pennsylvania with measles, state and county
officials announced Thursday. The state Department of Health issued an
alert last week warning people who visited public areas of Children's
Hospital of Pittsburgh March 10-11 that a Westmoreland County man and
his two children had contracted the disease, which is highly contagious
in people who have not been vaccinated. "When we had the first three
cases, we started our search for someone who could have brought it in
from overseas," said Ron Voorhees, the Allegheny County Health
Department's chief of epidemiology. "Essentially all cases come from
overseas. We don't have indigenous measles in the United States
anymore." The state is not identifying the six infected people or the
traveler from India, and suspects that a few more cases exist, though it
is awaiting laboratory confirmation. Measles is a virus that is
transmitted through breathing air infected with it. Infected people are
contagious before they show symptoms, which typically include fever,
cough, pain, a runny nose and, eventually, a rash. It is rarely deadly,
though about one in 20 children develops pneumonia and one in 1,000
develops a more serious infection, which can lead to brain swelling,
Voorhees said. Children who have received a vaccination -- usually in
the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, immunization required by schools
-- along with a booster shot, are rarely at risk for contracting the
disease." |
|
|
Doctor Groups Seek Overturn of Vaccine Jurisdiction Ruling |
|
| MedPage Today |
|
| April 10, 2009 |
|
| "Several medical societies are asking
the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a lower-court ruling that would expose
vaccine manufacturers to litigation in state courts. In October, the
Georgia Supreme Court ruled unanimously that state courts could hear
cases involving alleged vaccine design defects, even though the National
Vaccine Injury Compensation Act of 1986 established a national "vaccine
court" to hear such suits. Now the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP),
the American Medical Association (AMA), and eight other groups have
filed an amicus brief in the case, which is currently before the U.S.
Supreme Court..." |
|
|
$2.3 Billion in Stimulus Funds Available for Child Care and Vaccinations |
|
| Newsday |
|
| April 9, 2009 |
|
| "Vice President Joe Biden says states
will share $2 billion in federal stimulus money to pay for child care
programs for working families. Another $300 million is being made
available to help less fortunate people get needed vaccines..." |
|
|
Letter to the Editor: Immunize Children |
|
| Contra Costa Times (CA) |
|
| April 8, 2009 |
|
| "I read the Times story about parents
choosing not to immunize their children and wanted to make sure readers
know of the local risks. Though your story focused on a measles outbreak
in San Diego, we had a similarly disturbing outbreak of whooping cough
right here in Contra Costa County last year. The Contra Costa Public
Health Department had to temporarily close a private school in El
Sobrante after at least 21 children contracted whooping cough, a highly
infectious and serious lung infection. The outbreak had already spread
to another school and two childcare facilities. Fortunately, all of the
children recovered but the outbreak might have been avoided if the
children had been immunized. Like the events in your story, most of the
children with whooping cough in the Contra Costa outbreak were in
kindergarten, and their parents had decided not to immunize them for
various reasons, including the concern over whether immunizations are
linked to autism. There is simply no scientific link between
immunizations and autism. However, there is ample evidence that parents
who do not immunize their children put their children, the school and
the larger community at risk for serious, sometimes life-threatening,
diseases. Erika Jenssen, MPH Martinez Jenssen is immunization
coordinator of Contra Costa Public Health Department." |
|
|
Whooping Cough Cases Reported |
|
| Bismarck Tribune (ND) |
|
| April 8, 2009 |
|
| "Lynsi Red Bear's 6-month-old son has
spent the past week in the hospital. "It's frustrating and stressful,"
she said. It's the second time her son, Matthias, has been hospitalized
since March. He has pertussis, known as whooping cough, as well as
pneumonia and respiratory syncytial virus, known more commonly as RSV.
Whooping cough affects the lungs, causing a person to cough repeatedly,
which sometimes causes breathing difficulties. "It's one explosion after
another," Dr. Parag Kumar said, likening it to a machine gun. Kumar is
treating Red Bear's son. He has seen a spike in whooping cough cases
come through the pediatric clinic at Medcenter One. North Dakota has
seen 13 cases of whooping cough this year, according to the state
Department of Health..." |
|
|
Immunizing Children Philadelphia Mission |
|
|
Philadelphia Inquirer |
|
|
April 8, 2009 |
|
|
"At each of these addresses, in theory, is a baby who is behind in
childhood immunizations.
Velazco-Miranda's job: Find the parents. Get the kid into a clinic for
shots. With several recent
outbreaks of preventable diseases traced to unvaccinated children,
public health officials say it
is more important than ever to maintain the high immunization rates that
provide an extra layer of
protection for everyone. Philadelphia has among the highest vaccination
rates in the nation, often
topping all other big cities and most states..." |
|
|
Regulators Suspend NJ Doc's License |
|
| NPR |
|
| April 8, 2009 |
|
| "A New Jersey doctor whom health
officials suspect was the source of a hepatitis B outbreak had his
medical license suspended indefinitely on Wednesday by state regulators.
Nearly 3,000 of Dr. Parvez Dara's patients have been warned to get
tested after five cancer patients tested positive for the disease, which
is transmitted through exposure to infected blood and can cause serious
liver damage..." |
|
|
US Regulator Approves Rapid Test for Bird Flu |
|
| Reuters |
|
| April 8, 2009 |
|
| "The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration said on Tuesday it had approved a fast test for H5N1 bird
flu that can show in less than an hour if people are infected. The test,
made by Sunnyvale, California-based Arbor Vita Corporation, should
greatly speed up diagnosis and treatment of people infected with avian
influenza, the FDA said. Most current tests take hours..." |
|
|
Polio Outbreak in 15 African Countries Setback for Global Eradication |
|
| Voice of America News |
|
| April 7, 2009 |
|
| "The International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies warns a polio outbreak in 15 African
countries threatens the global eradication campaign and puts many
children at risk of getting this crippling disease. The Red Cross is
appealing for more than $2 million to support polio immunization efforts
in all African outbreak countries, except for Chad, which has not asked
for assistance. There were 350,000 cases of polio around the world when
the World Health Organization began its global eradication campaign in
1988. Now, there are 1,851 cases including 192 new cases this year. But,
International Red Cross Federation Senior Officer for Health in
Emergencies, Tammam Aloudat, tells VOA it is not these numbers that are
scary for health professionals. "It is not the ultimate number so far
that tells us a lot about the outbreak position. It is the countries
that had zero cases before and are having re-infection again," said Dr.
Aloudat..." |
|
|
New TB Vaccine Is Safe, Highly Immunogenic in Patients With Latent
Infection |
|
| Medscape |
|
| April 7, 2009 |
|
| "A new vaccine, abbreviated MVA85A,
is safe and immunogenic in patients with latent Mycobacterium
tuberculosis infection (LTBI), according to a report in the American
Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine for April 15th. There
have been concerns about administering TB vaccines to patients with LTBI
out of fear that it may cause re-activation of the infection and
full-blown disease. Thus, these findings are important in showing that
the new vaccine can, in fact, be safely given to LTBI patients..." |
|
|
Flu Strikes a Milder Blow This Season |
|
| Forbes |
|
| April 7, 2009 |
|
| "Effective vaccine and more
vaccinations among young people helped, experts say. As the flu season
winds down, experts say this has been the mildest season in years. Less
severe strains of influenza and a good vaccine match for the strains
that were circulating combined to create a milder season this year than
last, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
'If we look at mortality and the rate of hospitalizations, it seems like
this year is less severe compared to last year and more similar to the
years prior to last year,' said Dr. Alicia M. Fry, a CDC epidemiologist.
'The flu did not reach an epidemic threshold this year.'..." |
|
|
Why Fever Helps Autism: A New Theory |
|
| TIME |
|
| April 7, 2009 |
|
| "The autism wars go on and on, and
the debates go round and round. Is the number of afflicted kids climbing
or are we just overdiagnosing the condition? If mercury in vaccines
isn't the culprit (the metal has been removed from nearly all of them),
then it must be environmental toxins. But if that's so, why aren't we
all showing symptoms? Too often, what's lost in all the finger-pointing
over what's to blame for the problem is the salient question of how to
fix it. A paper just published in the journal Brain Research Reviews is
taking a stab at that, suggesting a brand-new strategy--one that focuses
on a very particular part of the brain. The brain region that drew the
attention of the authors is known as the locus coeruleus, a small knot
of neurons located in the brain stem..." |
|
|
VA Looking into Possible Contamination at Medical Facilities |
|
|
CNN.com |
|
|
April 7, 2009 |
|
|
"The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched an investigation
into whether there is a connection between improperly sterilized
endoscopy equipment and a veteran's positive HIV test. Sen. Bill Nelson,
D-Florida, requested that the VA look into potential contamination at
its facilities. This comes after more than 10,000 veterans were possibly
exposed to HIV and hepatitis at three VA facilities while undergoing
colonoscopies and other procedures with equipment that had not been
properly cleaned. The VA sent letters to those veterans offering free
testing for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV..." |
|
|
Op-ed: Vaccinations Are a Public Health
Success, and a Responsibility |
|
| Bay City Times (MI) |
|
| April 7, 2009 |
|
| "Lined up in school gymnasiums like little soldiers in some states,
millions of U.S. school kids
did their part in a decades-long public health crusade. Many of them
sniffing back tears of fear, a
few crying openly, the vaccinations they received - at school or at a
doctor's office - vanquished
smallpox and polio from the North American continent, and sent measles
packing. Now that those
diseases and others are beaten back, though, some parents are pushing
back against state laws
requiring vaccinations for school children..." |
|
|
Op-ed: Science Trumps Speculation: MMR not linked to autism |
|
| American Medical News |
|
| April 6, 2009 |
|
| "A special vaccine court dismissed
claims that the vaccine can cause the cognitive disorder. The pitched
debate regarding the purported link between autism and the measles,
mumps and rubella vaccine -- a battle viewed on both sides as critical
to shielding the defenseless from harm -- took the encouraging turn for
which many physicians were hoping and landed in favor of protecting
public health..." |
|
|
Tests Urged after NJ Hepatitis B Outbreak |
|
| Staten Island Advance |
|
| April 6, 2009 |
|
| "A hepatitis B cluster was discovered
last week when five people from Ocean County, N.J., were diagnosed with
the disease. Where five cases would be the norm for the year, five cases
within two months raised red flags for health officials, who, in turn
urged nearly 3,000 people to get checked for the disease. Hepatitis B is
a potentially severe and sometimes deadly disease that affects the
liver..." |
|
|
State Confirms Fourth Measles Case at Children's Hospital |
|
|
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
|
|
April 4, 2009 |
|
|
"Health officials said yesterday that they are investigating a fourth
case of measles at Children's Hospital, where the infection might have
occurred. A news release from the state Department of Health did not
offer any information about the age or whereabouts of the latest
infected person. The department announced Tuesday that two Westmoreland
County preschoolers and their 33-year-old father had been diagnosed with
measles...." |
|
|
Mumps 'Epidemic' Affects Students |
|
|
BBC News |
|
|
April 3, 2009 |
|
|
"An epidemic of mumps has broken out in South Yorkshire with students
at two universities bearing the brunt of the wave of illness. Doctors at
the South Yorkshire Health Protection Unit (HPU) has said 145 cases were
reported in Sheffield in the first three months of 2009. The outbreak
started in the city in January and spread to students at Hallam
University in February." |
|
|
Influenza Vaccination Advised for Travelers to Southern Hemisphere |
|
|
Reuters Health Medical News |
|
|
April 2, 2009 |
|
|
"Although the influenza season is just ending in the northern
hemisphere, it is now beginning in the southern hemisphere. Northerners
traveling to the southern hemisphere -- or to the tropics, where
influenza virus circulates year round -- should be immunized to avoid
influenza illness, according to advice from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, Atlanta. In the northern hemisphere, influenza
season runs from October to March, while in the southern hemisphere, the
season covers the remaining months, April to September..." |
|
|
Researcher Healthy 21 days after Ebola Accident |
|
|
Washington Post |
|
|
April 2, 2009 |
|
|
"A researcher who may have been exposed to the deadly Ebola virus was
declared healthy and released from isolation at a German hospital
Thursday, having been spared the horrific symptoms of the disease. The
woman had accidentally pricked her finger three weeks ago with a needle
used to inject Ebola into mice. It was not known if the virus actually
entered her bloodstream, but she was given an experimental vaccine just
in case. The vaccine had never been tested on humans. Scientists don't
know if the vaccine saved her or if she was simply lucky not to get the
disease during an excruciating 21-day waiting period..." |
|
|
Health Officials Tracing Outbreak |
|
|
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
|
|
April 2, 2009 |
|
|
"Tracking the source of measles that infected three members of a
Westmoreland County family likely will lead to a foreigner or an
unvaccinated individual who had foreign contact. And while health
officials said they're certain they'll track down everyone who came in
contact with the family, they may never find the source. "Ultimately,
this came from a foreign country," said Dr. Jim Lando of the Allegheny
County Health Department..." |
|
|
Outbreaks in Nigeria Set Back Polio Fight |
|
|
Boston Globe |
|
|
April 2, 2009 |
|
|
"Polio has spread out of Nigeria to reinfect neighboring countries
that had eliminated the disease, the US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention reported yesterday. The new Nigerian outbreaks set back a bid
to wipe out the water-borne disease globally, the CDC said in its weekly
report on death and disease. Polio attacks the nervous system and can
cause paralysis, breathing problems, and sometimes death..." |
|
|
Why Do Anti-Vaccinationists Believe? |
|
| Huffington Post |
|
| April 2, 2009 |
|
| "At the end of last week, I wrote an
article which was eventually titled 'Vaccine Denial =
Scientific Illiteracy.' The article was posted on Monday and has since
received a lot of feedback
on either side...More confusion came when I started actually reading
through the comments. I tried
to understand the anti-vaccination thought process. From my point of
view, vaccines are good
things..." |
|
|
Progress Is Slow in the War Against Autism |
|
| CNN.com |
|
| April 2, 2009 |
|
| "William Searing is an Eagle Scout
who loves hiking, adventure, art and sports. At age 19, he's in an
education program that bridges the gap from high school to getting a
job. Wil has autism. The neurological disorder was diagnosed when he was
18 months old. Mia Newman's epilepsy and autism weren't diagnosed until
she was almost 3 years old. Now 9, she and her family still face many
challenges in coping with her conditions. It's been a year since the
first U.N.-declared World Autism Awareness Day. In those past 365 days,
nobody has discovered the cause of autism, which the most recent
statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest
affects one in 150 children. Nor has a cure been found. However, new
research and major court decisions have emerged to explain further what
may contribute to the developmental disabilities of the brain known as
"autism spectrum disorders" or ASDs..." |
|
|
Hib Disease Deaths Put Focus on Vaccine Shortage |
|
|
Philadelphia Inquirer |
|
|
April 1, 2009 |
|
|
"At least six unvaccinated children in Southeastern Pennsylvania have
been infected and two have died in the nation's biggest recent outbreak
of Haemophilus influenzae type b, a once-devastating disease that was
virtually eradicated 20 years ago. One Hib death has been reported in
New Jersey..." |
|
|
Autism Rates Higher in Some Somali Children |
|
| New York Times |
|
| April 1, 2009 |
|
| "Confirming the fears of Somali
immigrants in Minneapolis, the Minnesota Health Department agreed
Tuesday that young Somali children there appeared to have higher than
usual rates of autism. Though health officials emphasized that their
report was based on very limited data, they concluded that young Somali
children appeared to be two to seven times as likely as other children
to be in classes for autistic pupils..." |
|
|
Editorial: Vaccine Fear is Harmful for
Children |
|
| Contra Costa Times |
|
| April 1, 2009 |
|
| "A misguided fear that some vaccines may cause autism has persuaded a
growing number of parents to
decline to have their children inoculated against childhood diseases
such as measles, mumps and
whooping cough. These are illnesses that had been eradicated in the
United States years ago after
the implementation of a federal program paying for vaccines for those
who could not afford them.
Unfortunately, unfounded fears that vaccines are more dangerous than the
diseases they prevent have
led to an increasing number of children who are not vaccinated before
they enter school..." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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..." |
|
|
Coronado Student Diagnosed With Meningitis |
|
| 10News.com (San Diego) |
|
| March 27, 2009 |
|
| "A fifth-grader at a Coronado
elementary school has been diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis, a
type of bacterial meningitis, the San Diego County Health and Human
Services Agency announced Friday. Officials at Silver Strand Elementary
School have sent letters to parents of children in the sickened
student's class detailing the symptoms of the disease and recommended
precautionary measures, according to the HHSA...." |
|
|
UVa Student Hospitalized with Meningitis |
|
| The Daily Progress |
|
| March 27, 2009 |
|
| "For the first time in nearly three
years, a University of Virginia student has come down with bacterial
meningitis. The 21-year-old, fourth-year student was admitted to the
University of Virginia Medical Center on Wednesday afternoon, according
to Marian L. Anderfuren, a UVa spokeswoman. The male student was in
serious condition as of Thursday night, Anderfuren said in a release.
All those who had close contact with the student, including emergency
responders, were notified and have been given the antibiotic
prophylaxis, Anderfuren said. Those who had casual contact with the
student are not believed to be at risk..." |
|
|
Haiti Vaccines Target 1 million Children, Women: Public health workers
to help immunize against polio, measles, rubella |
|
|
St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
|
|
March 27, 2009 |
|
|
"Public health workers plan to vaccinate some 1 million women and
children this week in Haiti after delays exacerbated by food riots and
hurricanes, officials said. The effort marks the second phase of an
international goal to immunize 5.6 million Haitian children..." |
|
|
Experimental Vaccine Used in Ebola Exposure Case |
|
| USA Today |
|
| March 27, 2009 |
|
| "It was a nightmare scenario: A
scientist accidentally pricked her finger with a needle used to inject
the deadly Ebola virus into lab mice. Within hours, members of a tightly
bound, yet far-flung community of virologists, biologists and others
were tensely gathered in a trans-Atlantic telephone conference trying to
map out a way to save her life. Less than 24 hours later, an
experimental vaccine never before tried on humans was on its way to
Germany from a lab in Canada. And within 48 hours of the March 12
accident, the at-risk scientist, a 45-year-old woman whose identity has
not been revealed, was injected with the vaccine..." |
|
|
Media Distortion Damages both Science and Journalism |
|
| New Scientist (UK) |
|
| March 27, 2009 |
|
| "When media reports state that
scientist X of Y university has discovered that A is linked to B, we
ought to be able to trust them. Sadly, as many researchers know, we
can't. This has three serious consequences. For starters, every time the
media misreports science, it chips away at the credibility of both
enterprises. Misreporting can also engender panic, as people start to
fear the adverse consequences of the supposed new link between A and B.
Lastly, there can be a damaging effect on researchers' behaviour.
Funding agencies and science institutions rightly encourage scientists
to communicate with the media, to keep the public informed about their
research and so foster trust. If their work is misrepresented, they may
withdraw into the lab rather than risk having to spend hours setting the
record straight..." |
|
|
Circumcision Is Found To Curb Two S.T.D.'s |
|
| New York Times |
|
| March 26, 2009 |
|
| "Male circumcision, already shown to
reduce the incidence of H.I.V. infection in men, also reduces
transmission of both herpes simplex virus Type 2 and human papilloma
virus, a study has found. According to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, at least 45 million people in the United States ages 12
and older have had herpes, or H.S.V.-2, the incurable infection that can
cause recurrent painful genital warts. About 20 million are currently
infected with human papilloma virus, or H.P.V., which causes various
genital cancers, including most cervical cancers. There is no treatment
or cure for H.P.V., but there is a vaccine now licensed only for girls
and women. The study, a randomized clinical trial published Thursday in
The New England Journal of Medicine, assigned more than 3,000
uncircumcised Ugandan men who were not infected with H.S.V.-2 to undergo
immediate circumcision or to be circumcised 24 months from the start of
the investigation. A subgroup was similarly evaluated for H.P.V.
infection..." |
|
|
University Park Student Diagnosed with Bacterial Meningitis |
|
| States News Service |
|
| March 26, 2009 |
|
| "University Park Health officials at
Penn State report that a probable case of meningococcal meningitis has
been diagnosed in a 20-year-old student, who has been hospitalized at
Geisinger Medical Center and is being treated for the infection. In
addition, friends and acquaintances of the student have been contacted
and offered the appropriate prophylactic medication. University Health
Services opened early Saturday to begin administering medication as
recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The
affected student was a member and resident of Alpha Chi Rho fraternity
at 425 Locust Lane, and all fraternity members were advised to seek
medical treatment. To date, 400 individuals have been treated and
University officials are working with fraternity members to identify any
additional students who may be at risk..." |
|
|
A Harvard Dean Gets Call from Washington: Obama taps Koh for a health
post |
|
|
Boston Globe |
|
|
March 26, 2009 |
|
|
"President Obama last night nominated Dr. Howard Koh, an associate
dean at the Harvard School of Public Health and former Massachusetts
public health commissioner, to a top health position in his
administration. If confirmed by the Senate as assistant secretary for
health, Koh would be responsible for establishing the nation's public
health agenda, handling a vast portfolio that includes the US surgeon
general and programs that coordinate vaccines, AIDS policy, minority
health, and blood safety..." |
|
|
A Vaccine Debate Once Focused on Sex Shifts as Boys Join the Target
Market |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| March 26, 2009 |
|
| "When a vaccine designed to protect
girls against a sexually transmitted virus arrived three years ago, the
debate centered on one question: Would the shots make young girls more
likely to have sex? Now the vaccine's maker is trying to get approval to
sell the vaccine for boys, and the debate is focusing on something else
entirely: Is it worth the money, and is it safe and effective enough?
"We are still more worried about the promiscuity of girls than the
promiscuity of boys," said Susan M. Reverby, a professor of women's
studies and medical history at Wellesley College..." |
|
|
Indonesian Minister Wants to Review Vaccinations |
|
|
Charleston Daily Mail |
|
|
March 25, 2009 |
|
|
"Indonesia's controversial health minister says she wants to end
vaccinating children against meningitis, mumps and some other diseases
because she fears foreign drug companies are using the country as a
testing ground. Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari who first drew
widespread attention by boycotting the World Health Organization's
50-year-old virus sharing system in 2007 said Tuesday she wanted
"scientific proof" that shots for illnesses like pneumonia, chicken pox,
the flu, rubella and typhoid were "beneficial". "If not, they have to be
stopped," she said, declining to say exactly what that would mean..." |
|
|
Woman Dies of Meningitis after Returning from Trip with Students |
|
| Kansas City Star |
|
| March 24, 2009 |
|
| "A 58-year-old Lenexa woman died
Monday after returning Sunday from a trip to a Mexican resort where she
was accompanying a group of students from Shawnee Mission West High
School. Mary Jo Allen, a developer, contracted bacterial meningitis, an
infection of the fluid around the spinal cord that ultimately surround
the brain. The Johnson County Health Department said the symptoms range
from fever, headache and a stiff neck to more severe symptoms such as
confusion or seizures. Teri Scott, a nurse and friend of Allen who also
was on the trip, said Allen became seriously ill when she returned to
Kansas City Sunday and died the next day. The group of about 40 students
and their parents were on a senior trip during the spring break vacation
from classes..." |
|
|
Vaccine Scare Threatens Health in Ukraine |
|
|
Associated Press |
|
|
March 25, 2009 |
|
|
"A widespread scare about vaccine side effects in Ukraine has led to
a sharp drop in immunizations that could result in disease outbreaks
spreading beyond the former Soviet republic, international and local
health officials say. Hundreds of thousands of fearful Ukrainians have
refused vaccines for diseases such as diphtheria, mumps, polio,
hepatitis B, tuberculosis, whooping cough and others this year,
according to official estimates. Authorities have canceled a U.N.-backed
measles and rubella vaccination campaign funded by U.S. philanthropist
Ted Turner, and will have to collect and incinerate nearly 9 million
unused doses in coming months..." |
|
|
HPV Data May Aid Vaccine's Effectiveness |
|
| HealthDay News |
|
| March 24, 2009 |
|
| "The majority of invasive cervical
cancers in New Mexico in the 1980s and 1990s contained DNA from human
papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) and HPV type 18 (HPV18), says a new
study. It also found that women diagnosed with HPV16- or HPV18-positive
cancers were an average of five years younger than those diagnosed with
cancers associated with other HPV types..." |
|
|
New Blueprint Will Guide Autism Research: The collaborative plan
emphasizes searching for causes and helping families find resources |
|
|
AMA News |
|
|
March 24, 2009 |
|
|
"Washington The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, an
advisory panel of federal officials and public members, released a plan
March 5 to guide research on possible causes of the developmental
disorder. The research also is directed toward establishing services and
supports for individuals with autism and for their families. The IACC
was established by the Combating Autism Act of 2006, which required the
committee to develop and annually update a research plan. The disorder
was recently in the news when a special vaccine court rejected the
theory that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine combined with the
preservative thimerosal triggered autism..." |
|
|
Autism Research Gets Stimulus Money for a Short-Term Boost |
|
| Street Journal Health Blog |
|
| March 24, 2009 |
|
| "The National Institutes of Health is
trying to kickstart autism research with $60 million in grant funding
from the stimulus bill. It is the largest-ever funding opportunity for
research into the neuro-developmental disorder, says the NIMH, the NIH’s
mental-health arm. The CDC estimates that autism now strikes 1 in 150
U.S. children, and the epidemic spurred the government to put out a
research plan in January. President Obama himself has made autism a
priority, promising to put $1 billion in funds towards research. The
NIMH grants support research on topics like early intervention and
diagnostic testing. All this urgency is because there are few options
for autistic children beyond behavior and diet modifications..." |
|
|
Vaccine Delays in Poorer Nations Raise Health Risks for Infants |
|
|
New York Times |
|
|
March 24, 2009 |
|
|
"Many infants in poor and middle-income countries get their vaccines
weeks later than doctors recommend and therefore face increased risks of
sickness and death, according to a new study in The Lancet. Researchers
at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine studied health
surveys from 45 countries, mostly in Africa and Latin America. Globally,
vaccination rates have risen sharply over the last 20 years, and child
mortality has dropped below 10 million a year for the first time, thanks
largely to measles shots, according to the United Nations Children’s
Fund..." |
|
|
This Scientist's Passion: Ending the scourge of parasitic diseases |
|
|
USA TODAY |
|
| March 23, 2009 |
|
|
"Even as a child, Peter Hotez held a grown-up's fascination for the
tiny creatures living in the creek near his house. Inspired by Paul de
Kruif's Microbe Hunters, a popular book on disease detectives, Hotez
persuaded his parents to buy him a microscope. He spent hours watching
little animals wriggle in a glowing circle of light, and, at an age when
most kids were reading The Hardy Boys, he read about parasites. His two
brothers were baffled by his obsession..." |
|
|
Drug-Resistant Flu Strains Throw Doctors a Curve; Faster Diagnoses, New
Medications Could Be Needed |
|
| USA Today |
|
| March 23, 2009 |
|
| "Not long ago, when
infectious-disease specialist Connie Price saw a patient hospitalized
with flu at Denver Health Medical Center, she had a powerful weapon at
hand: a drug that could shorten the course of the illness and lessen its
misery. Now, the strength of that weapon, Tamiflu, has been undermined
by a widely circulating flu strain, type A H1N1, that has developed the
ability to resist the drug..." |
|
|
Some Muslim Clergy Join Nigeria's War on Polio |
|
| Associated Press |
|
| March 22, 2009 |
|
| "In 2003, imams in northern Nigeria
fomented a boycott of polio vaccinations claiming they were a Western
plot to make Muslims infertile or infect them with AIDS. The result: The
number of newly crippled children rose by more than double the following
year, and there were fears that the disease would spread into a dozen
neighboring countries. Now, after another tripling of cases in 2008, a
big new anti-polio push is under way in Africa's most populous country,
and this time, some Muslim clerics have made themselves part of the
solution, joining community leaders, health workers and the victims
themselves in waging the war..." |
|
|
Whooping Cough Vaccine not as Powerful as Thought |
|
| The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |
|
| March 22, 2009 |
|
| "A cluster of whooping cough cases
among Cobb County elementary students is adding to concerns that an
important vaccine isn’t as effective as it needs to be to stop the
spread of disease. Whooping cough, also called pertussis, is highly
contagious and can cause serious illness among infants and very young
children. But the vaccine is only about 85 percent effective and wears
off over time, leaving a significant number of children and adults
vulnerable to an infection that is more common than many realize, health
officials said..." |
|
|
Washington University Warns that Student Might Have Meningitis |
|
| The Kansas City Star |
|
| March 21, 2009 |
|
| "A Washington University student
living in the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house may have contracted
meningococcal meningitis, the university said Friday. Meningitis is a
potentially life-threatening infection that can be spread to people who
have had close contact with the infected person. The university sent out
an e-mail to students, faculty and staff about the case on Friday
afternoon..." |
|
|
Program Created for Affordable Vaccines |
|
| ABC3 News (MI) |
|
| March 20, 2009 |
|
| "As our unemployment rate creeps
higher, many are cutting back. But when it comes to your kids, the
Department of Community Health is asking you make an exception. They're
reminding families to get their children vaccinated. For those who can't
afford it, they also have a program that can help. ‘We do think that
there will be a need because we feel that more and more people are
unemployed, therefore they're going to need these vaccines, we just want
to be sure that these vaccines are available for those individuals,’
said Bob Swanson, the director for the Division of Immunization..." |
|
|
Remembering A Teenager Who Died From The Flu |
|
| CBS News |
|
| March 20, 2009 |
|
| "Information on the probable cause of
Emily Kaitlyn Sims' death is just now being made public. At one time or
another most people have probably had the flu or flu-like symptoms.
'Anytime you loose somebody to the flu you think you get the flu and you
get over it in a couple of days,' says Russell Withrow of Nitro. But for
Emily Kaitlyn Sims,15, a student at Saint Albans High School, she
suffered from the flu, and that sickness is believed to have contributed
to her death. Friends describe her as fun-loving and outgoing and say it
still seems like a dream that she's gone..." |
|
|
Pennsylvania Hib Outbreak |
|
| About Pediatrics |
|
| March 20, 2009 |
|
| "According to the American Academy of
Pediatrics, there have been five cases of invasive Haemophilus
influenzae type b (Hib) infections in Pennsylvania since October 2008,
resulting in two deaths. This follows the small Hib outbreak in
Minnesota last year, which also resulted in a death. Although now a
vaccine preventable infection, before the routine use of the Hib vaccine
began in 1988, about 20,000 children had Hib infections each year,
including 12,000 cases of bacterial meningitis. And about 5% of the
children with Hib meningitis died. According the AAP, all of the
Pennsylvania cases involved children who were 'unvaccinated or
under-vaccinated'..." |
|
|
New Delivery Method Takes the Pinch Out of Vaccines |
|
| Examiner.com |
|
|
March 19, 2009 |
|
| "A research team at Northwestern
University has begun the pioneering work of creating better vaccines.
And not only better, but also needle free. Their system uses probiotics,
the natural and healthy bacteria found in dairy products like yogurt, to
deliver the vaccine directly to the small intestines, where the heart of
our immune system lies. Vaccines are a teaching tool for the body. With
the injection (often a weaker form of the virus or bacteria that causes
sicknesses) immune cells learn which foreign substances to destroy, and
pass such information on to other cells. This way, the next time it
encounters the virus, the immune system can launch a more rapid and
robust response for it already knows to kill those invaders..." |
|
|
A Dangerous European Export |
|
| The American |
|
|
March 19, 2009 |
|
| "Several European nations are turning
away from vaccination and are now spreading disease. Steadily weakening
vaccination coverage in Britain and four other countries is undermining
efforts to eradicate measles across Europe and increasing the threat to
the United States. An unfounded fear that the measles, mumps, and
rubella (MMR) vaccine is causing autism is making rising numbers of
people sick..." |
|
|
Surviving the Polio Epidemic |
|
| Kalamazoo Gazette |
|
|
March 19, 2009 |
|
| "When America's summers were filled
with fear and mine brought multiple surgeries One of the great
achievements of the 20th century was the development of the polio
vaccine. Yet, even now, polio has not been completely eradicated
worldwide. The Gazette's recent stories about Rotary's efforts to wipe
out polio inspired me to share my own experience with the disease. Among
people of my generation -- the first wave of baby boomers -- there is
not one of us who does not remember someone who suffered the effects of
that then-dreaded disease. We can all recall a neighbor kid, a cousin,
even a President, who contracted it. Our parents spent the summers of
the late 1940s and early '50s keeping us home from swimming pools,
trying to get us to take naps and keeping us away from crowds. In my
case, none of that worked. I was 10 months old in September 1947, living
with my parents in Wyandotte, when I awoke from my nap feverish and
stiff..." |
|
|
Flu Outbreak Arrives Late, Hits Hard in Region's Schools |
|
| News Tribune |
|
| March 19, 2009 |
|
| "A late flu outbreak is sweeping
through Western Washington schools, keeping hundreds of kids home with
high fevers, hacking coughs and body aches. Last week, 13 Pierce County
schools reported that more than 10 percent of their student bodies
absent because of the flu or flu-like symptoms. This week, as of
Wednesday, nine schools in the county had passed the 10 percent
threshold. This has led health officials to conclude the flu epidemic is
still on the rise, a month after the normal peak..." |
|
|
Parents Rush Children to Get Vaccinated |
|
|
CBS5 (WY) |
|
|
March 19, 2009 |
|
|
"Parents are not taking any risks when it comes to their child's
health. 'We don't know what the future holds. We don't know who's going
to be a close contact and become positive with meningitis,' said Alisia
Simental who took her teenage daughter to get the vaccine. Those are the
concerns of most parents after learning a Johnson Junior High Student
was diagnosed with a case of bacterial meningitis. 'There was a concern
at the beginning but now knowing that it wasn't an outbreak, I feel
sorry for the child. I took the other step to have her vaccinated to
prevent if there were further kids that were positive for for
meningitis,' as Simental looks on as her daughter gets her shot..." |
|
|
Trial Vaccine May Protect Against Serious Viral Infection |
|
| HealthDay News |
|
| March 18, 2009 |
|
| "Women who were given an experimental
vaccine for a viral infection that can cause serious problems in babies,
known as cytomegalovirus, reduced their risk of infection by 50 percent
for as long as three and half years after vaccination, according to new
research. 'In many ways, this was a surprising result,' said the lead
author of the study, Dr. Robert Pass, a professor of pediatrics at the
University of Alabama at Birmingham..." |
|
|
Viewpoint: The Natural Benefits of Vaccines |
|
|
BBC News |
|
|
March 18, 2009 |
|
|
"One of the arguments given by those who feel uncomfortable about
giving children vaccinations is that they are 'unnatural'. But in this
week's Scrubbing Up health column, vaccine expert Professor Adam Finn
argues that they are in fact a very natural idea..." |
|
|
Meningitis Vaccine Advised after Student Diagnosed |
|
| Wyoming Tribune |
|
| March 18, 2009 |
|
| "A Johnson Junior High student with
bacterial meningitis was flown to Denver Children's Hospital in
intensive care, a doctor said Tuesday. Emergency room doctors at
Cheyenne Regional Medical Center diagnosed the infection Monday. The
patient was in critical condition on a ventilator, said Dr. Stan
Hartman, county medical officer..." |
|
|
Critics Object to 'Pseudoscience' Center |
|
|
Washington Post |
|
|
March 17, 2009 |
|
|
"The impending national discussion about broadening access to health
care, improving medical practice and saving money is giving a group of
scientists an opening to make a once-unthinkable proposal: Shut down the
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the
National Institutes of Health. The notion that the world's best-known
medical research agency sponsors studies of homeopathy, acupuncture,
therapeutic touch and herbal medicine has always rankled many
scientists. That the idea for its creation 17 years ago came from a U.S.
senator newly converted to alternative medicine's promise didn't
help..." |
|
|
FDA Assessing Feasibility of Using Nanotechnology Test to Detect Anthrax
Following a Bioterrorist Attack |
|
| FDA News Release |
|
| March 17, 2009 |
|
| "The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration has completed a "proof-of-concept" study of a test that
quickly and accurately detects the presence of even the smallest amount
of the deadly anthrax toxin. "The FDA findings could form the basis of a
test that allows earlier diagnosis of anthrax infection than currently
possible," said Indira Hewlett, Ph.D., the senior author of the study
and chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Virology, Office of Blood
Research and Review, at the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and
Research (CBER). 'The earlier those infected with anthrax can be
treated, the better.' A proof-of-concept study is an initial
investigation that aims to determine if a new scientific idea or concept
holds promise for further development. A report on the results of this
study appears in the March issue of Clinical and Vaccine Immunology..." |
|
|
An Outbreak of Autism, or a Statistical Fluke? |
|
|
New York Times |
|
|
March 17, 2009 |
|
|
"Autism is terrifying the community of Somali immigrants in
Minneapolis, and some pediatricians and educators have joined parents in
raising the alarm. But public health experts say it is hard to tell
whether the apparent surge of cases is an actual outbreak, with a cause
that can be addressed, or just a statistical fluke. In an effort to find
out, the Minnesota Department of Health is conducting an epidemiological
survey in consultation with the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention..." |
|
|
Flu Gains Strength After Going Easy on Iowa |
|
|
The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) |
|
|
March 16, 2009 |
|
|
"Spring may be in the air, but it's still flu season for many Iowans,
especially children. Just a week after announcing that Iowa's influenza
season has been one of the mildest in several years, the Iowa Department
of Public Health noted Friday that flu is on the rise in many schools.
Spokeswoman Polly Carver Kimm said schools throughout the state,
including Eastern Iowa, are seeing an uptick in illness-related
absences. Last week alone, more than 15 Iowa schools reported
consecutive days in which 10 percent or more of students were absent
because of illness. Despite the recent increase, the overall level of
influenza activity for the state remains low, the department reported. A
relatively mild winter and a good match between the circulating strains
of flu and this season's flu vaccine were cited as reasons. Vaccination
is recommended even this late, and people who received the vaccine early
in the fall will still be protected, according to the health
department..." |
|
|
Dr. Dustin Ballard: Don't blame autism on shots |
|
|
Marin Independent Journal (CA) |
|
|
March 15, 2009 |
|
|
"Did you know that the more ice cream you eat, the thinner you are?
It's surprising, but true. If you track the average person's weight over
the course of a year, you'll find that they are lighter when they eat
more ice cream and heavier when they eat less. Before you rush out to
stock up on pints of Cold Stone Creamery and shares of Ben & Jerry's, I
should mention that people eat more ice cream in the summer. They are
also more active and have higher metabolic rates in warmer weather. So,
perhaps it's not the ice cream that leads to weight loss but rather
seasonal variation in calorie burning. What's the lesson here? That
causality can be elusive..." |
|
|
Girl's Death Raises Questions About Alternative Therapies |
|
| NewsChannel 5 (TN) |
|
| March 13, 2009 |
|
| "More and more people are turning to
alternative therapies to deal with serious medical problems. But now, a
little girl's death is raising serious questions about some of those
therapies. 'NewsChannel 5 Investigates' discovered that authorities want
to know whether the six-year-old girl may have been harmed, instead of
being helped, by the treatment she received..." |
|
|
Margaret Hamburg Said to Be Obama's Pick to Head the FDA |
|
| Los Angeles Times |
|
|
March 12, 2009 |
|
|
"President Obama has decided to nominate former New York City Health
Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to head the Food and Drug Administration,
turning to a onetime Clinton administration official to help right the
beleaguered regulatory agency, a source briefed on the choice said
Wednesday. Hamburg, 53, a physician who has worked extensively on
bioterrorism issues, is a senior scientist at the Nuclear Threat
Initiative, a Washington-based foundation focused on threats from
nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. Though less experienced as a
regulator, Hamburg has extensive government experience. She served as
health commissioner in New York for six years in the 1990s before
becoming assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at the
Department of Health and Human Services in 1997. Another leader in
public health, Baltimore Health Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein, 39, is
widely expected to be named Hamburg's deputy. A pediatrician by
training, Sharfstein led the Obama transition team's assessment of the
FDA. He also has worked as an aide to Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly
Hills), a leading critic of the pharmaceutical industry..." |
|
|
Conference Takes on Autism, Vaccines; But Unlike Many such Gatherings,
Support for Vaccinating Is Strong Florida Times-Union |
|
|
March 12, 2009 |
|
|
"A bill before Florida lawmakers that would relax the state's
childhood vaccination mandate may make more children vulnerable to the
measles, chicken pox and other potentially life-threatening diseases,
disease experts warned Wednesday. The bill would allow parents to object
to having their children immunized on 'philosophical' grounds, opening a
door to parents worried about the controversial link between vaccines
and autism. Many already bypass the state's vaccine mandate, using
existing medical and religious waivers to do so, observers say. Paul
Offit, chief of infectious diseases at the Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia and an outspoken vaccine proponent, told a medical group in
Jacksonville that the 21 states with philosophical exemptions are seeing
higher rates of measles..." |
|
|
Book Review: Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and
the Search for a Cure |
|
|
The New England Journal of Medicine |
|
|
March 12, 2009 |
|
|
"In recent years, the public has been increasingly concerned about
adverse events that have been attributed to vaccines. Although such
safety concerns have existed since the days of Edward Jenner, modern-day
opponents of vaccines are waging a particularly aggressive and personal
campaign against advocates of vaccines. Paul Offit notes in the opening
lines of his book that he has been the target of such personal attacks,
partly because of his public support for the safety and efficacy of
vaccines and partly because of his relationship with the pharmaceutical
industry in the licensure of his rotavirus vaccine..." |
|
|
Linking Vaccines, Autism Tantamount to Crying 'Fire' Where There Isn't
One |
|
|
CBC News (CAN) |
|
|
March 12, 2009 |
|
|
"It is a story that began when British gastroenterologist Andrew
Wakefield and colleagues reported in 1998 that they had found a link
between 12 children's vaccinations — for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR)
— and the onset of autism. But then when the findings couldn't be
replicated - analyses of large numbers of Finnish children, for example,
produced no connection between MMR and autism rates — people such as
British journalist Brian Deer began to look again at Dr. Wakefield's
research and methodology..." |
|
|
Rotavirus Vaccines -- Early Success, Remaining Questions |
|
|
New England Journal of Medicine |
|
|
March 12, 2009 |
|
|
"In 2006, the results of pivotal clinical trials of two new rotavirus
vaccines — RotaTeq (Merck)
and Rotarix (GlaxoSmithKline) — were published, and high efficacy (85 to
98%) against severe
rotavirus diarrhea was reported for both products.1,2 Perhaps even more
important, neither vaccine
was associated with intussusception, an adverse effect that had led to
the withdrawal of another
rotavirus vaccine — RotaShield, made by Wyeth-Lederle — from the U.S.
market in 1999. The rapid
resurgence of rotavirus vaccines after the abrupt and devastating
setback associated with the
withdrawal of RotaShield was remarkable, reflecting the commitment of
the public health community
and the vaccine industry to preventing this most common cause of severe
diarrhea in children. In
the United States, rotavirus causes an estimated 3 million cases of
diarrhea each year; medical
attention is sought for more than 500,000 children, and 60,000 to 70,000
are hospitalized. In the
developing world, the disease kills more than half a million children
annually..." |
|
|
Holmes Reporting 'Isolated Cluster' of Whooping Cough |
|
|
Daily Record (OH) |
|
|
March 12, 2009 |
|
|
"With one confirmed and three probable cases, it's being considered a
seasonal epidemic of whooping cough in Holmes County, according to
health department officials, quick to note the occurrences represent not
an outbreak, but an isolated cluster. A positive case of pertussis,
commonly called whooping cough, was reported to the Holmes County Health
District on Feb. 26, after lab results identified the presence of
bacterial DNA in a sample taken two days before from a 6-month-old boy,
said epidemiologist Vaughn Anderson. The infant shares a home with
siblings ages 2, 5 and 6, all of whom displayed symptoms of the disease,
which is highly communicable through respiration droplets. Although the
siblings were not tested, all were treated with antibiotics, Anderson
said, adding none of the children had been vaccinated..." |
|
|
Bordetella Pertussis Booster Shot for Adults Urged as Cases Rise |
|
|
Times-Picayune |
|
|
March 12, 2009 |
|
|
"Immunization from childhood can wear off Most people think whooping
cough is a disease of the past that only children can acquire.
Unfortunately, the disease is still around and is on the rise in
Louisiana and not just in the pediatric population. Last year, more than
60 cases of the disease, also known as pertussis, were reported to the
Louisiana Department of Public Health. This was a substantial increase
from the previous year, said state epidemiologist Raoult Ratard. In
Region 9, which consists of St. Tammany, Washington, Tangipahoa,
Livingston and St. Helena, 15 cases were reported, the second-highest in
the state..." |
|
|
Bacterial Meningitis Spikes among College Students |
|
|
Tribune Review |
|
|
March 12, 2009 |
|
|
"In photos, Chelsea Kay Kanatus looks like one of those girls who had
it all -- silky blonde hair, blue eyes and a dazzling smile with perfect
white teeth. Looking at them, her mother can't believe she's gone,
buried in a Virginia cemetery on Monday, one week after her death from
bacterial meningitis. It happened so fast. Sheila Pack, of Stephens
City, Va., said the horrific chain of events started Feb. 28 when her
daughter, a 19-year-old West Virginia University freshman, went to
Morgantown's Ruby Memorial Hospital emergency room for treatment of
flulike symptoms. She was treated and sent home, but returned the next
morning and was admitted to the hospital because her condition worsened.
Pack jumped in her car and raced to Morgantown, about 160 miles from her
home. By the next morning, Chelsea was gone. "We spent four good hours
talking about everything," Pack said, her voice breaking with emotion.
"I'm so glad I got there in time." Since mid-February, at least seven
college students in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia have been
stricken with meningococcal, or bacterial, meningitis, an infection of
fluid in the spinal cord and surrounding the brain. About 3,000 cases --
including 300 fatalities -- are reported annually in the United States,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention..." |
|
|
Surge in Flu Cases at WSU Health And Wellness Services |
|
|
WSU News |
|
|
March 12, 2009 |
|
|
"The number of students going to Washington State University Health
and Wellness Services (HWS) for the flu in the last two weeks is more
than triple the number of the last three months combined. "We've
diagnosed 28 students with influenza since the beginning of March. It's
a mixture of type A and B, and other clinics in the area as well as the
hospital have also seen an increase in the number of flu patients," said
Dr. Bruce Wright, director of HWS. "I've had a few phone calls from
faculty wondering if there's a new illness going around campus. But it
isn't something new, just a late flu season. This comes at a terrible
time for students who are trying to finish up mid-terms and head out of
town for spring break, but staff and faculty should be aware this is
happening and take precautions for themselves..." |
|
|
Opinion: Lazy or misguided few are gambling with young lives |
|
| Daily Telegraph (AUS) |
|
| March 12, 2009 |
|
| "Mumps, measles, rubella, whooping
cough, diphtheria. They are not just a few spots, a nasty cough, a few
days rest in bed. They can kill and do kill. And yet still there is a
small but significant number of parents, motivated by misguided fears or
worse still laziness and self-interest, that are choosing not to
vaccinate their children. That may be their right but they also have the
obligation to acknowledge that they are putting children and babies at
greater risk of catching serious and at times deadly diseases..." |
|
|
The Deadly Danger of Dismissing Immunisation Shots |
|
| The Daily Telegraph (AUS) |
|
| March 12, 2009 |
|
| "Ancient diseases wiped out by
vaccines are festering in pockets across the state where parents
continue to refuse to vaccinate their children. Health experts last
night warned of the return of potentially deadly illnesses, as a
whooping cough epidemic already sweeps across NSW..." |
|
|
Angola: Record Rabies Outbreak Kills 93 Children |
|
|
ReliefWeb |
|
|
March 11, 2009 |
|
|
"One of the most severe rabies epidemics to hit Angola has claimed
the lives of at least 93 children within 3 months in the capital,
Luanda. 'The 93 children were brought to our hospital and are the only
ones we know of, so the number could be higher,' said Luis Bernardino,
head of the Hospital Pediatrico David Bernardino in Luanda, the
country's largest referral hospital. 'The number of cases has, however,
started declining now.' He said the hospital was unable to save any of
the children, as it had run out of doses of rabies vaccine; in some
instances, the children were brought in too late. "It is a sad moment
for us," said Bernardino. Francois Meslin, the rabies expert at the
World Health Organisation (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, said in the last
severe rabies outbreak, from 1998 to 2003 in Indonesia's Flores Island,
100 people had died within a year..." |
|
|
Evidence Supports Vaccines |
|
| Joliet Herald News (IL) |
|
| March 11, 2009 |
|
| "A new book defending childhood
vaccines, along with a recent court decision affirming that there seems
to be no connection between vaccines and autism, should calm the nerves
of anxious parents, physicians say. The book, 'Autism's False Prophets,'
by pediatrician Dr. Paul Offit, is meant to shoot down celebrities and
the handful of physicians Offit calls, 'fringe scientists' who believe
childhood vaccinations, or the mercury preservative once used in them,
cause autism in children..." |
|
|
Warning After Huge Rise in Mumps |
|
| BBC News |
|
| March 11, 2009 |
|
| "Cases of mumps in Greater Manchester
are eight times higher than they were a year ago, according to
officials. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is urging parents to
ensure children are vaccinated after 34 confirmed cases since the start
of 2009. The figure will rise if any more of the current 223 'notified'
cases are confirmed by lab testing. There were just four confirmed cases
in the same period last year, out of 68 notifications, the HPA said..." |
|
|
Most Women Willing to Get HPV Vaccine |
|
| United Press International |
|
| March 11, 2009 |
|
| "Most women are willing to be
vaccinated against the human papillomavirus and have their daughters and
sons vaccinated, as well, U.S. researchers say. The study, published in
the journal Gynecologic Oncology, also found that Latino women are just
as likely, if not more so, to accept HPV vaccine as non-Latinos. 'Since
the incidence and mortality of cervical cancer are higher among Latino
women in the United States, we were interested in whether the vaccine
acceptance rate in this high-risk population was the same as for
non-Latino women,' Dr. Marcela del Carmen of the Massachusetts General
Hospital Cancer Center who was the senior author, said in a
statement..." |
|
|
Students Face More Vaccinations |
|
| Topeka Capital Journal (KS) |
|
| March 10, 2009 |
|
| "Kansas students will be getting more
shots before going back to school next fall after the state health
department increased immunization requirements. Students in sixth
through ninth grades will see the biggest changes this year, including
three doses of hepatitis B vaccine that previously were required only
for pupils in kindergarten through fifth grade. All students will be
required to have those vaccinations for the 2010-2011 school year. 'he
need for vaccination coverage, based on the disease outbreaks that we've
had, overrode the need to gradually phase in requirements,' said Sue
Bowden, director of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment's
immunization program. 'We are motivated to get children protected
against the disease,' Bowden said. 'We have had varicella outbreaks
across the state...'" |
|
|
Maine Kids' Immunization Rates Decline |
|
| Bangor Daily News |
|
| March 10, 2009 |
|
| "Maine's compliance with federal
childhood immunization recommendations continues to slide, leaving more
youngsters at risk for potentially lethal illnesses such as polio,
diphtheria and whooping cough. The immunization rate is just one of a
number of indicators of children's well-being contained in a report
slated for release at the State House this morning. The annual Maine
KidsCount report compares year-to-year state data on poverty, education,
and physical and mental health..." |
|
|
A Flu Bug Can Quickly Dunk a Basketball Team; College and pro squads put
up all manner of defenses against this other hoops fever |
|
| Los Angeles Times |
|
| March 10, 2009 |
|
| "A stubborn flu bug had pestered the
UCLA basketball team for weeks, hitting one player, then another. So
when the Bruins gathered for dinner recently, their athletic trainer
made an announcement. 'Hey, guys,' Carrie Rubertino Shearer recalled
saying, 'great opportunity to wash your hands right now.' They all
laughed, but she wasn't joking. When it comes to basketball -- from high
school through the pros -- influenza is the hidden opponent on
everyone's schedule. This other hoops fever has been part of the sport's
folklore since Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals, when the Chicago Bulls'
Michael Jordan dragged himself out of bed to score 38 points against the
Utah Jazz..." |
|
|
16 Patients Have Hepatitis in Army Needle Scare |
|
| March 10, 2009 |
|
| WIBW.com |
|
| "Army officials say 16 patients
exposed to a mismanaged insulin needle program at a military hospital in
Texas have tested positive for hepatitis B or C [virus infection]. The
patients at the William Beaumont Army Medical Center were among more
than 2000 diabetics who may have been exposed to blood-borne illnesses
because multiple patients were given injections from the same insulin
pen. Officials at the Army hospital at Fort Bliss have said it's unclear
if the patients contracted hepatitis from the injections that were
performed from August 2007 to January 2009..." |
|
|
Child Recovering from Meningitis |
|
| Bangor Daily News |
|
| March 10, 2009 |
|
| "A 3-year-old from the midcoast area
of Maine is recovering from a serious case of meningitis and blood
infection caused by the bacterium Haemophilus influenzae type B, or Hib.
According to a health alert issued Monday by the Maine Center for
Disease Control and Prevention, the child had not undergone the full
four-injection series of Hib vaccines recommended by the federal CDC and
became ill in late February..." |
|
|
What Does the Doctor Talk to Your Teenager About? |
|
| Seattle Post Intelligencer |
|
| March 9, 2009 |
|
| "If you're the parent of a 'tween or
teen, chances are you've been asked to leave the room during your
child's visit to the doctor so they can have a private chat. Now of
course I believe that teenagers should have a trusting relationship with
their doctors. But while I'm sitting there alone in the waiting room,
watching the younger mommies bounce babies on their knees, I can't help
but wonder what my kids are telling the doctor behind that closed
door..." |
|
|
Op-ed What vaccine dilemma? |
|
| Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
|
| March 8, 2009 |
|
| "The vaccine-autism controversy
continues, as reflected in last Sunday's front-page article in the
Post-Gazette bearing the unfortunate title, "The Vaccine Dilemma." There
is no vaccine dilemma. It's true that the number of cases of autism in
the United States is on the rise, with the diagnosis applied in 2007 to
1 of every 150 children. Significant reasons appear to be improved
detection, increased awareness and a broader definition of what
constitutes autism. While these explanations may not account for the
entire increase in cases, science has firmly established the role that
vaccines and vaccine preservatives play: NONE! There is NO LINK between
vaccines and autism. It is essential that people understand how
epidemiologists detect the causes of disease..." |
|
|
Meningitis Strikes a Third Student at Appleton North High School: Others
who may have had contact with victims sought |
|
| The Post-Crescent (WI) |
|
| March 7, 2009 |
|
| "A bowl of frosting is suspected in
the transfer of a bacterial strain of meningitis that passed from one
infected person to two others. Kurt Eggebrecht, Appleton city health
officer, said Friday the third case of suspected meningitis was
confirmed. All three victims are Appleton North High School students and
an advisory to parents is posted on the school's Web site..." |
|
|
Grosse Ile School Closed Because of Illness |
|
| Detroit Free Press |
|
| March 6, 2009 |
|
| "State health officials said this
year's flu season has been mild so far, but Grosse Ile school officials
had to close one of their two elementary schools Thursday because so
many kids have come down with respiratory infections..." |
|
|
Whooping Cough Outbreak Feared |
|
| Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) |
|
| March 5, 2009 |
|
| "More than a dozen high school
wrestlers and fans infected with whooping cough attended the state high
school wrestling tournament in Tacoma two weeks ago, and state health
officials are watching for a large-scale outbreak of the disease. Also
called pertussis, the illness is relatively uncommon. There were 482
cases of whooping cough statewide in 2007, according to state Health
Department statistics. Many more cases may go undiagnosed. Investigators
with the Department of Health have been trying to track everyone exposed
to the disease. More than 1,000 wrestlers and 30,000 fans filled the
Tacoma Dome on Feb. 20-21..." |
|
|
Epidemic Fears as Babies Infected |
|
| Taranaki Daily News (NZ) |
|
| March 5, 2009 |
|
| "Three Canterbury babies have been
hospitalised with whooping cough as doctors fear a surge in cases will
lead to deaths or brain damage. Many children have been infected in
Canterbury and the Nelson-Marlborough region. Medical experts are
warning of an epidemic if the cases continue. Nationally, rates of the
potentially fatal disease are higher than at any stage for the past six
years. Canterbury Medical Officer of Health, Dr Ramon Pink, said there
were 34 cases of whooping cough, or pertussis, reported in the region
last month..." |
|
|
S.L. County Infant's Death Tied to Flu |
|
| Salt Lake Tribune |
|
| March 5, 2009 |
|
| "A Salt Lake County infant is one of
at least 18 babies nationwide who have died from flu-related
complications since the season started in September. The Utah child, who
was under age 1, had not been immunized and his or her cause of death
was listed as influenza-related, according to the Salt Lake Valley
Health Department. Last year, two Utah children's deaths were associated
with the flu. There have also been 131 influenza-associated
hospitalizations in Utah, compared to 268 last year. Public health
officials continue to urge Utahns to get a flu shot, saying the season
has not peaked..." |
|
|
Man Who Died from Flu also Had Staph Infection MRSA |
|
| Pittsburgh Tribune-Review |
|
| March 5, 2009 |
|
| "A man who died of the flu and
pneumonia this week also had a drug-resistant staph infection, the
Allegheny County Health Department said today. The 25-year-old man,
whose identity has not been released, died Tuesday at an undisclosed
hospital. He was admitted Feb. 27 and received treatment for a
respiratory ailment, said Health Department spokesman Guillermo Cole.
Tests showed he had the flu, pneumonia, a lung infection and the staph
infection known as MRSA..." |
|
|
WVU Meningitis Victim Was from Virginia |
|
| MSNBC. com |
|
| March 5, 2009 |
|
| "The 19-year-old West Virginia
University freshman who died of suspected bacterial meningitis has been
identified as Chelsea Kanatus. She graduated last year from Sherando
High School in Stephens City, Va. Health officials said Wednesday they
could not release the girl’s name until her family agreed to waive her
right to privacy. They also say they’re confident they’ve identified
everyone who had significant contact with Kanatus. A total of 40 people,
in Morgantown and elsewhere, have been treated with antibiotics as a
precaution..." |
|
|
Meningitis Strikes Soldier: Woman improving, Army reports |
|
| The State (SC) |
|
| March 4, 2009 |
|
| "A Fort Jackson soldier who is going
through advanced training was in a Columbia hospital Friday with a form
of meningitis. Tests indicated the female soldier has gram-negative
Neisseria meningitis, the Army said. The strain is different from the
type of meningitis that killed two soldiers in mid-February at Fort
Leonard Wood, Mo., another Army training post. The Fort Jackson soldier,
who was diagnosed with the illness Thursday, was in a step-down
intensive care unit and showing signs of improvement, an Army spokesman
said..." |
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Health Officials Say Meningitis Ravaging Northern Nigeria |
|
| Voice of America |
|
| March 4, 2009 |
|
| "Health officials are reporting an
outbreak of meningitis in northern Nigeria, which has claimed more than
60 lives, so far. Nigeria lies in the "meningitis belt" that stretches
across the continent, from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east.
January 2009, meningitis cases have been reported in virtually every
state in northern Nigeria. The most affected states are Gombe, Kano,
Katsina and Bauchi...." |
|
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Girl Dies from Flu-Related Complications |
|
| Press Enterprise (CA) |
|
| March 4, 2009 |
|
| "A Riverside County girl is one of
two children to be identified by state and local officials as the first
to die from influenza-related complications this flu season. The
unidentified girl, who was younger than 15 years old, died in late
February, said Barbara Cole, disease control director of the Riverside
County Department of Public Health. Cole would not say whether the girl
was 13-year-old Brittney Marie Peters, who died Feb. 20. The Norco
Intermediate School eighth-grader died of complications of pneumonia
after having influenza type B, according to her family..." |
|
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Influenza Hospitalizations Down in Iowa |
|
| KCRG- TV (IA) |
|
| March 4, 2009 |
|
| "The Iowa Department of Health say
there has been an 86 percent drop in the number of people hospitalized
for the flu. In Dubuque, the number of people being hospitalized for the
flu is down both at Finley and at Mercy Medical Center. Although it
feels like spring is on the way. Health experts warn flu season is far
from over..." |
|
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NH to Require More School Immunizations |
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| Boston Globe |
|
| March 4, 2009 |
|
| "Starting next fall, New Hampshire will require chicken pox and whooping
cough booster shots before
children can attend school. Health experts thought the two diseases had
been largely stamped out
years ago, but the state says chicken pox and whooping cough have
resurfaced in American schools.
Marcella Bobinsky, New Hampshire's immunization program manager, says
the state is making the
change to comply with the vaccination schedule recommended by the
federal government. She said New
Hampshire saw 227 confirmed cases of whooping cough in 2006..." |
|
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Health Officials Urge Vaccinations after Whooping Cough Increases in
Dallas, Tarrant Counties |
|
| Dallas Morning News |
|
| March 3, 2009 |
|
| "Dallas and Tarrant county health
officials are urging residents to properly vaccinate themselves against
whooping cough this year after seeing a spike in cases in 2008. Health
officials attribute the growth last year to people not getting necessary
vaccinations and boosters, as well as infected people going back out in
public before they fully recover. In Tarrant County, 240 cases were
reported in 2008 – a threefold increase from the 79 cases reported the
year before, according to health officials. That amounted to nearly a
third of the more than 900 cases that were reported across the entire
state in 2006. A total of 167 cases were reported in Dallas County in
2008, up from 99 cases in 2007, said Jacqueline Bell, a Dallas County
Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman..." |
|
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In the War Against Flu's Mutants, a Big Ally Is Weakened |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
|
| March 3, 2009 |
|
| "A flu strain has become impervious
to a widely used drug called Tamiflu, prompting scientists to worry
about the disease's ability to resist treatment. Just a few years ago,
many experts believed the drug was so cleverly designed that a
widespread outbreak of Tamiflu-resistant flu was unlikely. But through a
combination of mutations that scientists don't fully understand, the
most common strain of flu circulating this winter doesn't respond to
Tamiflu, according to a report published online Monday in the Journal of
the American Medical Association. This has led some scientists to
question whether it will ever be possible for a single drug to treat all
strains of the flu..." |
|
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Cervical Cancer Outcomes Differ According to HPV Genotype |
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| Reuters Health |
|
| March 3, 2009 |
|
| "Invasive cervical cancer outcomes
are worse with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes than with
intermediate-risk HPV genotypes, according to a report in the February
15th International Journal of Cancer. 'HPV genotypes 16 and 18 represent
70% of invasive carcinomas (this figure is to be kept in mind in the
perspective of prophylactic anti HPV16/18 vaccination), and 4% of
invasive carcinomas are HPV-negative (a figure to keep in mind in the
perspective of screening intra-epithelial neoplasia via virological
detection),' Dr. Xavier Sastre-Garau from Institut Curie, Paris, told
Reuters Health. Dr. Sastre-Garau and colleagues sought to define the HPV
genotypes found in women with invasive carcinoma in France and to assess
the prognostic value of the different HPV types. The most prevalent
genotypes found among the 515 women with invasive cervical cancer
studied were HPV 16 (55.5%) and HPV 18 (14.2%), the authors report. A
minority of women (4.1%) had no HPV DNA sequences. Most women with
squamous cell carcinoma had HPV 16 (59%), the report indicates, whereas
more women with adenocarcinoma had HPV 18 (41%)..." |
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Big Metro School District Alerts Families about Chickenpox Uptick: One
Eagan elementary school has had more than 30 cases since January |
|
| March 3, 2009 |
|
| "A large Twin Cities school district
is concerned about dozens of chickenpox cases surfacing lately among
students and is alerting families. The 28,000-student Rosemount-Apple
Valley-Eagan district is reporting today that Dakota County and state
health officials are recommending that a second dose of the varicella
(chickenpox) vaccine be given to all students who have had just one
dose..." |
|
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Another Nassau Child, 9, Most Likely Killed by Flu |
|
| Newsday (NY) |
|
| March 3, 2009 |
|
| "A 9-year-old Woodmere child who died
Saturday most probably had the flu, according to the Nassau County
Department of Health. If the presence of the virus is confirmed, the
death will be the second of a child in the county in a month from
influenza A..." |
|
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English Measles Invasion Spreads Across Otago |
|
| Otago Daily Times (NZ) |
|
| March 2, 2009 |
|
| "An English measles [as opposed to
German measles] outbreak which began early last month [February 2009]
has now affected 13 Otago people aged from 4 to 22 years. Medical
Officer of Health for Otago Southland Dr John Holmes said new cases
could all be linked to the original 4 that turned up in an unvaccinated
family which had traveled to Viet Nam in January 2009. Dr Holmes said he
was keeping an open mind on the possibility of more cases and that it
was important that if doctors thought an illness was measles that they
order relevant blood tests. The illness is considered rare in New
Zealand, with 12 cases recorded last year. Three of the new cases
occurred in Logan Park High School pupils..." |
|
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Doctors: No definitive answers on flu deaths among young |
|
| CNN |
|
| March 2, 2009 |
|
| "For most, the flu is a winter
inconvenience -- stuffy nose, fever, body aches and a few days of bed
rest. But what seems fairly routine also can become life-threatening.
The majority of flu deaths strike the elderly and people with
pre-existing health problems. But flu also affects kids with no known
medical problems and can send them into critical condition, or even
death..." |
|
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The Flu Kills Healthy Kids, but Flu Shots Can Still Help |
|
| US News & World Report Blog |
|
| March 2, 2009 |
|
| "Flu can kill healthy kids, and the
scariest part for parents is that it's impossible to know if your child
will be one of those horrible rare cases. The two Maryland teenagers who
died suddenly of the flu late last month—13-year-old Ian Willis of
Urbana and 15-year-old Zachary Weiland of Woodbine—seemed to be having
the typical miserable, achy run-in with the flu, until their symptoms
suddenly worsened. In both cases, the parents took their child swiftly
to the emergency room, but doctors weren't able to save the boys..." |
|
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In Adults, Shots Are Best for Flu |
|
| New York Times |
|
| March 2, 2009 |
|
| "For the best protection against
winter flu, adults may just have to roll up their sleeves and take shots
the old-fashioned way. After reviewing the medical records of more than
one million members of the United States military over a three-year
period, researchers have found that conventional intramuscular shots
reduced doctor visits for flulike symptoms by up to 54 percent, while an
intranasal vaccine curbed flu-related visits by just 21 percent at best.
The intranasal vaccine, FluMist, is primarily marketed for use in
children and is believed to be more effective than the conventional
vaccine for them..." |
|
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Gene Could Link Autism, Digestive Problems |
|
| USA TODAY |
|
| March 2, 2009 |
|
| "Researchers are studying a gene that
may cause both autism and gastrointestinal disorders, a study in
Monday's Pediatrics reports. More than 30% of people with autism also
have some kind of stomach or intestinal problem, compared with fewer
than 10% of people who aren't autistic, says study author Daniel
Campbell, research assistant professor at Vanderbilt University..." |
|
|
Landmark Ruling Finds No Link Between Vaccine and Autism: Physicians
applauded the special court's finding and hope parents who had refused
vaccines will now have their children immunize |
|
| American Medical News |
|
| March 2, 2009 |
|
| "Vaccine supporters rejoiced Feb. 12
when judges in a special federal court rejected the theory that the
measles, mumps and rubella vaccine combined with the preservative
thimerosal caused the disabling autism that affected three children and
their families. The three had served as the petitioners in test cases
representing about 5,000 families who sought damages from the National
Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The families believed vaccines,
particularly the MMR vaccine administered to their children as infants,
caused the disorder..." |
|
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Teen Deaths Bring Flu Vaccine Reminder |
|
| Daily Times |
|
| March 1, 2009 |
|
| "Citing February deaths of teenagers in Howard and Frederick counties,
the Wicomico County Health
Department has issued a late-season reminder that 'it is not too late to
get vaccinated against
seasonal influenza.' The number of confirmed cases is down so far this
season in most places,
although health officials are braced for flu activity in the months
ahead, citing an increase in
the number of Maryland cases late in the season that suggests the bug's
far from done..." |
|
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Doctors Should Be Pushing for Influenza Vaccinations |
|
Tennessean
By William Schaffner, MD |
|
| March 1, 2009 |
|
| "Influenza activity is now widespread
in Tennessee, and Tennesseans need to know that getting vaccinated at
this time remains beneficial. Health-care professionals also need to do
their part by recommending vaccination at every opportunity. Since it
takes only about two weeks to develop protection after receiving the
vaccine — and since we can expect influenza to continue circulating
in our area for even longer — getting vaccinated now can be a
lifesaver..." |
|
|
Teens' Deaths Show Flu's Broad Reach |
|
| Washington Post |
|
| March 1, 2009 |
|
| "The recent influenza-related deaths
of two Maryland teens calls attention to the flu's unpredictable nature.
It's not clear whether the boys, 13-year-old Ian Willis of Urbana and
15-year-old Zachary Weiland of Woodbine, had received flu vaccinations,
but it appears that both were healthy teens -- not the compromised or
frail people typically thought of as being susceptible. The deaths
aren't entirely anomalies. Every year, 36,000 U.S. deaths are attributed
to influenza, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Last flu season, 83 flu deaths struck people under 18; this
time, with the flu season just underway, 17 children have died, not
counting Ian and Zachary..." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
San Francisco Department of Public Health Contained Measles Outbreak,
Possibly Saving Lives |
|
| San Francisco Weekly |
|
| February 27, 2009 |
|
| "Just weeks ago, a San Francisco man
who had traveled abroad brought back a deadly souvenir. He had spent
some time in Europe with a friend who had been diagnosed with measles,
and several days after he returned to the city, he began showing
symptoms..." |
|
|
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..." |
|
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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..." |
|
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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..." |
|
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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..." |
|
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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..." |
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|
WHO to Give Poor Countries Flu Vaccine |
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