New Meningitis Vaccine Works in Infants

A new type of meningitis vaccine appears to offer protection for babies against several strains of the deadly bacterial form of the disease, British and Canadian researchers report.The new vaccine, which is not yet licensed in the United States, provides immunity against four strains of meningococcal disease in all age groups, according to a study in the Jan. 9 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. There is currently no meningococcal vaccine approved for use in children under 2 in the United States.

"The key message for parents to take from this study is that this vaccine has the potential to reduce the number of cases of meningitis in babies and young children," said study author Dr. Matthew Snape, a pediatrician at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

"There are approximately 1,400 to 2,800 cases of meningococcal infections in the United States per year. Approximately 10 to 14 percent of people experiencing this disease will die, and 20 percent of survivors will have long-term disabilities," said Snape. "The highest rates of disease are seen in children under the age of 2 years."

Meningitis is an infection that occurs in the spinal fluid, and it can be caused by a virus or bacterium, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The bacterial forms of meningitis tend to be more serious, potentially causing brain damage, hearing loss and learning disabilities. Two vaccines -- the Haemophilus influenza (Hib) and pneumococcal -- can protect youngsters, including babies, against certain strains of bacterial meningitis, but not all. Two other vaccines offer protection against four strains of the Neisseria meningitidis bacteria -- one for children aged 2 to 10 and the other for those aged 11 and up -- but neither offers protection to babies.

The latest vaccine, produced by Novartis, offers protection against four serotypes of meningococcal disease: groups A, C, W-135 and Y, according to Snape. The current study was designed to assess the new vaccine's effectiveness and safety in infants.

The British and Canadian researchers recruited a total of 421 2-month-old infants for the phase II randomized, controlled trial. The 225 British infants received the new vaccine, called Menveo, at 2, 3 and 4 months or at 2 and 4 months of age, or they were given one of the current N. meningitides vaccines at 2 and 4 months, and then all received the new vaccine at 12 months. The 196 Canadian babies were given the new vaccine at 2, 4 and 6 months or at 2 and 4 months, and then at 12 months, they were either given another shot of the new vaccine, a shot of one of the current vaccines, or no vaccine at all, according to the study.

"The study showed that the [Menveo] vaccine was able to stimulate production of protective antibodies against all four meningococcal groups in most of the children receiving the vaccine," said Snape. "For example, for children receiving the vaccine at 2, 3, 4 and 12 months of age, protective antibody levels were seen in 94 percent or above for all the meningococcus types."

Additionally, Snape said the vaccine was well-tolerated, and there were no serious adverse events related to the vaccine. He also noted that the vaccine doesn't contain the controversial preservative, thimerosal.

"This is a potentially huge advance for the prevention of meningococcal disease," said the author of an accompanying editorial in the same issue of the journal, Dr. Lee Harrison, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh. "This vaccine is looking very promising."

Novartis is currently conducting phase III clinical trials on the vaccine and hopes to begin the licensing procedure in the United States sometime in 2008, though it would still be a few more years before any vaccine would be commercially available in this country.

In the meantime, Harrison pointed out, "Parents should also know that there are already two vaccines to help prevent meningitis for infants -- the group at highest risk -- Hib and pneumococcal vaccine. The new vaccine would just be the third piece of the puzzle."

For parents with older children, Harrison said there's already a "very good vaccine" available for 11- to 18-year olds to prevent meningitis.

Source:health.usnews.com

Infant vaccine against meningitis shows promise

An experimental vaccine appears to protect newborns from meningococcal disease, a major cause of meningitis.

Babies under 1 year are especially vulnerable to meningococcal disease. Infants this age have the highest rates of infection but aren't protected by an existing vaccine, which is approved only for children over 2.

Though this type of meningitis is relatively rare — it afflicts only 1,400 to 2,800 Americans a year — it can be devastating. Ten percent to 14% of patients die, and up to 20% of survivors develop long-term disabilities, such as brain damage, hearing loss or amputation, according to a study in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.

"It's one of the few infections left in the U.S. that can kill a healthy young person in only a couple of hours," says Lee Harrison, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study.

Doctors hope an experimental shot from Novartis, called Menveo, will prevent much of that suffering. Researchers in Canada and the United Kingdom tested Menveo — which targets four of five meningococcal bacteria strains — in more than 400 babies, the study said. The study received funding from Novartis.

Babies need several doses of Menveo for long-term immunity. The vaccine was about 94% effective when given in four doses, one at 2 months, 3 months, 4 months and 12 months — a dosing schedule that fits into standard vaccination programs in the U.K., says study author Matthew Snape, a pediatrician at the University of Oxford.

When given in three doses, one each at 2 months, 4 months and 12 months — the standard pattern for shots in the USA — the vaccine was 86% to 100% effective, providing more protection against some strains of the bacteria than others, Snape says.

If approved, a meningococcal vaccine could prevent half of the roughly 300 cases of meningococcal meningitis in babies under 2, says Amanda Cohn, a pediatrician at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vaccines have made tremendous strides toward eliminating meningitis in recent years. They have reduced the number of meningitis cases by more than 95%, Cohn says.

Meningitis cases in children under 2 fell from about 20,000 a year to roughly 1,500 after the introduction of a vaccine against the bacteria Haemophilus influenzae type b, or Hib, in 1990. Prevnar, a vaccine approved in 2000 that targets the meningitis-causing pneumococcus bacteria, has further reduced illness from the disease, Harrison says.

A meningococcal vaccine "is the next phase of eliminating meningitis in young children," Cohn says. Harrison notes, however, that Menveo needs to be tested in larger studies. Novartis, which has applied for Food and Drug Administration approval, already is conducting broader trials, company spokeswoman Beth Birke says.

Source:www.usatoday.com

All Jacked Up: The Explosive Junk Food Documentary

I was invited to participate in a pioneering new documentary that dared to explore the harmful effects of processed foods and soft drinks on teenagers. I flew to Los Angeles, spent two hours being interviewed on camera, and went back home, hoping my efforts would help educate parents and teens about the dangers of junk foods, fast foods and sodas. The documentary project has since achieved the status of an eye-opening film featuring top-notch health and nutrition experts along with "reality TV" footage of teens experiencing the traumatic repercussions of living on junk foods. Now titled All Jacked Up, this documentary by Faerie Films is poised to become the "Super Size Me" for a younger generation. I'm naming it one of my top recommended must-see films of 2008. (Want a sneak peek? We've got behind-the-scenes footage ready to view online right now, see below...)

All Jacked Up will simply blow your mind. If you thought you knew the whole story on food corporations, the processed meat industry and the harmful health effects of junk foods on children, think again: You'll be stunned, shocked and outraged over what you'll see in this film -- how the food corporations use manipulative marketing messages to take advantage of children and teens, how processed ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup rapidly accelerate diseases like diabetes in youngsters, and how junk foods destroy families, cause depression and even make kids suicidal. Once you pop this film into your DVD player and start watching, you won't be able to walk away. (See below to find out how to get a DVD of this film right now...)

As you might have guessed, my two-hour interview is used throughout the film, so if you're a fan of the kind of information I publish about food companies, you'll absolutely love to see those facts presented on-screen as part of a powerful documentary film that really gets the message across. Check out this behind-the-scenes exclusive footage of my interview with Bobby Rice, the star of All Jacked Up: http://www.newstarget.com/022497.html

Essential Information for Parents, Families

If you have children (or know somebody who does), you need this film. The two hours or so that your family will invest in watching this film will be one of the simplest, yet most powerful things you can do for the health of your children (and yourself!). I invited some friends with teenage children over to my house to watch this film, and I'm not kidding when I say after watching the film, those children immediately and permanently stopped eating processed meat. In watching this film, those children were absolutely shocked by what they learned about processed meat, and on their own they immediately decided to stop eating hot dogs, bacon, beef jerky, salami, pepperoni and other similar processed meat products. I didn't have to say a word... the movie said it all!

All Jacked Up is on its way to the film festivals this year, and it will make the rounds through theaters only after it's been picked up by a major film distribution company. But guess what? I've talked with the principals at Faerie Films and they've agreed to offer the entire film on DVD directly to NewsTarget readers, even before it's released in theaters! I earn nothing on this deal (and wasn't paid to be in the movie, either), but I believe in the message of this documentary so strongly that I'm urging everyone to get the DVD and watch it.

Click here to order the DVD directly from Faerie Films

We even locked in a $5 off discount exclusively for NewsTarget readers, so you'll get the movie at the best price on the 'net. By purchasing this movie, you're also supporting Faerie Films, the studio that was courageous enough to tackle this issue and go to battle with the food corporations, exposing their exploitive, manipulative junk food marketing schemes and detailing how an entire generation of children is now being harmed by processed foods and junk beverages sugared up with corn syrup. Your purchase of this DVD goes to help fund continued moviemaking efforts like this, and that has a tremendous impact on the education of parents and families around the world, so if you get this DVD, feel good about your decision to do so. Order it at the discounted price directly from Faerie Films at http://alljackedupmovie.com/nt/

Here's the first exclusive clip from All Jacked Up, featuring a hilarious animation and a heated conversation about the economic effects of junk food on America: http://www.newstarget.com/022497.html

Warning: Your understanding of food is about to be rocked by All Jacked Up

If you decide to get the film, be warned that you will likely never look at your food the same way again. Even though the film is focused on teenagers, the information applies across the board for people of any age. After viewing this film, you may find yourself instantly changing your eating habits.

Be warned: Some scenes in the film are disturbing. When it gets to the part about the factory farming of cattle and pigs to produce beef and pork, you may want to avert your eyes or mute the sound... it's just too disturbing for any compassionate person to watch without breaking down in tears over what these food companies are doing to living, breathing animals in order to sell more disease-promoting hamburgers to consumers.

But All Jacked Up isn't a movie about vegetarianism. It's actually a mainstream film, and it doesn't push any particular diet (although it does feature one segment with one of the raw foods Boutenko family members). It's focused almost entirely on showing you what's wrong with the "Standard American Diet" and the real cost of that diet in terms of disease, emotional distress and broken lives. It's up to you, the viewer, to decide what kind of diet you want to pursue after watching the movie, but make no mistake: You will automatically choose a healthier diet after watching this film! You can't help it. All Jacked Up speaks to your brain in a way that instantly changes your behavior.

In fact, if your diet isn't as healthy as you'd like it to be, I think watching All Jacked Up is a great way to jolt yourself back into a healthier lifestyle. It's actually a form of cognitive dietary therapy, and if you have children or teenagers, do whatever it takes to sit them down in front of this video and let them watch it. They'll be very interested in the film (because it features the real lives of other teenagers), and they'll emerge from the viewing with completely new ideas about what kind of food and beverages they want to consume. You don't have to say a word; the movie takes care of the message.

All Jacked Up is the secret recipe for changing the diets of your children for the better!

Note: It's not for very young children, however. There are some disturbing "animal processing" scenes that are not appropriate for a six year old, for example. It's fine for teens, though. The children I invited to watch it were 12 and 13 years old, and they'll never touch hot dogs again...)

More Exclusive Video Clips Coming Soon

Faerie Films has gone to great lengths to make behind-the-scenes video clips available to NewsTarget readers, and we'll be featuring them on the site on a regular basis. Each clip will contain a short segment of interviews, animations or "reality footage" from the film. You'll be able to view them all free of charge through YouTube, so stay tuned to NewsTarget.com for announcements about upcoming clips.

And if you'd like the see the entire movie, just get the DVD: Click here to order the DVD at a 20% discount exclusive to NewsTarget readers.

You'll find All Jacked Up to be a life-changing journey into the dark side of food corporations, fast food restaurant chains and bogus "energy drinks."

If our country's health authorities had any brains, they'd air this film on national television every week for a year, just to educate and inform people about how to avoid the things that destroy their health. But alas, our nation's health authorities are little more than puppets, owned and controlled by the very corporations manufacturing and selling the junk products that are destroying the health of an entire generation. There's no way they would let this documentary make it to prime-time television. This is the movie they desperately hope you never see.

This is the documentary they wish would go away. It's just the kind of damning information linking junk foods with catastrophic health that Big Food wants to make disappear as quickly as possible. In fact, your act of watching this film is, all by itself, an act of passionate protest against the corporations that would love nothing more than to turn you into a brain-dead, disease-managed feeding machine that lives an entire lifetime as an ignorant, manipulated consumer. This movie is the red pill in The Matrix. It's the way you journey down the rabbit hole and find out what's really happening on the other side... all from the safety of your couch, of course!

Enjoy!

About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health researcher and author with a passion for teaching people how to improve their health He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2007, Adams launched EcoLEDs, a maker of energy efficient LED lights that greatly reduce CO2 emissions. He's also the CEO of a highly successful email newsletter software company that develops software used to send permission email campaigns to subscribers. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and enjoys outdoor activities, nature photography, Pilates and adult gymnastics. Known as the 'Health Ranger,' Adams' personal health statistics and mission statements are located at www.HealthRanger.org

Warning: The Drugs in Your Toothpaste Can Affect Your Health

Friday, January 18, 2008 by: Flora Stay, D.D.S.

Key concepts: toothpaste, antibiotic and antibiotics.

NewsTarget) One of the fastest ways to absorb anything into the body is through the mouth. Drugs such as nitroglycerine for heart conditions and natural homeopathic remedies are given under the tongue for fast absorption. Your daily routine of brushing your teeth with your favorite toothpaste may also be delivering a daily dose of antibiotics or other potentially toxic ingredients, without you realizing it.

Most people, even dentists and dental hygienists, don't realize there is a warning on the back of most toothpastes (including many from health food stores). The warning is mandated by the FDA for active ingredients that are drug based. The most common ones are fluoride, antibiotics and other drugs used to prevent cavities, tartar or teeth sensitivity.

Even children's toothpaste has a warning to "keep out of reach of children under the age of six. If more than used for brushing is swallowed, contact the poison control center or your physician". If a child under the age of six swallows half a tube of the sparkly, bright colored toothpaste that tastes like bubble gum and contains fluoride, the result could virtually be deadly.

Besides fluoride and the potential for poisoning your child if large amounts are swallowed, most toothpaste contain saccharin and many other artificial additives. Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) is another ingredient to stay away from. Studies have reported there's a potential for flare-ups of canker sores with SLS. Instead of choosing one of these types of commercial toothpastes for your child or you, providing your family with nutritious meals and brushing with "common sense" toothpaste, without potentially toxic ingredients, is much safer.



In recent years we've been hearing about the alarming increase of superbugs such as methicillin-resistant Staphlycoccus aureas (MRSA). The CDC and other studies list one cause for the rise of these antibiotic resistant bacteria to the general overuse of antibiotics. This overuse is not always in the form of a pill. You may be absorbing a small amount of an antimicrobial drug through your personal products as well.

Many brands of toothpastes, deodorants, shampoos, and soaps contain antibiotics, antimicrobials and strong disinfecting detergents. Triclosan, acetylpyridium chloride and tea tree oil are commonly used ones. Although natural, tea tree oil is a strong anti-fungal and antibiotic better suited for conditions such as athlete's foot than in your moisturizer.

Antibiotics should only be prescribed if you have a serious infection. Informed consumers make wise buying decisions that aren't based on pretty packages. Read, research and choose wisely for you and your family.

For more information, visit (www.drstay.com) .

About the author

Flora Stay, D.D.S. has been a practicing dentist for over 30 years. She is the author and contributing author to books as well as magazines such as Total Health, Prevention, Men's Health and others. She is currently an Associate Professor at U.S.C. School of Dentistry Dept. of Diagnostic Sciences. Visit her website for a free e-book "Product Labels: a cautionary tale" at www.cleure.com

Immunization Programs Under Scrutiny (Part 1)

Wednesday, January 16, 2008 by: Andreas Moritz

Key concepts: polio, measles and immunization.

NewsTarget) For many decades, leading scientists and doctors have vehemently promoted the idea that immunization of children is necessary to protect them from contracting such diseases as diphtheria, polio, cholera, typhoid, or malaria. Yet evidence is mounting that immunization may not only be unnecessary but even harmful. Pouring deadly chemicals into a lake doesn't make it immune to pollutants. Likewise, injecting the live poisons contained in vaccines into the bloodstream of children hardly gives future generations a chance to lead truly healthy lives. American children often receive some 30 vaccinations within the first 6 years of their lives and children in the U.K. can expect to be vaccinated about 25 times.

Within the first 15 months of life, vaccinations including nine or more different antigens are pumped into the immature immune systems of babies. Despite the colossal efforts and large sums of money spent on vaccine research, medicine has never been able to devise a cholera vaccine that works and the drugs for malaria aren't as effective as a single herb.

Diphtheria is still combated with toxic immunization programs even though it has almost completely disappeared from the earth. When diphtheria broke out in Chicago in 1969, 11 of the 16 victims were either already immune or had been immunized against diphtheria. In another report, 14 out of 23 victims were completely immune. This shows that vaccination makes no difference when it comes to protection against diphtheria; on the contrary, it can even increase the chances of being infected.

Immunization against mumps is also highly dubious. Even though it initially reduces the likelihood of becoming infected, the risk for mumps infection increases after immunity subsides. In 1995, a study conducted by the U.K.'s Public Health Laboratory Service and published in the Lancet showed that children given the measles/mumps/rubella shot were three times more likely to suffer from convulsions than those children who didn't receive it. The study also found that the MMR vaccine increased by five times the number of children suffering a rare blood disorder.

It is interesting to note that the mortality rate from measles declined by 95 percent before the measles vaccine was introduced. In the United Kingdom, despite widespread vaccination among toddlers, cases of measles recently increased by nearly 25 percent. The United States has been suffering from a steadily increasing epidemic of measles, although (or because) the measles vaccine has been in effect since 1957. After a few sudden drops and rises, the cases of measles are now suddenly dropping again. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) acknowledged that this could be related to an overall decrease in the occurrence of measles in the Western Hemisphere.

In addition to this evidence, many studies show that the measles vaccine isn't effective. For example, as reported in a 1987 New England Journal of Medicine article, a 1986 outbreak of measles in Corpus Christi, Texas found 99 percent of the victims had been vaccinated. In 1987, 60 percent of the cases of measles occurred in children who had been properly vaccinated at the appropriate age. One year later, this figure rose to 80 percent.

Apart from not protecting against measles and possibly even increasing the risk of contracting the disease, the MMR vaccine has been proven to produce numerous adverse effects. Among them are encephalitis, brain complications, convulsions, retardation of mental and physical growth, high fever, pneumonia, meningitis, aseptic meningitis, mumps, atypical measles, blood disorders such as thrombocytopenia, fatal shock, arthritis, SSPE, one-sided paralysis, and death. According to a study published in the Lancet in 1985, if children develop "mild measles" as a result of receiving the vaccine, the accompanying underdeveloped rash may be responsible for causing degenerative diseases such as cancer later in life.

In reality, measles is not a dangerous childhood illness at all. The belief that measles can lead to blindness is a myth that finds its roots in an increased sensitivity to light during illness. This problem subsides when the room is dimmed and vanishes completely with recovery. For a long time, measles was believed to increase the risk of a brain infection (encephalitis) which is known to occur only among children who live in poverty and suffer from malnutrition. Among upper class children, only 1 out of 100,000 will become infected. Besides, less than half of children given a measles booster are protected against the disease.

In a report issued by German health authorities and published in a 1989 issue of the Lancet, the mumps vaccine was revealed to have caused 27 specific neurological reactions, including meningitis, febrile convulsions, encephalitis, and epilepsy. A Yugoslavian study linked 1 per 1,000 cases of mumps encephalitis directly to the vaccine. The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal in the U.S. reported in 1989 that the rate varies from 1 in 405 to 1 in 7,000 shots for mumps.

Although mumps is generally a mild illness and the vaccine's side effects are severe, it is still included in the MMR vaccine. And so is the vaccine for rubella, although it is known to cause arthritis in up to 3 percent of children and in up to 20 percent of the adult women who have received it. In 1994 the Department of Health admitted to doctors that 11 percent of first-time recipients of the rubella vaccine will get arthritis. Symptoms range from mild aches to severe crippling. Other studies show a 30 percent chance of developing arthritis in direct response to the rubella vaccine.

Research confirms that the whooping cough vaccine is only effective in 36 percent of children. A report by Professor Gordon Stewart, which was published in 1994 in World Medicine, demonstrated that the risks of the whooping cough vaccine outweighed the benefits. The whooping cough or pertussis vaccine is by far the most dangerous of all the vaccines. DTP, the whooping cough vaccine that was used in the U.S. until 1992, contained the carcinogen formaldehyde, and the highly toxic metals aluminum and mercury. Both this vaccine and its "improved" version DTaP have never been tested for safety, only for efficacy.

The new vaccine has proved to be no better than the old one. Both versions cause death, near-death, seizures, developmental delay, and hospitalization. DTaP (formerly DTP) is given to babies as young as six weeks old, although the vaccine has never been tested on this age group. Among the 17 potential health problems caused by the whooping cough vaccine is sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). According to an estimate from the University of California at Los Angeles, 1,000 U.S. infants a year die as a direct result of receiving the vaccine.

Immunization programs against polio have no benefits other than economic ones for vaccine producers. The scientist who eliminated polio now suspects that the handful of polio cases which have occurred in the U.S. since the seventies are caused by the live viruses that were used as vaccines. In Finland and Sweden, where the use of live vaccines for polio is prohibited, there has not been a single case of polio in ten years. If live viruses used as a vaccine can cause polio today when hygiene is generally high, it may well be that the polio epidemics 40 to 50 years ago were also caused by immunization against polio while hygiene, sanitation, housing, and nutritional standards were still very low.

In the United States, cases of polio increased by 50 percent between 1957 and 1958, and by 80 percent from 1958 to 1959 after the introduction of mass immunization. In five states, cases of polio doubled after the polio vaccine was given to large numbers of the population. As soon as hygiene and sanitation improved, despite the immunization programs, the viral disease quickly disappeared. Whatever may have been the reason for polio outbreaks in the past, it is highly questionable today to immunize an entire population against a disease that does not even exist any more. It raises major questions about the motives behind polio vaccination.

Further, the history of some simian virus 40 (SV40) infections in humans is linked to the use of polio vaccines. According to the American Journal of Medicine, many studies have reported the presence of SV40 from the polio vaccine in human brain tumors and bone cancers, malignant mesothelioma, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The polio vaccine seems ever more linked to cancers, especially in children. The cancers caused by the use of the polio vaccine in the past still kills 20,000 people a year in the United States. This is quite outrageous given the fact that polio itself hasn't killed anyone for a long time.

Excerpt from Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation by Andreas Moritz (www.amazon.com) or (www.ener-chi.com)

About the author

Andreas Moritz is a medical intuitive; a practitioner of Ayurveda, iridology, shiatsu, and vibrational medicine; a writer; and an artist. He is the author of The Amazing Liver and Gallbladder Flush, Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation, Lifting the Veil of Duality, Cancer Is Not a Disease, It's Time to Come Alive, Heart Disease No More, Diabetes No More, Simple Steps to Total Health, Diabetes -- No More, Ending the AIDS Myth and Heal Yourself with Sunlight. For more information, visit the author's website (www.ener-chi.com).

Disclaimer: Posting articles does not necessarily endorse or agree with every opinion expressed in every article. All articles that are posted are aimed at getting people to think & consider the various issues, ideas & factual research presented.


Source:www.americanchronicle.com

Vaccines and autism

A new report refutes a common notion that the mercury-based preservative thimerosal once used in children's vaccines causes autism.

That may be hard to believe for many skeptics in Nevada County, which had the lowest state percentage of incoming kindergartners fully immunized in 2006 at 73 percent. That compared to 93 percent statewide, according to an appeal for parents to get their children vaccinated against disease written last April by county Public Health Director Dr. Joseph Iser and local children's health educator Dr. Cynthia Schuetz.

The new report is in the January issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry by Dr. Robert Schechter and Dr. Judith Grether, using data from the California Department of Developmental Services. The doctors conclude, "The DDS data do not show any recent decrease in autism in California, despite the exclusion of more than trace levels of thimerosal from nearly all childhood vaccines" since 2001.

The report said the vaccines normally associated to the alleged thimerosal-autism link were the common DPT for diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus, the Hib vaccine to ward off meningitis and pneumonia, and the Hepatitis B vaccine.

Pediatrician Dr. Sarah Woerner, who practices at Sierra Care Physicians and the Miners Family Health Clinic in Grass Valley, said two of those vaccines are among the three her group of pediatricians recommends for newborns. They include the DPT, Hib and another anti-meningitis and severe pneumonia immunization.

"We get very, very few calls back about side effects now," Woerner said. "Vaccines before had more impurities" that caused headaches and other maladies.

When the alleged link to thimerosal and autism arose in the late 1990s, people were anecdotally making the connection because the autism showed up soon after the vaccines were given to toddlers, Woerner said. However, recent research she has seen does not link vaccines to the alarming rise of autism in California.

The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is receptive to the concerns of parents about the relationship of thimerosal vaccines to autism. But the CDC Web site says a scientific review done by the Institute of Medicine - an arm of the National Academy of Sciences - shows no causal relationship between thimerosal vaccines and autism.

In general, vaccines are "beneficial for health," according to Dr. Dean Blumberg, an associate professor for pediatric diseases at the University of California David Medical Center in Sacramento.

The mainstream medical community embraces immunizations, and Nevada County children who don't get them show up at the medical center when they get sick, Blumberg said in December 2006. His remarks were made in an article about an outbreak of whooping cough among one half of Yuba River Charter School's 250 students were not immunized or had not received the full set of shots.

Yet detractors locally and nationally remain.

At the Sierra Family Health Clinic on the San Juan Ridge, CAO Richard Mantle deals with the most suspicious client base for immunizations in the state's most vaccine-skeptical county.

Mantle said many fears are based on bad science "and people believe what they see on the Internet," no matter how inaccurate. The clinic has been battling vaccine suspicions for years he said.

"There's a large concern in this community with a lot of people who don't get their children immunized because of those fears," said Scott McFarland, executive director at the Miners Family Health Center. "We, the hospital (Sierra Nevada Memorial) and others have been trying to explain it," but the fears subsist, some of it inside the medical community.

In a piece written in March 2006 for the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons medical journal, the Institute of Medicine review was refuted. The article said the decrease of autism link to the riddance of mercury in vaccines was overstated and that thimerosal was still given to children in flu vaccines, suggesting that it remains tied to the national rise of autism cases.

The association is a physicians group dedicated to free market medical practices opposed to third-party intervention like private and public health insurance.

The Institute of Medicine's 2004 review was also called a "whitewash" paid for by CDC to cover for the pharmaceutical industry in a 2005 investigative piece about autism and vaccines written by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Rolling Stone. Kennedy is an author, environmentalist, son of Robert F. Kennedy who was assassinated in 1968, and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963.

Source:www.theunion.com

Deploying doctors and medicine

WE HEAR a lot these days about the failing medical condition of Cuba’s longstanding leader, Fidel Castro. But very few are aware of the country’s celebrated medical internationalism or vaunted "doctor diplomacy."

Instead of sending food packages, development assistance funds and heavily armed soldiers, the Cuban government deploys critically needed doctors, medical technicians and medicine to a good part of the world. Since it is unable to provide significant amounts of cash and material resources, it dispenses human capital.

For instance, after hurricane Katrina had ripped through New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in August 2006, Cuba offered to send, on its own dime, almost 1,600 medical personnel and over 35 tonnes of emergency medical supplies to the decimated area. Sadly, this generous offer was rejected by the Bush administration.

Historically speaking, though, over 100,000 Cuban health professionals have provided care in 102 different countries since the early 1960s. Today, roughly 40,000 Cuban medical workers are striving to heal the sick and to rebuild shattered lives in 73 countries or overseas territories.

Beginning in Chile, where it sent a medical team after a devastating earthquake in 1960, Cuba’s medical diplomacy has grown to be a key component of its external relations.

After earthquakes hit both Chile and Nicaragua in the early 1970s, Cuba dispatched doctors and a medical team to help with these humanitarian disasters. In war-torn countries like Angola and Guinea-Bissau, Cuba has sent doctors and health technicians to treat the many casualties.

Setting aside major ideological differences, Cuba provided medical personnel to El Salvador in 2000 following a serious outbreak of dengue fever. In the case of Uruguay (which had broken off diplomatic relations with Havana), the Cuban government donated 1.2 million doses of vaccine to deal with its meningitis epidemic in 2001.

Following horrendous floods in Guyana in 2005, a 40-person medical team spent several months there. Moreover, some 22,000 cancer-ridden victims, many of them children, from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown have been taken to Cuba for free long-term medical care.

Since 2004, Cuban doctors have implemented "Operation Miracle" to restore sight to 862,000 people in Latin America and the Caribbean, at no charge to the patients.

Cuban doctors are working in Zambia and Botswana to treat the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and low-cost anti-retroviral drugs are being distributed to a number of Caribbean countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, Cuba has promised to send 5,000 medical workers to combat HIV/AIDS, if the West will cover the cost of medications (it has declined thus far).

In addition, a former naval base has been transformed into a top-notch medical facility – the Latin American School of Medicine, the largest medical school in the world. Free of charge, Cuba has agreed to take in students from throughout the region and beyond (from some 89 countries) and train them to be physicians.

Almost 25,000 low-income students from Africa, Asia and Latin America (and even from the U.S. and Puerto Rico), with the assistance of full scholarships, come to Cuba to study medicine. The only provision is they have to return, after completing a six-year program, to their home countries and work in areas where health care is not easily accessible.

Why do the Cubans do it? Is it purely for altruistic reasons? Or, does it have more to do with ideological and philosophical considerations?

In the post-Soviet Union era, Cuba dealt with its massive economic crisis of the 1990s by utilizing its medical diplomacy to cultivate friends and allies throughout the world. Given the continuation of the U.S. economic embargo, these countries have played an important role in allowing Cuba to diversify its trade, investment and commercial relations.

By cashing in its "medical chits," if you will, Havana also hopes to defend itself against the hostile efforts of the U.S. to isolate and punish Cuba – particularly in multilateral forums like the United Nations. To be sure, on Oct. 30, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour (184-4) of a resolution that called upon the U.S. to rescind its economic embargo against revolutionary Cuba.

These so-called "medical diplomats" have also bolstered Cuba’s prestige and image in much of the developing world. It is no wonder, then, that Cuba was asked to lead the 118-nation Non-Aligned Movement for 2006-2009.

It is also good business for Cuba, with the export of medical goods and services bringing in more revenues in 2006 than tourism. Lastly, medical internationalism, and the national pride that it engenders, serves to rally the people around the Cuban government.

Not everyone, of course, is pleased to see Cuban doctors scattered throughout their countries. National and regional medical associations, and some individual physicians in the host countries, are angry about how the visiting Cubans approach medicine. The Cubans reply that they work in underserved areas, where the middle-class doctors simply refuse to treat poor patients.

Cuba’s commitment to improving the health of communities outside its borders is extraordinary. Indeed, as a struggling developing country itself, which lost half of its own doctors after the 1959 revolution, its medical foreign policy can only be seen as a model for richer countries to emulate.

John M. Kirk and Peter McKenna are professors at Dalhousie University and the University of Prince Edward Island respectively, and the authors of the forthcoming book, Fighting Words: Competing Voices Over the Cuban Revolution.

Source:thechronicleherald.ca

Seminar on meningitis planned in wake of Athens High School student’s death

A lunch and learn seminar on meningitis, the disease that killed a 15-year-old Athens High School student last month, is scheduled next week at Waddell Center Family Medicine, a clinic of Athens-Limestone Hospital.

The seminar, Meningitis Facts, is being presented by the hospital and Waddell Center at noon Thursday, Jan. 24.

Dr. Noved Hason and Dr. Valerie Wright will lead the discussion. Lunch will be provided. Cost is $5.

Jessica Elkins, a freshman cheerleader at AHS, died at Birmingham Children’s Hospital five days after falling ill during semester exams. The teenager succumbed to bacterial meningitis and pneumonia, medical experts said.

Meningitis is inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and the spinal cord.

Its symptoms can be similar to those of the common flu. Bacterial meningitis can be fatal if not diagnosed and treated early, according to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. Vaccinations are available for some types of the illness.

A fund has been created to help Talbot and Michelle Elkins of Athens defray medical expenses incurred before their daughter’s death Dec. 26, 2007, said Terrell McCormick, who attends First Baptist Church with Jessica’s parents. Those interested my donate to the Jessica Elkins Fund at any branch of Redstone Federal Credit Union.

Source:www.enewscourier.com