Germans
Want GSK Pandemrix Swine Flu Vaccine Scrapped - What Are The British
Getting?
THE
GERMAN Medical Association (BAK) has advised against giving young
children and pregnant women the new swine flu vaccine Pandemrix from
GlaxoSmithKline, containing an immune system-stimulating compound.
Many leading paediatricians, virus experts and medical organisations
are concerned about the “adjuvant” booster compound it
contains and oppose its use in high-risk groups until more long-term
data are collected. Germany’s DAK opposes the vaccine’s
use in risk-groups saying that, since the risks of swine flu are
lower than initially feared, it would be unwise to rely exclusively
on new vaccines containing adjuvants.
Derek Scally
in Berlin, Irish Times
Related Links:
*
Pregnant
Women In Britain Given Untested Pandemrix Swine Flu Vaccine
Thomas
Moore, Sky News
* GSK’s
Pandemrix Swine Flu Vaccine - Pandora's Box Release
Lara,
Health Advocate
* Child
Vaccines Overload - Swine Flu Shot Untested
Beezy Marsh, Daily
Mail
75%
Of Finns Say No To Swine Flu Vaccine
In
Finland at least three big media outlets, Ilta-Sanomat, MTV3 and
Helsingin Sanomat, have held polls asking the Finnish people if they
are going to take the swine flu vaccine. 75% said No.
Information
Release, sikainfluenssa.biz
A
New Strain Of Swine Flu Or Change In Surveillance?
The
Australian Government recently prioritized a vaccine for community
use against a new strain of influenza. This preventative action is
notable as there has been little evidence in the community that
suggests this influenza strain is more virulent than other new
strains which occur regularly. An examination of evidence provided by
the Western Australian Health Department regarding deaths to swine
influenza Type A H1N1 prompts us to ask if it is possible that a
change in the surveillance of influenza in 2009 has resulted in the
creation of hysteria over a new strain of influenza? These changes in
surveillance mean that even though influenza Type A H1N1 has been
prevalent in previous years there is no data on the number of deaths
associated with this strain in previous years because it hasn’t
been monitored.
Judy Wilyman
(BSc,MSc,Dip.Ed), PhD Candidate, Murdoch University
Related Links:
*
Coercive
And Mandatory Immunisation
Judy Wilyman (BSc,MSc,Dip.Ed), PhD
Candidate, Murdoch University
* An
Analysis of Whooping Cough Incidence
Judy Wilyman
(BSc,MSc,Dip.Ed), PhD Candidate, Murdoch University
* Childhood
Vaccination - Informed Decisions Brochure
Judy Wilyman
(BSc,MSc,Dip.Ed), Associate Professor Peter Dingle
Boston
Community Unites To Defend Against Deadly BioTerror Lab
A
new lab for studying dangerous disease has raised worries among
residents near BU
Boston University’s
(BU) recently-constructed Biosafety Level-4 (BSL-4) laboratory has
raised concerns among local residents and academics who question the
new building’s ability to facilitate the safe study of
dangerous pathogens that have no known cure. “They
are working with pathogens for which there is no known cure, which
could potentially be turned into biological weapons,”
Vicky Steinitz, co-coordinator of the Greater Boston Committee of the
Coalition to Stop the BioTerror Lab, told the Daily. “In
theory, these are biodefense labs. But to learn how to cure against
these weapons, you essentially have to weaponize them.”
Alan Meyers, associate professor of pediatrics at BU’s School
of Medicine and primary care pediatrician at Boston Medical Center
said: “Clearly
the forces that wanted to have this happen did not want to hear the
general BU medical community’s dissent,”
Meyers told th e Daily. “The
voices of opposition are really not welcome.”
Gabrielle
Hernandez, The Tufts Daily
No
Surprise Here: Pharma’s DC Lobbying Is Up
With
the battle over USA health care reform still under way, the
industry’s trade group spent almost as much on lobbying during
the first nine months of this year as in all of 2008, according to
records reviewed by Bloomberg News. The Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America spent $19.9 million to lobby Congress and
federal agencies during the first nine months of 2009, according to
disclosure statements filed with the U.S. Senate. By contrast, PhRMA
spent $20.2 million in all of 2008. Another shocker: the trade group
for health insurers, America’s Health Insurance Plans, also may
surpass its 2008 lobbying spending.
Ed Silverman,
Pharmalot