VACCINATIONS: It's not so simple
WDDTY, 23rd December 2004
Vaccination is based on the tried and trusted scientific principle of cause and effect: the vaccine (the cause) offers protection (the effect). It's a straight-line thought, and one that does not admit any confounding complexities, such as the overall health of the person, the immediate environment, hygiene factors, and the like. In fact it's these complexities that Louis Pasteur referred to as 'the field', which he regarded as more significant than a single inoculation.
This might explain why MMR-vaccinated children sometimes get measles, and why some unvaccinated children never get measles. This problem was highlighted in a study in 2000 in Guinea Bissau in West Africa, which discovered that the DPT (diptheria, pertussis, and tetanus) vaccination programme was responsible for the deaths of some of the children. Was the vaccine to blame? Was it one too many insults to an already compromised immune system?
Researchers recently decided to see if the DTP shot was having the same worrying effects in another developing country. They visited a community in Matlab, Bangladesh, and analysed the data from 1986 to 2001 - and concluded that the vaccine was actually saving lives.
The research team admits that it may be a conclusion too far, and that other factors could be responsible for the reduced mortality rates.
But then, you can always prove - or disprove - any cause and effect in a complex system.
(Source: The Lancet, 2004; 364: 2204-11).
Be prepared to hear about the 'flesh-eating disease' when there is a drive to introduce the chickenpox vaccine here in the UK.
Magda Taylor, Director of The Informed Parent
Chickenpox vaccine could lead to less flesh-eating disease but more shingles
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Wider use of chickenpox vaccine could produce two side-effects, one a blessing and the other a curse, infectious disease experts said Monday.
On the positive side, there would likely be fewer cases of flesh-eating disease in young children. On the negative side, there could be higher rates of shingles among adults.
Click here to read the rest of this article.
More Tosh in the Wakefield Witchhunt
Who checked the facts at the Sunday Times and Channel 4 before these
allegations (1) were made? If Wakefield was in it for the money, he needed
to keep his mouth shut about MMR instead of speaking out as he did in 1998
on behalf of seriously damage children. Read on here to find out why. There
is also more detailed information from Wakefield himself at MMR: The
Questions website.
What is worse is that there is even more science published in the past two
months showing Wakefield is right and the government and medical
establishment is wrong. This includes papers from Johns Hopkins and The
Royal Free and the trashing of the weak epidemiology the government has bet
the ranch on.
Click here to read the rest of this letter.
Gene Flaw May Link Autism, Vaccine Additive
Southeast Missourian ~ Monday, December 13, 2004
By Bob Miller
A study released today by an environmental organization offers support to the theory that a vaccine preservative called thimerosal may contribute to the cause of autism.
The study has found a genetic flaw that sheds further light on how autistic children are metabolically different from healthy children. This may explain why autistic children may not be able to excrete mercury and other heavy metals.
Click here to link to the website.
Russian Vaccine Information Website
"1796 - Homeopathy and Vaccinations" is the largest in the RuNet (Russian-speaking Internet) on the subject of vaccinations. http://www.homeoint.org/kotok
Along with original papers by Russian authors, translations of works by Coulter, Scheibner, B. Classen, Geier, Blaylock, Singh among others are featured with Congressional testimonies by Belkin, Dunbar, White, Megson, Urnovitz and others.
Click here to link to this website.
Issues Raised by the Sunday Times and the Channel 4 Dispatches Programme
A statement by Dr Andrew Wakefield
18th November 2004
"The Sunday Times of the 14th November and the trailers for the Dispatches programme of 18th November raise a number of issues in relation to MMR, autism and events at the Royal Free Hospital. Since many of the claims by journalist Brian Deer have been demonstrably false and there in no objectivity in the manner of their intended portrayal, I declined to participate in any way in the making of the Dispatches programme. In addition, vulnerable parents have complained of being "tricked" into participating in the programme. I was not invited to comment on the Sunday Times article prior to its publication."
Click here to read this in full.
Junk Science or Junk Journalism?
30th October 2004
Click here to read Mark Henderson's article and Magda Taylor's (so far unpublished) response and make up your own mind!
Vaccinations and Cerebral Palsy
October 2004
From the "Parents of Vaccine Damaged Children" msn group.
Click here to read the full article online
PRIVATE EYE - No 1116 - 1st to 14th October 2004
MMR - The last word?
THE latest Medical Research Council study of more than 5,000 UK children has ruled out any link between MMR, the measles, mumps and rubella triple vaccine, and autism. Ministers and health chiefs have pronounced it the most "authoritative" and "comprehensive" study yet and said it should be "the last word in the debate".
Similar things were said two years ago about Danish research into the vaccination history of more than 500,000 children, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. It was also said to show no link. Yet earlier this month two separate reviews of the Danish records, published in the Journal q/American Physicians and Surgeons, have come to the opposite conclusion, citing significant increases in autism in Denmark since MMR was introduced.
How could the conclusions be so different? Mainly because in Denmark autism is often diagnosed later, at the age of five, and the original Danish paper only tracked the children for four years, thus missing cases.
Click here to read the full article.
MMR report 'not denial of autism link'
Crucial child study missed many cases, claim US experts
Jamie Doward, social affairs editor
Sunday October 10, 2004
The Observer
Serious questions were raised last night over the scientific evidence used by the government to reject claims of a link between the MMR vaccine and regressive autism in children.
A US paediatrician, Dr F Edward Yazbak, told The Observer that a study of more than 500,000 Danish children, regarded as the definitive analysis of the vaccine, should not be interpreted as ruling out a link between the jab and an increase in autism in Denmark.
Click here to read this article.
What your Doctor will Never Tell You - A Special Vaccine Issue.
October 2004
This is a comprehensive article on vaccination issues.
You will need Adobe Acrobat reader to open it. 
Click here to download the free Adobe Acrobat reader.
AIDS and measles vaccine the same as in the MMR vaccine
Julian Meldrum, Thursday, September 02, 2004
In two separate presentations at the AIDS Vaccine 04 meeting in Lausanne, Dr Frederic Tangy from the Agence Nationale de Recherches sur le Sida (ANRS) in Paris advocated the use of a licensed live attenuated measles vaccine – the very same one used in the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) system given to millions of children – as a vehicle to deliver an HIV vaccine for future generations.
Click here to read the full article.
Are we being told the whole truth?
WDDTY, September 2004
Two of the UK's leading researchers into the link between MMR and autism are set to reveal their latest findings at a major public seminar in London organized by consumer health watchdog What Doctors Don't Tell You.
Click here to read more.
MMR AND AUTISM: Confused, of everywhere
WDDTY, September 2004
Many E-news readers were very confused to read in last week's broadcast that a link between the MMR vaccine and autism had definitely been established when the media was stating the exact opposite.
In fact the whole nation should have been perplexed had the media done its job properly. Our story was based on a study of 537,304 children in Denmark - which was ignored by the entire media - while the headline-grabbing study was based on a review of 5,763 children.
Click here to read the full article.
Fake Science Laid Bare - How the Establishment Causes Autism.
21st September 2004
The following truly speaks for itself and can be found here in the BMJ
It is by the respected, well published, US Board certified retired paediatrician, Dr F. Edward Yazbak, who has devoted himself to properly investigating the autism problem and whose overriding concern is not earning dollars at the cost of the most vulnerable but is to save children, especially infants, from unnecessary harm.
Click here to read all the other responses to the "Study shows no link between MMR vaccination and Autism" article.
Infection Rising Despite Vaccine
16th September 2004
More people are contracting Hib infection despite a child vaccination programme, government advisors warn.
Rates of the meningitis-causing bacteria among adults have reached levels higher than before 1992, when routine vaccination of babies started.
Click here to read the full article on the BBC website.
Child Porn Doctor Back at Hospital
6th June 2004
By Fionnuala Bourke, Sunday Mercury
A perverted doctor convicted of downloading child pornography has been allowed back into a Midland hospital.
John Rumbold, 34, was given a further eight-month suspension, on top of his original penalty, by a Professional Conduct Committee of the General Medical Council, which met to review his case last week.
But the Sunday Mercury has discovered that, despite the earlier suspension, Rumbold has been allowed to attend Kidderminster Hospital as an observer to maintain his medical skills.
Click here to read the article in full.
This doctor labelled antivaccinists as 'extremists' in his posting on the BMJ website.
Trends in Haemophilus influenzae type b infections in adults in England and Wales: surveillance study
Jab linked to Multiple Sclerosis
14th September 2004
People who are vaccinated against hepatitis B are at increased risk of multiple sclerosis, a study shows.
Click here to read this article on the BBC website.
"Thiomersal doesn't cause developmental disorders", Responses.
Date: 10th September 2004
There are lots of responses to this BMJ article, including one from Magda Taylor.
Click here to link to the BMJ website.
Misconceptions about the new combination vaccine
4th September 2004
There is much debate on the BMJ website, excellent reading...Click here to read more.
Dutch doctors warn parents over whooping cough vaccine
1st September 2004
Dutch doctors have warned parents not to delay vaccinating their children against whooping cough, caused by Bordetella pertussis, as serious cases could require hospital treatment and may result in death. The Dutch Paediatrics Association emphasises that eight children have died in the Netherlands from whooping cough since 1996. None had been vaccinated. Click here to read this article and responses to it.
Mercury : The Winged Messenger, Courtney L. Zietzke
17th August 2004
This book will begin to answer questions about what many will eventually call the worst medical tragedy in modern medical history. The corrupt political system that has tried to protect and cover up the facts about this atrocity has only begun to show its evil face. This book tries to answer questions about why "Autism" has exploded into a national epidemic. Click here to read more or buy this book.
Company Is Investigating Possible Vaccine Problems in Brazil
28th August 2004
A day after the Chiron Corporation said it was delaying release of its influenza vaccine in this country because some lots were contaminated, the company confirmed that it was investigating possible problems with use of a different vaccine in Brazil. read more...
Dad freed from life sentence in son's death
28th August 2004
Alan Yurko, sentenced to life in 1999 for shaking his baby son to death, is a free man today after a judge ruled a botched autopsy and other new evidence warranted a new trial. Click here to read more
Date: 3rd August 2004
Subject: Health chiefs fear measles outbreak
Health bosses fear St Albans is in line for a measles outbreak as too few children are being immunised because of the MMR vaccine scare.
Click here to read the full article
Date: 26th July 2004
Subject: MMR Manufacturers Keep Up Legal Pressure On MMR Children
Lovells – the solicitors acting for MMR manufacturer Merck – continues to demand that parents who claim their children’s autism was caused by MMR must sign an undertaking never to bring future legal action against Merck, or else they will be made to pay the defendants’ massive legal costs. This will be heard at a case management conference, open to the public, at the Queens Bench Division, the Royal Courts of Justice, the Strand, London on Monday 26 July.
Click here to read the full article.
Date: 17th July 2004
Subject: Scarier Vaccine Stories Trumps Mumps
Read Clifford Miller's response to this article in the BMJ.
Date: 17th June 2004
Subject: Unreliability of Scientific Papers as Evidence
Click here to read Dr Scheibner's article in the BMJ.
Date: 9th June 2004
Subject: New Study Supports Possible Link Between MMR Vaccine and Autism
Virus Detected in Spinal Fluid of Children with Autism, But Not Controls JUNE 9, 2004 (c)ICDRC Melbourne FL
Click here to read the article.
Date: 8th June 2004
Subject: Row over autism link to vaccines
Scientists have raised fears that a mercury-based preservative used in vaccines may cause symptoms of autism.
Click here to read the article.
Date: 20th May 2004
Subject: MMR Killed My Daughter, By Bonnie Estridge
Daily Mail 18th May 2004
The authorities still refuse to admit any link between autism and the MMR jab. Yet this mother tells for the first time how she made them concede it DID cause her child’s death
Click here to read the article on the JABS site.
Date: 13th May 2004
Subject: 'Drugs Firm Lawyers are Bullying Us' - MMR Parents
By Pat Hurst, PA News
Desperate parents who believe their children may have been damaged by MMR jabs said today they were being bullied by drug company lawyers to drop their legal claims.
Click here to read the full article.
Date: 23rd April 2004
Subject: International Symposium on Vaccination
The UK's First International Symposium on Vaccination will be held on November 12th and 13th, 2004 at Friends' House, Euston Road, London NW1.
Speakers include Viera Scheibner, Andrew Wakefield, Randall Neustaedter, Alan Yurko, Kris Gaublomme, Ingri Cassel and Meryl Dorey.
For more information please have a look at their website.
Date: 20th March 2004
Subject: Time to end chemical contamination
The arguments between concerned parents and medical authorities over whether to vaccinate or not have had a lot of publicity. But another health issue to concern all parents and families is being fought out almost unnoticed by the public. It may sound deadly dull, but new European regulations to control how manufacturers use chemicals in what we buy and use are going to affect long-term health. Why are green groups so concerned?
Click here to read more.
Date: 7th March 2004
Subject: MMR - The Link Between The Autism and Allergies Epidemics
The author of this article is a science graduate and practising lawyer, one of whose children has a life threatening food allergy and exhibits indications of raised susceptibility to infection.
"Buried in the MMR debate and little known to the general public is formal confirmation of a link between the MMR issue and the allergy epidemics sweeping the developed world. According to the US National Academies' Institute of Medicine (IoM) Immunization Safety Review Committee (1), for at least two years it has been known that current vaccination programmes can expose children to risk of various problems ranging from allergy to infection. The IOM have also confirmed (2) that reasonable theories exist to explain how too many immunizations can overwhelm an infant's immune system."
Click here to read the full article.
Date: 3rd March 2004
Subject: Alan Yurko
Alan Yurko is currently appealing against his life sentence for shaken baby syndrome. Please support him and others like him.
"Imprisoned for life (Six years so far) for shaken baby syndrome (SBS), Alan Yurko is now supported by an armada of medical experts and vaccine safety advocates who agree that his infant son was killed by an adverse reaction to vaccination and by subsequent iatrogenic complications in the hospital.
To help others as well as the Yurkos, we have valuable scientific articles about medical misdiagnosis in many cases of SBS, as well as information on vaccine reactions etc."
Letter to the editor of The Observer
RE: 'Unless pin-up parents rally round, we will see the return of dread diseases'
By Cristina Odone
Sunday February 29, 2004
I was appalled at Cristina Odone's comments on the parents who are opting out of the MMR. I can only guess that she had a 'middle-class' education with her display of 'clever' sarcasm, along with the patronising tone. As a parent who has been researching the subject of vaccination for over 12 years I would strongly urge your readers to do their own research on this issue and not depend on 'totally inaccurate smart talk'.
I am not sure what this whole thing about being 'middle class' has to do with anything, doctors are predominantly middle-class too, and besides parents from all walks of life are concerned about vaccination. Improved health stamped out disease not vaccination, and if Cristina had done her homework she would know that the death rate for measles had fallen by 95% BEFORE vaccination had been introduced.
As for the understanding of immunity, the World Health Organisation acknowledge that antibody should not be equated with immunity, so how are we to know whether there is any 'herd immunity', when immunity is not fully understood. The only dread disease that may be on the horizon is totalitarianism leading to a 'herd immunity' from the truth.
Magda Taylor
You can read the Observer article here.
Date: 28th February 2004
Subject: Complementary healthcare has a vital role to play in the 21st century
Author: Prince Charles
Source: The Guardian
You can read the full article here.
"It seems extraordinary to me that despite a recent poll indicating that 75% of people would like complementary medicine to be available to all on the NHS, there are still only a handful of clinics offering integrated healthcare for free. Indeed, 90% of complementary medicine is only available to those who can afford to pay for it.
Correcting this imbalance, between the services which are being provided and those which people want, need not mean huge additional expenditure. Complementary medicine emphasises preventative care and encourages individuals to undertake a greater degree of self-management."
Date: 28th February 2004
Subject: Fight allergies the natural way, Charles urges NHS Stephen Bates
Author: Prince Charles
Source: The Guardian
You can read the full article here.
"Prince Charles is urging the NHS to make complementary medicine much more widely and freely available to counteract a big increase in the number of allergy sufferers.
In an article in today's Guardian, the prince claims that such an increase in provision need not cost the NHS huge additional expenditure and will help to prevent the spread of allergies, which otherwise may affect half the population within a decade."
Date: 28th February 2004
Subject:Vaccine parents vow to fight on
Source: The Scotsman
You can read the full article here.
"The parents of children allegedly damaged by the MMR vaccine last night vowed to continue campaigning for compensation despite losing a court battle for funding.
Their legal bid yesterday suffered another blow when a High Court judge rejected an application for a judicial review of a decision to withdraw public funding to fight test cases. "
Date: 28th February 2004
Subject: MMR Factsheet
The Informed Parent's 19 page MMR factsheet is now available to buy online for just £1.50. You will be able to download it after you complete checkout.
Date: 26th February 2004
Subject: MMR medics challenged over child spinal taps
Source: The Times
You can read the full article here.
"New questions about the ethics of the controversial study that linked the MMR vaccine to autism in children will be raised in Parliament today, The Times has learnt."
Date: 26th February 2004
Subject: The Dr Wakefield 'witch-hunt' - Magda Taylor's comments
"My personal opinion on this 'witch-hunt' of Dr Andrew Wakefield is that it is hardly surprising since this seems to be the usual method used by the establishment when running out of ideas. They attack and try to discredit the person rather than address the findings/research. It is particularly difficult to speak out in the medical profession and the way Dr Wakefield has been treated in recent years is a good example. I only hope that if an inquiry does take place that it is a properly conducted one, otherwise the public should demand an inquiry into the inquiry!
When I read some journalists remarks on how parents are trying to find something to blame for their child's condition, I would like to say that in my experience, having spoken to numerous parents over the last 13 years, and that is definitely not the case. The last thing the parent wants to know is that the vaccination they took their child to receive caused health problems. Most parents take their children to be vaccinated in blind faith, and when reactions do occur they are met with dismissals and, in some cases, even hostility. When you become a parent the responsibility starts then - these parents of vaccine-damaged children simply want an acknowledgement of what they observed happened to their child, and assistance towards trying to give their children hope for the future. They also want to stop further damage happening to other children, these parents must be heard.
Lastly, I would like to know when we are going to start talking about measles, mumps and rubella in a rational and realistic manner. These childhood infections have been blown out of such proportion that parents of today are terrified of the thought of them. So I would only urge all parents to find out more about the illnesses, don't be guided by 'manufactured fear', be guided by knowledge. "
Date: 26th February 2004
Subject: Social workers 'right to question parents'
Source: The Evening Standard
You can read the full article here.
"The row over the MMR "witch-hunt" deepened today as social workers defended their right to interview the mothers of autistic children.
They insisted some parents could be harming their children to draw attention to themselves, and admitted subjecting one mother to an eight-week investigation before accepting she had done nothing wrong. "
Date: 26th February 2004
Subject: Poor Filipino Parents Against Vaccination
The Informed Parent were recently contacted by a group called the 'Poor Filipino Parents Against Vaccination-Immunisation' requesting emergency assistance for their struggle against the mandatory immunisation programme and the devastating effects on their children in the Philippines.
The director-founder Eric V Encina, who has first-hand experience of vaccine damage writes:
We need help:
- To save our children and other children of other poor families from deteriorating effects of vaccination.
- To file a case or a lawsuit against the doctors/nurses/midwives/health workers/educators/officials who are in collusion for the immunisation of our children - suffering side-effects
- To determine/propagate/distribute information about the risks and side-effects of immunisation to the poor parents in the villages
- To mobilise poor parents/families from the grassroots to form a strong public health opinion to pressure the government to stop immunisation programs and divert resources for a nutritional programme.
- To translate existing books/literature about immunisation into our national language - to inform - leading to pressure being put on the Philippine government to stop this 'pestiferous immunisation - life-destroying killing programme in the country.'
If you would like to learn more about the situation or may be able to help in any way, please contact:
Eric V Encina
Poor Filipino Parents Against Vaccination - Immunisation
c/o Milda Biloria House, Carmelite Blkside, Km3 Brgy, Lawa-an, P O Box 8, 5800 Roxas City, Capiz, Philippines.
The Informed Parent have sent a large parcel of books and videos out to this group, and we will keep you informed about further correspondence.
Date: 26th February 2004
Subject: The Protective Power of Childhood Illnesses
Source: Mothering
The following is just one paragraph from a lengthy article featured on the Mothering site.
You can read the full article here.
Acute inflammations in childhood protect against chronic, low-grade inflammations such as asthma and allergies later on. Excessive use of vaccines, antibiotics, and anti-fever medications compromise the ability of the immune system to create healing inflammations. Studies have shown that when the number of childhood fevers and inflammations is higher, the child's risk of chronic inflammatory conditions later in life-including asthma, allergy, and eczema-is lower.3 These slow-burning, chronic inflammations never heat up enough to push toxins out of the body, and strong evidence exists that vaccinated children are at greater risk of these conditions because their ability to create powerful inflammations is reduced.
Date: 24th February 2004
Subject This carefully orchestrated campaign must not be allowed to stifle real debate on MMR
Source: The Independent
The statement by the editor of The Lancet that he would not have published Dr Andrew Wakefield's study on autism, bowel disease and the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination (MMR) if he had known in 1998 what he knows now, deserved to capture the headlines. What it absolutely did not deserve was the unseemly chorus of "told you so" that it elicited from ministers and luminaries of the British medical establishment, who flocked to the airwaves to discredit the man, rather than dispute his views. Are we wrong to detect the distant whirr of the same spin machine that so recently set about destroying the reputations of David Kelly, Andrew Gilligan and others?
Click here to read extracts from this article.
This link will take you to The Independent's website were you can read the full article for just £1.
Date: 24th February 2004
Subject: MMR: the betrayal
Source: The Daily Mail
The fierce controversy over the MMR vaccine escalated dramatically yesterday. Dr Andrew Wakefield, who first suggested a link between the jab and autism, came under renewed Government attack in what his supporters were calling a witchhunt.
Click here to read the article.
Date: 23rd February 2004
Subject: Statement from Dr Andrew Wakefield
PERMISSION GIVEN & APPROVAL TO SEND AROUND THE PLANET BY DR. ANDREW WAKEFIELD
Click here to read the full statement.
Date: 21st January 2004
Subject: Should unvaccinated children be excluded from nurseries ?
"You and Yours" on BBC Radio 4 included a brief discussion about day nurseries that may be considering excluding children if they haven't had the MMR vaccine.
Magda Taylor, who runs The Informed Parent, participated in the programme. You can listen again from the website.
Date: 19th January 2004
Subject: Price Reduced - 'Vaccination - A Parent's Dilemma' by Greg Beattie
There are a limited number of copies of 'Vaccination - A Parent's Dilemma' by Greg Beattie which are available at half price £4 (RRP £8).
An error with the printing resulted in the 6 graphs featured in the book being ommitted. However sticky-back printed graphs have been added to these copies to make them complete, and we are offering them at this special low price of £4.
Date: 24th December 2003
Subject: MMR - The Truth
For three months, award-winning Mail writer Melanie Phillips has investigated the MMR controversy.
Her findings, reveal how officials have concealed major evidence, how 'neutral' experts are paid by the drug firms and research that could prove the doubters right all along...
Click here to read this article.
Date: 20th December 2003
Subject: New support for MMR doubts
The safety of the MMR vaccine has again been called into question as a study appeared to back the British doctor who first linked it to autism and bowel disease.
Click here to read this article online.
Date: 20th December 2003
Subject: Letter from Africa...
Kihura is founder of Greater African Radio and president of the East African World Broadcasters Association, and director of the Pan-African Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Click here to read this article.
Date: Monday, 15th December 2003
Subject: MMR Drama and Debate on Channel 5
Hear the Silence
9pm - 10:55pm
"A powerful drama based on real-life stories which centres on the contoversy surrounding the MMR vaccination and its possible link to autism. A mother tries to find out why her previously healthy child is diagnosed with autism at the age of four. Her search for the truth consumes her and her family, changing her life forever. Starring: Juliet Stevenson, Hugh Bonneville"
MMR: The Debate
10:55pm - 12:05pm
"Kirsty Young chairs a debate on the controversial subject of the MMR vaccine. Taking part will be doctors and researchers, as well as parents of autistic children who believe there is a link with the vaccine and the neuological disease."
Date: 25th November 2003
Subject: BARNSLEY AGAINST FLUORIDATION
We are a newly formed local group opposed to the imposition of fluoridated water. We are currently arranging a local public meeting and would like to hear from individuals in our area who have concerns about fluoridation.
We would also appreciate contact from groups in other areas with a view to sharing information and support.
Please contact:
Anne on 01226 791352 /
or Jan on 01226 203682/
or Marjorie on 01226 287635
Date: 4th December 2003
Subject: New Flu Vaccine -- Minus the Eggs
Online article
By DANIEL ROSENBERG
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
CHICAGO -- More than 80 million Americans got a flu shot this year, and tens of millions of chickens surrendered their eggs to make that possible.
The flu vaccine is made by growing flu virus inside a chicken egg, a technology that has been around for decades. But Baxter International Inc. is working on a flu vaccine that could be grown without any avian contribution, and the company hopes to have it on the market in Europe next year and in the U.S. perhaps by 2007, assuming approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
Chiron Corp., the second-largest flu-vaccine company, is also working on a cell-culture vaccine. It expects to enter Phase III trials in Europe next year.
Baxter, which doesn't currently sell a flu vaccine, says the advantages of its vero cell flu vaccine would include the company not having to buy millions of eggs, fewer problems with egg allergies that prevent a small portion of people from being able to receive a flu shot, and preventing the likelihood, however small, of transmitting diseases from chickens to people through a flu vaccine.
But Aventis Pasteur, the vaccines business of Aventis and the world's largest producer of flu vaccine, says egg-based technology has worked well for years and that there is no reason to change. The company has looked into the vero cell technology Baxter is researching and hasn't found a way to make it cost effective.
Baxter says it will grow the flu virus inside huge fermenters. A single tank, the company says, can produce as much flu virus as one million eggs, without the hassle.
"It's certainly a wonderful opportunity for us," said Kim Bush, president of Baxter's vaccines business, a part of the Deerfield, Ill., company's BioSciences division. "We're ramping up production capability."
Influenza causes approximately 36,000 deaths and 114,000 hospitalizations each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. More than 90% of deaths occur among people age 65 and older.
Baxter anticipates being able to make 10 million to 15 million doses in 2005, and 40 million to 50 million doses by 2007. The product is a $200 million to $400 million opportunity for the $8.5 billion company, Baxter says.
For the last 30 to 40 years, flu virus has been grown in chicken eggs. When a fertilized egg is eight to nine days old, it is injected by needle with a tiny bit of flu virus, which then grows in the egg and is harvested one to two days later. A single egg is needed to make one dose of vaccine containing a multitude of flu viruses, and major flu vaccine makers like Aventis Pasteur and Chiron need tens of millions of eggs every year.
About 4% of the population is allergic to eggs, according to Baxter, and many of these people can't get a flu shot.
However, allergist Lee Sonin, who practices in the Chicago suburbs, said his office vaccinates hundreds of people for flu every year and only four or five patients don't receive a shot due to allergies. Sonin added that he sometimes has given flu vaccine even to patients who are allergic to eggs because the danger to them from the flu virus is greater than the danger from the flu vaccine.
Baxter notes that the current vaccine has a long production cycle. Every year, the World Health Organization has to decide which three flu strains the vaccine should protect against, and because of the long production cycle, must make its decision around August. If Baxter's vero cell flu vaccine becomes a popular alternative, the company says its shorter production cycle could mean more flexibility for the WHO when it decides which strains to target.
Baxter's product is also free of animal proteins. That means there's little chance of any kind of disease getting spread by the vaccine from animals to humans.
Write to Daniel Rosenberg at daniel.rosenberg@dowjones.com1
COMMENT FROM THE INFORMED PARENT It is interesting how there are admissions about the problems of using animal/bird tissue when other alternatives are being investigated. It reminds me of when you read that a 'safer' vaccine has been developed, when prior to that the public were told that the previous vaccine was very safe.
Date: 19th November 2003
Subject: House Of Commons Session
House of Commons Session
- Questions to the Deputy Prime Minister and to the Prime Minister.
- Ten minute Rule Motion: Bob Russell: First aid training in schools: That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require first aid training to be given to children in schools as part of the National Curriculum.
- Commons consideration of Lords Amendments.
- Consideration of Lords Amendments to the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill.
- Further consideration of Lords Amendments.
- At the end of the sitting: Adjournment: Norman Baker: MMR vaccination and the case of Mr Michael Thomas
Date: 2nd November 2003
Subject: "Row over new 'link' between MMR jab and autism"
From The Observer
by Anushka Asthana
The row over the MMR vaccination deepened yesterday when the doctor at the centre of the controversy published fresh evidence of a possible link between the immunisation and autism.
Dr Andrew Wakefield released the paper earlier than planned following a dispute with Dr Simon Murch, a co-author of the original research that triggered a nationwide scare about the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine in 1998.
Murch had reignited the debate by writing a letter in the Lancet on Friday stating there was no evidence of a link between the MMR vaccine and rising levels of autism among children and warning that low rates of vaccination could lead to a measles epidemic.
But Wakefield responded by publishing his latest findings in the Journal of Clinical Immunology, providing what he claims is new evidence of a link. Several studies have found a link between autism and an inflammation in the intestine; Wakefield's study suggests that this may be caused by a virus, possibly linked to the MMR vaccine.
Murch worked with Wakefield on the research and both names were on the proof copy. But Murch and others withdrew their names.
Wakefield claims that Murch's comments and his decision to pull out of the research were due to pressure from the Royal Free Medical School, where he is a consultant paediatric gastroenterologist.
Murch denied this: 'I have withdrawn because the data was being justified in a way I couldn't agree with. All the work I have done shows evidence of subtle inflammation of the intestine in many but not all autistic children. But people were taking that as further evidence of a link with MMR that we never claimed and unwittingly we were adding fuel to the fire.'
Wakefield hit back: 'He cannot make that claim because he signed up to have it published. We were not going to publicise this but after what Simon Murch said we did. He is distancing himself because of the hierarchy where he works.'
Some parents are angry at Murch's claims. Rosemary Kessick insists her autistic son William was normal before receiving the MMR jab. She said: 'It is one person's opinion. This controversy is not going to go away until the facts have been heard and the medical dogma is brushed aside.'
Wakefield said: 'I am not saying there is definitely a link but I am convinced of an urgent reason to investigate this. The case is very strong. This must be resolved scientifically and not politically.'
Date: October 31, 2003
Subject: Press Release "Fraudulent CDC Study on Vaccine Safety Released Today"
FRAUDULENT CDC STUDY ON VACCINE SAFETY RELEASED TODAY, ORIGINAL 2000 STUDY CONCLUDES MERCURY-AUTISM LINK. ORIGINAL UNPUBLISHED CDC STUDY IN 2000 FINDS 2.48 RELATIVE RISK BETWEEN AUTISM AND MERCURY-BASED PRESERVATIVE.
MANY SAY NEWEST STUDY CONTAINS MANIPULATED DATA
Raleigh/Durham, NC A new Vaccine Safety Data-link (VSD) study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control is expected to be published in Pediatrics on Monday, but an online version of the report was released today. The newest study falsely reports no link between neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, and the mercury-based vaccine preservative Thimerosal. The 2000 version of the study did find a connection, but was never published.
Only through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was the research group Safe Minds able to retrieve the original study which found that exposure to more than 62.5 micrograms of mercury in vaccines within the first three months of life could make children more than twice as likely to develop autism than children not exposed.
“We've got an explosion of autism that correlates with the increase in Thimerosal exposure in children, and it appears to me that this new study serves only to mislead the public,” says Laura Bono, parent of a vaccine-injured child. “Through analysis of the new study, we’ve learned that the authors included and excluded data they knew would give them their desired outcome and, in my opinion, that is deliberate deception.”
Dr. Tom Verstraeten was the lead investigator in the original study and one of the authors of the current article. Although he is now employed by vaccine-manufacturer giant GlaxoSmithKlein, the current article fails to disclose the clear conflict of interest.
In 2000, after the original study was released, a group of 48 doctors, among other professionals, discreetly gathered at the Simpsonwood Retreat Center in Georgia to discuss the data that linked mercury in vaccines to autism. Transcripts of the meeting, also retrieved through FOIA, reveal comments from concerned doctors about the original study’s conclusions. One doctor was quoted as saying, “There are just a host of Neurodevelopmental data that would suggest that we’ve got a serious problem.” Another stated, “So we are in a bad position from the standpoint of defending any lawsuits and I am concerned.”
Many feel the original study should have been published and blame the CDC for covering up mercury poisoning that has injured thousands of children only to calm fears and protect drug companies.
“Let's open our eyes here...they cherry-picked the data, they used an HMO known for bad record keeping, and they included children least likely to have an autism diagnosis because of their age," says parent Lori McIlwain.
Another VSD study done by independent researchers who have nothing to gain will soon be released and contradict this latest CDC study,” she says.
The new CDC VSD report comes on the heels of the ‘Global Warming’ report recently released by the Environmental Protection Agency which is also said to contain manipulated data and deleted portions.
To see a copy of the original study and transcripts of the Simpsonwood meeting, visit www.safeminds.org or www.factsformedia.com
Ingri Cassel, President
Vaccination Liberation - Idaho Chapter
P.O. Box 457
Spirit Lake, ID 83869
(208)255-2307/ 888-249-1421
eMail Vaccination Liberation
"Free Your Mind.... From The Vaccine Paradigm"
Date: Sunday 2nd November
Subject: BBC Radio 4 Programme on Hepatitis B vaccine
A repeat of this weeks programme on Hepatitis B vaccine. It highlights some of the reactions and also looks at the possibility that this vaccine may be given the go ahead to be included in the early childhood immunisation schedule for babies.
Have a look at the website for more information, including a full transcript.
Date: 31st October 2003
Subject: Andrew Wakefield's Statement re: Simon Murch letter in the Lancet.
The fact that a personal opinion, expressed through a letter in the Lancet, has gained such unwarranted prominence must be seen as a measure of the desperation felt by Professor Brent Taylor and fellow members of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). It must be seen to reflect part of an orchestrated campaign which seeks to restore confidence in a flawed public health policy.
Dr Simon Murch is under increasing pressure from his head of department, Professor Brent Taylor and the hierarchy of the Royal Free and University College Medical School, and the Royal Free Hospital to withhold help for children with autism and to distance himself from the MMR-autism link. The pressure to relinquish autism research has been relentless, despite the discovery of a clear and scientifically proven form of inflammatory bowel disease in these children that is amenable to treatment. Dr Murch is currently in the process of losing his research laboratory and has failed in his attempts to secure promotion.
Sadly, this most recent offering, however contrived and insubstantial, indicates that Dr Murch has yielded to the pressure. This is despite his continuing to publish studies that confirm the presence of the measles virus in the diseased intestine of children with autism. Of note is the fact that these are children whose only documented exposure to measles has been through MMR vaccine. He has also contributed to, and continues to publish, data that show the intestinal inflammation in autistic children has all the hallmarks of a viral disease.
Dr Andrew Wakefield the clinician who alerted colleagues and the public to the MMR/Autism link and resisted similar attempts to infringe his academic freedom said on learning of Dr Murch's letter: "There is now no doubt in my mind and in the minds of many physicians involved with these children that, based upon the clinical and laboratory evidence, there is a clear link between regressive autism, bowel disease and the MMR vaccine."
He went onto say that treatment of the bowel disease in affected children undoubtedly relieved much of their suffering and that it would be a tragedy if this clinical care were to stop, simply in order to shore up the deeply flawed DOH policy. Senior members of the JCV. I have had sight of privileged information that shows a clear link between MMR vaccine and bowel disease in children with regressive autism. They must now bear personal responsibility for any harm that arises from an insistence upon an ìMMR only policy".
Notes
Dr Murch was involved in the catch up campaign to push MMR vaccination during the period of its introduction in 1988.
Date: 20th October 2003
Subject : JABS Fund for MMR Parents
JABS have now set up a fund to support the legal cases and move on the research as much as they possibly can. Their website has been up-dated with the new information. The front page includes a donation box for the fund. Other means of collection are, of course, by cheque/postal orders payable to "JABS Fighting Fund" and forwarded to the main address.
Also, some things-to-do for interested parties:
- Writing to the Legal Services Commission about your child's personal case.
- Writing to your MP
- Writing to the local press about the withdrawal of legal aid and an appeal for public donations to the fund.
Private Eye 17 October - 30 October 2003
MMR MEAN TESTING
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The decision to withdraw legal aid for the 1,000-plus families who believe their children were damaged by MMR came just as the lawyers for the families obtained what they believe is their most striking evidence of a link between the triple jab and the autism and brain damage suffered by the children.
Measles virus has been found in the spinal fluid - and therefore the brain - in three of the six children at the centre of the huge high court battle over the safety of the vaccine. It has also been found in 18 children in the United States who developed autism after receiving MMR.
By contrast the virus was found in only one of more than 20 control samples - taken mainly from spinal taps on children with leukaemia.
Just as the results came in, however, the legal services commission announced its decision - after four and a half years and only six months before trial - to withdraw funding ''because medical research has yet to prove a conclusive link''.
Jeremy Stuart-Smith, QC for the families, told the high court last week that the legal aid decision was ''flawed'' and likely to be judicially reviewed. Clearly frustrated by this setback, he described to Mr Justice Keith, who was due to hear the case next April, how the families had got this far ''against all odds''. He accused the defendant drug companies, with their ''huge'' resources, of laying down obstacles and ''a trail of litigation treacle'' through which families were forced to wade. |
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Not least, the drug companies' lawyers had even tried to stop the spinal tests by seeking an injunction banning them as ''invasive and unethical''. As it was, the families were forced to go to the US for the spinal taps because every hospital they approached in Britain, whether private of NHS, refused. The reasons for rejection were, said Mr Stuart-Smith, ''from the perfectly reasonable to the near incredible''. One hospital which had provisionally agreed to do the work suddenly withdrew at the 11th hour.
The QC descibed how ''with a determination that could only be admired'' Alexander Harris, the firm of solicitors acting for the families, had found a hospital in the US that was prepared to help. At very short notice - and with extreme difficulty - the severely disabled children and their parents and carers flew to the US where ''every conceivable obstacle'' was put in their way. |
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MMR Number crunching
£10m
Extra needed to see the parents' legal case through to conclusion
£10m
Cost of lifetime care for three or four severely autistic or brain-damaged children
£20m
Public cost of maintaining the empty Greenwich dome
£137m
Cost so far of the Bloody Sunday inquiry
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As the parents have since revealed, within hours of landing in Michigan the hospital which had agreed to test the children suddenly announced it was no longer prepared to. Using contacts involved in US drug litigation, the families found a private clinic and sympathetic anaesthetist willing to carry out the tests , just two hours away. But they were nearly thwarted again when the defendant drug companies made an emergency application to the high court in London for an injunction.
The high court judge declined to grant an injunction; but the tests were delayed a couple of hours so the pharmaceutical companies could send a doctor. In the event they sent a lawyer instead.
Relieved but exhausted, the parents and children then went to the airport to catch their flight back to the UK armed with their precious samples, carefully stored in a special container. It was then that US customs stepped in and quizzed the party about their cargo. One parent told the Eye they were even asked about the ethics of invasive tests on their children, suggesting the officials were well briefed. On their stopover in Amsterdam they were questioned again by Dutch officials. Coincidence? The parents don't think so.
The families believe their efforts have been vital. As Mr Stuart-Smith said last week: ''The contrast between three positive results for measles from the six lead cases, the real candidates for proving that MMR causation exists, and one positive of the leukemic patients, is striking.''
The results of course need more investigation. For a start, the drug companies contest the ''positive'' findings (although they are using different testing techniques, and sensitivity to measles virus is very variable). But neither that crucial investigation - nor any other work to settle the case one way or another - is going to go ahead without legal aid. The drug companies and government are clearly not going to do it. The case has cost £15m so far and could be concluded for another £10m (see panel).
Mr Justice Keith, who was due to hear the case in April, has said on several occasions that the case is important not only for the children involved but the wider public. For it to continue, the families are now in the ludicrous position of having to go cap in hand to the legal services commission to get funding for more lawyers to fight a costly judicial review of the commission's decision to withdraw legal aid in the first place.
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Date: 10th October 2003
Subject: Website updates
Books and videos are now available to purchase securely online !
We have also added some help for "newsletter" and "books & videos" pages. Just click on the
Date: 1st October 2003
Subject: LEGAL AID WITHDRAWN FOR MMR VACCINE- DAMAGED CHILDREN
The decision to withdraw legal aid for more than 1,000 children believed to have been damaged by the MMR vaccine, only six months away from the court cases (April 2004), appears illogical, perverse and serves no public interest. The decision to halt the cases now, following the provision of new evidence in support of the children's cases, will only confirm the view that the combined powers of government and drug companies are working against vaccine victims receiving justice.
In some cases funding has been provided for nearly ten years to children with wide ranging health problems (eg autism, epilepsy, loss of speech and communication skills, chronic arthritis, deafness). These families believe their children are vaccine-damaged and need to know why their children's lives changed so dramatically within such a short time of the MMR vaccine being given if it wasn't the vaccine. The MMR court cases were vital not only to the families involved in the pursuit of justice for their children, but for all parents who are concerned about whether the vaccines they are giving their healthy children are safe.
The United States government and vaccine manufacturers recognise that vaccine damage occurs. The American National Vaccine Compensation programme provides a no fault compensation system for children adversely affected by vaccines and is designed to reduce the numbers of litigation cases against the vaccine manufacturers. Unfortunately, the United Kingdom's vaccine damage compensation scheme is wholly inadequate and does not provide a similar safety net for vaccine damaged children.
JABS believes the government can no longer claim that MMR is the "safest way to protect your child" as they have now denied the parents an opportunity to have all information out in the open and heard properly. The questionmark over the issue is still here. The controversy will not go away, it will grow.
For further information please contact Jackie Fletcher (National Co-ordinator)
Tel: 01942 713565
e-mail: jackie@jabs.org.uk
website: www.jabs.org.uk
Subject: MMR
Date: 30th June 2003
GPs in Scotland have welcomed a U-turn over a directive to tell parents the MMR vaccine contains porcine (pig-based) material. The directive was made because the immunisation co-ordinator at Forth Valley NHS board feared the pig-based material would compromise the beliefs of Muslim and Jewish patients. Forth Valley LMC warned the directive would further compromise the uptake of the vaccine and referred the matter to the GPC. GPC negotiator Dr Peter Holden said they had received confirmation the Jewish community allows porcine material to be used in vaccines and had been told the Muslim community would not object either. Dr Holder added: "I don't support the public health doctor who interferes and says we've got to tell everyone everything." A spokesman for Forth Valley NHS board said the directive had now been dropped following discussion with religious groups.
Pulse. 30 June 2003
Mercury and autism 'linked'
Radio 4 File on Four
"While attention has been focused on the MMR controversy, concern is now emerging over the safety of other childhood vaccines.
Gerry Northam investigates claims that the mercury in some injections given to babies is linked to the rise in autism, and asks why Britain is refusing to follow the United States' lead in phasing out mercury-based immunisations."
Click here for the "File on Four" website for more information and to read the transcript.
Date: 16th June 2003
Subject: Online Subscriptions
You can now subscribe to The Informed Parent online ! You will not have to pay any fees and payments are secure.
Date: 9th April 2003.
Subject: Court Decision
Last year a mother was taken to court by her child's father for refusing to vaccinate. The decision follows:
The story of a British student midwife, whose estranged partner, and child's father, took her to court over her decision not to vaccinate her child of whom she has full custody, appeared in the media last year. Nobody at the time could believe that her ex-partner, could possibly win his case, considering she has full custody, considering he is not British, and considering this country does not mandate vaccines.
The draft judgment was passed today. The mother is given 3 months to take her child to a pediatric registrar to update ALL vaccines recommended by the UK Government, at a set schedule.
If you think this is bad, read on, it gets worse. The case was pooled, another family, involving a 12 year old girl received the same verdict.
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS COUNTRY?
Two mothers who refused to allow the injection of various poisons which could possibly result in severe side effects, such as severe diarrhea, encephalitis, anorexia, anaphylaxis, arthritis, febrile convulsions, seizures, Guillain-Barré-Syndrome, encephalopathy, SSPE, or death (all these according to package inserts from vaccine manufacturers), are refused by a family court to execute their duties as responsible adults and loving, caring mothers.
The Court will not accept expert witnesses who reside outside the UK, if an appeal takes place.
If you are resident in the UK and an expert in this field, or can give legal advice, please urgently contact:
justice@internationalsymposium.co.uk
If you are a resident in the UK, then please write to your MP, write to the PM, write to the House of Lords, to voice your concerns over the way these two mothers are treated by the so-called Justice System.