Fwd: Immunization News for 9/20/00

[Guest guest]

I get a digest of " Immunization News " every week or so, and came across this

article in today's...thought it was quite interesting! As if meningitis has

anything at all to do with the fact she did NOT pump mercury into her

child!!!!!

In a message dated 09/20/2000 10:33:04 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

news@... writes:

<< " Vaccines' Safety, Morality Hit Home for Girl's Parents "

Tennessean (www.tennessean.com) (09/17/00); Snyder, Bill

Suzanne and Leonard Walther of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, opted not

to vaccinate their third child until they were convinced of the

overall safety and morality of vaccines. Some vaccines were

produced years ago from aborted fetal tissue, and there have been

concerns about a form of mercury used in some vaccines. At the

time the Walther's third child was born, the nursery at the

hospital featured a notice about postponing the first dose of

hepatitis B vaccine because of the mercury concerns. The amount

of thimerosal in the vaccines is too low to pose significant

health threats, but vaccines made without the preservative are

now available. For the Walthers, the situation changed when, a

week before their youngest child's first birthday, she developed

meningitis. The Walthers now believe that vaccines have more

benefits than risks. The couple also notes that while there is a

great deal of vaccine-related information on the Internet, it is

difficult to find reliable data. " What I could find were pretty

sensationalistic sites, the horror stories " notes Suzanne Walter.

" Asthma, allergies, autism, neurological disorders, attention

deficit disorder-anything that's a common ailment in children

these days is attributed to vaccines by somebody on the

Internet. "

>>

Immunization Newsbriefs

© 2000 Information Inc., Bethesda, MD.

September 20, 2000

************************************************************

" Vaccine Against Staph Looks Promising "

" Online Flu Surveillance System Launched "

" New Flu Drug Works on Deadly Avian Strain "

" Washing Up Is Down, a Study Suggests "

" Vaccines Coming for Bladder and Ear Infections "

" Vaccines' Safety, Morality Hit Home for Girl's Parents "

" Vaccine Helps Thwart Herpes in Women "

" The Hidden Costs of Infant Vaccination "

" 10 Million Pounds Drive to Beat Flu; Jab Campaign Targets Scots "

" New Reason Not to Share Needles- Flesh-Eating Bug "

" Trials of New Malaria Vaccine Start in Gambia "

" Measles Defeated in Americas but Still Plaguing Other Nations "

******************************************************

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

" Vaccine Against Staph Looks Promising "

Philadelphia Inquirer (www.phillynews.com) (09/20/00) P. A2;

Haney, Q.

A new vaccine called StaphVAX has shown to protect against staph

infections, a major risk for hospital patients. The vaccine was

genetically engineered at the National Institutes of Health and

was first tested on kidney dialysis patients. Dr. Steve Black of

the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center said the vaccine could

be a major breakthrough. Staphylococcus aureus lives in the

human nasal tract, but it can cause serious infections in

patients like diabetics and those on dialysis. Staph can be

fatal if it enters the bloodstream. The first study of 1,804

patients at dialysis centers showed that only 11 people developed

staph infections after vaccination, compared to 26 in the

unvaccinated control group. A vaccine would be useful because

the bacteria is growing resistant to some antibiotics.

" Online Flu Surveillance System Launched "

Reuters Health Information Services (www.reutershealth.com)

(09/19/00)

Hoffmann-La Roche has launched an Internet-based surveillance

system to track national influenza activity. The system, known

as FluSTAR, will provide information on the incidence and spread

of flu. The company noted that FluSTAR provides quick estimates

of illness using a rapid immunoassay test that can be performed

in an outpatient setting.

" New Flu Drug Works on Deadly Avian Strain "

USA Today (www.usatoday.com) (09/20/00) P. 6D; Manning, Anita

Researchers from the University of Virginia and the University of

Rochester presented data from two studies involving experimental

antiviral drug RWJ-270201 at the Interscience Conference on

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Toronto. The first

study indicated that the drug was as effective in combating viral

growth in 90 patients exposed to influenza Type A and 56 patients

exposed to influenza Type B without the adverse events sometimes

caused by current medications, while the second study showed that

the drug prevented the death of animals exposed to the same

strains of virus that spread from birds to at least 18 people in

Hong Kong three years ago. Vaccines are currently the most

popular approach to dealing with influenza; however, vaccines

will be unable to prevent deaths if a new strain is passed to

people, which could potentially cause a worldwide flu epidemic.

Webster of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, who

headed the animal studies on the new drug, notes that Tamiflu,

Relenza, and RWJ-270201 are all effective in combating flu

strains found in birds.

" Washing Up Is Down, a Study Suggests "

New York Times (www.nytimes.com) (09/19/00) P. A27; Dewan, Shaila

K.

Fewer people are washing their hands, according to the American

Society for Microbiology, which found that only 43 percent of men

who used restrooms in New York City's Grand Central Station

washed their hands. Women at the train station ranked at 54

percent, and the low numbers raise concern about an increase in

disease incidence and drug-resistant germs. The study took place

in bathrooms from Atlanta to San Francisco and found that New

Yorkers were the least likely to wash up. In 1996, the group

found that 60 percent of New Yorkers washed their hands.

Interviews with people at Grand Central showed they were

concerned about sanitation, but felt that the fast pace of work

days leads to less hand washing. Overall, two-thirds of the

women and 58 percent of the more than 7,800 people observed

washed their hands.

" Vaccines Coming for Bladder and Ear Infections "

United Press International (www.upi.com) (09/18/00); ,

At the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in

Toronto several reports have focused on new vaccines in

development. A vaccine for one strain of the E. coli bacterium

has finished early human trials, according to Dr. Koenig of

MedImmune Inc. Koenig-who noted that other E. coli strains would

not be affected by the new drug--said the vaccine's initial

target will be women with recurrent bladder infections, the

primary cause of which is the E. coli strain. Separately, Dr.

Barenkamp of the St. Louis University School of Medicine

reported promising findings for a vaccine against Haemophilus

influenzae, which causes most childhood ear infections.

Barenkamp noted that ear infections are " the single most common

cause of visits to pediatricians in the United States. " Also at

the conference, a round-table discussion concluded that all

adolescents should be vaccinated again against whooping cough,

since immunity from the childhood vaccine fades over time. The

panelists could not agree on whether adults should be vaccinated

again.

" Vaccines' Safety, Morality Hit Home for Girl's Parents "

Tennessean (www.tennessean.com) (09/17/00); Snyder, Bill

Suzanne and Leonard Walther of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, opted not

to vaccinate their third child until they were convinced of the

overall safety and morality of vaccines. Some vaccines were

produced years ago from aborted fetal tissue, and there have been

concerns about a form of mercury used in some vaccines. At the

time the Walther's third child was born, the nursery at the

hospital featured a notice about postponing the first dose of

hepatitis B vaccine because of the mercury concerns. The amount

of thimerosal in the vaccines is too low to pose significant

health threats, but vaccines made without the preservative are

now available. For the Walthers, the situation changed when, a

week before their youngest child's first birthday, she developed

meningitis. The Walthers now believe that vaccines have more

benefits than risks. The couple also notes that while there is a

great deal of vaccine-related information on the Internet, it is

difficult to find reliable data. " What I could find were pretty

sensationalistic sites, the horror stories " notes Suzanne Walter.

" Asthma, allergies, autism, neurological disorders, attention

deficit disorder-anything that's a common ailment in children

these days is attributed to vaccines by somebody on the

Internet. "

" Vaccine Helps Thwart Herpes in Women "

Dallas Morning News (www.dallasnews.com) (09/18/00); Beil,

A new vaccine appears to prevent herpes virus in women. The

vaccine has proven 73 percent to 74 percent effective in

preventing genital herpes in women who were considered at high

risk for the infection because their sexual partners were already

infected. The University of Utah's Dr. Spotswood Spruance, who

reported his findings at the annual meeting of the Interscience

Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Toronto on

Sunday, noted, " We've got a grip on the herpes virus for the

first time. " In one study, 10 percent of women not vaccinated

developed herpes, while 3 percent of vaccinated women developed

the disease. For men, the differences in infection rates were

not statistically significant among the two groups. The

vaccine's effects were also limited for women who had already

been exposed to one type of herpes virus. The vaccine is meant

to prevent HSV-2, which causes genital herpes. According to Dr.

Spruance, a herpes vaccine like the one he studied would be best

geared toward adolescent girls, who still have low HSV-1

infection rates.

" The Hidden Costs of Infant Vaccination "

Vaccine Online

(www.elsevier.com:80/inca/publications/store/3/0/5/2/1)

(08/15/00) Vol. 19, No. 1, P. 33; Lieu, A.; Black,

B.; Ray, G. ; et al.

Researchers from Kaiser Permanente and the Centers for Disease

Control conducted a survey of one-month- to eight-month-old

infants who received vaccines in 1997 from a health maintenance

organization in Northern California. The study questioned any

symptoms seen after vaccination, preferences for multiple

injections, and willingness to pay to cut down the number of

doses of shots. A total of 1,657 interviews were conducted, and

it was found that parents were willing to pay an average of $25

to reduce injections from four to three, and $50 from two to one.

To avoid vaccine-associated symptoms, parents were, on average,

willing to spend $50. The authors concluded that multiple

injections during one clinic visit can also have psychological

costs. They noted that the psychological costs of

vaccine-related symptoms are greater than those that stem from

having multiple shots.

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

" 10 Million Pounds Drive to Beat Flu; Jab Campaign Targets Scots "

ish Daily Record (www.record-mail.co.uk) (09/18/00) P. 10;

Sinclair,

A massive ad campaign started this week in Scotland to encourage

residents to get vaccinated against influenza. The television

ads will reach over 1 million Scots, targeting the elderly in

particular for vaccination. Health minister Deacon said

the ads, which cost 10 million pounds, are necessary to prevent

last year's epidemic, which was the worst the country had seen in

a decade. Using the slogan " Don't let the flu bug bite, " the

effort also targets people with kidney disease, asthma, and other

conditions.

" New Reason Not to Share Needles- Flesh-Eating Bug "

Reuters (www.reuters.com) (09/19/00); Fox, Maggie

Israeli doctors have found that sharing needles can transmit the

deadly flesh-eating bacteria, after investigating the case of a

heroin user who passed the infection to his wife. The bacteria

can enter body tissue and cause necrotizing fasciitis, killing a

patient quickly. The male heroin user died of the infection,

which his heroin-using wife contracted through sharing his

needle. Dr. lia Smolyakov of Soroka Medical Center in

Beersheba, Israel, noted that cases of the flesh-eating disease

are rare, but doctors should be aware of the problem in injection

drug users.

" Trials of New Malaria Vaccine Start in Gambia "

Reuters (www.reuters.com) (09/18/00)

Scientists from Oxford University are starting clinical trials in

Gambia for a new DNA vaccine against malaria. The vaccine is the

first to target the malaria parasite in the cell, using a gene,

according to Dr. Hill of Oxford. The vaccine is created

to destroy the parasite from the inside, and could be marketed in

five to 10 years. Malaria kills 2 million a year, mostly

children in Africa.

" Measles Defeated in Americas but Still Plaguing Other Nations "

United Press International (www.upi.com) (09/18/00); ,

While the Americas have virtually eradicated measles, other parts

of the world continue to deal with the childhood disease. The

number of measles cases in the United States fell from over

28,000 in 1990 to only 100 last year, and those cases were all

related to infections from other countries. Worldwide

eradication is far away, however, even though there is a vaccine

to protect against the disease. More than 1 million children

throughout the world die from measles every year. Walter

Orenstein of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told

participants at a meeting sponsored by the American Society for

Microbiology on Sunday that " the world is not yet ready for a

global measles eradication initiative, " although he noted that

success in the polio elimination effort could spur interest in

getting rid of measles. Overcrowding, transmission among adults,

and a lack of political will must be overcome in order to start

vaccination campaigns abroad. The European region aims to

eradicate the disease by 2007, but Orenstein believes that such a

goal requires serious efforts on the part of everyone involved.

===================================================================

Immunization Newsbriefs is a service of the National Network for Immunization

Information (NNii), a special project of the Infectious Diseases Society of

America (http://www.idsociety.org), the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society

(http://www.pids.org), the American Academy of Pediatrics (http://www.aap.org)

and the American Nurses Association (http://www.ana.org), supported by a grant

from the Wood Foundation.

NNii makes the Immunization Newsbriefs available as a public service only.

Providing this information does not constitute endorsement by the NNii nor any

of its partners.

Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and

the Infectious Diseases Society of America should be cited as the source of

the information.

Immunization Newsbriefs is published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (except

for holidays) by Information, Inc., of Bethesda, MD. Today's news, back

issues, and a searchable archive of past Immunization Newsbriefs summaries are

available at http://www.infoinc.com/imnews2.

To SUBSCRIBE to Immunization Newsbriefs, please go to

http://www.infoinc.com/imnews2/regform.html. If you do not have access to the

World-Wide Web, please send an E-mail message toregistration@...

requesting sign-up. Please note: You MUST provide complete name, address,

E-mail address and other contact information to subscribe. This information

will remain confidential and will not be sold or passed on to other vendors.

To UNSUBSCRIBE, please go to

http://www.infoinc.com/imnews2/remove.html. If you do not have access to the

World-Wide Web, please send an E-mail message to registration@...

requesting removal from the mailing list. Be sure to include your E-mail

address.