IMMUNIZATION NEWS Who's taking the fall for SARS in China?

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U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

" New Jersey: Smallpox Inoculations Called Success "

New York Times (www.nytimes.com) (04/21/03) P. B4

Since December, more than 650 public health and hospital workers in New

Jersey have received smallpox vaccinations. The state expected to

inoculate up to 15,000 volunteers; however, officials said they are pleased

with the number of healthcare workers who received the vaccine, as it

creates a core emergency response team in case of a smallpox-related

emergency.

" Georgia Children Have High Immunization Coverage Rates "

Associated Press (www.ap.org) (04/20/03)

The Georgia Division of Public Health, which tracked 2,721 children born in

January 2000, reports that 79 percent of two-year-olds in the state are

adequately vaccinated against diseases such as diphtheria, polio,

chickenpox, measles, and hepatitis B. The immunization rate for toddlers

has been increasing steadily and is up from 67 percent for children born in

January 1999. The study also concluded that 72 percent of immunizations

were done by private providers, with the state providing only about 20

percent of shots.

" FDA Approval of Nasal Vaccine for Flu Expected "

New York Times (www.nytimes.com) (04/19/03) P. C1; Pollack,

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration could soon make the prospect of

getting vaccinated against influenza much more appealing, should it approve

a technology that puts the vaccine into the body through the nose, rather

than with a painful shot. In time, the ease and comfort of a nasal

formulation of the vaccine--coupled with an advertising campaign that

promotes awareness of the option--could make flu vaccinations much more

common, reducing the number of hospitalizations and deaths that occur every

year among people who avoid the vaccine because they dislike the shot.

Still, experts say that the vaccine's makers, MedImmune and Wyeth, will

have trouble selling the product because flu vaccine uptake is only between

10 percent and 20 percent among healthy people under the age of 50, and the

vaccine, called FluMist, costs about two or three times the price of the

injected vaccine, at between $30 and $40 per dose. The companies could

benefit from the scare put into patients by sudden acute respiratory

syndrome (SARS), even though flu vaccines do not protect against the

illness; the general public could turn its fear of sickness into an attempt

to become protected against as many ailments as possible. [Flu vaccines

will be even more important this season to reduce confusion between

patients with flu versus SARS.]

" Flu Shots Do More Than Fight Off the Flu "

Charlottetown Guardian (CAN) (www.canada.com/charlottetown) (04/19/03) P.

C9

A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that the

flu shot not only protects the elderly against the flu but also against

heart disease and stroke. The large study involved over 286,000 senior

citizens and revealed that hospital stays for heart disease or stroke

during two flu seasons were much lower among individuals who received flu

shots.

" Vaccines Are Important for Children "

Mansfield News Journal (04/19/03)

The Mansfield/Ontario/Richland County Health Department in Ohio is part of

a national effort to increase immunization rates for children under age of

two. Children should have more than 80 percent of their vaccinations

within the first two years of life, and health officials say that

vaccinations are the most important method to protect children against

disease. Although most vaccine-preventable diseases have been

significantly reduced since the advent of vaccines, over 900,000 U.S.

children are still not completely immunized.

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

" SARS--Hong Kong Expert Warns Effective Vaccine Will Be Hard to Find "

AFX-Europe (www.afxpress.com/corporate/AFX-Europe.htm) (04/21/03)

Arthur Van Langerberg, a virologist working at Canossa Hospital in Hong

Kong, told La Repubblica that developing a vaccine to battle sudden acute

respiratory syndrome (SARS) will not be easy, because of the virus' ability

to mutate quickly. Even if a vaccine is developed in the next six months,

says Van Langerberg, the virus will probably have mutated in that time and

the vaccine will therefore have limited benefit. The virologist said that

SARS could spread across Europe in the coming winter, as that is the time

when most people develop colds, which are related to the illness.

" SARS Virus Seen as Long-Term Threat "

Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (04/21/03) P. A20; Stein, Rob

According to infectious disease experts, the window for eradicating severe

acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is closed, and the disease has probably

achieved a permanent place among human illnesses. However, it is not clear

whether the epidemic will keep growing, though some nations, such as China,

will probably be more severely affected than others. Experts say that

China's secrecy over outbreaks of the disease lost any chance of containing

it, though it might not have been containable, but technology and alertness

helped suspect it more quickly. Researchers are beginning work on

developing a vaccine, but that will take years and may not fully eliminate

SARS.

" SARS Coverup Spurs a Shake-Up in Beijing "

Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (04/21/03) P. A1; Pomfret,

China's minister of health and the mayor of Beijing were fired over the

weekend for their mismanagement of the severe acute respiratory syndrome

(SARS) outbreak. The minister of health, Zhang Wenkang, was ousted by the

Chinese government from his party post for failing to report early cases of

the severe acute respiratory disorder and for giving an inaccurate account

of the extent to which the disease had spread in Beijing at an April 4 news

conference. But government observers speculate that Beijing Mayor Meng

Xuenong was singled out because he was new to the job and could be spared,

as opposed to other high-ranking leaders, who were considered too

influential to fall. The latest investigation discovered 346 confirmed

cases, including seven new infections, 18 deaths and 402 suspected cases of

SARS in Bejing.

" Biotoxins Fall Into Private Hands "

Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (04/21/03) P. A1; Warrick, Joby

The former commander of South Africa's 7th Medical Battalion, a group

feared across the nation, told U.S. law enforcement officials in secret

meetings last July about the medical experiments the battalion performed

with chemical and biological weapons under the former apartheid government.

Wouter Basson, known as " Doctor Death, " shocked the officials by revealing

the country's attempts to purchase weapons of mass destruction and

equipment with which it could be tested and distributed, as well as

concepts for causing epidemics in black communities, such as cigarettes and

letters laced with anthrax. Even more worrisome, Basson told the U.S.

government that he was unaware of where the microbes are presently, and

strains of toxins that were said to be destroyed continue to surface in

private hands--sparking concern among law enforcement groups that the

government may have leaked some of the pathogens to terrorist or extremist

groups. Part of the problem is that information about the South African

program, called Project Coast, has only arisen since 1998, though the

country declared under reform-minded president Frederik W. de Clerk that

all of the weapons had been destroyed as of 1993. Over time, Project Coast

developed 45 different strains of anthrax, the bacteria that cause cholera,

brucellosis, and plague, and delivery systems like sugar cubes laced with

salmonella, beer bottles and peppermint candles poisoned with pesticide,

and the aforementioned cigarettes and envelopes laced with anthrax. In

1997, it was discovered that not all of the items had been destroyed, and

there were records located indicating that the group had sold some of its

substances to outside organizations, one of which is suspected to be Libya,

as Basson made at least five trips there during the 1990s.

" 350,000 Ivory Coast Children to Be Vaccinated Against Measles "

Agence France Presse (www.afp.com/english/home) (04/18/03)

As part of a 10-day effort, about 350,000 children in Ivory Coast will

receive vaccinations against measles. Statistics show that there were

7,600 cases of the disease in Ivory Coast in 2002, and UNICEF has expressed

concern about children in some regions of the country that no longer had

access to health services. UNICEF estimates that $6 million is needed to

vaccinate all Ivory Coast children between the ages of six months and 14

years against the disease.

" Increase in Flu Vaccine Shots "

Palmerston North Evening Standard (NZ) (www.nabspace.co.nz/evestd.htm)

(04/17/03)

The MidCentral Health region of New Zealand has seen an increase in the

number of people receiving influenza inoculations. The spike may be

attributed to a mistaken notion that the vaccine will offer protection

against severe acute respiratory syndrome. Doctors practicing manager

Joanne Waayer suspects that greater drug company promotion about the

vaccines played a key factor in the increase. People are also being

vaccinated at work when doctors visit.