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"Forty-three of 48 students (90%) who developed varicella had been
vaccinated, the findings indicate, and the highest attack rate occurred in a
first grade classroom where all of the students had been vaccinated."

BL Fisher Note:

   In 1995, when the FDA licensed Merck's live varicella zoster vaccine, the
AAP denied that the vaccine for chicken pox would be mandated. Anybody who
knew anything about mass vaccination policies in America knew that was not
true. Every vaccine which has been recommended by the CDC for universal use
in children during the past 50 years has eventually been mandated.

   In 1995, the National Vaccine Information Center opposed mandated use of
chicken pox vaccine because (1) the vaccine was known to be only 80 percent
effective; (2) the disease was mild for 99.9 percent of children with most
children obtaining a qualitatively superior immunity that lasted a lifetime;
and (3) because mandates would take chicken pox out of the normal childhood
population, where it was primarily benign, and drive it into older adult
populations where it can cause severe complications.

   Sure enough, the AAP was not telling the truth in 1995 and eventually the
AAP and CDC both lobbied with Merck for state mandates. Today almost all
states mandate chicken pox vaccine for school entry.

   As a result of a decade of mass vaccination of all American children with
chicken pox vaccine, there are (1) serious reactions (brain inflammation and
death) from the vaccine; (2) transmission of vaccine strain chicken pox to
vaccinated and unvaccinated children; (3) an epidemic of shingles in adults
because older children and adults no longer have their immunity
asymptomatically boosted by coming into contact with young children with
chicken pox.

   Now a study confirms that lots of vaccinated kids are coming down with
chicken pox anyway. No surprise here - the vaccine was never more than 80
percent effective in preventing chicken pox. So what do the experts suggest?
Why more chicken pox vaccine of course! Another booster dose that will boost
the numbers of vaccine reactions and chronic immune system dysfunction of
vulnerable children as well as boost the profits of Merck.

   No vaccine delivers lifelong immunity. All vaccines carry an inherent risk
of injury or death. Vaccine consumers are always taking two risks: the risk
of a vaccine reaction and the risk of vaccine failure to protect.

    On the other hand, Mother Nature usually gets it right the first time.


http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/536566
Medscape

Second Dose of Varicella Vaccine May Be Needed to Prevent School Outbreaks




NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jun 16 - One dose of varicella vaccine may be
insufficient to prevent school outbreaks of chickenpox, according to a
report in the June issue of Pediatrics.

Outbreaks of varicella continue to be reported, even in highly vaccinated
populations, the authors explain.

In Arkansas, a varicella vaccination requirement for entry into kindergarten
was introduced in 2000, so by September 2003 children in kindergarten
through third grade 3 were covered. Nonetheless, a large number of cases of
chickenpox occurred in an elementary school in 2003. Dr. Sandra L. Snow from
the Arkansas Department of Health, Little Rock, and colleagues investigated
the outbreak.

Among the 545 children attending the school, 96% who had a negative disease
history had been vaccinated, the team found, including 14 children who had
received two doses of varicella vaccine.

Forty-three of 48 students (90%) who developed varicella had been
vaccinated, the findings indicate, and the highest attack rate occurred in a
first grade classroom where all of the students had been vaccinated.

Most of the vaccinated patients had mild disease, the researchers note, with
only 6% appearing sick and only a median two days of school being missed.

The overall vaccine effectiveness was 82% for varicella of any severity and
97% for moderate or severe varicella, the report indicates.

None of the previously reported risk factors for varicella in vaccinated
persons were statistically significant in this study.

"The effectiveness of 1 dose of varicella vaccine is not adequate to provide
sufficient herd immunity levels to prevent outbreaks in school settings
where exposure can be intense," the investigators conclude.

"Although the current recommendation of providing a second dose of varicella
vaccine during an outbreak offers a possible tool for controlling outbreaks,
a routine 2-dose recommendation would be more effective at preventing
cases," Dr. Snow and colleagues add. "Routine 2-dose vaccination will
provide improved protection against disease and further reduce morbidity and
mortality from varicella."

Pediatrics 2006;117:e1070-e1077.





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CDC Panel Urges Routine Cervical Cancer Vaccination for Girls 11 And 12

  By Michael Smith, MedPage Today Staff Writer
June 29, 2006
Also covered by: Boston Globe, LA Times, MSNBC, Washington Post

ATLANTA, June 29 - A vaccine against cervical cancer should be added to the
list of recommended routine shots for girls ages 11 and 12, a federal public
health panel has urged.

The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) agreed today
that the Gardasil vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV)-the sexually
transmitted organism that causes most cervical cancers-should be part of
growing up for American girls.

"This is a big breakthrough for women's health and for cancer prevention,"
said Anne Schuchat, M.D., director of the National Center for Immunizations
and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC. She called the ACIP decision an
"historic vote."

"It's a very exciting day," Dr. Schuchat told reporters after the ACIP voted
unanimously to recommend:
That the vaccine be part of routine care for girls 11 and 12.

The girls as young as nine could be vaccinated, if parents and health-care
providers agree.

That women and girls between the ages of 13 and 26 should have access to the
vaccine as a "catch-up."
And that the vaccine should be part of the federal Vaccines for Children
program, which provides free vaccines for children who are uninsured,
Medicaid recipients, Native Americans, or Alaska Natives.

The vaccine, manufactured by Merck, targets four strains of HPV, including
two that are thought to be responsible for 70% of all cervical cancer.

A second vaccine, made by GlaxoSmithKline, is under development and will
target a wider variety of HPV strains, but Dr. Schuchat said today's
recommendations only apply to Gardasil, which is the only HPV vaccine
licensed in the U.S.

The vaccine's initial target-the sexually transmitted HPV-raised controversy
in some circles, on the basis of fears that immunizing young girls would
send a dangerous message, but Dr. Schuchat said today's decision was based
on two factors:

That a large majority of young women acquire HPV infections soon after the
onset of sexual activity, so that targeting girls 11 and 12 would prevent
most such infections.

Younger people have more active immune systems, so that the vaccine is
likely to be most effective in girls.
The committee recommended a three-shot regimen. At $120 for each shot, the
total cost would be $360 for each immunization.

Dr. Schuchat said the committee considered several cost-effectiveness
scenarios, based on the stated prices and a range of other assumptions, but
all agreed that the three-shot program would be a valuable addition to
public health.

"The bottom line was that almost every way this was assessed, it was a
cost-effective intervention," she said.
The ACIP, Dr. Schuchat said, looks at three factors when it makes
recommendations: efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness. "On all three
fronts, this vaccine looks very good," she said.

The recommendations now go to the CDC director and to the Department of
Health and Human Services and should be approved within a few months, Dr.
Schuchat said, adding the committee does not expect any alterations.

Once the recommendations are final, it will be up to physicians and
health-care payers to provide the shots. Historically, pediatricians have
followed CDC guidelines and health-care payers have agreed to cover costs.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/Vaccines/tb/3654

E-NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER
Vienna, Virginia http://www.nvic.org

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BL Fisher Note:

    A new study has shown that routine condom use during sex can prevent
young women from being infected with HPV after becoming sexually active. HPV
infection can sometimes lead to cervical cancer if the infection becomes
persistent, rather than being cleared naturally from the body.

   Condom use, the old fashioned birth control method, does not subject users
to lab altered viruses or toxic additives like aluminum, which are contained
in Merck's Gardasil vaccine. But condoms are not as profitable for drug
companies as mandating three doses of HPV vaccine at $120 per dose for every
girl born in America, which the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization
Practices is considering doing on June 29.

    Projected annual profits for Merck from sales of Gardasil in U.S. and
foreign markets are between $2B and $4B if the CDC recommends all girls use
it.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/06/22/condoms.hpv.ap/index.html
CNN

Study: Condoms protect well against cancer-causing virus

TRENTON, New Jersey (AP) -- For the first time, scientists have proof that
condoms offer women impressive protection against the virus that causes
cervical cancer.

A three-year study of female college students -- all virgins at the start --
found that women whose partners always wore a condom during sex were 70
percent less likely to become infected with the human papilloma virus, or
HPV, than those whose partners used protection less than 5 percent of the
time.

"That's pretty awesome. There aren't too many times when you can have an
intervention that would offer so much protection," said Dr. Patricia Kloser,
an infectious-disease specialist at University of Medicine and Dentistry of
New Jersey who was not part of the study.

Condoms have been shown convincingly to prevent pregnancy and AIDS. But
conservatives who want to see abstinence taught in schools have long argued
that condoms do not protect well against diseases such as HPV, because men
can spread the virus to women from sores on their genitals outside the area
covered by a condom.

However, the researchers at the University of Washington found that the
chances of HPV being spread that way appear to be small.

Human papilloma virus -- which can cause cervical cancer, genital warts and
vaginal, vulvar, anal and penile cancers -- is the most common sexually
transmitted disease, infecting about 80 percent of young women within five
years of becoming sexually active. An estimated 630 million people worldwide
are infected.

The virus is spread during sex from contact with the sores, or lesions, that
develop around infected cells.

Often, the virus is killed by the immune system, but in some people HPV can
take hold and cause lesions that can turn cancerous years later. Cervical
cancer strikes about 10,520 American women and kills about 3,500 each year.
Worldwide, about 500,000 women develop cervical cancer and nearly 300,000
die from it every year.

In the HPV study, published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine,
none of the women who reported that their partners always used condoms
developed lesions during the three-year period. Fourteen women whose
partners used condoms less regularly got lesions.

Twelve of the 42 women who said their partners always used condoms became
infected. Rachel Winer, a researcher in the university's epidemiology
department, said it could be that the couples did not use the condoms
correctly or had some sexual contact before putting on a condom.

Recent medical advances might someday render the condom debate moot: Earlier
this month, the U.S. government approved the first vaccine against HPV, and
public health officials are urging that girls be routinely vaccinated before
they become sexually active.

The study comes as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is revising rules
for the claims that manufacturers can make on how well condoms prevent
sexually transmitted diseases.

Packages now must state: "If used properly, latex condoms will help to
reduce the risk of transmission of HIV infection (AIDS) and many other
sexually transmitted diseases." But revisions were ordered by Congress in
2000 amid pressure from conservative groups demanding "medically accurate"
claims as to condoms' effectiveness.

Safe-sex advocates warn that changing the wording would undermine public
confidence in, and use of, condoms.

At the time, there was solid evidence only on how well condoms prevent
pregnancy, HIV and, in men, gonorrhea. Recent research has produced strong
evidence condoms protect well against gonorrhea, chlamydia and herpes in
both men and women, said Dr. Ward Cates Jr., president of the Institute for
Family Health at Family Health International. This study adds HPV to that
list, he said.

"This will help clinicians to counsel their patients about the effectiveness
of condoms to reduce another of the sexually transmitted infections -- if
condoms are used consistently and correctly," Cates said.

The researchers invited 24,000 female students ages 18 to 22 at the Seattle,
Washington, university to be in the study. Starting in 2001, they followed
82 from before their first vaginal intercourse, testing the women for HPV
with swabs of the cervix and other genital areas every four months. The
women kept online diaries detailing each act of intercourse, including
condom use and whether there was any genital contact without a condom.

Winer said previous HPV studies either showed no protection from condoms or
were inconclusive. This one included only virgins and collected more
details, and the computer diaries helped women be more honest about condom
use than those in studies where people are interviewed about their sexual
behavior, she said.

"This is about as ideal a study as you can get," said Dr. Tom Fitch, a San
Antonio pediatrician and board chairman at the Medical Institute for Sexual
Health, which stresses abstinence and monogamy as the only sure ways to
prevent sexually transmitted infections.

Nevertheless, Fitch noted that some consistent condom users still were
infected with HPV. Fitch and Kloser also suggested that the results in the
real world -- say, among poor, inner-city women -- might be different from
those with college women.

Fitch said several studies have shown that at most, 50 percent of people
reported using a condom every time they had sex.

=============================================
News@... is a free service of the National Vaccine Information
Center and is supported through membership donations.  Learn more about
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Become a member and support NVIC's work
                https://www.nvic.org/making%20cash%20donations.htm

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NVIC is funded through individual membership donations and does not receive
government funding. Barbara Loe Fisher, President and Co-founder.

E-NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER
Vienna, Virginia http://www.nvic.org

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     UNITED WAY/COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN
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"Medicine remains an inexact science. And when we lose one of our soldiers,
we recognize how much about medicine that we still do not know."

                                                                - Dr. William
Winkenwerder, DOD

BL Fisher Note:

    A DOD assistant secretary admits that medicine is not "an exact science."
But that does not deter him or his physician colleagues at DOD from forcing
reactive smallpox and anthrax vaccinations on soldiers for a "bioterrorism"
threat that has never been documented as real.

    Meryl Nass, M.D., a physician who has evaluated and cared for soldiers
who became chronically ill after suffering anthrax, smallpox and other
vaccine reactions, points out that "the CDC found a much higher rate of
myocarditis in smallpox vaccine recipients than did DOD: 1 in 1,725. In one
smallpox vaccine trial conducted by Acambis, the rate of myocarditis was 1
in 973. A 1978 Finnish study of military recruits found an even higher rate
using looser criteria: 1 in 29.

    "If DOD had cases occurring at the same rate, they should have had 580
cases in 1 million vaccine recipients, not 120.  However, DOD likely had
even more cases of myocarditis than 580, since it is believed that  people
who have never before received the vaccine are at higher risk of
complications than those previously vaccinated.  Relatively few military
servicemembers have been previously vaccinated.

    "Claiming that no previous smallpox recipients died with myocarditis is
also blatantly untrue.  Twenty-two year old Rachel Lacy died in early 2003,
one month after receiving five vaccines in one day (including smallpox and
anthrax) and her autopsy demonstrated myocarditis.  Two panels asked to
evaluate her death for DOD agreed her death was  probably vaccine-related."

I

DoD to Continue Smallpox Vaccinations Despite Soldier Death
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service


WASHINGTON, June 23, 2006 - The Defense Department has no plans to
discontinue its smallpox vaccination program, despite yesterday's
announcement that vaccinations may have caused a soldier's death.
A panel of military doctors concluded that vaccinations may have caused the
death of Army Pfc. Christopher "Justin" Abston.

Abston received the smallpox and injectable influenza vaccines in November
at Fort Bragg, N.C., and died suddenly in his barracks room 16 days later,
on Dec. 4, Pentagon officials said.

His autopsy revealed an inflammation of the heart muscle, or "myocarditis."
The smallpox vaccine is one of several known triggers of this condition.
Evidence of another known trigger for the condition was found during the
autopsy.

"Evidence of the vaccinia virus, the main ingredient of smallpox vaccine,
was not found in his heart muscle, but evidence of a different virus,
parvovirus B19, was found," a Defense Department release stated. "Natural
infection with parvovirus B19 is another known cause of heart inflammation
and death."

A panel of military medical experts determined it is "neither probable nor
unlikely," merely "possible," that vaccinations caused Abston's death.

Abston is the only servicemember whose death has been linked to the smallpox
vaccine. Of 1 million servicemembers vaccinated through the program, 120
developed myocarditis or similar conditions, but all others survived.

DoD initiated the smallpox vaccination program in December 2002 to protect
servicemembers from the highly contagious smallpox disease, Air Force Lt.
Col. Ellen Krenke, a Pentagon spokeswoman, told American Forces Press
Service. The program is used to protect troops assigned to U.S. Central
Command, U.S. Forces Korea, or designated units with homeland defense
missions.

"The smallpox vaccine has been given billions of times to Americans and
people all over the world in the last century," Krenke said. Hundreds of
studies have assessed the vaccine, and DoD will continue to monitor the
safety of the smallpox vaccine and all other vaccines it uses to protect
servicemembers, she said.

Dr. William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs,
expressed condolences to Abston's family and regret about his death.
"Medicine remains an inexact science," he said. "And when we lose one of our
soldiers, we recognize how much about medicine that we still do not know."


----------------------------------------------------------------

Reuters

Pentagon says vaccine may have killed US soldier
Thu Jun 22, 2006 8:07pm ET

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A panel of armed forces medical experts has found
that vaccines required by the military may have killed a 26-year-old Army
soldier last year, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

Pfc. Christopher "Justin" Abston died on December 4 in his barracks room at
Fort Bragg, North Carolina, 16 days after getting smallpox and injectable
influenza vaccines, officials said. The panel concluded it was "possible"
the vaccines were the cause of death, the Pentagon said in a statement.

An autopsy showed Abston suffered from an inflammation of the heart muscle,
or myocarditis, a condition the smallpox vaccine is known to cause, the
Pentagon said.

"The expert panel cautioned that the findings pointing to vaccinations were
neither probable nor unlikely, but they do suggest the possibility that the
vaccines may have caused Abston's death," according to the statement.

Some U.S. troops have expressed concern about the safety of vaccines
required by the military. A small number who have refused to get the shots
have been thrown out of the military.

In November 2003, the Pentagon said medical experts found the death of an
Army combat medic, Spc. Rachel Lacy, 22, in April 2003 may have been caused
by a combination of vaccinations required by the Pentagon, including those
for anthrax and smallpox.

The military requires troops serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, South Korea and
in some homeland defense missions to get smallpox vaccinations. The Pentagon
describes the shots as an important "force protection" measure in an era
when potential enemies may be armed with biological weapons.

Of the million U.S. military personnel given the smallpox vaccine since
2002, 120 were known to have developed myocarditis or similar conditions,
but none had died, the Pentagon said.

The Defense Department screens everyone who will get smallpox shots, and as
a result about 8 percent are excluded due to medical concerns.


=============================================
News@... is a free service of the National Vaccine Information
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Become a member and support NVIC's work
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NVIC is funded through individual membership donations and does not receive
government funding. Barbara Loe Fisher, President and Co-founder.

E-NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER
Vienna, Virginia http://www.nvic.org

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for immediate release

June 27, 2006


MERCK'S GARDASIL VACCINE NOT PROVEN SAFE FOR LITTLE GIRLS
National Vaccine Information Center Criticizes FDA for Fast Tracking
Licensure

     Washington, D.C. - The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is
calling on the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to
just say "no" on June 29 to recommending "universal use" of Merck's Gardasil
vaccine in all pre-adolescent girls. NVIC maintains that Merck's clinical
trials did not prove the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine designed to
prevent cervical cancer and genital warts is safe to give to young girls.

    "Merck and the FDA have not been completely honest with the people about
the pre-licensure clinical trials," said NVIC president Barbara Loe Fisher.
"Merck's pre and post-licensure marketing strategy has positioned mass use
of this vaccine by pre-teens as a morality play in order to avoid talking
about the flawed science they used to get it licensed. This is not just
about teenagers having sex, it is also about whether Gardasil has been
proven safe and effective for little girls."

    The FDA allowed Merck to use a potentially reactive aluminum containing
placebo as a control for most trial participants, rather than a non-reactive
saline solution placebo. A reactive placebo can artificially increase the
appearance of safety of an experimental drug or vaccine in a clinical trial.
Gardasil contains 225 mcg of aluminum and, although aluminum adjuvants have
been used in vaccines for decades, they were never tested for safety in
clinical trials. Merck and the FDA did not disclose how much aluminum was in
the placebo.

    Animal and human studies have shown that aluminum adjuvants can cause
brain cell death and that vaccine aluminum adjuvants can allow aluminum to
enter the brain, as well as cause inflammation at the injection site leading
to chronic joint and muscle
pain and fatigue. Nearly 90 percent of all Gardasil recipients and 85
percent of
aluminum placebo recipients reported one or more adverse events within 15
days of
vaccination, particularly at the injection site.  Pain and swelling at
injection site and fever occurred in approximately 83 percent of Gardasil
and 73 percent of aluminum placebo recipients. About 60 percent of those who
got Gardasil or the aluminum placebo had systemic adverse events including
headache, fever, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea, myalgia. Gardasil
recipients had more serious adverse events such as headache,
gastroenteritis, appendicitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, asthma,
bronchospasm and arthritis.

    "Merck and the FDA do not reveal in public documents exactly how many 9
to 15 year old girls were in the clinical trials, how many of them received
hepatitis B vaccine and Gardasil simultaneously, and how many of them had
serious adverse events after being injected with Gardasil or the aluminum
placebo. For example, if there were fewer than 1,000 little girls actually
injected with three doses of Gardasil, it is important to know how many had
serious adverse events and how long they were followed for chronic health
problems, such as juvenile arthritis."

    According to the Merck product manufacturer insert, there was 1 case of
juvenile arthritis, 2 cases of rheumatoid arthritis, 5 cases of arthritis,
and 1 case of reactive arthritis in 11,813 Gardasil recipients plus 1 case
of lupus and 2 cases of arthritis out of 9,701 participants primarily
receiving an aluminum containing placebo. Clinical trial investigators
dismissed most of the 102 Gardasil and placebo associated serious adverse
events, including 17 deaths, that occurred in the clinical trials as
unrelated.

    "There is too little long term safety and efficacy data, especially in
young girls, and too little labeling information on contraindications for
the CDC to recommend Gardasil for universal use, which is a signal for
states to mandate it," said Fisher. "Nobody at Merck, the CDC or FDA know if
the injection of Gardasil into all pre-teen girls - especially
simultaneously with hepatitis B vaccine - will make some of them more likely
to develop arthritis or other inflammatory autoimmune and brain disorders as
teenagers and adults. With cervical cancer causing about one percent of all
cancer deaths in American women due to routine pap screening, it was
inappropriate for the FDA to fast track Gardasil. It is way too early to
direct all young girls to get three doses of a vaccine that has not been
proven safe or effective in their age group."

     The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), founded in 1982 by
parents of vaccine injured children, has been a leading critic of
one-size-fits-all mass vaccination policies and the lack of basic science
research into biological mechanisms and high risk factors for
vaccine-induced brain and immune system dysfunction. As a member of the FDA
Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC),
Barbara Loe Fisher urged trials include adequate safety data on
pre-adolescent children and warned against fast tracking Gardasil at the
November 28-29, 2001 VRBPAC meeting
http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/cber01.htm#
Vaccines & Related Biological

     For references and more information, go to www.nvic.org.


                               -end-


=============================================
News@... is a free service of the National Vaccine Information
Center and is supported through membership donations.  Learn more about
vaccines, diseases and how to protect your informed consent rights
http://www.nvic.org

Become a member and support NVIC's work
                https://www.nvic.org/making%20cash%20donations.htm

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NVIC is funded through individual membership donations and does not receive
government funding. Barbara Loe Fisher, President and Co-founder.

Next week, on June 29th, the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization
Practices (ACIP) is meeting to decide whether to add the HPV vaccine to the
CHILDHOOD vaccine schedule.  HPV is a sexually transmitted virus that even
the vaccine manufacturer admits the majority of women clear up on their own.
Only a small percentage of women are at higher risk for cervical cancer from
contracting 2 strains of the virus targeted in the vaccine. This is where
the rubber is going to meet the road for ACIP: instead of looking at the
results of a new study that shows CONDOMS ARE NOW PROVEN TO SIGNIFICANTLY
REDUCE THE TRANSMISSION OF HPV, ACIP will do what they always do and RUBBER
STAMP yet another vaccine for universal use and stick it to our 9 year old
daughters with little regard for the long term unknown health consequences.

Manufacturing a vaccine and making it available is one thing, and
encouraging it and promoting it while protecting informed consent is yet
another, but when ACIP makes a universal recommendation,  that action alone
sets the wheels in motion for automatic school mandates in some states and
legislative and bureaucratic  initiatives to mandate it in the remaining
states, massive federal purchasing and distribution costing taxpayers
millions of dollars, higher insurance premiums for all to cover the cost of
those privately insured, sweeping liability protections for the vaccine
manufacturer when children are hurt by the vaccine, and discrimination and
harassment against families who are not confident in the safety, efficacy,
or necessity of the vaccine for their child.  Less than half the states have
philosophical/conscientious exemptions for vaccine mandates leaving most
opposed to this vaccine for such a young child without a legal way out.  The
three doses required of this vac
  cine will cost close to $400 while the protection of vaccine is only shown
so far to last for 3 1/2 years. (Just what every 9 year old girl needs?)

PREDICTION: Watch this get added to the vaccine schedule by ACIP next week
but stay tuned for really educating yourself on the downside and unknowns
with this vaccine (which is ironically not tested for whether or not it can
itself cause cancer) because ACIP never met a vaccine it didn't like.
Parents need to realize that what is good for Merck's pocketbook isn't
necessarily what is best for their child's health, and that they need to
really become educated on this HPV vaccine and make their own informed
decision regardless of ACIP's predictable blessing.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Condoms help protect against cervical cancer

Landmark study offers proof of reduction in disease-causing HPV infections
The Associated Press
Updated: 4:56 p.m. CT June 21, 2006

For the first time, scientists have proof that condoms offer women
impressive protection against the virus that causes cervical cancer.

A three-year study of female college students — all virgins at the start —
found that women whose partners always wore a condom during sex were 70
percent less likely to become infected with the human papilloma virus, or
HPV, than those whose partners used protection less than 5 percent of the
time.

“That’s pretty awesome. There aren’t too many times when you can have an
intervention that would offer so much protection,” said Dr. Patricia Kloser,
an infectious-disease specialist at University of Medicine and Dentistry of
New Jersey who was not part of the study.

The rest of this article can be read at URL:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13461194/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Merck's $4 billion PR problem

A vaccine to prevent cervical cancer looks set to be a blockbuster -- but
resistance from parents and patient advocates could trip it up.

By John Simons, FORTUNE writer
June 5, 2006: 8:13 AM EDT


NEW YORK (FORTUNE) - Merck has already angered Christian conservatives by
pushing to make its yet-to-be approved cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil,
mandatory for girls as young as nine. But that could be the least of the
company's worries regarding the projected $4 billion-a-year vaccine.

The rest of this article can be read at URL:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/02/news/companies/pluggedin_fortune/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++




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E-NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER
Vienna, Virginia http://www.nvic.org

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     UNITED WAY/COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN
                  #8122
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Protecting the health and informed consent rights of children since 1982."

================================================================================\
==========
BL Fisher Note:

     Every day that government health officials lie to the people about
vaccine risks is one more day that the public loses a little more trust in
what they are told by government. Do public health authorities and
pediatricians really think that mothers and fathers are going to passively
accept the brain damaging and killing of their children with unsafe
vaccines? Do they really believe that the letters written after their names
will protect them when the public knows the whole truth about what they have
done to so many innocent children around the world?

    Little 17 month old George Duncan and Anna Fisher died 10 days after
their MMR vaccinations in Great Britain, both of them suffering symptoms of
vaccine reactions prior to their deaths. MMR vaccine is known to induce
brain inflammation and death within 8 to 14 days after vaccination.

   The parents of both dead babies are demanding answers from British
government health authorities, who have been persecuting Dr. Andrew
Wakefield for his warning about the dangers of the live MMR vaccine. They
and parents like them are standing up and coming forward to witness what has
happened to their babies at the hands of pediatricians who told them that
vaccines, including the MMR vaccine, are absolutely safe.

    The vaccine deaths of these babies might have been prevented if George
and Anna's parents had been given full and accurate information about MMR
vaccine risk factors and pediatricians had erred on the side of caution
rather than vaccinate at all costs. The rabid zeal to vaccinate, encouraged
by government health officials, puts many vulnerable children at risk and
the result is the brain damaging and killing of children like George and
Anna.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=
391163&in_page_id=1770
DailyMail, UK
Sunday, 18th June 2006

We won't allow MMR cover-up say parents of tragic toddlers

By SUE CORRIGAN,


The parents of two healthy toddlers who died ten days after being given the
controversial MMR jabs have warned the Government that they will not allow
the cause of their deaths to be 'covered up'.

Doctors say they cannot explain why George Fisher and Anna Duncan, both aged
17 months, died in their sleep.

But the children's parents believe that the controversial triple jab -
against measles, mumps and rubella - is to blame.

Sarah and Chris Fisher, from Cheltenham, and John and Veronica Duncan, from
Cardrona, Scotland, say that if British health authorities do not give them
answers they will send brain tissue samples from their children's bodies to
a specialist laboratory in America for analysis to determine whether the
live viruses in MMR did cause the deaths.

George and Anna had been healthy toddlers when they died. Cot death has been
ruled out because both children were more than a year old and blood found on
Anna's lips suggested she had an epileptic-type seizure just before death
which does not occur in sudden infant death syndrome

The only indications of ill-health before the children died were that both
showed signs of apparently minor reactions to their MMR jabs.

George's mother, Sarah, said last week that despite repeated Government
assurances the vaccine is safe,she and her husband were '100 per cent sure
George was killed by MMR'.

And Anna's father, John, said he and his wife would 'never forgive
themselves' for not paying privately for single jabs and for believing
Government assurances that MMR was safe. They now believe that the doctors
should have spotted and warned of the dangers.

Mr Duncan said that, having conducted extensive research since Anna's death,
he and his wife, who is a nurse, considered it possible that their daughter
had died 'as a result of a catastrophic reaction to the vaccine'.

He said: 'Six days after her jab, Anna developed purple spots on her body
and bouts of high temperature.

'We read only later that these were side-effects of MMR to watch out for.

'If we had been properly warned we would have taken her for medical help
sooner. But the risks of vaccines are just never mentioned.

'Anna had been exposed to an outbreak of chickenpox in our village just
before her jab, which we mentioned, and had a runny nose, which means she
really shouldn't have been injected with MMR at that point.

'Parents should be better informed about the risks and the choice of single
jabs should be available to all parents through the NHS.'

Mrs Fisher also believed her son should not have been given the jab. George
was due to have his first MMR jab in September last year but it was delayed
when he developed a high temperature and, when taken to the doctor, had a
convulsion in the surgery.

She said: 'It was extremely frightening, but the doctor assured me it was
not uncommon, nothing to worry about, and gave him antibiotics. George soon
got better, and I thought nothing further of it.

'But since his death I have learnt that if a child has any history of
convulsions or fits then doctors are supposed to take that into account when
administering any vaccine and watch the childmore carefullyfor adverse
reactions.

'No one mentioned this to me when I took him along to the same surgery four
months later for his MMR, and I had no idea he was at any increased risk.

'I feel very let down. I'm not against MMR, even now, but parents should be
made aware of the risk factors.

'I am speaking out to warn other parents to take more care if their child
shows any signs of adverse reactions.'

Since 2002 the Government has spent millions of pounds attempting to shore
up public confidence in the vaccine, first undermined in 1998 when clinical
researcher Dr Andrew Wakefield suggested it could cause autism and gut
disease.

The failure of the Government's campaign was demonstrated last week when
figures showed that because so many parents are spurning MMR, Britain is now
in the grip of the biggest measles outbreak since the vaccine's introduction
in 1988.

Doctors have reported hundreds of cases of measles since January in just
three areas of the country, including the death of a 13-year-old boy.

Conservative health spokesman Andrew Lansley said: 'The Government's failure
to maintain confidence in the MMR jab has led directly to these outbreaks.'

Opposition leader David Cameron has pledged to restore single jabs on the
NHS.

=============================================
News@... is a free service of the National Vaccine Information
Center and is supported through membership donations.  Learn more about
vaccines, diseases and how to protect your informed consent rights
http://www.nvic.org

Become a member and support NVIC's work
                https://www.nvic.org/making%20cash%20donations.htm

To sign up for a free e-mail subscription http://www.nvic.org/emaillist.htm

NVIC is funded through individual membership donations and does not receive
government funding. Barbara Loe Fisher, President and Co-founder.

NAA E-NewsletterPRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
June 15, 2006Contact:
Rita Shreffler, NAA (Nixa, MO) 417-818-9030
Wendy Fournier, NAA (Portsmouth, RI) 401-632-7523

WAKEFIELD, NEEDLEMAN; PUTTING SOUND SCIENCE ON TRIAL
IS HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF? UNFOUNDED 'SCIENTIFIC MISCONDUCT' CHARGES
AGAINST WAKEFIELD AREN'T A FIRST FOR COMPROMISED SCIENCE

Nixa, MO - It's difficult not to notice the similarities between now and 30
years ago. A researcher, vigilant in finding answers, becomes the subject of
a big-industry no-no: questioning the safety and efficacy of a popular
product.

Back in the 70's, lead-based gasoline and paint were two of those products.
That is until one researcher, Dr. Herbert Needleman, studied the lapse of
children's IQs in direct correlation with lead exposure. In response, the
lead industry hired "neutral" scientists to bring Needleman up on charges of
'scientific misconduct.' One of these researchers later confessed to being
paid by the lead industry. Needleman's sound research is why we no longer
have lead in gasoline and paint.

Is Dr. Andrew Wakefield the subject of a similar witch-hunt three decades
later? Wakefield is being investigated by the General Medical Council for
scientific misconduct, specifically, carrying out 'inadequately founded'
research when his findings concluded that vaccine-strain measles were
present in children with autism as the result of the MMR vaccine. Wakefield
encouraged the use of single-dose vaccines as an alternative to help
alleviate this problem. Just last week, preliminary study results were
released that replicates Wakefield's research.

Dr. Stephen Walker, of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine,
studied children with regressive autism and bowel disease. "Of the handful
of results we have in so far, all are vaccine strain," he said of the type
of measles present in the intestines of 87% of the autistic children
studied.

As it stands:
-          The General Medical Council has not thoroughly reviewed the Wake
Forest research.
-          The General Medical Council has not made any formal allegations
against Wakefield, despite a two-and-a-half-year investigation.
-          All allegations have been made by a journalist. None have been
filed by a patient or parent.
The National Autism Association (NAA) fully supports Dr. Andrew Wakefield's
research. Wendy Fournier, parent and president of NAA, feels proper review
of all the findings related to MMR should be the priority of the General
Medical Council.

"In understanding that the court of public opinion sits in the driver's
seat, entities such as the General Medical Council discredit sound research
in the name of a supposedly well-perceived vaccination program. Yet, this is
a compromise. Compromise has no place in science, even science surrounding
vaccinations. Dr. Wakefield is one of the few that conducted research in
truth, and yet the leaders in medical authority continue to compromise the
health of subsets of the population that have negative reactions to shots
like the MMR. Are we supposed to view these children as acceptable losses?"
asks Fournier. "Dr. Wakefield's willingness to find answers for these
subsets is a testament to his scientific integrity."

Vaccinations have been the center of highly emotional debate. Unlike
gasoline and paint, the majority of scientists are less likely to speak out
against the health risks of vaccines in certain children. "We are for safe
vaccinations, as is Dr. Wakefield," says Rita Shreffler of NAA. "Never
before have we seen the amount of compromised science than with
vaccinations. Instead of embracing the problem and finding a solution,
medical authority has regrettably turned a blind eye to its most basic
tenet, 'first, do no harm.'"
For more information about autism, visit http://www.nationalautism.org


Think Autism. Think Cure.

National Autism Association | 1330 W. Schatz Lane | Nixa | MO | 65714

----- Original Message -----

From: MCC-FHC

To: MCCFHC@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2006 1:00 PM

Subject: [MCC-FHC] [NVIC] Fast Rollout of Shingles Vaccine

E-NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER
Vienna, Virginia http://www.nvic.org

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
UNITED WAY/COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN
#8122
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Protecting the health and informed consent rights of children since 1982."

==========================================================================================
BL Fisher Note:

The FDA approval of Merck's shingles vaccine (Zostavax) to counteract the
effects of mass use of Merck's chicken pox vaccine will help Merck recover
financially from the loss of Vioxx revenues. But will Zostavax help or hurt
those who are too frail to make or are prevented from making fully informed
vaccination decisions? There are already indications that Zostavax is
capable of inducing autoimmunity or worsening a pre-existing autoimmune
disorder as well as raising the risk of heart disease conditions.

With many of America's elderly held captive by HMO's and nursing homes,
which prevent them from exercising voluntary, informed consent to medical
treatment, how many will be harmed by forced use of a shingles vaccine? Had
most children not been forced to use chicken pox vaccine since 1995, many
older children and adults would not be suffering from shingles in what has
become a shingles epidemic in America.

A painful, expensive bout with shingles is prevented when those, who have
recovered from chicken pox in childhood, have their cell mediated immunity
asymptomatically "boosted" by coming into close contact with young children
who are infected with chicken pox. For 99.9 percent of healthy children,
chicken pox is a mild disease without complications. The vaccine was
originally developed for immune compromised leukemic children, who could not
withstand a bout with chicken pox without severe complications.

Shingles could be prevented, not by sticking grandma and grandpa with a
needle full of a shingles vaccine that can trigger autoimmunity and heart
disease, but by getting a hug from a grandchild who is getting or recovering
from chicken pox. But the elderly in America can't do that anymore. There is
no chicken pox around. Just shingles and needles filled with Zostavax.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/ProductAlert/DevicesandVaccines/tb/3421
MedPageToday

Fast Rollout of Shingles Vaccine Planned After FDA's Okay

By Peggy Peck, Managing Editor, MedPage Today
May 30, 2006
Also covered by: Boston Globe, New York Times, USA Today

ROCKVILLE, Md., May 30 - The FDA approved a shingles vaccine, and Merck said
it is ready to accept physician orders, with rapid shipment promised.

Zostavax (zoster vaccine live) was okayed by the agency for prevention of
herpes zoster in patients 60 and older.

An FDA review of the Zostavax clinical data concluded that the vaccine was
effective at curbing shingles pain but did not significantly reduce either
shingles-related hospitalizations or death.

In the Shingles Prevention Study, which enrolled 38,546-patients, the
vaccine halved the rate of shingles in persons 60 or older and reduced the
rate of postherpetic neuralgia by 66.5%. When those results were reported in
the New England Journal of Medicine, Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), termed the
findings "great news for seniors."

The 5.5-year-trial randomized 19,270 patients to the active vaccine. The
vaccine reduced the burden of illness due to herpes zoster by 61.1%
(P<0.001), reduced the rate of postherpetic neuralgia by 66.5% (P <0.001),
and reduced the rate of herpes zoster by 51.3% (P <0.001).

The most common side effects in people who given Zostavax were redness, pain
and tenderness, swelling at the site of injection, itching, and headache.
The percent of significant adverse events observed in the study were not
different between persons who received the vaccine versus placebo.

As part of the development program, an Adverse Events Monitoring Study
(AEMS) was conducted to look more closely at safety. In this smaller study,
serious adverse events for all age groups were noted in 1.9% of Zostavax
patients, versus 1.3% of patients receiving placebo in the 42 days following
vaccination.

Investigator-determined, vaccine-related serious adverse experiences were
reported for two participants vaccinated with Zostavax-asthma exacerbation
and polymyalgia rhuematica-and in the placebo arm there were three serious
adverse experiences (Goodpasture's syndrome, anaphylactic reaction, and
polymyalgia rheumatica).

In the entire study population, the rates of overall cardiovascular events
(0.4%) including coronary artery disease related conditions (0.2%) were
similar in those vaccinated with Zostavax or placebo. In the AEMS substudy,
in the first 42 days after vaccination, the rate of overall cardiovascular
events was higher after 0.6% after Zostavax versus 0.4% after placebo.
Likewise the rate of coronary artery disease-related conditions was slightly
higher in Zostavax arm (0.3% versus 0.2%.

Although FDA has concluded that the available data do not establish that
these events are related to the vaccine, the manufacturer will perform a
Phase 4 (postmarketing) study to provide additional safety information.

In a statement issued by the FDA, Jesse L. Goodman, M.D., M.P.H., director
of FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said the vaccine is
"an important tool that can help prevent an illness that affects many older
Americans and often results in significant chronic pain.

Merck said the catalog price of the vaccine is $145.35 for a 10-pack of
single-dose vials of lyophilized vaccine with sterile diluent and $152.50
purchased as a single-dose vial of vaccine with sterile diluent

=============================================
News@... is a free service of the National Vaccine Information
Center and is supported through membership donations. Learn more about
vaccines, diseases and how to protect your informed consent rights
http://www.nvic.org

Become a member and support NVIC's work
https://www.nvic.org/making%20cash%20donations.htm

To sign up for a free e-mail subscription http://www.nvic.org/emaillist.htm

NVIC is funded through individual membership donations and does not receive
government funding. Barbara Loe Fisher, President and Co-founder.

E-NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER
Vienna, Virginia http://www.nvic.org

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     UNITED WAY/COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN
                  #8122
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Protecting the health and informed consent rights of children since 1982."

================================================================================\
==========
BL Fisher Note:

The FDA approval of Merck's shingles vaccine (Zostavax) to counteract the
effects of mass use of Merck's chicken pox vaccine will help Merck recover
financially from the loss of Vioxx revenues. But will Zostavax help or hurt
those who are too frail to make or are prevented from making fully informed
vaccination decisions?  There are already indications that Zostavax is
capable of inducing autoimmunity or worsening a pre-existing autoimmune
disorder as well as raising the risk of heart disease conditions.

With many of America's elderly held captive by HMO's and nursing homes,
which prevent them from exercising voluntary, informed consent to medical
treatment, how many will be harmed by forced use of a shingles vaccine? Had
most children not been forced to use chicken pox vaccine since 1995, many
older children and adults would not be suffering from shingles in what has
become a shingles epidemic in America.

A painful, expensive bout with shingles is prevented when those, who have
recovered from chicken pox in childhood, have their cell mediated immunity
asymptomatically "boosted" by coming into close contact with young children
who are infected with chicken pox. For 99.9 percent of healthy children,
chicken pox is a mild disease without complications. The vaccine was
originally developed for immune compromised leukemic children, who could not
withstand a bout with chicken pox without severe complications.

Shingles could be prevented, not by sticking grandma and grandpa with a
needle full of a shingles vaccine that can trigger autoimmunity and heart
disease, but by getting a hug from a grandchild who is getting or recovering
from chicken pox. But the elderly in America can't do that anymore. There is
no chicken pox around.  Just shingles and needles filled with Zostavax.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/ProductAlert/DevicesandVaccines/tb/3421
MedPageToday

Fast Rollout of Shingles Vaccine Planned After FDA's Okay

By Peggy Peck, Managing Editor, MedPage Today
May 30, 2006
Also covered by: Boston Globe, New York Times, USA Today


ROCKVILLE, Md., May 30 - The FDA approved a shingles vaccine, and Merck said
it is ready to accept physician orders, with rapid shipment promised.

Zostavax (zoster vaccine live) was okayed by the agency for prevention of
herpes zoster in patients 60 and older.


An FDA review of the Zostavax clinical data concluded that the vaccine was
effective at curbing shingles pain but did not significantly reduce either
shingles-related hospitalizations or death.


In the Shingles Prevention Study, which enrolled 38,546-patients, the
vaccine halved the rate of shingles in persons 60 or older and reduced the
rate of postherpetic neuralgia by 66.5%. When those results were reported in
the New England Journal of Medicine, Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), termed the
findings "great news for seniors."

The 5.5-year-trial randomized 19,270 patients to the active vaccine. The
vaccine reduced the burden of illness due to herpes zoster by 61.1%
(P<0.001), reduced the rate of postherpetic neuralgia by 66.5% (P <0.001),
and reduced the rate of herpes zoster by 51.3% (P <0.001).


The most common side effects in people who given Zostavax were redness, pain
and tenderness, swelling at the site of injection, itching, and headache.
The percent of significant adverse events observed in the study were not
different between persons who received the vaccine versus placebo.


As part of the development program, an Adverse Events Monitoring Study
(AEMS) was conducted to look more closely at safety. In this smaller study,
serious adverse events for all age groups were noted in 1.9% of Zostavax
patients, versus 1.3% of patients receiving placebo in the 42 days following
vaccination.

Investigator-determined, vaccine-related serious adverse experiences were
reported for two participants vaccinated with Zostavax-asthma exacerbation
and polymyalgia rhuematica-and in the placebo arm there were three serious
adverse experiences (Goodpasture's syndrome, anaphylactic reaction, and
polymyalgia rheumatica).

In the entire study population, the rates of overall cardiovascular events
(0.4%) including coronary artery disease related conditions (0.2%) were
similar in those vaccinated with Zostavax or placebo. In the AEMS substudy,
in the first 42 days after vaccination, the rate of overall cardiovascular
events was higher after 0.6% after Zostavax versus 0.4% after placebo.
Likewise the rate of coronary artery disease-related conditions was slightly
higher in Zostavax arm (0.3% versus 0.2%.

Although FDA has concluded that the available data do not establish that
these events are related to the vaccine, the manufacturer will perform a
Phase 4 (postmarketing) study to provide additional safety information.


In a statement issued by the FDA, Jesse L. Goodman, M.D., M.P.H., director
of FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said the vaccine is
"an important tool that can help prevent an illness that affects many older
Americans and often results in significant chronic pain.


Merck said the catalog price of the vaccine is $145.35 for a 10-pack of
single-dose vials of lyophilized vaccine with sterile diluent and $152.50
purchased as a single-dose vial of vaccine with sterile diluent


=============================================
News@... is a free service of the National Vaccine Information
Center and is supported through membership donations.  Learn more about
vaccines, diseases and how to protect your informed consent rights
http://www.nvic.org

Become a member and support NVIC's work
                https://www.nvic.org/making%20cash%20donations.htm

To sign up for a free e-mail subscription http://www.nvic.org/emaillist.htm

NVIC is funded through individual membership donations and does not receive
government funding. Barbara Loe Fisher, President and Co-founder.

E-NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER
Vienna, Virginia http://www.nvic.org

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     UNITED WAY/COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN
                  #8122
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Protecting the health and informed consent rights of children since 1982."

================================================================================\
==========
NVIC Note:

   The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) co-signed a letter to the
CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) along with other
parent and health advocacy organizations supporting removal of mercury from
vaccines. Mercury is toxic to the human brain and does not belong in any
product humans use, especially a medical product which is injected into
infants, children and pregnant women.

    Although removal of mercury from vaccines will not eliminate vaccine
injuries caused by other biological mechanisms involved in vaccine-induced
brain and immune system dysfunction, it will prevent children and the unborn
from being deliberately exposed to a known neurotoxin. The precautionary
principle should prevail whenever there is a question of harm that could be
done by a medical intervention.

   The National Vaccine Information Center supports the human right to
informed consent to any medical intervention which can cause injury or
death. If parents choose to vaccinate their children, they should be fully
informed about all risks and have the option of using vaccines which do not
contain a known neurotoxin.


[Press Release] U.S. Newswire via Yahoo! News

Parent Community Demands Mercury-Free Vaccines; Needless Exposure is
Unjustified and Dangerous, Groups Say

To: National Desk, Health Reporter


Contact: Alison Strock, 202-628-7772 or astrock@...

WASHINGTON, June 13 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Several national organizations and
parent advocacy groups are requesting that the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)
state a preference for mercury-free flu vaccinations, according to a letter
sent today to the ACIP committee and to members of Congress. ACIP is
responsible for creating national immunization recommendations and parents
are hoping that they will act on their concerns.

    In 1999, the federal government vowed to remove mercury from all
vaccinations routinely administered to infants and children. However, the
flu vaccine still contains the mercury preservative thimerosal, and is now
routinely administered to pregnant women, infants and children. The
Institute of Medicine recommended in 2001 that thimerosal be removed from
vaccines administered to these sensitive groups, but the recommendation fell
on deaf ears at CDC.


    According to the EPA, one in every six women of childbearing age already
has
blood levels of mercury high enough to cause neurological damage to their
unborn children due to environmental exposures alone. Thimerosal-containing
vaccines given to infants can result in mercury levels known to cause
adverse neurological outcomes. "Injecting even more mercury into the bodies
of pregnant women, infants and children when it is not a necessary component
of vaccines is just bad medicine," states Lyn Redwood, president of
SafeMinds and parent of a mercury-injured child.

    According to an ad that ran in today's Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC)
sponsored by Parents and Friends of Children Injured by Mercury in Vaccines,
a person must weigh over 500 pounds in order to "safely" process the amount
of mercury still present in these vaccinations. In addition, the flu vaccine
contains so much mercury that it must be disposed of as a hazardous waste if
it is not used.
    "This situation is impossible to justify," states Dr. Vicky
Debold "especially when the manufacturer of thimerosal-free flu vaccines,
Sanofi Pasteur, was fully prepared to more than double the production of
mercury-free flu vaccinations this year. However, demand for the product has
been low because CDC did not express a preference for mercury- free flu
shots and the manufacturer decreased production. Should CDC change its
recommendation, demand would skyrocket resulting in additional production of
mercury free vaccines."


For a copy of the ACIP letter, go to:
http://www.usnewswire.com/attach/MercuryFreeLetter.pdf. To view the AJC ad,
see http://www.usnewswire.com/attach/ACIPad.jpg.

=============================================
News@... is a free service of the National Vaccine Information
Center and is supported through membership donations.  Learn more about
vaccines, diseases and how to protect your informed consent rights
http://www.nvic.org

Become a member and support NVIC's work
                https://www.nvic.org/making%20cash%20donations.htm

To sign up for a free e-mail subscription http://www.nvic.org/emaillist.htm

NVIC is funded through individual membership donations and does not receive
government funding. Barbara Loe Fisher, President and Co-founder.

E-NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER
Vienna, Virginia http://www.nvic.org

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     UNITED WAY/COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN
                  #8122
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Protecting the health and informed consent rights of children since 1982."

================================================================================\
==========
BL Fisher Note:

Polio is here to stay! So says a professor who chaired the World Health
Organization's smallpox eradication campaign using Sabin's live oral polio
vaccine. He is calling for every child in the world to be vaccinated with
Salk's killed version of the vaccine.

He says polio infection often is mild without symptoms so it is harder to
track down than the more visible smallpox infections.  He's right.
Ninety-nine percent of all polio infections in the pre-vaccine era were mild
and either went unnoticed or resolved within three weeks, leaving the person
with antibodies to protect against future infection.  It was the rare case
of polio that progressed to paralytic polio. But those crippling, often
deadly, cases got all the publicity.

It isn't a mystery why polio won't go away. Seems the M.D./Ph.D. brain
trusts who brought us live oral polio vaccine (OPV) contaminated with SV-40
(a monkey virus present in Sabin's original seed stocks)  failed to take
into account the fact that OPV could spread the vaccine strain polio virus
from child to child and child to adult. Live vaccine strain polio virus can
even be detected in water supplies. It is everywhere!

The U.S. stopped used OPV in 1999 and switched to inactivated polio vaccine
(IPV), which cannot cause polio. But vaccine strain polio virus is alive and
circulating among children and adults in Africa, South America, India and
other countries where relentless mass vaccination campaigns take place two
to five times a year. Often government and WHO health officials accompanied
by soldiers with guns sweep into a community and hunt down the children in
order to squirt one more dose of live oral polio vaccine down their throats.

Save us from the vaccinologists and drug companies who exploit the people in
order to pursue eradication of infectious microorganisms with a religious
fervor not seen since the medieval Crusades. And let the citizens of the
world vote out of office the politicians who use our money to pay them to do
it.

http://theaustralian.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,19134268%255E23289,00.h
tml


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----


Polio here to stay, says smallpox scientist
Leigh Dayton
15may06

HE helped rid the world of smallpox but eminent Australian virologist Frank
Fenner claims we will never see the end of polio.

Despite an 18-year global effort to eradicate polio, Emeritus Professor
Fenner claimed the most that experts could hope for was "effective control"
of the crippling central nervous system disease.
He chaired the World Health Organisation commission that declared in 1980
that smallpox had been eradicated after a 10-year campaign.

But polio remains a serious issue in 16 nations in the Indian subcontinent,
the Middle East and Africa. Last year, 1948 cases were reported.

"The best thing to do would be to include the inactivated Salk polio
vaccine -- that's the one used in America and Australia -- in a
(combination) vaccine and give it to every child worldwide," said Professor
Fenner who, at 91, still works at the John Curtin School of Medical Research
at the Australian National University in Canberra.

The current $US4 billion ($5.2 billion) polio eradication campaign --
co-ordinated by the WHO -- relies on saturation vaccination for all children
younger than five when outbreaks occur or where the disease remains
uncontrolled.

Along with Isao Arita, of the Agency for Co-operation in International
Health in Japan -- another central player in the eradication of smallpox --
and the ACIH's Miyuki Nakane, Professor Fenner argues political, economic
and biological factors work against this type of strategy.

Writing last week in the journal Science, the trio claimed resources spent
trying to eradicate every polio case would be better used ramping up routine
childhood vaccination.

They said that meant continuing emergency vaccinations to limit the spread
of polio in hard-hit nations such as Nigeria, Africa's most populous
country. Fewer than 13 per cent of Nigerian children are routinely
vaccinated against disease.

Once the annual global number of cases is fewer than 500 -- and the number
of nations with polio is fewer than 10 -- all efforts should be folded into
a global immunisation and surveillance program.

Commenting in a separate Science article, Donald A. Henderson, director of
the smallpox program, agreed polio eradication was unlikely. "Let's create a
program to keep it under moderate control and say that is the best we can
do," he said.

According to Professor Fenner, the key difference between polio and smallpox
is that every infectious smallpox patient had obvious symptoms. But there
are as many as 200 "invisible" polio infections for every person who becomes
paralysed.

He said extreme poverty, increased warfare and population growth have made
global co-ordination more difficult today than during the Cold War.




=============================================
News@... is a free service of the National Vaccine Information
Center and is supported through membership donations.  Learn more about
vaccines, diseases and how to protect your informed consent rights
http://www.nvic.org

Become a member and support NVIC's work
                https://www.nvic.org/making%20cash%20donations.htm

To sign up for a free e-mail subscription http://www.nvic.org/emaillist.htm

NVIC is funded through individual membership donations and does not receive
government funding. Barbara Loe Fisher, President and Co-founder.

----- Original Message -----
From: Samanda Rossi    <fommsrossi@...>
Sent: Tuesday, June 06, 2006 08:46
Subject: [fomm_stl] FoMM St. Louis update on happenings!


Here are some important dates and updates discussed at our meeting last
night:

Newsletter Deadline for submissions is June 21st. Email any birth
announcements, recipes, book reviews, AC reports, articles, interesting
facts, etc... to cgcalkins@...

Our newsletter mailing party will be Thursday, July 6th at 6:30pm at my home
in Webster Groves.

Our Annual FoMM St. Louis Family Picnic will be Sunday, August 27th from
4-7pm at Brinkop park in Shrewsbury. FoMM will provide all paper goods and
the main dish(es). Participants provide all the delicious sides to share.
Please email me to RSVP and include: the number of eating adults, number of
eating children, what you'll bring to share, and if you're meat or
vegetarian eaters.

Our next meeting will be Monday, July 10th at 7pm (it's the second Monday
due to the holiday weekend). We will have a birth story sharing night. If
you would like to share your story that night, let me know in advance!

Thanks,

Samanda Rossi
St. Louis Area Coordinator
Friends of Missouri Midwives
(314) 918-8685
samanddave@...

I read recently, probably at www.mercola.com, that the rate of new
cases of autism has dropped markedly since thimerosol was removed
from vaccines recently. Aren't these walks just a waste of money
that just go to conventional medical studies that promote more toxic
drugs with more dangerous side effects? I looked at the website
promoting this walk and didn't see anything to indicate that the
sponsors intend to do anything but business as usual, which would
mean conventional garbage medicine. These campaigns to find cures
never find any cures that I've heard of, but they keep raking in the
donations. What a racket! I think the causes of autism are already
well-known, but that the knowledge is suppressed by the system that
wants vast population reduction.

--- In MCCFHC@yahoogroups.com, "MCC-FHC" <email@...> wrote:
>
> Two walks - one in St. Louis and one in West Plains
>
> =====================
>
> 4th Annual St. Louis Walk for Autism Research - Please join us for
this fun-filled day for the whole family. There will be plenty of
food & entertainment for everyone. Sign up your team today.
>
> Oct 14 St. Louis 9am - Registration 10am
> Walk Begins Forest Park - Upper Muny Parking Lot
> Contact Susan Boylan    stlouis@...    314-989-1003
> http://www.autismwalk.org/stlouis
>
> =====================
>
> 2nd Annual West Plains Walk for Autism Research - Please join us
for this fun-filled day for the whole family. There will be plenty
of food & entertainment for everyone. Sign up your team today.
>
> Sep 16 West Plains 12:30pm - Registration 1:30pm
> Walk Begins West Plains Civic Center
> Contact Susan Boylan  866-500-6227    westplains@...
> http://ww.autismwalk.org/westplains
>

E-NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER
Vienna, Virginia http://www.nvic.org

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     UNITED WAY/COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN
                  #8122
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Protecting the health and informed consent rights of children since 1982."

================================================================================\
==========
   "Barbara Loe Fisher, president and co-founder of the National Vaccine
Information Center, questions the need for a mandatory HPV vaccine in the
United States, where most women receive regular annual pap smear exams.

    Fisher says mainstream parental opposition to Gardasil is easy to
explain.
"Parents are becoming more concerned about the shear number of vaccines kids
are getting these days," she says. "In the 1980s, U.S. children got 23 doses
of seven vaccines by age six. Today, they get 48 doses of 14 vaccines in the
same period."

http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/02/news/companies/pluggedin_fortune/
CNN Money

Merck's $4 billion PR problem
A vaccine to prevent cervical cancer looks set to be a blockbuster -- but
resistance from parents and patient advocates could trip it up.
By John Simons, FORTUNE writer
June 5, 2006: 8:13 AM EDT


NEW YORK (FORTUNE) - Merck has already angered Christian conservatives by
pushing to make its yet-to-be approved cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil,
mandatory for girls as young as nine. But that could be the least of the
company's worries regarding the projected $4 billion-a-year vaccine.

More mainstream resistance from parents and patient advocates could emerge
as the medicine's FDA approval draws closer.

Merck's Gardasil, a vaccine designed to prevent the sexually-transmitted
human papillomavirus (HPV), is in its final stages of FDA review and could
receive the agency's blessing as soon as June 8th. In May, a federal
advisory panel unanimously recommended the agency approve the vaccine to
combat HPV - a virus that can lead to cervical cancer.

Merck (Research) is appealing to states to make the vaccine mandatory for
all children who attend public schools. A mandate from the states, which
control vaccination policies, would make Gardasil a guaranteed blockbuster.

That's crucial for the nation's fourth-largest drugmaker, which is still
struggling to replace revenues lost after the 2004 withdrawal of its
blockbuster arthritis medicine, Vioxx, in addition to shrinking sales of its
cholesterol drug Zocor, as it faces generic competition this summer.

Gardasil is almost certain to be approved by the FDA, say analysts, who
place the medicine's annual peak revenue potential in the $2 to $4 billion
range. Those estimates assume states will make Gardasil mandatory. The shots
are given three times over a six month period, and will cost anywhere
between $300 and $500. The vaccine lasts for up to five years.

Merck's strongest data point: Studies that show the vaccine to be 100
percent effective against strains of HPV, which are responsible for some 70
percent of cervical cancers. In the United States, 14,000 women are
diagnosed with cervical cancer each year, and 3,900 die from it, according
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Inoculating pre-adolescent girls for a sexually-transmitted virus raises
concerns for many parents - not just Christian conservatives. A survey of
1,600 mothers and fathers published in the journal Pediatrics found that 35
percent are against having their child inoculated.

Is it necessary?

Barbara Loe Fisher, president and co-founder of the National Vaccine
Information Center, questions the need for a mandatory HPV vaccine in the
United States, where most women receive regular annual pap smear exams.

Those exams usually catch HPV early, before it develops into cancer. As a
result of pap smear campaigns, Fisher observes, the instance of cervical
cancer fell 74 percent between 1955 and 1992.

Fisher says mainstream parental opposition to Gardasil is easy to explain.
"Parents are becoming more concerned about the shear number of vaccines kids
are getting these days," she says. "In the 1980s, U.S. children got 23 doses
of seven vaccines by age six. Today, they get 48 doses of 14 vaccines in the
same period."

"And during the time that vaccines doses have doubled," she says, "there's
been an increase in the number of children with autism, attention deficit
and hyperactive disorder, learning disabilities, asthma, and diabetes, in
which vaccines could be a contributing factor."

Fisher is strongly opposed to Merck's proposals to inoculate girls at age 9,
which is six years before the average age of first sexual experience in the
United States "It's just profit-making on the backs of 9-year-old girls,"
charges Fisher.

The proposal has also drawn widely publicized ire from groups like the
Family Research Council and Focus on the Family, both Christian conservative
organizations generally opposed to anything they believe promotes premarital
sex.

Merck insists it has good reason to start young. "The best time to
administer any preventative vaccine is before individuals are exposed to the
virus in question. Additionally, preteens have very robust immune responses
to vaccines," says Merck spokesperson, Kelley Dougherty.

Requirements that students get a vaccine to enroll in school, says Merck's
Dougherty, "have proven effective in preventing infectious diseases and help
to decrease racial and ethnic disparities in vaccine utilization."

Before states make Gardasil mandatory, a committee at the Centers for
Disease Control needs to give its own go-ahead. That committee is scheduled
to meet on June 29.

In addition, the American Academy of Pediatricians would need to recommend
to doctors that they add Gardasil to the battery of vaccines already
administered to U.S. schoolchildren. From there, each U.S. state would have
to decide whether to make Gardasil compulsory for school children.


=============================================
News@... is a free service of the National Vaccine Information
Center and is supported through membership donations.  Learn more about
vaccines, diseases and how to protect your informed consent rights
http://www.nvic.org

Become a member and support NVIC's work
                https://www.nvic.org/making%20cash%20donations.htm

To sign up for a free e-mail subscription http://www.nvic.org/emaillist.htm

NVIC is funded through individual membership donations and does not receive
government funding. Barbara Loe Fisher, President and Co-founder.