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| Re: [1] Mass measles vaccination may not be wise move. [2] LIVE VIRUS DISCOVERED IN RABIES VACCINE |
| 06.29.04 (7:33 am) [edit] |
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/4/9/nation /7728525&sec=nation
The Star, Malaysia
April 9, 2004
[b]CAP: Mass measles vaccination may not be wise move[/b]
KUALA LUMPUR: The Consumers Association of Penang has urged the Health Ministry to conduct a proper evaluation before carrying out mass measles
vaccination to immunise 4.5 million children nationwide.
CAP president S.M. Mohd Idris claimed in a statement that the ministry had made the decision based merely on the fact that it expected an outbreak of
the disease in 2005 or 2006.
He was commenting on a recent ministry announcement that it aimed to immunise children aged between seven and 15 against measles through its National Measles Immunisation Campaign.
The immunisation programme will be carried out in schools by a health team. Mohd Idris said the plan was to use a combination vaccine against three diseases, namely mumps, measles and rubella (German measles), or what is better known as MMR vaccine.
He said that studies overseas had shown that measles continued to occur even in children who had been fully vaccinated.
Previously, he said, those who contacted measles were usually below the age of 10, but now, following years of vaccinations, more adults were being infected.
He also pointed out that soon after the measles vaccine was in use, a new problem arose where children were contracting a condition known as atypical
measles, a more serious form of measles that may not respond to treatment.
"Many children already receive a dose of MMR vaccine when they are around one year old, with a booster a few years later.
"The health authorities have informed one parent that, although her child has received her booster jab the year before, the vaccination under this programme is still necessary.
"Is there any guarantee that there will be no adverse effects on the child following these repeated jabs?"
Mohd Idris called on the Health Ministry to put the measles immunisation plan on hold pending a proper review, as "there is much evidence against the
need for mass vaccinations as much as there is for them." - Bernama
[b]LIVE VIRUS DISCOVERED IN RABIES VACCINE[/b]
ORLANDO SENTINEL
Posted April 8, 2004
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom/science/o rl-asecrabies08040804apr" title="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom/science/o rl-asecrabies08040804apr" target="_blank"http://www.orlandosentinel.co...
08,1,7905843.story?coll=orl-home-headl ines
[b]LIVE VIRUS DISCOVERED IN RABIES VACCINE[/b]
By Daniel Yee | The Associated Press
ATLANTA -- A rabies vaccine for humans is being recalled in the United States and 23 other countries because a live strain of the virus was found
in another batch made at the same time.
Testing of Aventis Pasteur's IMOVAX vaccine revealed the presence of a live Pittman-Moore strain of the rabies virus, when the drug was not supposed to contain live virus, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
While the tested lot of the vaccine was never distributed for public use, Aventis recalled four other lots in the United States because they were made during the same time as the faulty lot. The CDC said those lots had all
passed quality tests.
The CDC said it was theoretically possible but unlikely that anyone who received rabies shots from the recalled lots could have been exposed to the live form of the virus.
As a result, the CDC has recommended that people who have taken recalled rabies shots receive additional shots of the vaccine that have not been recalled.
The recalled lots, X0667-2, X0667-3, W1419-2 and W1419-3, were distributed between Sept. 23 and Friday, company officials said.
Twenty-one other lots were being recalled in 23 other countries, according to information from the vaccine manufacturer posted Wednesday on a Web site
for infectious-disease doctors. The lots recalled overseas also passed quality tests, the CDC said.
There is no scientific data on the effect of exposure to the Pittman-Moore rabies virus, which differs from the wild rabies virus, but according to anecdotal accounts lab workers exposed to it "never had any adverse
consequences," said Len Lavenda, a spokesman at the company's offices in Swiftwater, Pa.
A vaccine expert said Aventis did not have to recall the lots because they had been tested and did not carry the live virus.
"This really was an excess of caution and a very elaborately cautious response," said Dr. William Schaffner, head of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He called it "exceedingly
responsible."
The other countries affected by the recall were: Angola, Australia, Botswana, Croatia, Denmark, Chad, Germany, Hong Kong (China), Ireland, Italy, Malawi, Mozambique, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Nigeria, Oman, Spain, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
NVIC's Barbara Loe Fisher Note:
Despite government and industry assurances that no lots of rabies vaccine contaminated with live rabies virus were released for public use, it is interesting that government and industry are urging those who got vaccine from the lots in question be immediately revaccinated.
Getting a series of rabies shots is not risk-free. The fact that revaccination is being urged calls into question whether there is more than a theoretical possibility lots of rabies vaccine containing live virus were indeed released in the US and around the world.
For more information on this story, go to the CDC website:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/rabies/Qu es&Ans/q&a_vaccine_recall .htm" title="http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/rabies/Qu es&Ans/q&a_vaccine_recall .htm" target="_blank"http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvr...
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| Online Journal! |
| 06.22.04 (7:40 am) [edit] |
:D Good day!
Just wanted to let everyone know that I have started a daily online raw journal. Come follow me as I share with you the wonder of living a life on raw and living foods!
http://rawesome.com/boards/index.php?act=ST&f=9&t=131&s=00 8a829a081716de01a73738b2b fa751" title="http://rawesome.com/boards/index.php?act=ST&f=9&t=131&s=00 8a829a081716de01a73738b2b fa751" target="_blank"http://rawesome.com/boards/in... to my raw journal
Have a totally RAWESOME day!
Amanda
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| Microwaved veg 'loses nutrients' |
| 06.14.04 (8:31 am) [edit] |
[b]Vegetables cooked in the microwave may lose ingredients that could help fight cancer. [/b]
Broccoli "zapped" in the microwave with a little water lost up to 97% of some of the antioxidant chemicals it contains, say Portuguese researchers.
By comparison, steamed broccoli lost 11% or fewer of its antioxidants.
Writing in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, experts said that many nutrients simply dissolved away during the cooking process.
The researchers examined the levels of three major antioxidant groups in broccoli after cooking.
These chemicals are thought to protect cells against damage which could in theory increase the change of cancerous changes.
Washed out
Microwaved broccoli lost between 97% and 74% of the three compounds.
One antioxidant was not removed at all during steaming .
Dr Cristina Garcia-Viguera, from the University of Porto in Portugal, said: "Most of the bioactive compounds are water soluble - during heating they leach in a high percentage to the cooking water, reducing their nutritional benefits in the foodstuff.
"Because of this it is recommended to cook vegetables in the minimum amount of water in order to retain their nutritional benefits."
Separate research from Finnish researchers suggested many antioxidants are removed before the produce even left the supermarket shelf.
Blanching of vegetables - momentarily dipping them in boiling liquid - prior to freezing caused losses of up to a third of their antioxidant content.
Dr Anne Nugent, a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, said it was the presence of water rather than the cooking process in itself which was the problem.
She said: "It is not the microwaving per se that is causing the antioxidant loss but the presence of water, and boiling.
"In other words, the antioxidants would also be lost upon boiling rather than steaming.
"I think the important thing to take from this article is that when boiling or microwaving broccoli, it is important not to over-cook or over-boil it as this will result in excess antioxidant loss. "
Steaming is a good option - however, there will always be losses of vitamins and antioxidants during the storage and processing of all fruits and vegetables, so it is also important to store the broccoli in a dark airy cupboard rather than in direct sunlight as this will help protect the antioxidants."
link to this article! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/he...
Just a little bit of information to maybe help you make a healthier choice! :D
Have a great day!
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| Low-Carb Diets: New Concerns about Cholesterol and Regained Weight |
| 06.07.04 (7:01 am) [edit] |
[b]Low-Carb Diets: New Concerns about Cholesterol and Regained Weight[/b]
posted 05/18/04
Tomorrow’s Annals of Internal Medicine contains two reports that raise more cautions about low-carbohydrate diets. The first, conducted at Duke University, showed that LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels rose in 30 percent of low-carbohydrate dieters. The second, conducted at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, showed that weight lost during low-carbohydrate dieting started to return after six months.
Normally, weight loss causes cholesterol levels to fall. However, some low-carbohydrate dieters have experienced the opposite effect—significant increases of cholesterol levels. In the Duke University study, LDL rose only slightly (and nonsignificantly) for the group overall. However, some participants had marked LDL increases. Two dropped out because of high LDL cholesterol levels: One had an LDL increase from 182 mg/dl to 219 mg/dl in four weeks; the second had an increase from 184 mg/dl to 283 mg/dl in three months. (Normal levels are < 100 mg/dl, and some experts call for lower limits.) A third participant developed chest pain and was subsequently diagnosed with coronary heart disease. In all, 45 people followed the low-carbohydrate diet for 6 months. But 30% of them had an LDL cholesterol increase of more than 10%. >
In the Philadelphia VA study, low-carbohydrate dieters lost substantial amounts of weight over the first six months. But after that point, the average weight began to climb so that weight loss after one year (11.2 pounds) was not significantly better than that seen with comparison diets. Two study participants died, one from hyperosmolar coma five months into the study, and the second from severe ischemic cardiomyopathy ten months into the study.
Here are the references:
Yancy WS, Olsen MK, Guyton JR, Bakst RP, Westman EC. A low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-fat diet to treat obesity and hyperlipidemia. Ann Int Med 2004;140:769-777.
Stern L, Iqbal N, Seshadri P, et al. The effects of low-carbohdrate versus conventional weight loss diets in severely obese adults: one-year follow-up of a randomized trial. Ann Int Med 2004;140:778-85.
Subscribe to PCRM's Breaking Medical News.
Breaking Medical News is a service of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 5100 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20016, 202-686-2210. Join PCRM and receive the quarterly magazine, Good Medicine.
link to this article! http://www.pcrm.org/news/arch...
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| Human Mad Cow Disease Could Be Wider-UK Scientists |
| 06.01.04 (5:31 am) [edit] |
[b]Human Mad Cow Disease Could Be Wider-UK Scientists[/b]
Fri May 21, 2004
By Patricia Reaney
LONDON (Reuters) - Just as concerns were abating, research published on Friday suggests that the human form of mad cow disease in Britain could be more widespread than thought.
Scientists have estimated that 3,800 people in Britain could be unwittingly carrying the prion protein responsible for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (news - web sites) (vCJD), a fatal brain-wasting condition.
"Our findings need to be interpreted with caution, but cannot be discounted," said David Hilton, of Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, and lead author of the report published in The Journal of Pathology.
Hilton and scientists from the CJD Surveillance Unit in Edinburgh, Scotland and Imperial College in London studied 12,674 stored appendix and tonsil samples removed during routine operations in the late 1990s from people in their 20s. Three showed evidence of prion protein accumulation associated with vCJD.
Based on their findings, they came up with the 3,800 figure.
"There is still much to learn about vCJD and the presence of the protein in these tissue samples does not necessarily mean that those affected will go on to develop vCJD," Hilton added.
The scientists stressed that only one of the three positive samples showed a pattern of the prion accumulation similar to that seen in known vCJD cases. The other two were different so their significance is uncertain.
Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, of Imperial College in London, said the figures are not in the alarmist range but warrant further investigation to get to more accurate answers.
"They scream out at me that we still need better diagnostic tests," he said in an interview.
"It is a relatively unusual condition but every case is one more than you would want," he added.
Since vCJD was first detected and linked to eating meat contaminated with mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE (news - web sites)), in the mid-1990s, 141 people have died of the illness, which is caused by prion brain proteins that transform themselves into infectious agents.
It is difficult for scientists to predict how may people may get the illness or when it will peak because of the long incubation period, which experts say can be from 10-20 years or longer, and genetic factors that could influence susceptibility to the illness.
Previous estimates have ranged from less than 100 to up to 50,000.
"Although the numbers of cases are currently in decline, the possibility of further rises cannot be excluded," the researchers said in the report.
They added that the findings reinforce the importance of safety measures to reduce the spread of vCJD through blood transfusions or surgical equipment.
Britain banned people who have had transfusions in the past two decades from donating blood after a report of what is thought to have been the world's first case of vCJD caused by a blood transfusion.
[LINE]
Just yet another reason to not eat meat!!!
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Live a vibrant life!
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