Helsinki Times – The Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) on Tuesday recommended that the use of the Pandemrix vaccine is suspended. The recommendation is a precautionary measure. A possible connection between the swine flu vaccine and narcolepsy is currently being investigated. The THL has stopped the use of Pandemrix until the narcolepsy cases have been studied thoroughly. Read article
Med News – Global vaccine sales “grew by a healthy 16 percent last year, when sales shot up to $22.1 billion, healthcare market research publisher Kalorama Information reported Friday,” according to the Associated Press. Kalorama is also forecasting sales “will rise at a compound annual rate of 9.7 percent during the next five years,” (Johnson, 8/14). > Read article
Sydney Morning Herald – The West Australian government will overhaul the way vaccination information is collected after a review of its suspended free childhood seasonal influenza vaccination program. The WA government launched an inquiry in May into the flu vaccinations that caused adverse reactions in hundreds of children across Australia. Read article
Editorial Note: Over a year after the event the WHO finally releases its list of the committee members who declared the worldwide pandemic that never was, but that greatly enriched the pharmaceutical industry to the tune of billions of dollars. When reading the list of declared interests of the members note the frequent mention of GSK, Novartis, Roche, Baxter and Sanofi Pasteur
To read the WHO press release CLICK HERE
PressTV – FDA officials have approved vaccines against 3 strains of influenza, including the 2009 H1N1 pandemic swine flu virus, for the 2010-2011 flu season, a report says. New guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urged physicians to vaccinate everyone aged 6 months and older, even the low-risk population aged 19 to 49 years, against seasonal influenza. These flu shots, however, should be changed based on the circulating flu viruses collected from different parts of the world in order to remain effective. Read article
Daily Mail – The £1.2billion spent on tackling the swine flu pandemic that never was may have saved as few as 26 lives at a cost of up to £46million each, an astonishing study has found. The vast sum spent on vaccinations, anti-virals and facemasks prevented such a paltry number of deaths because the virus turned out to be far less deadly than normal flu. The £46milllion cost of saving each life is enough to pay the salary of almost 2,000 nurses. Read article
Daily Telegraph – Doctors should stock alternative vaccines for under fives who are due to have the seasonal flu vaccine this winter, a letter from the head of immunisation at the Department of Health has said. The action is being taken as rate of convulsions caused by high fever among children in Australia given the jab was ten times higher than normal. Read article
AFP — The Netherlands is destroying more than 17 million unused doses of swine flu vaccine that were nearing their expiry date and that it could not resell, the health ministry said Tuesday. “We have started destroying” the vaccines, health ministry spokeswoman Inge Freriksen told AFP. “In the coming months, 17.8 million doses will be destroyed because the expiry date is approaching.” Read article
The Australian – AUSTRALIA’s drug regulator waited until US authorities blew the whistle on CSL vaccine production before launching its own investigation. The Therapeutic Goods Administration yesterday said it discovered discolouration of the nation’s stockpile of swine flu vaccine only after the US Food and Drug Administration alerted it in April. A TGA spokeswoman said the remaining 9.4 million doses of Panvax in the federal government stockpile did not pose a safety risk. Read article
AP — About a quarter of the swine flu vaccine produced for the U.S. public has expired — meaning that a whopping 40 million doses worth about $260 million are being written off as trash. “It’s a lot, by historical standards,” said Jerry Weir, who oversees vaccine research and review for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The outdated vaccine, some of which expired Wednesday, will be incinerated. The amount, as much as four times the usual leftover seasonal flu vaccine, likely sets a record. And that’s not even all of it. Read article
Daily Mail – Threats of a swine flu pandemic were ‘vastly over-rated’ by the World Health Organisation, an inquiry has concluded. The Council of Europe last night also accused the UN’s health arm of ‘grave shortcomings’ in the process that led it to declare a pandemic last year. Plummeting confidence in health advice could prove ‘disastrous’ in the event of a severe future pandemic, parliamentarians at the Strasbourg-based senate said. Read Article
The Times of India – A new study has found that vitamin D may help in reducing the occurrence and severity of influenza and viral respiratory tract infections. Read Article
Related article: Epidemic Influenza And Vitamin D
The Economic Times – HONG KONG: Around 2.8 million doses of unwanted swine flu vaccine worth $28.2 million are to be thrown away, officials said on Thursday. The vaccines are part of a batch of three million ordered at the height of the pandemic when it was feared the H1N1 virus was a serious threat and could mutate into a more deadly form. Read article
FoxCharlotte – This Friday will mark the one year anniversary of the start of the H1N1 pandemic. But a new joint report from the British Medical Journal and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism questions the pandemic and alleged conflicts of interest between confidential World Health Organization advisors and their reported financial ties to pharmaceutical companies producing the vaccines. Here in Charlotte [North Carolina], people are torn on whether the pandemic was all hype… Read Article
The Guardian – Scientists who drew up the key World Health Organisation guidelines advising governments to stockpile drugs in the event of a flu pandemic had previously been paid by drug companies which stood to profit, according to a report out today. An investigation by the British Medical Journal and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the not-for-profit reporting unit, shows that WHO guidance issued in 2004 was authored by three scientists who had previously received payment for other work from Roche, which makes Tamiflu, and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), manufacturer of Relenza. Read Article
Reuters – The United States still has 71 million doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine that have not been used, but it is not yet time to throw them out, the federal government said on Monday. States and other providers should hang on to the vaccine and continue to offer them to people until drug companies can start distributing seasonal vaccine for the coming influenza season in the autumn, said Health and Human Services Department spokesman Bill Hall. Read Article
ABC – More and more parents from around the country are recounting horrific flu jab experiences amid mounting controversy over adverse reactions to the seasonal flu vaccine. Australia’s chief medical officer, Professor Jim Bishop, has urged doctors not to use the vaccine on children under five, following more than 250 reports of adverse reactions – a figure experts and parents fear is being severely underestimated. Read article
Daily Telegraph – GlaxoSmithKline profits increased 16pc in the first quarter, driven by better-than expected swine flu vaccine sales. Pre-tax profits climbed to £1.93bn in the first three months of the year as turnover jumped 13pc to £7.36bn, the pharmaceuticals group said on Wednesday. Read article
The Australian – THE bereaved father of a toddler who died within a day of receiving the seasonal flu vaccine said last night that he could not believe this was coincidental. David Epapara spoke out after the Queensland Coroner was called in to investigate the little girl’s death, which has intensified concern at the risk of side effects from the vaccine to children under five. Read article
ABC – A national pattern is emerging on the adverse reactions associated with flu vaccinations given to young children. In Western Australia the number of reactions has risen beyond 250 cases and a leading medical group is questioning the wisdom of continuing a mass flu vaccination program for children under five. But a leading vaccination expert says it is too early in the investigation to decide anything. Read Article
The Australian – Australia’s adverse events hotline says its phones are “running hot” with calls from parents, and the scare has spread to New Zealand, with the Health Ministry saying it had recorded at least three cases of febrile convulsions following vaccination. In Western Australia, where a potential spike in cases was first spotted, the number of children under five who have suffered fevers after being immunised has now risen to 251, The Australian reports. Read Article
Sydney Morning Herald – Australia’s chief medical officer has defended the safety record of flu vaccinations, as he struggles to determine how many children have suffered bad reactions. Professor Jim Bishop last week suspended seasonal flu shots for children under five. He acted after dozens of babies and young children, mostly in Western Australia and Queensland, were admitted to hospital, many with high fevers and convulsions. Read Article
Washington Post – Federal health officials are investigating the first hints of any possible significant complications from the H1N1 vaccine, but stressed that the concerns will probably turn out to be a false alarm. The latest analysis of data has detected what could be a somewhat elevated rate of Guillain-Barré syndrome, which can cause paralysis and death; Bell’s palsy, a temporary facial paralysis; and thrombocytopenia, which is a low level of blood platelets, officials reported Friday. The data is being collected through five of the networks the government is using to monitor people who were inoculated against the swine flu. Read Article
Brisbane Times – The sudden death of a Brisbane toddler has been linked to the seasonal flu vaccine, as health authorities warn against immunising children under five. The two-year-old girl, a twin, died on April 9 at her Upper Mt Gravatt home. She had received the vaccine 12 hours earlier, it was reported. Read Article
The West Australian – The State Government has urgently suspended its flu vaccine program for children aged under five, after a large number of children presented to Princess Margaret Hospital within hours of having their injections. Health Minister Kim Hames said 22 otherwise healthy children had suffered reactions ranging from fever to febrile convulsions within 12 hours of having the vaccine but it was still unclear if the vaccine was the cause. At least one child is understood to be seriously ill. Read article
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