Posts tagged danger

Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu has again defended the roll-out of smart meters, amid concerns they are causing a growing number of house fires.

The meters will be installed in every home and business in Victoria by the end of next year, after the State Government decided to back the program last year after a review.

The smart meters measure electricity consumption on an hourly basis to more accurately reflect the amount used.

So far this month, there have been three fires in fuse boxes with smart meters.

Last year the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) was asked to review those fires.

The review concluded they were not caused by the smart meters themselves, although they could have been caused by issues surrounding installation.

Hamish Fitzsimmons, an ABC reporter for Lateline, raised concerns about the meters after a fire at his Northcote home on the weekend.

Fitzsimmons says the fire, which started behind the smart meter, caused extensive damage to at least one room of the house.

He says City Power, which installed the meter, has denied responsibility.

The Premier has offered to have the home independently inspected.

Mr Baillieu says many of the issues are linked to problems with installation, rather than the meters themselves.

“The smart meter itself has been thoroughly examined and they are, in my view, safe,” he told ABC 774 Melbourne.

However Mr Baillieu says there are known service use connection issues in older houses affecting the addition of extra electricity loads and heat.

He denies it is similar to the Federal Government home insulation program where incorrectly installed insulation led to a number of fires.

“There is a requirement for training and qualification for anybody installing a smart meter,” he said.

Meanwhile, a smart meter installer is facing a possible fine of $30,000 after being charged with using dodgy equipment.

Energy Save Victoria has charged an Ormond man with installing equipment that is unsafe and not testing it.

The charges relate to an installation at Highett in January last year, which is believed to have caused a shock to a resident.

(Source: abc.net.au)

For almost two years, an infant school pupil has found himself losing muscle control and falling asleep at a moment’s notice due to a rare sleeping illness.

Six-year-old Josh Hadfield, from Frome in Somerset, had shown no symptoms of narcolepsy prior to February 2010, and it took another year for doctors to diagnose the condition.

Josh’s mother, Caroline, fears it could be linked to a swine flu vaccine called Pandemrix which he received three weeks before showing symptoms.

Tests in the UK have not revealed a link between Pandemrix and narcolepsy, although the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency said “a similar risk had only been confirmed in Finland and Sweden”.

‘Dropping forward’

Mrs Hadfield said her son “became a different boy” soon after receiving the vaccination, and Josh was also found to have cataplexy which makes his muscles collapse whenever he laughs.

She said: “Initially, I put it down to being the end of term, coming up to half-term week.

“He was tired and then he started losing muscle control so he couldn’t hold things properly.

“He needed you to support his hand because it was just dropping forward. It was horrible.”

In Finland, investigators found 79 vaccinated children and adolescents had developed narcolepsy, 12 times more than they would expect.

The Finnish government said it accepted a link between Pandemrix and narcolepsy and has promised compensation and support for affected families.

Health Minister Paula Risikko said: “We have decided to take these measures because the decision to acquire the vaccine was ours under the threat of a pandemic, and therefore we want to take the responsibility for the outcome.”

‘Genetic link’

The vaccine is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, whose UK medical director Dr Pim Kon said: “There is currently no evidence at all to suggest there is a causal link between Pandemrix and narcolepsy.

“We are working very hard with the regulatory authorities to try to understand what is happening.

“At the end of day, patient safety is of utmost importance to us and we wouldn’t ever put out a drug or leave it out there if we believed that it actually was a true issue.”

The European Medicines Agency said in July studies had shown a six to 13-fold increased risk of narcolepsy in children and adolescents vaccinated with Pandemrix compared with unvaccinated children.

But it added there appeared to be a link but the vaccine “is likely to have interacted with genetic or environmental factors which might raise the risk of narcolepsy, and that other factors may have contributed to the results”.

And despite six million doses being administered, only seven children have been reported to have developed narcolepsy after taking Pandemrix in the UK.

But Mrs Hadfield believes there could be more families affected and has set up a Facebook campaign to try to track them down.

One such child is eight-year-old Lucas Carleton from Liverpool who has been off school for nearly a year and can sleep up to 20 hours per day.

His mother Pauline said: “He was a humorous little boy who used to make me laugh so much. He had a wicked sense of humour.

“All that’s gone and all that’s left is this angry frustrated little boy. It’s heartbreaking, absolutely heartbreaking.”

(Source: BBC)

A flu vaccine has been recalled from thousands of surgeries and pharmacies across Europe amid fears it is making people ill.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued a warning over Preflucel, a popular influenza vaccine.

Around 300,000 doses of the drug are to be immediately withdrawn following fears from health bosses that the most recent batch, issued last month, is causing side-effects.

A high percentage of those vaccinated with Preflucel have reported fatigue, muscle pain and headaches.

Alternative products will now be made available to prevent any shortages.

Newbury-based Baxter Healthcare, which manufacturers the drug, approved for use in March said that patients with concerns should contact their GP.

A statement read: ‘There has been a higher-than-expected reporting of adverse reactions after administration of vaccines from this batch.

‘Any stock should be quarantined and returned via the normal channels.

‘No further Preflucel of any batch should be administered at this time.’

In Scotland 2,500 vaccines have been recalled and Preflucel will not be issued until further notice.

In response the Scottish Government has ordered more than 1.1million doses of other flu drugs.

Despite fears, a spokesman urged people not to panic: ‘This recall does not affect the flu vaccination programme, for which over 1.1 million doses of other flu vaccines have been ordered.

‘Individuals who have been vaccinated with Preflucel should not be concerned.

‘Most of the side-effects are those usually associated with flu vaccines - they have started shortly after the vaccination and have been mild and short-lived.

‘The vaccine is being recalled because these side-effects have been reported more frequently with this specific batch.’

It was labelled as suitable for patients with allergies because it does not contain egg and is expected to provide up to 80 per cent protection against influenza.

A spokesman said the recall was a ‘precautionary measure’ due to reports of adverse reactions.

Preflucel is one of 13 different flu vaccines being used to protect people against the winter virus.

(Source: Daily Mail)

Gender-bending chemical that ‘makes girls as young as three aggressive and hyperactive’

A common chemical used in products ranging from baby bottles to CD cases could be causing girls as young as three to become hyperactive and aggressive, researchers have claimed.

A study by leading U.S. scientists has found that those exposed to high levels of bisphenol A (BPA) in the womb are more likely to suffer from behavioural problems.

BPA, which is used to harden plastics, can be found in the lining of tins and bottles and the ends of knives and forks.

Some scientists think that even relatively low doses can interfere with our behaviour, bodily  functions and fertility. While some research has suggested that BPA is perfectly safe, other experiments have linked it to breast cancer, liver damage, obesity and diabetes.

Campaigners have called for a Europe-wide ban, and say the most recent findings are ‘yet another nail in the coffin’ for BPA.

The new research saw a team at the Harvard University School of Public Health compare levels of the chemical in 244 pregnant women. Each one provided three urine samples during pregnancy, and another at birth, which were all tested for BPA.

When the children reached the age of one the scientists measured their levels of BPA, and did so again over the next two years.

Once the children turned three, their mothers all filled in a survey about their behaviour. The researchers found that girls  were more likely to be hyper-active, aggressive, anxious, and depressed and unable to control themselves if their mothers had recorded higher levels of BPA during pregnancy.

The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found no such link among boys.

The scientists think that girls’ hormones may make them more sensitive to BPA.

They said doctors should advise worried women to reduce their exposure to the chemical during pregnancy by cutting back on tinned and packaged foods.

Joe Braun, a research fellow at the university, said: ‘None of the children had clinically abnormal behaviour, but some had more behaviour problems than others. Thus, we examined the relationship between the mothers’ and children’s BPA concentrations and the different behaviours.’

He added: ‘Gestational, but not childhood, BPA exposures may impact neurobehavioural function, and girls appear to be more sensitive to BPA than boys.’

Elizabeth Salter Green, director of CHEM Trust, a charity that aims to protect humans from harmful chemicals, said: ‘This is what should be yet another nail in the coffin for BPA.

‘Our exposure through consumer products is ubiquitous, and where there are links between in-utero exposures and subsequent health problems we must take steps to reduce that exposure to BPA.

‘The EU needs to take action now in order to protect future generations from health risks. Pregnant women and people of reproductive age must be the greatest priority.

‘The ever-growing weight of evidence says BPA must go.’

Last year, Denmark was the first EU country to ban the chemical from containers for children under three, and the EU has barred manufacturers from using it in baby bottles since June. Canada and several U.S. states have also introduced bans.

(Source: Daily Mail)

(Editor’s Note: As the ‘“flu season” approaches, the vaccine propaganda is starting to appear in the media. )

Flu season is coming. Are you ready?

(Mandatory staged photo of someone sneezing. Ed.)

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging virtually everyone to get the 2011 flu shot, noting that immunity from last year’s strains may not be strong enough for the upcoming flu season.

The flu strains expected to circulate this flu season are identical to the 2010-2011 flu season strains, including the H1N1 virus. Like last year, the government is recommending that everyone 6 months old and older be vaccinated as soon as flu shots are available at clinics or your doctor’s office.

The CDC says that babies and children ages 6 months to 8 years old will require two shots this year unless they were vaccinated last year, in which case they only need one this year.

Flu shot or not, it’s still important to head into the flu season with a strong immune system, and with some proven natural remedies on hand to tackle flu symptoms, if you are unlucky enough to come down with the bug.

Full Story: MSNBC

(Now you’ve read the Big Pharma version, here is a different perspective on flu vaccines, from Med India. Ed)

Flu Shots-Do we Really Need Them?

Annual shots of the flu vaccine are not as effective as all the hype surrounding it, according to a new study.

Study author Dr. Tom Jefferson, coordinator of the Cochrane Vaccines Field in Rome, Italy said, “We’ve got an exaggerated expectation of what vaccines can actually do. I’m hoping American and European taxpayers will be alerted and will start asking questions.”

The findings of the study have been published in the Oct. 28 issue of the British Medical Journal.

Influenza vaccination programs have already been established in most developed nations with several developing countries also having influenza vaccination programs in place. The aim of the program is to reduce the number of cases of flu as well as related hospital admissions and deaths.

In the United States, the flu vaccine is recommended for children of ages 6 to 23 months; anyone 50 or older; people with chronic diseases such as asthma, heart disease, diabetes or HIV; and health-care professionals, caregivers and people in the same households as individuals at high risk. In addition the U.S. health authorities have recommended this year that children aged 23 months to 5 years old also be vaccinated against the flu.

Jefferson said, “Recently there’s been a real increase in recommendations to prevent what they call influenza with the use of inactivated [dead virus] vaccines.”

However Jefferson questions whether such policies are justifiable because his earlier research had revealed that the flu vaccine is only mildly effective in the most critical population, the elderly. In addition he concluded that there was no good science to back new American and Canadian policies of vaccinating children under the age of 2.

Analyzing several systematic reviews on the effects of inactivated vaccines for his present study he concluded that influenza vaccines have little or no effect on many influenza campaign objectives, such as hospital stay, time off work, or death from influenza and its complications.

Jefferson said, “I looked at the evidence described by systematic reviews and confronted it with policy and I found that there is a massive gap. Almost none of the benefits that these policy documents list are actually given by inactivated vaccines or, if they are, they are given in slighter measure.”

He attributes this to the confusion between influenza and influenza-like respiratory illnesses, or inadequate surveillance systems.

Jefferson stated, “In most surveillance systems, you actually have an almost year-round epidemic which, in fact, is not influenza. It’s caused by other agents.”

Another health expert Dr. Peter Gross, an influenza expert and chairman of medicine at Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J disagreed with Jefferson’s findings.

He said, “The flu vaccine works about 70 to 90 percent of the time in preventing infection in children and young adults and about 40 or 50 percent to 70 percent in the elderly. To say that the influenza vaccine is worthless is misleading.”

Gross advised, “My message is definitely go out there and get the flu vaccine if you’re an older individual. If you’re elderly and feel as though you’re getting a flu-like illness, speak to a physician to consider an anti-influenza drug because the vaccine is not 100 percent effective in this group.”


Source: MedIndia