►January 21, 2004 - 'Supervaccines' Developed To Combine Childhood Shots - Required Vaccines Cover 10 Diseases With Multiple Shots - www.thebostonchannel.com - "For a lot of parents, keeping track of their children's immunizations can be a full-time job. The mandatory number of vaccinations covers 10 diseases with multiple shots, and according to health experts, that number may double over the next decade."

Comment:  The number of mandatory vaccinations "may double over the next decade"? When is enough going to be enough?  When are parents going to "just say no" to vaccines?

Comment:  Whether or not vaccines can be safely combined has not been adequately tested, either in the long or short-term.  But there are clearly reasons to be concerned.  For instance, in a 1986 Science article, when combined in the bodies of mice, two harmless herpes viruses recombined and killed 62% of the mice. 

►January 15, 2004 - Study Links Leukemia, Gene Combination - Science Magazine via AP via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - "Two children who developed leukemia after receiving gene therapy for an inherited disease may have been victims of a rare combination of genes that is unlikely to happen in gene therapy for other disorders, a study says...Researchers at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Md., discovered that a gene in a virus used to treat the children, who had an inherited immune system disorder, can combine with another gene to cause leukemia in mice."

Comment:  Wonder what, if anything, this implies re: the the potential for genes in vaccine viruses combining with genes in specific children and causing adverse reactions?

►January 13, 2004 - Doctors Answer Questions About Children's Health - Supervaccines Could Cut Number Of Shots - www.nbc4.com - "Because pediatricians are tired of making their patients "human pincushions", researchers are now working on a number of supervaccines that would combine existing inoculations into one shot...The most recent supervaccine takes the MMR vaccine, which already combines mumps, measles and rubella and adds chickenpox, polio, whooping cough, tetanus, diphtheria, hepatitis B and meningitis."

Comment:  Given the potential for antigens in vaccines to recombine and form new, more lethal pathogens, is this really such a good idea?  For this reason, are any combined vaccines a good idea?