From Google Scholar & other sources: Selected Journal Articles, Newsletters, Dissertations, Theses, Commentary
North American Journal of Medical Sciences
2014 | Volume : 6 | Issue : 10 |
Thimerosal-containing hepatitis b vaccination and the risk for diagnosed specific delays in development in the united states: A case-control study in the vaccine safety Datalink
David A Geier1, Janet K Kern2, Brian S Hooker3, Paul G King4, Lisa K Sykes4, Mark R Geier1
1 Institute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
2 Institute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc, Silver Spring, Maryland; Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
3 Biology Department, Simpson University, Redding, California, USA
4 CoMeD, Inc, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
DOI: 10.4103/1947-2714.143284
Page : 519-531
Abstract
Background: Within the first 3 years of life, the brain develops rapidly. Its development is characterized by critical developmental periods for speech, vision, hearing, language, balance, etc.; and alteration in any of the processes occurring in those critical periods can lead to specific delays in development.
Aims: The present study evaluated the potential toxic effects of organic-mercury exposure from Thimerosal (49.55% mercury by weight) in childhood vaccines and its hypothesized possible relationship with specific delays in development.
Materials and Methods: A hypothesis testing case-control study was undertaken to evaluate the relationship between exposure to Thimerosal-containing hepatitis B vaccines administered at specific intervals in the first 6 months among cases diagnosed with specific delays in development and controls born between 1991-2000, utilizing data in the Vaccine Safety Datalink database.
Results: Cases were significantly more likely than controls to have received increased organic-mercury from Thimerosal-containing hepatitis B vaccine administered in the first, second, and sixth month of life.
Conclusion: Though routine childhood vaccination may be an important public health tool to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with infectious diseases, the present study supports an association between increasing organic-mercury exposure from Thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines and the subsequent risk of specific delays in development among males and females.
Ethics & Behavior
Volume 24, Issue 6, 2014
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/hebh20/current#.VEvAPBZ4WF8
Peruvian Female Sex Workers’ Ethical Perspectives on Their Participation in an HPV Vaccine Clinical Trial
Brandon Browna*, Mariam Davtyana & Celia B. Fisherb
DOI: 10.1080/10508422.2014.950269 Accepted author version posted online: 14 Aug 2014
Summary:
We examined FSW’s evaluation of social and health risks and benefits, informed consent, incentives, fair treatment, and post-trial care following their participation in an HPV vaccine phase IV clinical trial (Sunflower Study), in which all 200 participants received quadrivalent HPV vaccine and 92% completed all 3 vaccine doses. Sixteen FSWs aged 23-29 years from Lima, Peru were administered semi-structured interviews to assess perceptions of study participation.
Broad themes emerging from content analysis included respect, concerns about privacy protections, absence of stigma, access to healthcare, and abandonment. Most participants reported that staff treated them with empathy, fairness, and dignity, participation provided protection from cancer and an opportunity to privately receive quality sexual health care, they were well prepared by consent procedures, participation was voluntary, and incentives were appropriate. Of note, one participant responded, “If nothing else, they always treated me as a human”. Some participants experienced feelings of desertion when the study ended.
Participants were generally content with all aspects of the study and emphasized its protective and non-coercive attributes. Balancing fear and trust was the most notable broad theme. Participants expressed gratitude for the professional treatment despite normalized stigma regarding their FSW status. Researchers may also need to develop navigation plans to properly transition participants out of research projects once studies have ended to reduce feelings of abandonment. Additional research on perceptions of clinical trial participation is needed to ensure ethical treatment of research participants
Special Focus Newsletters
Dengue Vaccine Imitative Newsletter – October 2014