Vaccines have low risk of serious side effects: study

WASHINGTON: Some childhood vaccines are linked to serious side effects, but they are quite rare and do not include autism, food allergies or cancer, said a review of scientific literature Tuesday.

A host of vaccines commonly given to children under age six were the focus of the systematic review of rigorously conducted studies, published in the peer-reviewed US journal Pediatrics.

The report seeks to address a rising trend of vaccine hesitancy among parents in the United States and Europe, which has led to a resurgence of measles and whooping cough in some parts of the world.

"We found that serious adverse events that are linked to vaccines are really rare, and that when they do occur they are often not necessarily severe," said study co-author Courtney Gidengil, a pediatrician at Boston Children´s Hospital and professor at Harvard Medical School.

"We think this adds to the body of evidence that the benefits really do seem to clearly outweigh the low risk of serious side effects from vaccines," she told.

The study expands on a 2011 report by the Institute of Medicine that also pointed to some side effects linked to vaccines but found "few health problems are caused by or clearly associated with vaccines."

The Pediatrics report includes several vaccines that were not studied by the IOM, including those against hepatitis A, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), polio, rotavirus and the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.

Side effects
Side effects of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) and pneumococcal vaccines included the potential for fever and seizures.

The MMR and hepatitis A vaccines were also linked to a side effect called purpura, when small blood vessels leak under the skin.

There was some evidence that immune-deficient children given the varicella vaccine against chicken pox could develop infections or have an allergic reaction.

The rotavirus vaccines, RotaTeq and Rotarix, were associated with a risk of intussusception, a condition in which one part of the intestine slides into another part.

However, the risk of this condition was rare, amounting to between 1-5 in 100,000, the researchers said.

"Clinicians who immunize children regularly may have encountered these adverse events in their practices, particularly seizures associated with fever," said an accompanying editorial by Carrie Byington, vice chair for research in the pediatrics department at the University of Utah.

"Fortunately, the adverse events identified by the authors were rare and in most cases would be expected to resolve completely after the acute event."

 

Reference to Pemra shows on which side govt stands: Nisar

 

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Friday that by sending the reference to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), it had become clear on whose side the government was standing. He said that they always helped the Jang and Geo TV in the time of distress.
Ch Nisar categorically stated that the media trial of armed forces, including the ISI and army, was not acceptable.Talking to newsmen informally here on Friday, he said that no one should misunderstand the government’s stance towards the defence institutions, as it was bound by the law and Constitution to preserve their honour and dignity.

Chaudhry Nisar said the federal government was cooperating with the Sindh Police in its probe into the attack on Hamid Mir but it was unfortunate to see that instead of cooperating in the investigation, a media trial was going on.

He said that Geo and Jang, under the pretext of the attack on Hamid Mir, was playing the roles of the complainant, police, prosecutor and judge themselves.The Indian and the Western media maligned Pakistan after the coverage of Geo, Nisar said and added that the attack on Hamid Mir would be investigated and taken to its logical end.

He said Hamid Mir should have given his statement to the investigation agencies instead of Aamir Mir.He blamed the Islamabad Police for not inquiring into the matter but he didn’t provide any phone number or information to the police, the interior minister added. —Online

APP adds: Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said it was a constitutional and legal obligation of the government to protect the honour of the armed forces and security and intelligence agencies.

Chaudhry Nisar said the government strongly condemned the attack on Hamid Mir and expressed sympathy with his family. He said as an interior minister, it was his responsibility to bring to justice the culprits involved in the Hamid Mir incident.

The minister said it was also his responsibility to ensure that the dignity of defence institutions was safeguarded.He said that the federal government had also set up a three-member judicial commission that would prepare its report within 21 days. The commission would hand over the report to the government, which would make it public, he added.

Chaudhry Nisar said in the statement given by Hamid Mir it was also stated that the Islamabad Police did not take action on his complaint on a threatening phone call received by him. “I ordered an inquiry into it last evening and according to police, Hamid Mir had not provided any telephone number to the police,” he said.

About the incident of planting a bomb underneath the car of Hamid Mir, he said the police arrested the driver of Hamid Mir but he was later released after the TTP accepted responsibility.

Chaudhry Nisar said the media trial should be stopped as it creates misunderstanding. After the attack on Hamid Mir, the ISPR condemned the incident and called for the formation of a commission to hold a probe into it, he added.

The minister said that the government, opposition and security institutions agreed that culprits should be brought to book and without an inquiry and evidence, a media trial should not be carried out, as the enemies would benefit from it.

He said India and the United States had launched huge propaganda in the wake of the incident adding an independent media was the need of Pakistan, however, dignified security institutions were also imperative for the country.

The minister said they should step back, take a deep breath and control the situation. He said that he tried in the past and even now he was trying to cool down the matter, adding he always continued his struggle for an independent media and would always oppose a ban on any media organisation.

He appealed to all sides to show patience and stop the media trial.Chaudhry Nisar said the issue of statement given by the Taliban to malign the top intelligence agency over the Hamid Mir incident was taken up by him with the Taliban nominated committee. He protested to them as, on the one side, a dialogue was being held and on the other side, they were maligning the agency.He said all the intelligence and security agencies were coordinating in the investigation of Hamid Mir incident.

Hamid Mir attack dark side of the picture: minister

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Pervaiz Rashid has said that the attack on Hamid Mir shows the dark side of the picture. He added that no allegation had been levelled against the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and as such it was not an issue.

Talking to mediapersons at the Pakistan-China Friendship Centre after inaugurating the National Book Day organised by the National Book Foundation (NBF) here on Tuesday, he pointed out that a logical approach should be adopted on the attack on Hamid Mir while some circles were presenting a negative picture of the incident.

“The people, the government and parliament respect the national security institutions. We have a relation of faith with them,” the minister said.Every institution was playing its part according to the role written in the Constitution, he said. “There is no difference of opinion among the institutions on the national agenda,” he noted.

The information minister said that the prime minister personally met Hamid Mir at hospital in Karachi. “We have a relation of love with the media,” he commented. In reply to a question, the information minister said that deadlock was a part of the dialogue process and stated that talks with the TTP were moving ahead. He hoped that there would be progress in this regard soon.

The minister said the talks with the Taliban were started in consultation with all the political parties and all the matters were going in the right direction. “Today, the state of Pakistan and national institutions are standing with scholars and intellectuals. They are standing with those who speak the language of arguments and not of weapons,” he stated.

He said that dialogue and tolerance should be promoted and difference of opinion should be acceptable.The minister said that the government had demanded of the TTP to release the Islamia University’s vice chancellor.

Responding to a question regarding Musharraf’s visit to Karachi, the minister said the movement of any citizen from one city to another did not matter as the rule of law was supreme everywhere, including Karachi and Islamabad.

Earlier, speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the National Book Day, the minister said, “It will be a moment of happiness for Pakistan when a day comes when such book events are held in Waziristan and Fata, where schools and colleges were closed and extremist groups resorted to violence to achieve their goals.”The minister assured the government’s cooperation to the NBF in developing the reading habits among the people.

Shaadi Ke Side Effects movie review

Cast:Vidya Balan, Farhan Akhtar, Ram Kapoor and Vir Das
Director: Saket Chaudhary

SPOILERS AHEAD

A man hits on a lonesome woman at a nightclub. The conversation reveals that both are married.

My workaholic husband has no time for me, the lady laments. My wife is busy watching television serials, retorts the guy.

The two head to a hotel room for a one-night stand. They are caught on the security cameras in the corridor.

The errant man is summarily summoned to the manager’s office and sternly ticked off. This is not “that kind of hotel”, he is told.

Turns out that the man and the woman are married to each other and this is their way of spicing up their relationship.

The sheepish hotel manager, left with egg on his face, finds himself at the receiving end of free tips on how best to keep his wife in good humour.

One crucial piece of advice that he receives goes thus: Marriage is… always having to say sorry. When you make a mistake, you apologise. When the wife makes a mistake, you still apologise. And life goes on…

If you think that opening sequence, with its sly but predictable flurry of witticisms, is comical enough, you might also like the rest of Shaadi Ke Side Effects. The film unfolds in pretty much the same vein.

On a basic plot level, director Saket Chaudhary’s second film seems to have drawn inspiration from the 1988 John Hughes comedy, She is Having a Baby.

The Hollywood film ended with a pregnancy; Shaadi Ke Side Effects employs the birth of the baby as the starting point of the story.

The wafer-thin tale is livened up by some snappy writing and competent acting all around.

The principal characters, struggling musician Siddharth and successful adwoman Trisha, are generally likeable and believable.

So are the piquant situations that they must grapple with in their bid to balance their individual compulsions with the demands of bearing and bringing up a child.
A bawling baby, a snoring dad and an overprotective mom are the perfect recipe for severe spousal stress.

Trisha takes to the job of playing mommy with instinctive ease. It is Sid who makes a complete mess of the attempt to be “the best dad in the world”.

The screenplay (Zeenat Lakhani and Saket Chaudhary) ensures that the plot remains firmly rooted in the realms of reality.

However, the efforts to blend humour, emotion and philosophy do not always come off.
One good aspect of Shaadi Ke Side Effects is that it plunges into the business end without much fuss.

So there is no whirlwind romance or fairy-tale wedding or heady honeymoon before the complications brought on by dull domesticity intervene.

The first half of Shaadi Ke Side Effects is somewhat listless. But the film perks up considerably post-intermission.

Staid Sid, egged on by his sis-in-law’s hubby Ranvir (Ram Kapoor), decides to turn overly adventurous in order to put some spart back into his marriage. That triggers a series of missteps that put his relationship with his wife in serious jeopardy.

Shaadi Ke Side Effects, via the words of Ranvir, hands out some dodgy pop psychology to justify a somewhat far-fetched ‘formula’ for a happy marriage.

White lies, some harmless subterfuge and an occasional return to the joys of a “carefree single life” are offered as a way out of marital drudgery.

Sure enough, the side effects of that formula are far too many for comfort and they boomerang many times over on Sid.

Shaadi Ke Side Effects isn’t exceptionally engaging fare. It is essentially a single idea stretched to the very end of its tether.

Yet, the sheer ordinariness of the circumstances that the story hinges on helps the film retain its amusing core.

Trisha, rational working woman turned emotional nut case, puts her career on hold and relegates her hubby to the fringes of her life.

She frets and fumes obsessively and excessively about her daughter’s needs and over putting on weight.

Sid, too, is a guy next door seeking avenues to move beyond singing jingles.

You don’t have the looks of a musician, he is told by a newfound pal – “an accountant, a salesman, a Maoist, but not a musician.” That indeed makes him all the more real.

Sadly, a large part of Shaadi Ke Side Effects, despite charming pivotal performances by Farhan Akhtar and Vidya Balan, has nothing new to offer beyond convenient homilies on gender politics within the confines of a marriage.

The supporting cast members – notably Ram Kapoor, Ila Arun, Purab Kohli and Vir Das (in what is billed as “a not so special appearance”) – are first-rate. However, Rati Agnihotri, in the role of the female protagonist’s widowed mother, is wasted.

Shaadi Ke Side Effects is recommended because, despite its flaws, it is passable fun while it lasts.