H1N1 Vaccine and Thimerosal: To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate?
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The H1N1 flu vaccine is starting to be available at clinics, hospitals, and doctor's offices around the country. With the pandemic flu in full swing, many people are asking whether they should get the vaccine. The concerns are especially acute because several versions of the injectable vaccine contain the mercury preservative thimerosal. California this week temporarily suspended its ban on thimerosal in vaccines to allow distribution of the H1N1 vaccine.
Thimerosal contains an organic form of mercury called ethyl mercury. Some people have claimed that the historical use of thimerosal in vaccines was responsible for the autism epidemic, and other people just worry because mercury is a neurotoxin. So what should people do? Is this vaccine recommended for pregnant women and kids?
In my view, the answer is definitely yes. Despite the thimerosal.
According to the package insert, a multi-dose vial of the H1N1 flu vaccine contains about 25 micrograms of mercury per dose. In comparison, an average can of albacore tuna contains about 60 micrograms of mercury. So the vaccine offers a dose of mercury that is less than that in 1/2 can of tunafish. At the same time, the vaccine protects against a disease that at best results in several days of discomfort and missed school or work, and at worst results in serious complications and even death. Seems like a worthwhile trade-off.
I was a strong advocate for the removal of mercury from vaccines. In most cases it's unnecessary, since single-dose vaccines don't need a preservative. Also, there were valid concerns about the cumulative mercury dose that young children receive from all of their vaccinations. The scientific studies looking at the autism-thimerosal connection have convincingly shown no link, but that doesn't negate the extensive science on methyl mercury (the organic form of mercury found in fish) which has been clearly shown to cause neurological delay after prenatal exposure.
So why make an exception for thimerosal in the H1N1 vaccine? This vaccine needed to be developed and distributed very quickly, since this pandemic flu emerged recently and is spreading fast. Multi-dose vials are more efficient to produce, but they require a preservative. It's essentially a trade-off for speed. If the thimerosal were really worrisome at this level, the trade-off might not be worth it, but in my opinion it is. For those people who are really worried about thimerosal, there will be some preservative-free vaccine distributed, and there's the FluMist (for those who can take it). But not everyone can take FluMist, and waiting for the preservative-free vaccine means being unprotected for longer - you take your chances with this flu.
The CDC recommends that the following groups get vaccinated: pregnant women, household contacts and caregivers for children under 6 months of age, healthcare personnel, children and young adults up through age 24, and people aged 25-64 with certain health conditions. As a health care provider, I'm in a group that should get the vaccine in order to protect my patients, so I'm on my way over to get it. Maybe I'll skip the tunafish sandwich today for lunch.
* * * This post originally appeared on NRDC's Switchboard.
Gina Solomon is Senior Scientist at The Natural Resources Defense Council in San Francisco. For the past 12 years at NRDC she has focused on protecting people from toxic chemicals. She has been worked on preventing mercury and lead poisoning, researching levels of diesel exhaust inside school buses, working to ban the most dangerous pesticides, getting endocrine disrupting chemicals out of consumer products, and helping to answer people's questions about their health and the environment. She attended medical school at Yale University and did a residency in Internal Medicine, followed by a Fellowship in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Harvard. In recent times, she has become increasingly concerned about health threats from global warming. NRDC is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the environment, people and animals. NRDC was founded in 1970 and is comprised of more than 300 lawyers, scientists and policy experts, with more than one million members and e-activists.
Ron Fonteine
Netherlands
What this "senior scientist" is saying is kind of like saying drinking a can of beer is more dangerous than injecting half a can of the same beer into your body.
Somehow by putting the word senior this is supposed to mean that we are to blindly believe someone based on their seniority as a "scientist".
greenandsave.com should be ashamed at posting this ridiculous article.
http://vactruth.com/2009/10/02/fda-approved-h1n1-vaccines-contain-ingred...
MedImmune's H1N1 Nasal Spray leaves you contagious for at least 3 weeks. See page 19 of their package insert. The medical community is responsible for these outbreaks because this is the very first vaccine that became available.
Aside from the neurotoxins, how about the vaccine contaminants? The junk that should not even be in the vials?? Read "Fear of the Invisible" by Janine Roberts. You will then understand why the entire world is facing an utterly devasting crisis. It is just a matter of time before the majority of the population is infected (neurologically handicapped). These vaccine contaminants are sexually transmitted and genetic. Also, start asking yourself why 1 in every 200 children under 10 has cancer these days.
Please start reporting the truth once you become educated.
Thanks,
Dawn Crim
I've picked one of many articles that provide some general background and data that makes the case that Mother Nature had it right. Parents in particular should read/research this topic. Most of us adults have been contaminated by decades of chemicals in food and water. We owe it to our kids as parents to look for alternatives to reduce their exposure, especially needless exposure such as the H1N1 flu vaccine.
Although I have no data and would appreciate any data from others, I suspect that there is much more profit in producing a flu vaccine when you know the governments around the world are going to play it up in the media, than to produce Vitamin D supplements.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/51913.php
I know world needs ecomnomical transactions right know ,and all over europian news are talking about swine flu and the shot for it.
Basicly chemical firms are dancing on their toes right now.
But what if my children?/????
Can anybody answer to this question???
God gave us brain what makes us different than animals.You can not wait nature handle everything instead your brain suppose to work and take an action.
We parents have a hard desicions to make.And shame on people who put us on this situation for just to create new money making ways.
And I still do not know what to do.......................................
Given the small nature of the promised, but as of yet unproven, measure of protection, why is it so unspeakably crazy to want to accept the least possible risk?
I want my injectable flu shot without thimerosal. And all three manufacturers make versions of these flu shots without thimerosal. In fact, the CDC is using the thimerosal-free versions of these shots in all of its safety tests for these vaccines. So why can't I get what I want?
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