Yesterday, I mentioned that some of the swine flu vaccines will be available without thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative found in many vaccines, including the seasonal flu vaccine.
Now the Washington Post confirms that most of the swine flu vaccines that will be available in the fall, probably in October, will contain thimerosal.
Considering that children are among the first ones pushed to get the vax, this is worrisome.
Thimerosal is about half mercury. It is an antibacterial additive allowing caregivers to administer shots in multi doses. Really, the main benefit is that it’s more cost effective than single dose shots. But mercury is a known neurotoxin, one that pregnant women and children carefully steer clear from when choosing fish meals.
So why should we trust that thimerosal in vaccines is any safer?
The Washington Post reports,
Some of the vaccine will be stored in multi-dose vials containing thimerosal, an antibacterial additive that contains mercury. But there will also be single-dose syringes without thimerosal, a substance that some assert is harmful to children.
(I like that last part, don’t you? We know mercury is harmful. And thimerosal is half mercury. It’s not a stretch to think it was harming children when multiple doses of various vaccines were given at once.)
Thimerosal has been removed from the Recommended Immunization Schedule for the worries I mentioned. It has long been considered one culprit in the autism debate. But even now, after removal from kids’ required vaccines, there are other heavy metals, like aluminum, in vaccines.
And thimerosal is currently still in most seasonal flu vaccines, which themselves aren’t even all that effective.
Will the swine flu vaccine tests, currently starting, be sufficient in showing these vaccines are safe?
I hope that those of you who choose to receive the swine flu vaccine, for reasons we discussed yesterday, are able to find a thimerosal-free version.
Image: ad-vantage on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
The truth is that we can intelligently use substances like aluminum in low dosages that the body can handle and process it quite effectively with no ill result. You don’t give our bodies, or doctors and scientists, enough credit.
Think of the Botulism toxin. Yes, it’s a toxin. Yes, it causes severe neurological damage in a large enough dose. And yet, we can control the dose administered so that it can be used safely in surgery as well as cosmetically.
Here’s a question- are you backing your toxin fears on any real research, or simply crying “TOXIN!” at the top of your lungs, and assuming because it sounds scary it must be dangerous?
@chris p As much as you’d like to make me out to be panicky, I am not. I am simply saying that these are neurotoxins, and we should limit our exposure wherever possible. We are exposed to heavy metals through the environment on an everyday basis. They are in our food and water. This isn’t a conspiracy theory; it is a fact. So my statement that these are toxins is true.
Researchers and doctors and especially manufacturers of vaccines are looking at one aspect of exposure. When vaccines are approved with these preservatives, they’re not taking into consideration that we are exposed through other avenues.
I don’t recall using scare tactics in this post. Follow the links for more research and articles.
I’m sorry, I didn’t hear the part where you pointed to a study showing the danger of toxin levels in vaccines.
Thanks for this update, Cate. You’ve been covering this so well. I’ve dropped off into summer mode, myself. I just quoted you over at Non-Toxic Kids.
http://www.non-toxickids.net/2009/08/washington-post-reports-swine-flu.html
Keep up the great work. We’ve really got to follow this issue.
Sadly, US public debate on swine flu immunization is characterized by misinformation, bias, and distrust in public health officials. Conspiracy theories abound. How can public health bodies regain the trust of the American public? The rules; speak the truth , be prepared to admit past mistakes, and follow words with action. In the past it was OK for government to deceive the person in the street if it ‘was in the greater public good’. Now the person in the street is better able to sense when they are not being told the truth, e.g. who believed the WMD story? So for the public to have faith in swine flu vaccines, health officials need to rebuild public confidence, admitting past mistakes and past distortions of the truth. Vaccine safety needs to be aggressively researched instead of trying to pass off the absence of evidence as evidence of absence of vaccine side effects, which it is not! A case in point. Aluminium compounds are used in many childhood vaccines. Dr Geradi, a French clinician, showed that aluminium caused a syndrome called macrophagic myofasciitis. Health officials have chosen to dismiss his findings rather than fund research to get to the bottom of this problem. Why? Because it is easier to sidestep the problem in a knowledge vacuum.The pressure is immense for health officials to sweep vaccine safety issues under the carpet whereas these issues need to be openly aired and a commitment shown to find solutions. Failing this, vaccine conspiracy theories will abound and US vaccine policy will flounder. Sadly, some people will die of swine flu despite availability of safe and effective vaccines, because they refuse to be vaccinated through distrust of public health messages. The public health system needs to find a better way to communicate clearly and honestly with all sectors of the population. Hopefully, the new President can show them how it is done.
Chris,
If there is no danger in all of these vaccinations, then why did Autism only appear after the 30′s when immunization started.
In the 50′s, our children got about 10 shots and Autism was only heard about once in a while. Today our children get somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 shots and Autism becoming rampant.
As another tidbit of information, People who don’t get the shots at all, such as the Amish people, have never had a case of Autism.
It’s not the vaccination that causes the problem, it’s the preservative that causes the problem. I just want to find another form of preservation for them.
This multi-dose crap will make me never get vaccinated against anything again. Sorry, but I am not sharing the Tube part with anyone.
Thomerosal has ethyl mercury in it and not the commonly known methyl mercury. When someone just says “mercury” regarding thimerosal, and does not make the distinction, I always get suspicious. They should say “ethyl mercury” and source info based on that.
They should not just say “mercury” and leave people to think it’s methyl mercury. Ethyl mercury is distinct from methyl mercury and does not bioaccumulate like the more well known methyl mercury, for example.
They are different, and this should be pointed out in any discussion of thimerosal, imo.
The question is THIS:
We live in the 21st centure and have the technology like Never before,
Then WHY is it that the goverment can Not make vaccines COMPLETELY safe without any kind of harm to the human body??
the Technology is there but is NOT being used.
DO NOT TAKE THE SWINE FLU VACCINES
I am a healthcare worker, and I refuse to take most vaccines due to this, and other facts. It is a well known fact that many nurses and physicians don’t know what is in these and other vaccines and medications, and for years the wool has been pulled over our eyes. Even if you don’t get autism, the threat of an autoimmune disorder, alzheimers, memory loss, or death outweighs the threat of dying from the flu.
If a healthcare worker refuses to take the vaccine, even if they are fired as a result–what does that tell you?
I’m not the only one, and we can’t all be paranoid. You should know that injecting foreign substances into a person’s body can’t be all that good, add heavy metals to that mixture and your’e asking for trouble.
So as a pregnant woman, I should ask for a thimerosal free swine flu vaccination? Are they readily available like the regular swine flu vaccination or am I going to have to hunt high and low for one? On the fence about this… Need some advice…
“This multi-dose crap will make me never get vaccinated against anything again…”
Are you people crazy? Medicine in hospitals is multi-dose all the time. You clean the top of the multi-dose vial with alcohol swap (even when brand new) to kill anything on it – you then put a CLEAN sterile needle in it. Where do you think any germs / viruses are coming from then? If done properly it is perfectly safe.
This of course does not mean you do or do not need mercury (a preservative in the vaccine) just that you can share a bottle of medicine with someone else as long as then clean the top before each use and give a new sterile needle to each person.
Personally, I’m all for reducing things like mercury but you shouldn’t fear sharing the bottle itself as it’s perfectly safe. Mercury in it is another matter though and up for debate.
why not choose not to use Swine Flu Vaccine?Mercury
is harmful to child and baby.
not let the child go to the Public places
I don’t want my children to get any flu shots if no secutity promise.But do we have any other choices to avoid Swine flu?
{ 10 trackbacks }