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Oct 15, 2009 10:47 pm US/Central
Good Question: Why Is Mercury In Flu Shots?
(WCCO)
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Thimerosal has been used in vaccines since the 1930's. It's been widely tested by the Food and Drug Administration, and deemed safe. It's nearly 50 percent mercury.
CBS
As the first round of H1N1 influenza vaccine arrives for children in the Twin Cities, there are questions about what's inside the vaccine. Why is there mercury in many types of flu shots?
"It's part of a compound called Thimerosal," said Shane Madsen, clinical pharmacy manager at United Hospital in St. Paul. "It's designed to kill bacteria or fungi that's present in a solution of vaccine," he explained.
Thimerosal has been used in vaccines since the 1930's. It's been widely tested by the Food and Drug Administration, and deemed safe. It's nearly 50 percent mercury.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control: "There is no convincing evidence of harm caused by the low doses of thimerosal in vaccines, except for minor reactions like redness and swelling at the injection site. However, in July 1999 the Public Health Service (PHS) agencies, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and vaccine manufacturers agreed that thimerosal should be reduced or eliminated in vaccines as a precautionary measure."
"In higher levels, mercury can be toxic. So anytime we can reduce exposure, it's better," said Madsen.
Not all H1N1 or seasonal flu vaccines have Thimerosal. The nasal sprays have no preservatives, nor do most versions of a single-dose vaccine.
"In general, single dose doesn't, because you're not going to access it multiple times," he explained.
When using a multi-dose vial of vaccine, a preservative is required by law, because of the risk of bacteria developing from putting needles inside the vial multiple times.
So, how much mercury is in the flu shot? One flu shot has about 25 micrograms of mercury. That compares to a tuna fish sandwich, which has about 28 micrograms.
According to Madsen, vaccines used to kill people before the introduction of preservatives to wipe out the bacteria.
For the past 10 years, the FDA's been moving away from Thimerosal ,but the flu shot was added to the list of recommended vaccines for kids in 2004. It is complicated to reformulate the flu vaccine, and it has not happened yet in the multidose vials.
A vocal subset of parents have raised concerns that autism spectrum disorders may be caused by mercury in vaccines.
"It's been not shown to have any correlation to autism," said Madsen. According to the CDC, "a scientific review* by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded that "the evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism." CDC supports the IOM conclusion."
There are choices for parents who want to avoid thimerosal. If your child is 2 or older, there is a nasal H1N1 vaccine, and a nasal seasonal influenza vaccine. Those don't have any preservatives because they're packaged as a single dose.
If your child is under 2, there are single-dose influenza vaccines that do not have thimerosal. Ask your doctor.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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