-Caveat Lector- http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/ 19990707/V000048-070799-idx.html US Wants Mercury Out of Vaccines By Lauran Neergaard AP Medical Writer Wednesday, July 7, 1999 WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government is about to ask manufacturers to remove from vaccines a type of mercury used as a preservative since the 1940s, citing concern that small infants now need so many immunizations that they may get too much of the chemical, The Associated Press has learned. Parents should not worry -- or delay getting their children properly vaccinated -- because the move concerning the preservative thimerosal is strictly a precaution, vaccine experts said. "While our immunization practices to date are safe, we have the opportunity to increase that margin of safety," said Dr. Louis Z. Cooper, a Columbia University professor and member of the board of directors of the American Academy of Pediatrics. "It is essential that children continue to receive all vaccines according to currently recommended schedules," added Surgeon General David Satcher. "The risk of devastating childhood diseases from failure to vaccinate far outweighs the minimal, if any risk, risk of exposure to cumulative levels of thimerosal in vaccines." Thimerosal is an organic form of mercury also commonly found in eyedrops and contact-lens solutions -- not the same type of mercury that causes poisonings during industrial accidents. Thimerosal is effective at preventing bacterial contamination of certain vaccines. It isn't needed in all vaccines, including those made of live viruses, but it is present in vaccines against hepatitis B, whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus and bacterial meningitis. The thimerosal levels in any one shot are tiny. But ensuring those levels stay low is important because very high amounts of mercury may cause brain damage. Late last month, the government notified vaccine experts that if infants younger than 6 months receive a number of thimerosal-containing vaccines during the same doctor's visit, the thimerosal levels could add up enough that small babies might temporarily hit the Environmental Protection Agency's precautionary limit on mercury exposure. The EPA's limit is well below the mercury level the Food and Drug Administration and other health agencies consider dangerous, an official familiar with the issue told the AP. Still, because doctors want to avoid as much mercury as possible, the FDA is about to tell vaccine manufacturers to replace thimerosal with other preservatives, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. In addition, the American Academy of Pediatrics is preparing its own precautionary recommendation: That if new mothers are proven to be free of the liver virus hepatitis B, their newborns can safely postpone getting a hepatitis B vaccine until they're a few months older. When babies are older and bigger, the mercury amounts are too small to have an effect, explained Dr. Jon Abramson of Wake Forest University, the academy's infectious disease chairman. "We think the vaccines are safe and we don't want parents to worry, but if you're going to worry about anyone, it's a very small, premature baby," he explained. Most pregnant women today are tested for hepatitis B. Mothers with the disease have a 90 percent chance of infecting their new babies, so those infants need the vaccine at birth or in the first few weeks of life, Abramson stressed. How quickly vaccine manufacturers will find substitutes for thimerosal is in question. A spokesman for one, SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, called it "premature for us to comment." � Copyright 1999 The Associated Press . DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
