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SafeMinds Urges ACIP to State Preference for Thimerosal-Free Vaccines
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SafeMinds' president, Lyn Redwood, attended the
recent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
(ACIP) held in Atlanta.
SafeMinds, along with other organizations, urged the ACIP to state a preference for thimerosal-free vaccines for pregnant women, infants and children based on the following facts:
- Adequate safety studies were not conducted prior to marketing thimerosal as a vaccine preservative.
- Thimerosal's track record as a preservative documents toxicity and ineffectiveness.
- Mercury exposure resulting from thimerosal- containing vaccine administration results in mercury levels where adverse outcomes are documented to occur.
- Exposure to vaccine level thimerosal crosses the blood brain barrier and results in significant deposition of inorganic mercury in the brain.
- U.S. policy is falling behind other countries on this important health issue and is not in keeping with the Institute of Medicine's 2001 recommendations.
- Not stating a preference for mercury-free vaccines reduces public confidence in the National Immunization Program.
Please click here to read the full letter to the ACIP.
The charter of the ACIP is to provide recommendations to the Director of CDC and the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services on the most effective means to avert vaccine-preventable diseases. The ACIP formulates recommendations regarding immunization in the United States, which are subject to the approval of the CDC director and Secretary of HHS, that address routine administration of vaccines to U.S. pediatric and adult populations, immunization schedules, and recommended dosage and contraindications.
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Environmental Health Perspectives
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Tracing the Origins of Autism: A Spectrum of New Studies
The July issue of Environmental Health Perspectives features several studies that are looking at environmental and genetic causes of autism.
“The CDC has not addressed the crisis in autism responsibly. They should be raising the alarm, and they have failed to do so. They should be asking why so many children are sick,” said SafeMinds board member, Mark Blaxill, who is quoted in the article.
Click here to read the full article.
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Autism Study by Dr. Eric Fombonne is Inaccurate and Incomplete
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SafeMinds Aids to Correct Misinformation
A Quebec study to be published in the July 2006 issue of Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, states that it is “very clear” that there is no relationship between mercury-based thimerosal in vaccines and the onset of autism. Dr. Eric Fombonne of the McGill University Health Center bases his opinion on a study among schoolchildren in Quebec, Canada. According to an analysis by SafeMinds, however, the study methodology is unlikely to lend itself to such declarative statements and should be treated with skepticism, for a number of reasons.
The study looked at 27,749 students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade in a Montreal school district and found 187 cases of autism. The vast majority of these cases (more than 90%) were born in years in which thimerosal vaccines were widely used for infants in Quebec, as they were in the US. Only a tiny fraction of the autism students were born when thimerosal-free DTP and Hib vaccines were given, and these students may have been exposed to thimerosal from the Hepatitis B vaccine newly recommended for infants of foreign born parents, which made up over one fourth of the greater Montreal population.
Dr. Fombonne wrongfully claims that large-population studies in the United States, England and Denmark also disprove a link between mercury and autism, and he states that “there is no autism epidemic.” He conveniently ignores the vast body of scientific evidence that has shown that environmental factors such as mercury may have caused the increased number of autism diagnoses in the US and other countries. Dr. Fombonne’s actions have not historically been in the best interest of families with autism—he has declared himself an expert witness on behalf of various pharmaceutical companies in thimerosal-related litigation. Thimerosal is a serious poison that is harmful via inhalation, ingestion or contact with skin. Furthermore, thimerosal- containing vaccines elevate mercury levels in the body to a level where adverse neurological outcomes are known to occur. It is irresponsible for any pediatric doctor to justify injecting our children with mercury.
The prevalence of all autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has risen to 1 in 166 children in the past 20 years. Several independent federal agencies and respected scientists and researchers have received federal funds to investigate the autism epidemic and the biological plausibility of a link between mercury and ASDs. Multiple studies have indicated that there is a connection between childhood vaccines containing thimerosal and the incidence of autism. No conclusions have been made rejecting a link between mercury and autism.
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Study Links Air Pollutants with Autism
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Children with autism disorders in the San Francisco
Bay Area were 50% more likely to be born in
neighborhoods with high amounts of several toxic air
contaminants, particularly mercury, according to a
first-of-its-kind study by the California Department of
Health Services. To read the full article click here.
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Mercury-Containing Vaccines in Developing Countries
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From Down to Earth: Science & Environment Online
Heavy metal: Vaccines with mercury can cause autism, but removing the metal is uneconomical for developing countries such as India
VIBHA VARSHNEY
In the 1980s, worried parents and medical researchers in the us alleged that mercury in vaccines was responsible for the growing number of autism cases among children in the country. The issue was debated in medical circles, wheels moved in many western countries, but developing countries still don’t have a choice — because without mercury, vaccination is expensive.
There was pressure on the us government for legislation against mercury in vaccines. At the same time, a combative vaccine industry brandished studies vouching the safety of mercury in vaccines. Nonetheless, the us states of Iowa and California passed legislations in favour of mercury-free vaccines. The uproar was not restricted to the us: the Danish parliament, in 1992, banned the heavy metal from vaccines. The uk has recently passed a similar legislation. At the root of the problem is thimerosal: this preservative with a 50 per cent mercury constituent is a key ingredient of multi-dose vaccines. These vials are about 10 times cheaper than single-dose vials, making it easier for international agencies to procure vaccines for programmes in developing countries including India. In 2000, for instance, about 80 per cent of vaccines administered globally were supplied in multi-dose vials. But these vials require preservatives because they are used over longer periods. Thimerosal fits this requirement. So, it’s not surprising that international bodies such as the World Health Organization (who) and unicef recommend this preservative. Even those vaccine manufacturers based in developed countries who make mercury-free vaccines for domestic consumption use this heavy metal in their products for developing countries.
The UK has recently passed a similar legislation. At the root of the problem is thimerosal: this preservative with a 50 per cent mercury constituent is a key ingredient of multi-dose vaccines. These vials are about 10 times cheaper than single-dose vials, making it easier for international agencies to procure vaccines for programmes in developing countries including India. In 2000, for instance, about 80 per cent of vaccines administered globally were supplied in multi-dose vials.
But these vials require preservatives because they are used over longer periods. Thimerosal fits this requirement. So, it’s not surprising that international bodies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF recommend this preservative. Even those vaccine manufacturers based in developed countries who make mercury-free vaccines for domestic consumption use this heavy metal in their products for developing countries.
To read the full article, please click here.
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SafeMinds Produces Flu Vaccine Brochure to Warn of Risks
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SafeMinds has developed a brochure providing information on the flu vaccine that is available to communicate the risks still posed by this thimerosal- containing vaccine. Please feel free to download the file here, reproduce and distribute. If you are interested in printed copies, we will provide up to 10 copies at no cost. Additional copies can be ordered in increments of 50 for $10 each. Please contact eksafeminds@gmail.com to order.
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Support SafeMinds: Be a Virtual Walker and Raise Funds Online
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SafeMinds is holding its first major event, Steps for SafeMinds Autism Walk, on September 23, 2006 in Buffalo New York.
If you are in the area we hope to see you there - but even if you aren't, this is a great opportunity for you to support SafeMinds and get together with like minded individuals in your community if you like. Create your own online fundraising page at www.first giving.org/safeminds and join the walk team "Virtual Walkers". Raise funds and we will connect you with others in your area who are participating and you can get together in your own community at a local park to walk if you would like.
Help us make this first event a huge success. If you have questions, please contact us.
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