In This Edition
TACA News
General News
4. Daily Autism Updates for Families
Vaccine News
5. AAP Honors Paul Offit, MD, FAAP, For Outstanding Service to Children
6. Sears’ views on H1N1 and pregnant women set him apart
7. A Decade Of Questioning Harm And The Autism-Vaccine Connection
8. Hertz-Picciotto's blood mercury autism study: what the researchers omitted
9. Dutch pull Pfizer vaccine batch after infants die
10. Inoculating Against Fear of Vaccination
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Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) provides general information of interest to the autism community. The information comes from a variety of sources and TACA does not independently verify any of it. The views expressed herein are not necessarily TACA’s. TACA does not engage in lobbying or other political activities.
November 2009 #1
Here is your update on TACA (Talk About Curing Autism). If you are new to our site... WELCOME! This newsletter is produced two to four times each month.
We are an autism education and support group. We want to make this e-newsletter informative for you. As always, contact us your thoughts and/or questions so we can improve it.
We focus on parent information and support, parent mentoring, dietary intervention, the latest in medical research, special education law, reviews of the latest treatments, and many other topics relating to autism. Our main goal is to build our community so we can connect, share and support each other.
Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) provides general information of interest to the autism community. The information comes from a variety of sources and TACA does not independently verify any of it. The views expressed herein are not necessarily TACA’s.
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Come to a TACA Meeting!
TACA holds monthly meetings in many locations throughout the United States that feature educational speakers on important topics and allow family members to connect with one another and stay on top of the latest information in the autism world. Each TACA group maintains a resource library of the latest autism books, CDs and DVDs that can be checked out by members at no charge.
Check out our group listings: each contains information on TACA meetings and special events as well as a contact form.
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3. Adopt-a-Family Holiday Campaign
We are very excited to announce our fourth annual Adopt-a-Family Holiday Campaign to help autism families in need. This campaign is open to residents of the United States who have a child affected by autism living with them.
How does a holiday giving program help families affected by autism? Read DeDe’s story.
4. Daily Autism Updates for Families
All news related to autism:
For daily updates to all autism legislative issues: ChangeforAutism.org
AgeofAutism.com5. AAP Honors Paul Offit, MD, FAAP, For Outstanding Service to Children
Of ALL the doctors in the country the AAP chooses PAUL OFFIT for its highest honor?
A doctor who does not treat children. A self-styled "autism expert" who is not a parent of a child with autism and has never treated a child with autism.
Offit has made over 10 million dollars on the rota vaccine patent and works hard to sell his products. Offit has gained illegal access to plaintiff's records in vaccine court and reveals this private information (names and all) on talk shows. Offit stridently argues there is NO autoimmune issue associated with autism and there have been no harmful adverse vaccine reactions. He has has successfully lobbied against research into environmental triggers.
Offit is regularly paid to testify against our families in vaccine court and has argued that regression is not real only that parents have "missed the signs all along." Offit's hospital, CHOP, conducts the worst and most useless autism research- research that has yet to help one child, despite the million upon millions of federal and private (AS) dollars poured into CHOP's research unit.
Offit says that it is perfectly safe to give a baby 100,000 (that's right 100,000) vaccines in a single day.
Offit is a zealot, whose entire career is riddled with serious conflicts of interest. The fact AAP would bestow upon this man their highest honor speaks volumes about AAP's attitude towards autism and the lack of compassion they have for our children. The AAP did not choose to honor one of the many clinicians who has selflessly (and without financial gain) served the autism community but someone who works in direct opposition to our families.
6. Sears’ views on H1N1 and pregnant women set him apart
Dr. Bob Sears, part of the Sears family of Dana Point-based pediatricians, has departed from much of the medical community on the issue of whether pregnant women should receive vaccinations for the H1N1 flu strain.
“I guess if I had to pick a side, I would recommend that women not get the vaccine,” he told me. “But you have to be comfortable with the disease risks.”
Sears doesn’t have to pick a side, of course. He’s a pediatrician by training. But he does see a handful of pregnant women at his practice. And as the author of “The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child,” mothers and expectant mothers all over the country look to him for advice.
Sears says that neither the H1N1 vaccine (which, in shot form, arrived in Orange County on Friday) nor the seasonal-flu vaccine has been sufficiently tested for safety on pregnant women.
What do other area doctors and researchers say? Click here to read the story.
Meantime, the federal government is making a strong nationwide advertising push to promote the vaccine as safe and effective at inoculating pregnant women against this nasty strain of flu. Here’s a PDF of a flyer the CDC is distributing. It’s not exactly hip, playing off the “Baby on Board” placards that were all the rage in the 1980s. But this and other government promos are likely to be effective by using imagery and wording that shows pregnant women and children as particularly vulnerable to the virus. One print ad says “I’ll protect my baby,” and shows a father kissing an infant. The CDC ad’s copy says: “Vaccination can protect you both!”
Here’s what Dr. Bob had to say about that particular tagline:
“I can’t argue that campaign is false, because it’s true: The flu can harm your baby, and the vaccine can protect both mom and the baby,” he told me. “It’s true, but there should be some fine print in that ad, kind of like the smoking ads: ‘Warning: The flu vaccine has not been tested to determine whether it can cause fetal harm.’
7. A Decade Of Questioning Harm And The Autism-Vaccine Connection
Shelley Reynolds on the Huffingtonpost.com
It's hard to run a marathon that pushes you harder than you have ever been pushed -- physically, emotionally and spiritually. One for which you did not train or set out to run but one that you just woke up to find yourself running one day. One that challenges your endurance with every step.
What happens when you turn your head to see how far you have come only to realize you have been jogging in place?
For over a decade, I've relentlessly searched for answers to the connections I believe exist between my son's autism and vaccines he received. Historically, autism has been considered a genetic condition so I am constantly told I just imagined things. Surely his autism was always there...always evident...from birth. Liam must not have been engaged the way that I remember prior to that summer when he received his MMR. He didn't really play peek-a-boo with me. He didn't really talk. He just disappeared at the same time he got his shots but the vaccines didn't do it.
It was coincidence. Coincidence is not the same as causation.
None of those people lived in my home. None of those people knew my child personally when he was a baby. None of those people saw my bright-eyed son disappear into the abyss of autism right before them.
Recently, I dusted off an old videotaped copy of a story that aired on CNN in October 1999 called "A Question of Harm?" - the first nationally televised piece linking a vaccine to autism. I hadn't watched it in a long time. It's painful for a number of reasons. But I took a deep breath and pressed play.
The memories came flooding back. Liam was fine before his MMR and severely affected after.
Eleven years ago, frantic to sound an alarm, I called every network, begging them to help us ask this question -- to warn parents. CDC statistics in 1998 demonstrated one in every 500 children with autism, a staggering increase from one in 10,000 in ten years. No one would listen.
Their response? "We already did a story on autism this year. Sorry."
But Julie Powell, a CNN producer, stepped up. She took a big risk. 15 months later she, and correspondent Linda Patillo, bravely let America and thirty-three other countries know there just might be a question of harm with vaccines for some children. They helped us ask what if.
What if a potential connection exists between vaccines and the development of autism?
Here is their segment.
Part One:
Part Two:
When I look back over the decade, I see enormous progress in Liam's development. He is now in a sixth grade classroom, unassisted except for a modified curriculum -- making good grades. He is sweet, gentle, thoughtful and caring. He has an enormous appetite for learning and a hope for his future. He has a social life complete with a girlfriend, a Facebook account and a cell phone. He just tried out for the basketball team. He lights up every room he enters. He is an inspiration to me, loved by anyone who knows him.
Liam is my Gatorade. He keeps me running when I get light-headed and dizzy. He is my coach. He is my cheerleader.
But when I look back over the last ten years of the autism/vaccine controversy -- or just the safety of vaccine in general, especially from the perspective of the media, I don't see the same progress. The media has not advanced the ball following this developing story in the way I had hoped.
As I replayed the tape, I thought this could have been filmed today, in October of 2009, in any other three year old's house. Today's media repeats the script Julie developed but includes new faces. Child is fine. Child gets vaccine. Child develops autism. Parents cry. Child stares into space then cut to scene of child stacking blocks with his therapist. Doctors still say we don't know what causes autism, except now they affirmatively add -- "but it's not vaccines." Parents rally. Government officials still tout the safety of all vaccines. Health agencies are still trying to figure out how many kids with autism there are out there. Doctors are better at diagnosing, or maybe not. They don't know. Congress is still holding hearings on the issue. Parents still wonder when someone will answer their questions.
Fade to black.
I wondered -- where are the brave investigative journalists we need to ask these hard questions?
There are a couple that will pick up the ball like David Kirby or Sharryl Atkisson but the majority of the reporters that cover these stories are like Amy Wallace, entertainment reporter for Wired Magazine, who, in my opinion once again does not question what she is told, she just regurgitates the propaganda she receives from the vaccine industry and industry supporters. Or Nancy Snyderman who tells us it is not our job to question the safety of shots and to "just get the damn vaccine!"
In the meantime, while we wait for mainstream media to really honestly take a look at these questions, thousands of families, a few politicians, a handful of researchers and doctors across the United States work hard to sound that alarm. These people keep this issue burning bright in the media even when the medical community tells everyone to look away from the light. Vaccines, and their risks, are touched on in a variety of news mediums.
Time marches on and the mainstream media continues to follow that recipe handed down 10 years ago.
Where CNN delivered fresh journalism in 1999, stories today are stale, even moldy. Generally speaking, the media doesn't dig. They do not do their job and ask the questions that make government officials, PhRMA spokespeople or the American Academy of Pediatrics squirm. Now that's entertainment, Amy.
Here are some questions for the White House Press Corps the next time they attend a briefing regarding Swine Flu.
"President Obama, can you please explain why HHS, along with the local and federal law enforcement agencies would not allow a person to pour Thimerosal (an ingredient in some vaccines which contains ethyl-mercury) onto the stone plaza outside the HHS building in protest because it is classified as hazardous waste?"
"Did you know if the amount of ethyl-mercury in one dose of a Thimerosal containing H1N1 vaccine were spilled on the ground HazMat would be required to clean it up?"
"Do you find it logically inconsistent that something is toxic and hazardous to humans when on pavement but not when injected into babies?"
"Why is your administration recommending children and pregnant women receive flu vaccines containing 25 micrograms of ethylmercury each, dismissing any harm to humans when 25 micrograms of ethylmercury is well in excess of what the EPA considers hazardous and the manufacturer of Thimerosal says it should not be injected into humans period, rather than mandating Thimerosal free vaccines for this population?"
"Ok, regardless of whatever study might be cited, do you think injecting a baby with something that bears a skull and crossbone symbol on the label is prudent?"
The basic question of harm asked all those years ago, "Can a vaccine, multiple vaccines, or the ingredients within those vaccines, serve as an environmental trigger for autism in a certain cohort of children?" has not been answered...completely.
From time to time, answers do roll in.
Just last month, researchers from Stony Brook University published a research abstract for an epidemiological study in the September 2009 issue of Annals of Epidemiology which revealed findings suggesting that U.S. male newborns vaccinated with Hepatitis B vaccine had a three-fold greater risk of autism spectrum disorders. Additionally, an upcoming collaborative study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh - School of Medicine, the University of Kentucky and Thoughtful House Center for Children in Austin, Texas reveals evidence of substantial functional brain damage in infant primates who received the birth dose of Hepatitis B Vaccine.
Why isn't this information scrolling across the news networks so parents can make informed decisions?
I don't believe I was truly afforded a fully, informed choice for Liam with regard to vaccination. The risk of this medical procedure that altered a significant system within his body, the immune system, was completely downplayed and presented as a simple baby milestone, a rite of passage. If I had taken the time to just read a package insert for the vaccine, I might have thought about researching it more. I scrutinized the package insert that came with his antibiotics, it just never occurred to me to question the harm a vaccine could potentially cause.
I am tired. I am out of breath. Some days I can only see a couple sips left in the bottom of my Gatorade bottle. But I won't quit running for that yellow tape at the end. I cannot quit this race.
I will not stop fighting for the answers to the truth about what happened to Liam.
I will not quit pressing government officials or medical professionals because those questions make them feel uncomfortable.
I will not quit demanding the media to ask the hard questions.
I will feel sick every time the CDC releases new numbers reflecting the prevalence of autism which has moved from 1:500 to 1:250 to 1:166 to 1:150 to 1:91 since Liam was diagnosed.
I will scream every time they tell me the one in 58 boys today with autism does not reflect a true increase but is primarily due to better diagnosis.
I will grit my teeth every time the same medical community that is now apparently so good at diagnosing can't find those same autism diagnoses in one of every 58 adult men.
I will hit my couch every time I hear some doctor on a news program say that this question has been asked and answered.
I will cringe when I hear a pregnant woman say "I got my flu shot today."
I will hold the United States Government accountable for fiddling while Rome burns all around them with our future generations.
I will wince every time I hear someone say "We don't know what causes autism. But we do know it is not the vaccines." When I know in my heart, it really is just not truthfully scratched off their list.
And I will still maintain that giving children mercury, on purpose, for no other reason than to preserve profit margin, is stupid.
A question of harm? Yes.
Harm exists in refusing to continue to dig down into hardcore science. Harm exists in refusing to look at the science at a cellular and biological level. Harm exists in continuing to wave the banner of epidemiological statistics as unrefuted proof of safety and to demonstrate that what we saw happen before our eyes with our children could not have happened. Harm exists in the arrogance of the government, the scientific and the medical community who refuse to listen to parents accounts.
Where harm does not exist is in continuing to look under the vaccine rock to find out why parents believe this is happening. That's what good scientists do -- they continue to ask questions, peeling back all the layers until there is an answer.
Genetics alone has not caused autism to increase from an incidence of 1:10,000 to 1:91 in a twenty year period. I asked the CDC earlier this month to let us know of one other genetic condition that had ever demonstrated that exponential growth rate. They were stumped. Something environmental is causing this. Something universally environmental even though we all eat different food, drink different water and breathe different air.
We are far from having an answer. But if the media will ask new hard questions, those questions may provide a base to a solution. Maybe if the media attacks autism with the same sense of urgency that they have the Swine Flu now that 1:58 boys are being diagnosed with it, one day soon we will have the answers we seek as to what happened to our children.
On that day, I will say "I fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I kept the faith."
In the meantime, thank God for blogs.
This column is dedicated to Liz Birt. She was a relentless advocate searching for answers to the question of harm when it comes to vaccines and autism. I didn't know her personally yet at the time this was filmed. I met her the weekend that this aired in Cherryhill, New Jersey at the Defeat Autism Now Conference . Her letter is the email I read during this piece. Her sweet son Matthew is the boy in the picture. We lost Liz too soon. I miss her dearly. Her legacy lives on. A donation she made to Thoughtful House helped make the aforementioned primate study possible.
8. Hertz-Picciotto's blood mercury autism study: what the researchers omitted
Teresa Binstock
Researcher in Developmental & Behavioral Neuroanatomy
October 21, 2009
Irva Hertz-Picciotto & colleagues have published results of a study comparing mercury (Hg) levels in children with and without autism (1). The study does not report findings about total body burden of Hg in children, nor does the study evaluate levels of Hg in the brain or other specific organs in autistic and non-autistic children.
Indeed, the researchers who did the blood-Hg study state: "As only 5% of body burdens of Hg are estimated to be in circulation, (Burbacher et al. 2005; Stinson et al. 1989) reliable conclusions about distribution are not possible from one-time observational measurements in blood." (1) Since various forms of mercury can enter the brain and remain there (17), and since different tissues of humans and other species retain mercury at various rates (16), the larger context of Hertz-Picciotto et al's findings need be considered.
Relevant questions include: What do Hg levels in blood signify? Alternatively, what don't they signify? And what does intra-body and intra-brain mercury mean for children with weak alleles in glutathione-related pathways or born to mothers with weak alleles in glutathione-related pathways?
Although the new study purports to offer a review of autism genetics, Hertz-Picciotto et al (1) omit an important category of citations related to mercury, glutathione, methylation, and autism (eg, 2-14).
Furthermore, the researchers cite two studies of in vivo thimerosal levels (Pichichero et al 2002, 2008) while omitting consideration of Waly et al 2004, who investigated thimerosal levels lower than those described by Pichichero et al 2002 in human infants, found that methionine synthase was inhibited, and concluded that "The potent inhibition of this pathway by ethanol, lead, mercury, aluminum and thimerosal suggests that it may be an important target of neurodevelopmental toxins." (15)
Why were these important findings omitted? Weren't the reviewers aware of cites 1-15 hereinbelow?
In seeking to understand intra-body and intra-brain Hg, Lorscheider et al provide important insights.
In a study available free online, data reviewed by Lorscheider et al (16) indicate that Hg exposure does not lead to equivalent concentration in all tissues. For instance, from chronic exposure via amalgam vapors, some tissues accumulate more Hg than do other tissues (16).
Caveat: ingesting one's own amalgam vapors probably includes olfactory exposure as well as oral/gastrointestinal exposure and therefore is not perfectly akin to ingesting Hg by eating fish. Nonetheless, Hg distribution findings due to amalgams may be instructive.
"The degree to which body tissues can sequester amalgam Hg after exposure has been demonstrated in a variety of human and animal experiments... The brain/CSF Hg ratio had increased threefold by 4 wk after amalgam fillings had been installed..." (16)
"Repeated observations in adult sheep... demonstrate that after placement of amalgam fillings the blood Hg levels remain relatively low even though the surrounding body tissue concentrations of Hg become many fold higher than blood. This suggests that tissues rapidly sequester amalgam Hg at a rate equivalent to its initial appearance in the circulation. Such a phenomenon may explain why monitoring blood levels of Hg in humans is a poor indicator of the actual tissue body burden directly attributable to continuous low-dose Hg exposure from amalgam." (16)
Lorscheider et al (16) summarize another important point:
"Both intracellular Hg2 and Hg are ultimately bound covalently to glutathione (GSH) and protein cysteine groups. Hg2 is the toxic product responsible for the adverse effects of inhaled Hg0. Body tissues have various retention half-lives for Hg and Hg2 ranging from days to years... "
Implications ensue from the Hg/GSH genetics findings in autism and from the Hg-distribution studies reviewed in Lorscheider et al:
a) Tissue levels of Hg are are likely differ from and to be greater than Hg levels found in blood.
b) Subgroups of children who have developed autism are known to have one or more problems in pathways related to glutathione and methylation (eg, 2-14) may detoxify Hg and related compounds poorly and thus may sequester Hg and related compounds disadvantegeously.
c) Blood levels of Hg in autistic children (1) tell us little about Hg in their brain and other tissues.
As Hertz-Picciotto et al mention, several studies have found associations between autism rates and environmental mercury (18-20), and these findings conjoin with the often ignored fact that thimerosal in early life vaccines increases risk for autism and for developmental disabilities requiring special education (21-22).
Be aware: some brands of H1N1 ("swine") flu vaccine and non-H1N1 influenza vaccines contain substantial amounts of thimerosal (eg, 23).
2: James SJ et al. Cellular and mitochondrial glutathione redox imbalance in lymphoblastoid cells derived from children with autism. FASEB J. 2009 Aug;23(8):2374-83.
3: James SJ et al. Efficacy of methylcobalamin and folinic acid treatment on glutathione redox status in children with autism. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jan;89(1):425-30.
4: James SJ et al. Abnormal transmethylation/transsulfuration metabolism and DNA hypomethylation among parents of children with autism. J Autism Dev Disord. 2008 Nov;38(10):1966-75.
5: James SJ et al. Metabolic endophenotype and related genotypes are associated with oxidative stress in children with autism. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet. 2006 Dec 5;141B(8):947-56.
6: James SJ et al. Metabolic biomarkers of increased oxidative stress and impaired methylation capacity in children with autism. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Dec;80(6):1611-7.
7: Deth R et al. How environmental and genetic factors combine to cause autism: A redox/methylation hypothesis. Neurotoxicology. 2008 Jan;29(1):190-201.
8: Westphal GA et al. Homozygous gene deletions of the glutathione S-transferases M1 and T1 are associated with thimerosal sensitization. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2000 Aug;73(6):384-8.
9: Müller M et al. Inhibition of the human erythrocytic glutathione-S-transferase T1 (GST T1) by thimerosal. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2001 Jul;203(5-6):479-81.
10. Williams TA et al. Risk of autistic disorder in affected offspring of mothers with a glutathione S-transferase P1 haplotype. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2007 Apr;161(4):356-61
11. Geier DA et al. Biomarkers of environmental toxicity and susceptibility in autism. J Neurol Sci. 2009 May 15;280(1-2):101-8.
12. Ming X et al. Genetic variant of glutathione peroxidase 1 in autism. Brain Dev. 2009 Feb 3. [Epub ahead of print]
13. Al-Gadani Y et al. Metabolic biomarkers related to oxidative stress and antioxidant status in Saudi autistic children. Clin Biochem. 2009 Jul;42(10-11):1032-40.
14. Pasca SP et al. One Carbon Metabolism Disturbances and the C667T MTHFR Gene Polymorphism in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Cell Mol Med. 2008 Aug 9.
15. Waly M et al. Activation of methionine synthase by insulin-like growth factor-1 and dopamine: a target for neurodevelopmental toxins and thimerosal. Mol Psychiatry. 2004 Apr;9(4):358-70.
18. Palmer RF et al. Environmental mercury release, special education rates, and autism disorder: an ecological study of Texas. Health Place. 2006 Jun;12(2):203-9.
19.Windham GC et al. Autism spectrum disorders in relation to distribution of hazardous air pollutants in the san francisco bay area. Environ Health Perspect. 2006 Sep;114(9):1438-44.
20. Palmer RF et al. Proximity to point sources of environmental mercury release as a predictor of autism prevalence. Health Place. 2009 Mar;15(1):18-24.
21. Hepatitis B vaccination of male neonates and autism
[conference abstract as published]
CM Gallagher, MS Goodman, Graduate Program in Public
Health, Stony Brook University Medical Center, Stony Brook, NY
Annals of Epidemiology, p659
Vol. 19, No. 9 Abstracts (ACE) September 2009: 651–680
[triple the rate of autism among boys vaccinated with thimerosal versus boys not so vaccinated]
"The odds of receiving EIS were approximately nine times as great for vaccinated boys... as for unvaccinated boys..., after adjustment for confounders.
23. H1N1 Vaccines Approved: What's In It For You?, By Jackie Lombardo
Contact Teresa Binstock by email
Index of essays by Teresa Binstock
9. Dutch pull Pfizer vaccine batch after infants die
Dutch authorities say they have banned use of a batch of Pfizer's Prevenar, or Prevnar, after three infants died within two weeks of receiving the anti-infection vaccination.
"On average about 5 to 10 deaths are reported annually after babies get vaccines," said a spokeswoman for the Dutch health institute RIVM.
"We now have three cases in a short period, that is unusual and the reason for suspending the batch."
She said RIVM was investigating the cause of the infants' deaths. Other batches of Prevenar, known as Prevnar in the United States, will continue to be used.
Pfizer spokeswoman Gwen Fisher said preliminary investigations by the company and health authorities had found no link between the vaccinations and the deaths.
She said the company initiated the "quarantine" of the batch which she said contained 110,000 doses of Prevenar, used to prevent pneumonia and related infections.
Fisher said the three infants also received two unrelated other vaccines as part of routine immunisations.
No other Prevenar batches were suspended and infants in the Netherlands will continue to be vaccinated with it as part of routine immunisation, she added.
A spokesman for the European Medicines Agency in London said its officials were working with the Dutch authorities to find out if there were any safety issues with the vaccine batch.
The vaccine is one of the most widely used in the world and generated sales for U.S. drugmaker Wyeth of USD 2.7 billion in 2008.
Wyeth, which has just been acquired by US rival Pfizer, had asked for the suspension of batch D66977 of Prevenar, RIVM said in a statement.
Officials at Pfizer in New York could not immediately be reached for comment. (Reuters)
10. Inoculating Against Fear of Vaccination
CBS News: Despite Scientific Proof of the Value of Vaccines, Many Fear Getting H1N1 Shots
Although this woman was able to receive the H1N1 vaccine, a lot of Americans are choosing not to receive similar shots. A nationwide CNN poll taken last month found that only 49 percent of those asked consider the H1N1 vaccine safe.
Of all the big questions facing our country, there's one in particular that touches us in an immediate and personal way. It involves the H1N1 flu vaccine ... and for many perplexed Americans, the question comes down to this: is the vaccine really a healthy choice? Despite what we've heard from public health authorities, some Americans have their doubts. Our Cover Story is reported now by Tracy Smith:
What if they threw a mass vaccination . . . and nobody came?
Sure, the H1N1 vaccination centers are crowded, but for every man, woman or child lining up for a dose of the vaccine, there may be more at home with doubts about whether they should.
A nationwide CNN poll taken last month found that only 49 percent of those asked consider the H1N1 vaccine safe. And according to an L.A. Times/USC poll released on Friday, a majority of registered voters in California are planning to skip the H1N1 shot altogether.
"There's a substantial minority that may become majority of people who are saying, 'I think I'll wait. I don't think I'll line up right now and get swine flu vaccine for myself or my child,'" said Barbara Loe Fisher.
Barbara loe Fisher, co-founder of the private National Vaccine Information Center - and a critic of vaccines - says we just don't know enough about the H1N1 vaccine to make an informed decision.
"What's the true nature of this outbreak?" she asked. "What are the true risks of the vaccine for different people? I don't think we have all those answers."
"I think it's perfectly legitimate for people to question whether or not they should get vaccinated, and whether or not for some it's better to have the influenza, get antibodies and be protected in future years."
Dr. Paul Offit, chief of the infectious diseases division at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia - and a champion of vaccines - admits vaccination is controversial but sees things differently.
"We know a lot about this vaccine," Dr. Offit said. "We've been making a vaccine very similar to this for the last 60 years. We know that this vaccine induces an adequate immune response. We know that it can protect your child. Why would you ever choose not to get it, given everything that you know about the disease and everything you know about the vaccine?"
"What about, even if I get my children vaccinated, if you don't get your children vaccinated, are you threatening me?" Smith asked.
"Of course. Because no vaccine is 100 percent effective. There's, actually, a wonderful study that was done in the Netherlands between 1999 and 2000 where they looked at an outbreak of about 4,000 people that got measles. And what they found may surprise you, which is that you were actually much more likely to get measles if you were fully-vaccinated, highly-vaccinated, living in a relatively unvaccinated community, than if you were unvaccinated living in a highly-vaccinated community, because you were protected by that population."
It's called "herd immunity" - infectious diseases just can't spread when large numbers of a population are immune - but to achieve herd immunity with H1N1, Dr. Offit says more than 90 percent of the herd needs to take the vaccine . . . and therein lies the problem:
"If you choose not to get the H1N1 vaccine then you're choosing to subject your child to getting a virus which has already caused tens of thousands of people to be hospitalized, and more than 100 children to be killed," he said. "We have every reason to know that that vaccine is going to be safe and effective. It's a terrible choice not to get H1N1 vaccine. It's the wrong choice."
The debate over vaccines began in the twenties . . . the 1720s, with a crude smallpox inoculation.
"This is actually the earliest form of vaccination, that even came before Edward Jenner, and this involved taking live smallpox from a smallpox sore and rubbing into a person's arm or leg," said journalist Arthur Allen.
Benjamin Franklin was an early skeptic, but changed his mind after he lost a 4-year old son to smallpox, writing in his autobiography that "I long regretted bitterly, and still regret that I had not given it to him by inoculation."
By 1796, Englishman Edward Jenner proved that scratching the relatively mild cowpox into a person's skin would stave off smallpox. And after that, millions eventually lined up, arms bared.
"The idea of it really spread around the world with remarkable speed, considering there was no Internet or anything like that," said Allen. "And, you know, Jenner became an international sort of hero, you know, one of the first sort of medical heroes in history."
"He went viral?" Smith asked.
"He went viral! He did, as it were, so to speak."
Talk about medical heroes: Jonas Salk was a superstar when he rolled out a polio vaccine in 1955. Yes, there were adverse reactions, even deaths, from the Salk vaccine. But to many, it was an acceptable risk, given the prospect of life in a wheelchair . . . or worse.
The public's faith in vaccines took a few hits through the years, like in 1976 for example, when a vaccine for the swine flu was associated with a paralyzing nerve disease.
So when the H1N1 vaccine program was announced, not everyone cheered.
"I think fear is the most infectious thing on the planet at the moment," said journalist Michael Specter. "I'm hoping it's not the most dangerous. But I could be wrong about that."
In his new book, "Denialism" (Penguin), Specter says that fear and mistrust are driving people into denial about scientific progress.
"Pharmaceutical companies have lied to the American public in the past," said Smith. "So, shouldn't we be skeptical?"
"Yeah, if we're not skeptical about everything, we're nuts," said Specter. "We should be skeptical about vaccines. We should be skeptical about the food we eat. We should be skeptical about everything doctors and government officials say to us.
"Denialism is when you get thousands of studies saying one thing, and you just say, 'I don't care. I don't care, because I'm not going to have the measles shot. Because it doesn't matter how many studies say This is going to work, the risk is relatively low. I'm still gonna hide.'
"People don't think in terms of risks," Specter said. "Every decision we make is a risk. But they don't think, What is the risk of not getting this vaccine? They only hear about stories about the one in 1,000 people who do have reactions, and that happens.
"It's like plane crashes. We all know a story about a plane crash. No one reports the 19 million air miles flown every year where no one gets hurt."
But for some, the H1N1 vaccine is not an acceptable risk . . . at least not yet.
"It was not the kind of lethal pandemic that they thought it was going to be," said Fisher. "So, you know, we have to all pray that this is going to remain a moderate outbreak. And there certainly is no indication at this time that it's going to be any worse than it is right now."
"But we could do more than pray - we could get vaccinated," said Smith.
"And certainly you can get vaccinated. And that absolutely is your choice. Absolutely."
11. H1N1 injection (and spray) rejection
Washington Post: Some doctors are just saying no to the swine flu vaccine
Nurse Terri Jackson administers the swine flu vaccine to Jimmie Jackson at the Utah County Health Department in Provo. A small group of health-care providers are choosing not to provide the vaccination.
By Rob Stein and Michael Laris
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 8, 2009
The biggest frustration facing many doctors is the dearth of swine flu vaccine for their patients. But not Paula Soghomonian's pediatrician at Pediatric Village in the District. She is not recommending the shots -- or the nasal spray.
Putting trust in doctors
"The senior doctor there doesn't believe in it and doesn't want it for her patients," Soghomonian said. "I think the feeling was it's just too new."
Soghomonian's doctor is one of a small cadre of outliers who remain skeptical about the government's unprecedented immunization campaign, citing doubts about the risks presented by the H1N1 virus or the safety of the vaccine, despite the fact that no worrisome reactions have been reported.
"My feeling is that this is all being over-hyped," said Laurence J. Murphy, a pediatrician in Burke who also will not inoculate his patients. "Most people who get this virus do beautifully. I believe the vaccine hasn't been tested enough. I just think the benefit of it at this point is not outweighed by the possible risk."
Such contrarian voices, through the megaphone of cable news or in the quiet of exam rooms, have forced federal health officials to play defense as well as offense in their campaign to encourage immunization.
Public health leaders are at a loss to explain the skeptical minority, except to say that it mirrors the chronically low percentage of health-care workers who get the seasonal flu vaccine every year. Officials worry that these doubters could have a disproportionate influence in an already frustrating and confusing situation, and stress that the studies conducted so far and the intensive monitoring underway indicate that the vaccine is as safe as any flu vaccine.
"I am very disappointed, deeply puzzled and very disturbed by this," said William Schaffner, president-elect of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. "The people for whom these doctors are not recommending this vaccine are clearly high-priority patients who could have very adverse outcomes if they get infected with the virus."
'Not enough data'
Although no one has surveyed doctors' views on the vaccine, polls show that people look to their physicians when deciding whether to get the shots or nasal spray. A nationally representative survey of 1,042 adults in September found that 68 percent said they trusted the advice of their doctor or their child's pediatrician on this issue, far more than those who said they trusted top federal health officials and medical groups.
"People rely very heavily on their physician's judgments about whether or not they should take a vaccine," said Robert J. Blendon, a professor of health policy at the Harvard School of Public Health who conducted the survey. "They are at the top of the charts."
As a result, the naysayers have left patients torn between a doctor's long-respected advice, their own judgment and official recommendations.
"It's like total confusion for me to try to figure out what to do," Soghomonian said as she lined up with her 3-year-old daughter, Ally, on a recent morning at a District flu clinic.
"It's really been very frustrating and very scary," said Soghomonian, who eventually left after deciding to give her daughter only the seasonal flu vaccine. "I just want someone to tell me what to do, you know?"
Cheryl F. Edmonds, founder of the practice where Soghomonian takes her children, declined to be interviewed. But a member of her staff, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, characterized her concerns this way: "Her thing is there's just not enough data."
Murphy, the Burke pediatrician, said he has no reason to think the vaccine is unsafe -- he, like many of the skeptics, said he generally supports vaccinations. But he wonders whether it was tested enough.
"They just didn't have the time to do that properly. They mean well and they are not doing anything to mislead people in any direct way. The reality is no one knows. I'm not pretending to know. I don't think they should pretend to know," he said.
'Jumping on the bandwagon'
Murphy is not alone. A smattering of obstetricians, family practice doctors, internists and other physicians nationwide who harbor doubts about safety of the vaccine or the danger the flu poses raise questions on blogs and during interviews, and counsel their patients not to get the immunization.
"What bothers me is pretty much every doctor in the country is jumping on the bandwagon and saying, 'This vaccine is completely safe' -- even for the pregnant woman and the unborn baby," said Bob Sears, of Orange County, Calif. "But they can't give you a single study that backs up that statement."
Officials repeatedly have stressed that while no vaccine is completely safe, there is no reason to believe the swine flu immunization would pose any unusual risks, and so far no problems have emerged.
"I can understand the hesitancy and reluctance to take a vaccine that appears to be new and different. All we can do is provide the facts," said Thomas R. Frieden, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "The facts are that this is the same manufacturing process, the same manufacturers, the same factories, the same safeguards as the seasonal flu vaccine that has been used for more than 100 million doses each year for many years and which has an excellent safety record."
But Meryl Nass, an internist in Bar Harbor, Maine, still has doubts, especially given that most people who become infected get only mildly ill.
"In this situation, when there's very little data, I don't think people -- and children in particular -- should be asked to bear the burden of being experimental subjects," said Nass, who has been blogging about her doubts. Nass also questions the assertion that the vaccine is safe for women in all stages of pregnancy.
"The CDC is telling women in all trimesters to go out and get vaccine. To my mind, this is reckless," said Nass, who is advising her patients to consider receiving the vaccine only in their second or third trimesters.
'Behind the curve'
Some doctors hear echoes of politics in the reactions to their concerns.
"You come out and offer some caution about the safety of the vaccine, and it becomes very political: Are you with us or are you against us?" said Kent Holtorf, whose Southern California practice specializes in treating chronic conditions. "It's almost like Republicans and Democrats, and no one wants to toe the middle ground, because it could help the other side."
Giuseppe Lancellotti, a pediatrician from Ephrata, Pa., argues that the vaccine has arrived too late to make a difference anyway.
"We're just way behind the curve," he said.
Government officials counter that it remains far from clear whether the second wave of infections currently sweeping the country has peaked. Even if it has, people will continue to become infected for months and another wave could hit later.
"The risk of not getting the vaccine is much greater than the risk from getting it," said Anthony S. Fauci, who is leading the government's ongoing testing of the vaccine at the National Institutes of Health.
Soghomonian was finally forced to make a snap decision when her husband took her 5-year-old son to get a seasonal flu shot and discovered the swine flu vaccine was available, too.
"I called him and said, 'Just do both,' " she said. He did, but Soghomonian was still uneasy. "There was a moment of panic, like: What did I do?"
Nevertheless, Soghomonian was among the first few dozen people to line up last week at Wilson High School in the District to finally get her daughter vaccinated.
"It's your pediatrician. Your children have been there since Day One. You feel like they know and you should listen to their advice. And here I'm going against it," she said.
"Ultimately, you have to make your own decision."
12. The Dangers of Mercury in the H1N1 Vaccine
Last night I attended a SAD 75 (a Maine school district) public meeting on the H1N1 response and school vaccine clinics. It was a strange experience for me, as I feel like I had stepped back in time to a day ten years ago when giving mercury to children was no big deal, perfectly safe, just like candy really.
I pointed out a number of problems with doing so, which I assumed were common knowledge, that proved at the very least that mercury containing vaccines were not desirable and I will list some of those here for those of you who watched the meeting on TV and wanted references to my points.
As I want every parent and individual to have the informed consent that I was not given in vaccinating my child, I will also list several other references.
And if you have not read it already, this is a good time to review my "History of Thimerosal" (needs updating since 2007)
First, a reminder of what mercury does in the brain:
CDC's toxicology division, ATSDR, says that this is what mercury can do to children:
How does mercury affect children?
Very young children are more sensitive to mercury than adults. Mercury in the mother's body passes to the fetus and may accumulate there. It can also can pass to a nursing infant through breast milk. However, the benefits of breast feeding may be greater than the possible adverse effects of mercury in breast milk.
Mercury's harmful effects that may be passed from the mother to the fetus include brain damage, mental retardation, incoordination, blindness, seizures, and inability to speak. Children poisoned by mercury may develop problems of their nervous and digestive systems, and kidney damage.
And they have set up a new web site to warn children of the dangers of mercury complete with scary video:
A reminder of the damage that mercury does in the body:
Mercury impairs the immune system at a tiny fraction of the dose that is in vaccines:Uncoupling of ATP-mediated Calcium Signaling and Dysregulated IL-6 Secretion in Dendritic Cells by Nanomolar ThimerosalThe type of mercury in vaccines becomes trapped in the brain at higher rates than ingested mercury from fish:
Environmental Health Perspectives, July 2006.
Samuel R. Goth, Ruth A. Chu Jeffrey P. Gregg
This study demonstrates that very low-levels of Thimerosal can contribute to immune system disregulation.
Excerpt: "Our findings that DCs primarily express the RyR1 channel complex and that this complex is uncoupled by very low levels of THI with dysregulated IL-6 secretion raise intriguing questions about a molecular basis for immune dyregulation and the possible role of the RyR1 complex in genetic susceptibility of the immune system to mercury."
Comparison of Blood and Brain Mercury Levels in Infant Monkeys Exposed to Methylmercury or Vaccines Containing ThimerosalIt causes neuro-inflammation (ie, rapid brain growth) by activating "glial" cells in the brain:
Environmental Health Perspectives, Aug 2005.
Thomas Burbacher, PhD [University of Washington].
Thimerosal is a preservative that has been used in manufacturing vaccines since the 1930s. Reports have indicated that infants can receive ethylmercury (in the form of thimerosal) at or above the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines for methylmercury (MeHg) exposure, depending on the exact vaccinations, schedule, and size of the infant. This study compared the systemic disposition and brain distribution of total and inorganic mercury in infant monkeys following thimerosal exposure with infants exposed to MeHg. Monkeys were exposed to MeHg (via oral gavage) or vaccines containing thimerosal (via i.m. injection) at birth and 1, 2, and 3 weeks of age. Total blood mercury (Hg) levels were determined 2, 4 and 7 days after each exposure. Total and inorganic brain Hg levels were assessed 2, 4, 7 or 28 days after the last exposure.
The initial and terminal half-life of Hg in blood following thimerosal exposure was 2.1 and 8.6 days, which are significantly shorter than the elimination half-life of Hg following MeHg exposure at 21.5 days. Brain concentrations of total Hg were significantly lower by ~3-fold for the thimerosal-exposed infants when compared to the MeHg infants, while the average brain-to-blood concentration ratio was slightly higher for the thimerosal-exposed infants (3.5±1.0 vs. 2.5±0.6). A higher percentage of the total Hg in the brain was in the form of inorganic mercury for the thimerosal-exposed infants (34% vs 7%). The current study indicates that MeHg is not a suitable reference for risk assessment from exposure to thimerosal derived Hg. Knowledge of the toxicokinetics and developmental toxicity of thimerosal is needed to afford a meaningful assessment of the developmental effects of thimerosal-containing vaccines.
Increases in the number of reactive glia in the visual cortex of Macaca fascicularis following subclinical long-term methyl mercury exposure.It impairs methylation, a biological process that creates the compound gluthatione, that allows the body to process out toxic substances:
Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 1994
Charleston JS, Bolender RP, Mottet NK, Body RL, Vahter ME, Burbacher TM., Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Washington
The number of neurons, astrocytes, reactive glia, oligodendrocytes, endothelia, and pericytes in the cortex of the calcarine sulcus of adult female Macaca fascicularis following long-term subclinical exposure to methyl mercury (MeHg) and mercuric chloride (inorganic mercury; IHg) has been estimated by use of the optical volume fractionator stereology technique. Four groups of monkeys were exposed to MeHg (50 micrograms Hg/kg body wt/day) by mouth for 6, 12, 18, and 12 months followed by 6 months without exposure (clearance group). A fifth group of monkeys was administered IHg (as HgCl2; 200 micrograms Hg/kg body wt/day) by constant rate intravenous infusion via an indwelling catheter for 3 months. Reactive glia showed a significant increase in number for every treatment group, increasing 72% in the 6-month, 152% in the 12-month, and 120% in the 18-month MeHg exposed groups, and the number of reactive glia in the clearance group remained elevated (89%). The IHg exposed group showed a 165% increase in the number of reactive glia. The IHg exposed group and the clearance group had low levels of MeHg present within the tissue; however, the level of IHg was elevated in both groups. These results suggest that the IHg may be responsible for the increase in reactive glia. All other cell types, including the neurons, showed no significant change in number at the prescribed exposure level and durations. The identities of the reactive glial cells and the implications for the long-term function and survivability of the neurons due to changes in the glial population following subclinical long-term exposure to mercury are discussed.
Activation of Methionine Synthase by Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 and Dopamine: a Target for Neurodevelopmental Toxins and ThimerosalThimerosal, at a fraction of the dose found in vaccines, causes motochondrial damage so severe, that it causes the cell actually self-destruct:
Molecular Psychiatry, July 2004.
Richard C. Deth, PhD [Northeastern University].
This study demonstrates how Thimerosal inhibits methylation, a central driver of cellular communication and development. Excerpt:
"The potent inhibition of this pathway [methylation] by ethanol, lead, mercury, aluminum, and thimerosal suggests it may be an important target of neurodevelopmental toxins."
Thimerosal induces neuronal cell apoptosis by causing cytochrome c and apoptosis-inducing factor release from mitochondria.
International Journal of Molecular Medicine, 2006
Yel L, Brown LE, Su K, Gollapudi S, Gupta S.Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA. lyel@uci.edu
There is a worldwide increasing concern over the neurological risks of thimerosal (ethylmercury thiosalicylate) which is an organic mercury compound that is commonly used as an antimicrobial preservative. In this study, we show that thimerosal, at nanomolar concentrations, induces neuronal cell death through the mitochondrial pathway. Thimerosal, in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, decreased cell viability as assessed by calcein-ethidium staining and caused apoptosis detected by Hoechst 33258 dye. Thimerosal-induced apoptosis was associated with depolarization of mitochondrial membrane, generation of reactive oxygen species, and release of cytochrome c and apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) from mitochondria to cytosol. Although thimerosal did not affect cellular expression of Bax at the protein level, we observed translocation of Bax from cytosol to mitochondria. Finally, caspase-9 and caspase-3 were activated in the absence of caspase-8 activation. Our data suggest that thimerosal causes apoptosis in neuroblastoma cells by changing the mitochondrial microenvironment.
Mitochondrial mediated thimerosal-induced apoptosis in a human neuroblastoma cell line (SK-N-SH).And mercury leads to heart disease:
Neurotoxicology. 2005
Humphrey ML, Cole MP, Pendergrass JC, Kiningham KK. Department of Pharmacology, Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, Marshall University, Huntington, WV 25704-9388, USA.
Environmental exposure to mercurials continues to be a public health issue due to their deleterious effects on immune, renal and neurological function. Recently the safety of thimerosal, an ethyl mercury-containing preservative used in vaccines, has been questioned due to exposure of infants during immunization. Mercurials have been reported to cause apoptosis in cultured neurons; however, the signaling pathways resulting in cell death have not been well characterized. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify the mode of cell death in an in vitro model of thimerosal-induced neurotoxicity, and more specifically, to elucidate signaling pathways which might serve as pharmacological targets. Within 2 h of thimerosal exposure (5 microM) to the human neuroblastoma cell line, SK-N-SH, morphological changes, including membrane alterations and cell shrinkage, were observed. Cell viability, assessed by measurement of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in the medium, as well as the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, showed a time- and concentration-dependent decrease in cell survival upon thimerosal exposure. In cells treated for 24 h with thimerosal, fluorescence microscopy indicated cells undergoing both apoptosis and oncosis/necrosis. To identify the apoptotic pathway associated with thimerosal-mediated cell death, we first evaluated the mitochondrial cascade, as both inorganic and organic mercurials have been reported to accumulate in the organelle. Cytochrome c was shown to leak from the mitochondria, followed by caspase 9 cleavage within 8 h of treatment. In addition, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) was cleaved to form a 85 kDa fragment following maximal caspase 3 activation at 24 h. Taken together these findings suggest deleterious effects on the cytoarchitecture by thimerosal and initiation of mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis.
Mercury Activates Vascular Endothelial Cell Phospholipase D through Thiols and Oxidative Stress(More studies on the damage that vaccination and their components are known to do)
Thomas J. Hagele, Jessica N. Mazerik, Anita Gregory, Bruce Kaufman, Ulysses Magalang, M. Lakshmi Kuppusamy, Clay B. Marsh, Periannan Kuppusamy, Narasimham L. Parinandi,
Lipidomics and Lipid Signaling Laboratory, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio, United States
Correspondence: Address correspondence to Narasimham L. Parinandi, PhD, Room 611-A, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, The Ohio State University, 473 W. 12th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. E-mail:narasimham.parinandi@osumc.edu
Currently, mercury has been identified as a risk factor of cardiovascular diseases among humans. Here, the authors tested the hypothesis that mercury modulates the activity of the endothelial lipid signaling enzyme, phospholipase D (PLD), which is an important player in the endothelial cell (EC) barrier functions. Monolayers of bovine pulmonary artery ECs (BPAECs) in culture, following labeling of membrane phospholipids with [32P]orthophosphate, were exposed to mercuric chloride (inorganic form), methylmercury chloride (environmental form), and thimerosal (pharmaceutical form), and the formation of phosphatidylbutanol as an index of PLD activity was determined by thin-layer chromatography and liquid scintillation counting. All three forms of mercury significantly activated PLD in BPAECs in a dose-dependent (0 to 50 µM) and time-dependent (0 to 60 min) fashion. Metal chelators significantly attenuated mercury-induced PLD activation, suggesting that cellular mercury-ligand interaction(s) is required for the enzyme activation and that chelators are suitable blockers for mercury-induced PLD activation. Sulfhydryl (thiol-protective) agents and antioxidants also significantly attenuated the mercury-induced PLD activation in BPAECs. Enhanced reactive oxygen species generation, as an index of oxidative stress, was observed in BPAECs treated with methylmercury that was attenuated by antioxidants. All the three different forms of mercury significantly induced the decrease of levels of total cellular thiols. For the first time, this study revealed that mercury induced the activation of PLD in the vascular ECs wherein cellular thiols and oxidative stress acted as signal mediators for the enzyme activation. The results underscore the importance of PLD signaling in mercury-induced endothelial dysfunctions ultimately leading to cardiovascular diseases.
CDC reports that approximately 100 children die of the flu every year.
It was reported by the panel that 40-50 children die of flu per year, and that the 86 that have died from H1N1 this far had vastly exceeded that number. I told the panel that my understanding was that the number was 100 per year, and that we had not yet exceeded that. I had gotten that number from this CDC video that was posted a year ago on their You Tube Channel (50 seconds in Dr. Jeanne Santoli states that about 100 children die of influenza every year).
They have either doubled the real number, or cut it in half, presumably to encourage vaccination.
So my question is... was CDC inflating the number of children who die per year from the flu last year to scare parents into getting the seasonal flu vaccine OR are they deflating number of children who die per year from the flu this year to scare parents into getting the H1N1 vaccine?
[Update: CDC has reported that pediatric flu deaths have ranged between 46 and 153 over the last six years. CDC has apparently chosen the lowest year of pediatric flu deaths to use as their "average" to make this years flu deaths seem like they are twice the 'average'.
How many children have died from flu-associated complications during previous flu seasons?So pediatric deaths over the last 5 years average 81.
* During the 2003-04 season, 153 flu-associated deaths in children were reported to CDC. (This data was collected by CDC.)
* During the 2004-05 season, 47 deaths in children were reported to CDC. (This is the first year that influenza mortality in children became a nationally reportable condition.)
* During the 2005-06 season, 46 deaths in children were reported to CDC.
* During the 2006-07 season, 76 deaths in children were reported to CDC.
* As of June 14, 2008, 83 deaths in children occurring during the 2007-08 season have been reported to CDC.
(Note: The counts above are of flu-associated deaths among children according to the flu season the deaths occur, not when they are reported to CDC.)
In Maine, no children have died from the flu this year, despite the fact that it has been one of top three states where the virus first became widespread.
It should also be noted that CDC is currently stonewalling a CBS News request for accurate H1N1 flu numbers. Additionally, CDC turned down a request to expidite CBS's FOIA request for the information on state H1N1 numbers because CDC has determined the request is “not a matter of widespread and exceptional media and public interest.”
Read that again... accurate numbers on H1N1 are “not a matter of widespread and exceptional media and public interest.”]
Thimerosal Containing Vaccines are legally classified as Hazardous Materials
Because of the mercury content in these vaccines, they cannot be thrown away, or even disposed of according to medical waste guidelines. To do so would be illegal.
They must be disposed of according to HazMat rules. From the Wisconsin guidelines:
Some vaccines are preserved with 1:10,000 or 0.01 percent Thimerosal (see the vaccines in the table titled "Thimerosal Content in Some U.S. Licensed Vaccines" at www.vaccinesafety.edu/thi-table.htm that have .01% in the Thimerosal Concentration column). Thimerosal contains about 50 percent mercury by weight. Vaccines with 1:10,000 or 0.01 percent Thimerosal have about 50 mg/L mercury, which exceeds the 0.2 mg/L hazardous waste toxicity characteristic regulatory level for mercury. According to state and federal hazardous waste management requirements, discarded Thimerosal-preserved vaccines may need to be managed as hazardous waste, using the waste code D009 (mercury).A (just in case) correction on my statement on mercury concentrations in vaccines. I may have said "parts per million" when I meant "parts per billion", but I can't remember.
It is illegal to manage Thimerosal-preserved vaccines as infectious waste or regular trash.
None the less, the mercury concentration in the H1N1 and seasonal flu shots is exponentially larger than what is considered hazmat material. A comparison of mercury concentrations from Pediatrics:
0.5 parts per billion (ppb) mercury = Kills human neuroblastoma cells (Parran et al., Toxicol Sci 2005; 86: 132-140).In my home state of Maine mercury disposal is regulated by The Hazardous Waste Rules Chapter 850
2 ppb mercury = U.S. EPA limit for drinking water http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/index.html#mcls
20 ppb mercury = Neurite membrane structure destroyed (Leong et al., Neuroreport 2001; 12: 733-37).
200 ppb mercury = level in liquid the EPA classifies as hazardous waste. http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/mercury/regs.htm#hazwaste
25,000 ppb mercury = Concentration of mercury in the Hepatitis B vaccine, administered at birth in the U.S., from 1990-2001.
50,000 ppb Mercury = Concentration of mercury in multi-dose DTaP and Haemophilus B vaccine vials, administered 4 times each in the 1990's to children at 2, 4, 6, 12 and 18 months of age. Current "preservative" level mercury in multi-dose flu (94% of supply), meningococcal and tetanus (7 and older) vaccines. This can be confirmed by simply analyzing the multi- dose vials.
Maine Department of Environmental ProtectionWhat this means is that if you took one of the vaccines being injected into the children at my son's elementary school outside and squirted it onto the pavement, a hazmat rules would be triggered and a hasmat team must be called in to clean it up.
Chapter 850: IDENTIFICATION OF HAZARDOUS WASTES
B. Identification of hazardous wastes by characteristics
(5) Characteristic of toxicity
(b) A waste that exhibits the characteristic of toxicity has the EPA Hazardous Waste Number specified in Table I which corresponds to the toxic contaminant causing it to be hazardous.
Table I. Maximum Concentration of Contaminants for the Toxicity Characteristic
EPA Hazardous Waste No.: D009
Contaminant: Mercury
Regulatory Level (mg/L): 0.2 mg/L [0.2002 ppm] [200.2 ppb]
EPA says you must weigh 550 lbs. to safely process the mercury in a flu vaccine
Thimerosal containing flu shots have 25 mcg of mercury in them.
EPA daily limits on mercury intake are .1 mcg per kilogram of weight. 1 kilo = 2.20462262 pounds My 55 pound 7 year old therefore weighs 25 kelograms.
25 x .1 = 2.5
The EPA says that my son should receive no more than 2.5 mcg of mercury in a day. The vaccine he will be offered at school contains ten times that amount.
I weigh 255 lbs or 116 kelos. 116 x .1 = 11.6
The vaccine is still more than twice what a big girl like me should be exposed to.
Further these EPA standards are based on ingested methyl mercury, the kind found in fish, (only about a tenth of which is absorbed through the GI tract into the blood stream). We have already seen from the Burbacher study above, that injected thimerosal becomes trapped in the brain at a much higher rate than ingested mercury. So the EPA standards I am using are probably should be upped by ten fold when being applied to vaccination.
EPA/FDA/CDC will not set safety limits for injected methyl mercury, despite the demand from parents for them to do so for many years.
No one has died from mercury
One of the panelists, a physician, suggested that no one has died from mercury in vaccines. This is a disingenuous statement as vaccine deaths are attributed to the vaccine as a whole, not to the components of the vaccine. And of course Death is a known outcome of vaccination and is covered under the HHS Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
And yes... people have died from mercury.
Government agencies and states are trying to eliminate mercury in daily life, but it is still in vaccines.
Bills and laws limiting and eliminating mercury are ubiquitous now. It is the height of cognitive dissonance to say that mercury should be eliminated from the environment, but injected into babies as young as 6 months.
And all this is true BEFORE you even begin the discussion on whether or not mercury containing vaccines can cause autism. CDC has done only ONE study of the relationship between vaccines and autism. A HORRIBLE study. It took a very fat bestseller to explain just how many shenanigans went into this study. Julie Gerberding was finally forced to tell congress that the study methods were "useless" in answering the question, 'does mercury in vaccines cause autism', and she did it the cowards way... a quiet report that was leaked to a reporter a few months later. No formal retraction or apology has been issued and the study is still touted as proof that vaccines don't cause autism. Note that this paragraph is the first time the word "autism" is even appears in this piece. And the last.
Now consider the statements like this that CDC are making:
Dr. Anne Schuchat appearing on The Doctors - "Now the other questions people have...and.. .I get this all the time...is about mercury. It's about the Thimerosal preservative. I want to say there have been a lot of studies about that. There's no scientific link between the thimerosal preservative and any kind of long term problem".
CDC is lying about the safety of thimerosal. Don't trust them, don't trust me. Do your own research and fact check everyone. It is your health and the health of your family.
There is a saying in our community....
Giving Mercury to Children on Purpose is Stupid
