to , was more on thimerosal

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Hi ! Thank you for sharing your and your granddaughter's story. It is great to hear about a success and I am sure you and your family gave a collective sigh of relief when you got the diagnosis (or non-diagnosis). Iwould be interested in hearing about what supplements you used/are using.You definitely have asked some interesting questions, and the answer re: the safety of non-thimerosal vaccines will greatly vary depending on whom you ask. I do believe all vaccines given to infants do come in thimerosal free formulations. However, the govm't agency (the FDA?) did not force a recall of all thimerosal containing vaccines from doctor's offices or warehouses, so the thimerosal containing vaccines may still be in doctor's freezers. The only way you could assure yourself of a free vaccine would be to read the package insert that came with the actual vial. You do have the right to read about the vaccine (including the insert) before the administration of the vaccine to your minor child and I would not trust a doctor who would refuse to allow you to read it, but it may be a good idea when you make the appointment to let the dr's office know that you want thimerosal free vaccines and that you also want to read the package insert. That way the office staff/nurse is not surprised by your request during the actual appt. and you can be assured they have the type of vaccine you are willing to give your child.

Vaccines come in a variety of forms, two of which are single dose and multiple dose. Take polio. The doctor can buy one vial that has 10 doses (one each for 10 different children) or he can buy one vial that has one dose. The multiple dose vial could technically be thawed and frozen 9 times before it is completely used up. That multiple dose vial needs a preservative to keep the polio vaccine effective and to retard any bacterial growth. If the manufacturer is not putting in thimerosal, it is putting in some other preservative. Which chemical are they using and do we really want our children to be exposed it at such a young age? To answer the question "Are thimerosal free vaccines safe?", one would have to answer the question "Is the substitute preservative safe?" No doubt the manufacturer will say, yes of course, but I'm equally sure that Merck said phthalidamide was a safe and effective prescription for morning sickness.

Also, I have read that some insurance companies actually don't pay for the vaccines and then the doctors, with the patient's well being in mind, then pay for the vaccine out of their own pocket. If a parent asks for a special type of vaccine (eg., preservative free or to separate out the different antigens, like one shot of Diptheria, another shot of Pertussis and a third shot of Tetanus instead of the one shot DTP), the cost goes up. Don’t be surprised if you have to pay extra for special requests.

To be honest, I feel we as a society are too vaccine-happy. I am seeing encouraging signs that the pendulum may be beginning to swing the other way. For one, the American Veterinarians have drastically decreased the number of vaccines recommended for dogs. They found that the high number of vaccines were inducing autoimmune diseases in their animal patients. Too bad American Physicians can't or won't make a similar stand for their human patients. Crohn's disease is on the rise as well as diabetes. We have seen a drastic and alarming rise in autism in my lifetime. All of these diseases are autoimmune diseases and I am sure there are countless more. Is anyone in the medical field connecting the dots? And is the medical establishment taking them seriously?

Okay. I am off my soapbox now. Sorry about that. Anyway, my point is, I feel a parent needs to weigh the risks of any vaccine with the benefits of possible immunity against a particular disease before their child is jabbed. I wanted my one year old to get only one shot at a time, and our family doctor gave me good advice about which vaccines were more important and which could be delayed.

About the school issue, I haven't faced that yet, but last I looked, Ohio does have medical exemptions, religious exemptions and philosophical exemptions. I was talking with a mother in our school district who used the philosophical exemption and she said all she had to do was write out a paragraph stating her personal philosophy against vaccines and her children didn't have to be vaccinated. It was that easy (for her). But if someone wanted to go the medical route (which I feel would be the logical choice for a child with autism), I don't think it would be too hard to find a medical doctor with a sympathetic ear - esp. if your granddaughter had a bad reaction to a particular vaccine.

The below website explains exemptions more fully.

http://www.909shot.com/state-site/state-exemptions.htm

Have a good evening. Marotta

----- Original Message -----

From: Cochran

Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2004 7:18 AM

Subject: Re: [ ] more on thimerosal

Dear Group:

I have an important question, but:

First in the way of introduction, I am the grandmother of a 3.75 year old granddaughter who we believe was firmly headed down the autism path.

Even though she is bright (she had taught herself to read at 3), her preschool teacher reported that although she wanted to play with her schoolmates, she did not appear to know how. Although her speech was age appropriate, it was difficult to have a reciprocal conversation with Jordan. A few times when her mother attempted to force a conversation with her, Jordan recited a "Dora" episode. She had a lot of fears (SI) of water, dogs, heights.

We never did get a formal diagnosis of Jordan's condition, but I have been a marriage, family and child therapist for 12 years and I had seen plenty of children with Asperger's Disorder and PDD.

To make a long story short, at that time, we improved her diet, began to supplement what she wasn't getting from her diet and the improvement was remarkable. She is now (according to her preschool teacher) age appropriate socially. According to the developmental pediatrician we saw at Akron Children's Hospital, she does not have a diagnosis of Autism or PDD. Her fears are simply gone. We are immensely grateful.

Like most of you, we believe that Jordan's difficulties began with ear infections at 15 months, repeated immunizations with thimerosol and the resulting damage to her liver and other systemic organs.

My question is this. Are vaccines without thimerosol okay? And how would you go about figuring out how to get them? If not, what do you do about vaccinations and school. I would appreciate any advice/experience anyone has about how to handle the school, should we decide not to continue with any further vaccinations.

Thank you,