Parent Community Demands Mercury-Free Vaccines; Needless Exposure is Unjustified and Dangerous, Groups Say

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http://news./s/usnw/20060613/pl_usnw/parent_community_demands_mercury_free_vaccines__needless_exposure_is_unjustified_and_dangerous__groups_say117_xml Parent Community Demands Mercury-Free Vaccines; Needless Exposure is Unjustified and Dangerous, Groups Say Tue Jun 13, 10:11 AM ET National Desk, Health Reporter Contact: Alison Strock, 202-628-7772 or astrock@... WASHINGTON, June 13 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Several national organizations and parent advocacy groups are requesting that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) state a preference for mercury-free flu vaccinations, according to a

letter sent today to the ACIP committee and to members of Congress. ACIP is responsible for creating national immunization recommendations and parents are hoping that they will act on their concerns. In 1999, the federal government vowed to remove mercury from all vaccinations routinely administered to infants and children. However, the flu vaccine still contains the mercury preservative thimerosal, and is now routinely administered to pregnant women, infants and children. The Institute of Medicine recommended in 2001 that thimerosal be removed from vaccines administered to these sensitive groups, but the recommendation fell on deaf ears at CDC. According to the EPA, one in every six women of childbearing age already has blood levels of mercury high enough to cause neurological damage to their unborn children due to environmental exposures alone. Thimerosal-containing vaccines given to infants can result in mercury levels known to

cause adverse neurological outcomes. "Injecting even more mercury into the bodies of pregnant women, infants and children when it is not a necessary component of vaccines is just bad medicine," states Lyn Redwood, president of SafeMinds and parent of a mercury-injured child. According to an ad that ran in today's Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) sponsored by Parents and Friends of Children Injured by Mercury in Vaccines, a person must weigh over 500 pounds in order to "safely" process the amount of mercury still present in these vaccinations. In addition, the flu vaccine contains so much mercury that it must be disposed of as a hazardous waste if it is not used. This situation is impossible to justify, states Dr. Vicky Debold, especially when the manufacturer of thimerosal-free flu vaccines, Sanofi Pasteur, was fully prepared to more than double the production of mercury-free flu vaccinations this year. However, demand for the product has been

low because CDC did not express a preference for mercury- free flu shots and the manufacturer decreased production. Should CDC change its recommendation, demand would skyrocket resulting in additional production of mercury free vaccines. For a copy of the ACIP letter, go to: http://www.usnewswire.com/attach/MercuryFreeLetter.pdf. To view the AJC ad, see http://www.usnewswire.com/attach/ACIPad.jpg. http://www.usnewswire.com/ -0- __________________________________________________