Vaccine row as NHS continues poison jabs (other vaccines w/mercury)

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The Scotsman is a leading ish newspaper...

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Vaccine row as NHS continues poison jabs (other vaccines w/mercury)

> " THE government's announcement of the withdrawal of child vaccinations

> containing mercury came under immediate fire yesterday as it emerged that

> at least four more vaccines containing the poisonous metal will remain in

> use by the National Health Service. "

>

> http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=916032004

>

> Vaccine row as NHS continues poison jabs

>

> JAMES KIRKUP AND HILARY MARSHALL

>

>

> THE government's announcement of the withdrawal of child vaccinations

> containing mercury came under immediate fire yesterday as it emerged that

> at least four more vaccines containing the poisonous metal will remain in

> use by the National Health Service.

>

> Ministers in Edinburgh and London yesterday confirmed that vaccines

> containing thiomersal, a preservative that is almost 50 per cent mercury,

> will be replaced with a new five-in-one jab.

>

> The move follows the results of a scientific study that showed a link

> between thiomersal and autism in mice.

>

> But confusingly, officials admit that some flu vaccines and even rarely

> used child vaccines containing the product will still be prescribed.

>

> Many campaigners also fear that mercury could still threaten children if

> flu vaccines are given to expectant mothers.

>

> " To inject mercury into pregnant women is very worrying indeed, " said Bill

> Welsh, chairman of the Glasgow-based Action Against Autism group.

>

> Withdrawing thiomersal from some vaccines but keeping it in others

" beggars

> belief " , he said.

>

> son, the ish Conservatives' health spokesman, said that

the

> government announcement left important questions unanswered.

>

> " It is great news that mercury is to be removed from children's vaccines,

> but it does beg the question about the use of mercury derivatives in flu

> vaccines, " he said.

>

> " The government need to explain why they are still deemed to be safe. "

>

> Britain is one of the few developed countries where thiomersal is still

> widely used. Led by the United States, other countries have removed the

> product from all drugs, and the World Health Organisation has said that

> human exposure to mercury products should be minimised wherever possible.

>

> Yet, in this country, Twinrix Paediatric, sometimes used to protect

> children against Hepatitis A and B, contains traces of thiomersal and four

> of the common NHS flu vaccines - Fluvirin, Fluarix, Influvac and

Agrippal -

> also contain thiomersal.

>

> While the government advises against widespread flu vaccinations for

> pregnant women, some doctors are calling for Britain to follow the US

> example, where medical authorities recommend the treatment for all

mothers-

> to-be.

>

> A study at Rider University in New Jersey last year suggested a link

> between flu in pregnant women and behavioural difficulties in their

> children. That study has prompted calls by British scientists, led by

> Oxford, professor of virology at Queen 's School of Medicine in London

> and one of the world's leading experts, for more routine flu vaccination.

>

> The ish Executive last night confirmed that it continues to buy the

> thiomersal flu vaccines for use by NHS Scotland.

>

> " Some of the flu vaccines that we purchase do still contain thiomersal,

but

> what we have always said is that where equally effective vaccines are

> tested and licensed which don't contain thiomersal, they will replace the

> ones that do, " a spokeswoman for the Executive said.

>

> Some doctors also recommend routine flu immunisations for pregnant women

> who suffer from asthma.

>

> A Department of Health spokeswoman confirmed that " in general " the

> government advised against giving pregnant women the flu vaccine, but

> insisted that the recommendation was not an admission that thiomersal can

> be dangerous.

>

> " It's just the general principle that you should avoid giving anything to

> pregnant women if at all possible, " she said, adding that since

> thiomersal-free flu vaccines were available, pregnant women with a

> particular need could be given them.

>

> Although repeated studies had failed to prove a link between mercury and

> autism, researchers at Columbia University announced in June they had

found

> autism-like damage in the brains of mice exposed to thiomersal.

>

> Despite the widespread anxiety about the use of mercury products in

> vaccines, government officials yesterday insisted that the change in

> childhood treatments had not been driven by concern about thiomersal.

>

> Instead, the new vaccine had been introduced to incorporate a new,

> injectable polio virus to replace the old oral version, officials said.

The

> new polio treatment was incompatible with mercury.

>

> " Thiomersal has not been a factor in the decision to change, " said

> , the head of the immunisation department at the Health

> Protection Agency. " It is a consequence of the decision to change that the

> vaccine that happens to be used will be thiomersal-free. "

>

> But Dr English, consultant in communicable diseases at the Health

> Protection Agency, last week wrote in a letter to GPs that there were

three

> reasons for the change: " The primary objectives are: to do away with

> whole-cell pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine; to do away with live, oral

> polio vaccine and to do away with thiomersal vaccines. "

>

> And a spokesman for the Health Protection Agency confirmed that the agency

> considers it was " not ideal to be giving injections containing heavy metal

> to children or to anyone " .

>

> With the switch to a five-in-one treatment due next month, ministers and

> public health officials are desperate to avoid a repeat of the controversy

> that dogged the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) triple

injection.

>

> Public worries about that treatment - which has also been linked to autism

> - led many parents to avoid it, and some parts of the country saw

localised

> epidemics of diseases including measles and mumps.

>

> In particular, officials are concerned that parents whose children are due

> for immunisation will be tempted to wait until the mercury-free

vaccination

> is available next month.

>

> Trying to allay those fears, Mac Armstrong, the chief medical officer in

> Scotland, yesterday urged parents: " Don't delay, immunise today. "

>

> He added: " The important thing is these new vaccines are entirely

> compatible with those currently on offer, so parents taking their children

> along to be immunised in the next few weeks should continue to do so. "

>

> Dr Love, the joint chairman of the BMA's ish General

> Practitioners Committee, insisted that " there are good reasons for this

> move, in particular in the case for changing from oral to injectable polio

> vaccine " .

>

> He added: " BMA Scotland welcomes the removal of the mercury-based vaccine,

> not because it believes that the current vaccinations are unsafe, but

> because there is a more effective alternative available. "

>

> But the Patients Association attacked the government for not providing

more

> information about the new vaccine, or the reasons for the change.

>

> " There is so little information it is very confusing. Have we not learnt

> the lesson of miscommunication with MMR? " said Simon , the

> association's head of policy.

>

> " How can parents be confident with these sorts of miscommunication

messages? "

>

> Jackie Fletcher, the founder of Justice, Awareness and Basic Support, or

> JABS, a support group for parents who believe their children were damaged

> by vaccines, said that parents would once again feel suspicious of the

> official advice on vaccinations.

>

> " Increasing the combinations increases the potential for an adverse

> reaction and restricts choice for parents, when the government said it

> wanted to improve choice, " she said.