Question about flu shots

October 12, 2005

Our pediatrician gave us prescriptions to take to the pharmacy. He

said it may take some time but they should be able to get them there.

>

> Forgive me if this information has already been posted.....I am

trying to find mercury-free flu shots for my 4 year old twin girls,

and I'm not sure where to look. Their pediatrician is trying to get

some in, but he is not sure if he will be able to. Where else can I

go? Should I call the health deparment? Should I call other

pediatricians? I live in the Northern Kentucky area (near

Cincinnati), if that helps. I am so torn...I hate for them to go

without flu shots, but I do not want them having the ones with mercury

if that's all I can find.

>

October 12, 2005

I remember last year the posts indicated that there is still a

minute amount of mercury in the flu shots.

Find out what he is getting and check the product insert wither

online or in person.

denise

> >

> > Forgive me if this information has already been posted.....I am

> trying to find mercury-free flu shots for my 4 year old twin

girls,

> and I'm not sure where to look. Their pediatrician is trying to

get

> some in, but he is not sure if he will be able to. Where else can

I

> go? Should I call the health deparment? Should I call other

> pediatricians? I live in the Northern Kentucky area (near

> Cincinnati), if that helps. I am so torn...I hate for them to go

> without flu shots, but I do not want them having the ones with

mercury

> if that's all I can find.

> >

>

October 12, 2005

Thank you Jeff and for your responses. I left a message for the girls'

pediatrician, after Jeff wrote to ask about what he suggested, having the

pharmacy get the vaccine. They haven't called back yet. But now I will also

ask about how much mercury is in it. I did find out that their is in Urgent

Care facility that offers that kind, with a minute amount of mercury. I will

have to talk things over with my husband tonight and see what he thinks.

October 12, 2005

Just an FYI to all and the upcoming flu shots, the thimerosol free

still has a trace amount of thimerosol in it, as it is part of the

production process, it is " washed " out after production with

glutathione before packaging. However, the one given when

specifically not requesting it, (a T-Free(which should be ordered

well in advance as there will be low supply of T-Free) will have a

whopping 25mcg of mercury in it, and accordint to NVIC you would need

to weigh about 500 pounds to only be 1 % above recommended levels for

toxicity on a given day, so be very careful when opting to do a

Thimerosol laden flu shot.

> > >

> > > Forgive me if this information has already been posted.....I am

> > trying to find mercury-free flu shots for my 4 year old twin

> girls,

> > and I'm not sure where to look. Their pediatrician is trying to

> get

> > some in, but he is not sure if he will be able to. Where else

can

> I

> > go? Should I call the health deparment? Should I call other

> > pediatricians? I live in the Northern Kentucky area (near

> > Cincinnati), if that helps. I am so torn...I hate for them to

go

> > without flu shots, but I do not want them having the ones with

> mercury

> > if that's all I can find.

> > >

> >

>

October 12, 2005

I would just like to add that there is no " minimal amount " when it comes to

mercury. According to Evidence of Harm ( Kirby) some children have a more

suseptible system than others and a little tiny bit can do a lot of damange.

Many vaccines, for instance, have " trace amount " of thimerisol but that doesn't

mean it still is unlikely to damage children. And an FYI, there are a lot of

other reasons not to get the flu shot besides the thimerisol issue. This is

coming from a mom who had one while pregnant, gave son one at 6 and than 18

months of age. LOTS OF regrets on those decisions in the present.! So please

research the flu shot issue from all angles before committing to this shot.

Thanks and sorry to sound preachy.

Kristie

mommy to Aidan 2.4

carquines@... wrote:

Thank you Jeff and for your responses. I left a message for the girls'

pediatrician, after Jeff wrote to ask about what he suggested, having the

pharmacy get the vaccine. They haven't called back yet. But now I will also

ask about how much mercury is in it. I did find out that their is in Urgent

Care facility that offers that kind, with a minute amount of mercury. I will

have to talk things over with my husband tonight and see what he thinks.

October 13, 2005

Risks and benefits need to be weighed carefully. We now have 3 children in

our pediatric intensive care unit already with the flu - who are VERY sick.

It is likely going to be a bad flu year - though still hard to tell this

early. If you have a child that is at high risk (ie respiratory problems

like asthma etc) or has any chronic medical condition (congenital heart

disease etc) - give some serious thought to the vaccine. -

R. , MD

Attending Physician

Director of Fellowship Research

Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Department of Emergency Medicine

Children's Hospital & Research Center at Oakland

747 52nd Street

Oakland, CA 94609

Re: [ ] Re: question about flu shots

I would just like to add that there is no " minimal amount " when it comes to

mercury. According to Evidence of Harm ( Kirby) some children have a

more suseptible system than others and a little tiny bit can do a lot of

damange. Many vaccines, for instance, have " trace amount " of thimerisol but

that doesn't mean it still is unlikely to damage children. And an FYI, there

are a lot of other reasons not to get the flu shot besides the thimerisol

issue. This is coming from a mom who had one while pregnant, gave son one at

6 and than 18 months of age. LOTS OF regrets on those decisions in the

present.! So please research the flu shot issue from all angles before

committing to this shot. Thanks and sorry to sound preachy.

Kristie

mommy to Aidan 2.4

October 13, 2005

Thank you for the advice everyone. My girls' appointment for their flu shot is

not until November 19th, so I do have time to think about it and will be

considering everyone's advice. One reason I would consider the flu shot, given

's advice, is because the girls very often get some kind of respiratory

infection following colds and end up taking antibiotics. I still need to talk

to their pediatrician; there is a group of pediatricians at the office they go

to, and I respect all of their opinions. The first question I will ask the dr

is this: if they took thimerosal out of the regular kids' vaccines because of

safety concerns, what makes this flu shot safe?

---- <claudiamorris@...> wrote:

October 13, 2005

Just jumping in -did anyone bring up the mercury free flu shots?

" Aventis-Pasteur makes the only preservative-free version approved

in the U.S. for children 6 thru 23 months. For older children and

adults, there are two additional options without added mercury: a

single-dose injection made by Chiron Corp. and the FluMist nasal

spray vaccine made by a Wyeth-MedImmune collaboration. "

http://www.drgreene.com/21_1801.html

http://www.drgreene.com/21_1597.html

It was in the archives awhile back that if you want to use the

preservative/mercury free Fluzone, you want the Fluzone with the

pink syringe plunger because there are other versions. So check the

package inserts. If it contains thirmerosal, even a trace amount

like the 0.3 micrograms the preservative free Fluzone has of

thirmorasal, it should say.

http://www.mothering.com/sections/about_us/press_releases.html#fluvaccine

http://www.safeminds.org/legislation/HR4169_Summary.pdf

=====

October 13, 2005

I would like to refer you to a site that has alternatives to cold and flu for

our children and is better medicine than perhaps a prescription antibiotic can

be (in terms of overall health damage). Here it is:

http://www.danasview.net/supps.htm