Mercurial Science
One of the main objections that vaccine opponents have to childhood immunization has to do with the presence of mercury in vaccines. However, since March 2001, mercury has been virtually eliminated from childhood vaccines. With the exception of the flu vaccine, none of the childhood vaccines administered to patients under the age of six years contains mercury as a preservative. What most critics of vaccinations fear no longer exists.
Historical Tragedy
Until 2001, some pediatric vaccines were manufactured with mercury. At high doses, mercury is a known neurotoxin, which means that it can cause brain damage if someone is exposed to large quantities of it. So why in the world would anyone put mercury in children's vaccines in the first place?
Back in 1928, twelve children died from a severe bacterial infection caused by a contaminated bottle of vaccine. After this tragedy, it was clear that something needed to be done about the possibility of vaccine bottle contamination. Consequently, a small amount of mercury-based preservative was added to some vaccines to hinder bacterial growth. It was used in extremely minute quantity, and it was considered innocuous to human health. The preservative appeared to work well, as there were no more cases of children dying from bacterially contaminated vaccines.
A Turning Point
In 1997, as a broader control measure aimed at minimizing mercury levels in all food and drugs, the FDA conducted a study of the mercury content of vaccines for childhood diseases. Until that time, vaccines with mercury preservative had been given to millions of children for decades with no apparent ill effects.
Fact
In 1997, the FDA issued a recommendation that all traces of mercury be removed from childhood vaccines by 2001. The new recommendation was not made out of any recent evidence that harm had resulted from the use of mercury. Instead, the recommendation was made because health officials were concerned that parents might refuse vital immunizations for their children out of an unfounded fear of mercury toxicity.
Even if your child received vaccinations prior to 2001, there is no reason to be alarmed. Aside from a mild allergic reaction to the preservative, no one was ever harmed by the minuscule quantity of mercury in those vaccines. And if your child was born after 2001, you don't have to worry about mercury in vaccines at all.
While some flu vaccines still contain mercury as a preservative, 8 million mercury-free doses of the flu vaccines were available in 2005 in the United States. So if you are still worried, you can specifically request a mercury-free flu vaccine from your doctor. The FDA is currently working with the vaccine manufacturers to get rid of all mercury-containing flu vaccines.
