Reply #39: It's still in flu vaccines that pregnant women are urged to get.

[pnwmom]

And in the flu vaccines that children get. And it doesn't have to be -- not if the pregnant woman or a parent requests a single dose vial. Yet the CDC is not recommending this. Why would anyone want to be unnecessarily injected with any form of a heavy metal?

According to Dr. Tom Clarkson, a mercury researcher at the University of Rochester, there was no exhaustive research "showing that it's safe for fetuses." We recommend that pregnant women completely abstain from alcohol while they are pregnant because we don't know what level of exposure would be completely safe. Why not do the same for thimerosal?

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/on-women/2008/9/26/an-option-flu-vaccines-without-mercury-based-thimerosal.html

By Deborah Kotz, U.S. News Health

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"I'm particularly concerned about giving flu shots to pregnant women because no one has really identified the threshold dose for which thimerosal can become problematic for tiny fetuses. Certainly, the amount of mercury in a single flu shot is very small and most likely harmless. 'It's equivalent to the amount in a small can of tuna fish,' says Tom Clarkson, a mercury researcher at the University of Rochester. 'Still, we know that high levels of mercury can affect cell division in the developing brain of a fetus, and no one can say with absolute certainty that there's no risk.'

"The other concern is that the kind of mercury found in vaccines is different from the methyl mercury found in fish. While thimerosal gets flushed from the body much faster than methyl mercury, what remains is more likely to accumulate in the brain, as inorganic mercury, and remain there for a year or more, according to a 2005 University of Washington study of infant monkeys. 'We still don't have enough data to say how long this inorganic mercury stays in the brain, but if you can reduce or eliminate your baby's exposure, why wouldn't you do that?' says Tom Burbacher, a professor of environmental occupational health sciences who led the study.

"The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists sent out a news release yesterday urging all pregnant women to get flu shots, with the proviso that shots containing thimerosal are fine because 'there is no evidence showing that thimerosal is a danger to the health of the pregnant woman or her fetus.' When I read that quote to Burbacher, he said, 'that is a very misleading statement because women will assume there's been exhaustive research done on this showing that it's safe for fetuses, and there's no such data.'

"He doesn't mean that pregnant women should avoid getting flu shots. Instead, Burbacher says, they should get one that's thimerosal free. Yes, they're available, but you might need to ask around to find a doctor's office that dispenses them. Many don't, probably because not enough women are asking for them."

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