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May 28, 2003
U.S. IMMUNIZATION
NEWS
For
Preservative-Free Flu Shot, Ask in Advance
Reuters Health
Information Services (www.reutershealth.com)
(05/26/03); Mulvihill, Keith
Dr. Walter
Orenstein, director of the National Immunization Program of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, notes that parents should tell their doctor in
advance if they want their children to receive a flu vaccine without the
thimerosal preservative during the next influenza season, so that the necessary
supplies are ordered. Supplies of vaccine without the mercury-containing
preservative are scarcer because until last year only Evans Vaccines produced
such a product. The recent approval of Aventis Pasteur's Fluzone vaccine will
stretch supplies. Orenstein asserts that children are not in danger if they
receive a flu inoculation with thimerosal, but he acknowledges that some parents
are uncomfortable with the idea.
DISCLAIMER: All
information, data, and material contained, presented, or provided here is for
general information purposes only and is not to be construed as reflecting the
knowledge or opinions of the publisher, and is not to be construed or intended
as providing medical or legal advice. The decision whether or not to vaccinate
is an important and complex issue and should be made by you, and you alone, in
consultation with your health care provider.
"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"