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December 04, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Study Suggests Mercury in Vaccine Was Not Harmful"

New York Times (www.nytimes.com) (12/04/02) P. A22; McNeil Jr., Donald G.

Findings from a recent study published in the British medical journal The Lancet show that vaccines made with mercury-based preservatives appear to pose no threat to the health of children.  The Lancet reported that mercury levels in infants who received thimerosal-containing vaccines were well within federal safety limits, and that infants excrete mercury at a much faster rate than previously believed by researchers.  The findings raise important questions for parents of autistic children who faulted thimerosal-containing vaccines as the main contributor to their children's illness.  Thimerosal  is no longer used in U.S. vaccines for babies under the age of six months; however, it is still used for vaccine sent to the Third World.  But the World Health Organization notes that the diseases that the vaccines are working to prevent are much more common there, so the benefit is greater than the risk of rare side effects, and the vaccines are subjected to dirtier storage conditions, which makes thimerosal's ability to kill fungi and bacteria appealing.

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