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http://www.sptimes.com/2002/10/07/TampaBay/Flu_shot_guidance_ren.shtml
An encouragement to inoculate young children worries those who think the vaccine contributes to autism.
By GRAHAM BRINK, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 7, 2002
TAMPA -- Last month, for the first time, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encouraged parents to have their young children vaccinated against the flu.
To most, it seemed a sound idea for protecting youngsters. But a vocal minority of parents and doctors think such a move could be trouble.
The issue: Some flu vaccines still contain the mercury-based preservative thimerosal, which they think is linked to an explosion in the number of children diagnosed with autism and related disorders in the past two decades.
The many skeptics of this theory point out that the mercury used in thimerosal has not been definitively linked to autism.
But those who think there is a connection see the CDC encouragement as a risk for children, especially those who already might have a buildup of mercury in their systems.
"They continue to promote thimerosal as safe mercury and that there is no evidence of toxicity," said Dr. Jeff Bradstreet, an autism researcher in Palm Bay and the father of an autistic boy. "Eventually, they will be proven wrong. But in the meantime, one wonders how many lives may be altered."
Until last month, the CDC never had encouraged regular flu shots for healthy children six months to 23 months old.
But about 20 children per 10,000 in that age group are hospitalized each year with the flu or its complications. That rate is at least five times higher than that of 5 to 15 year olds and 10 times higher than the rate for low-risk adults, according to the CDC.
Young children also are effective carriers of the influenza virus, often passing it on to relatives and friends. The CDC said vaccinating children would help improve the societal armor and cut down on the number of adults who get the flu.
The CDC is only encouraging parents to vaccinate their young children, not recommending it. But a formal recommendation could come as early as next year.
Dr. Scott Harper, an infectious disease specialist with the CDC in Atlanta, said the risks of complications from flu shots for young children are minimal, especially when compared with the benefits.
"In every decision that we make in life, there is a risk and a benefit," Harper said. "This decision was based on facts, facts that show that many children will avoid getting sick, not unproven theories."
Other health care giants -- including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Network for Immunization Information -- also are skeptical of a link between vaccines and autism. They say the theory is based more on coincidence and hope than hard data.
Even the Autism Society of America isn't convinced.
"(We) strongly support research to determine if, in fact, there is a correlation," the society says. "Until that research is performed and replicated, vaccines continue to be indicated."
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Thimerosal has been used as a preservative in vaccines since the 1930s, but it became more common in the past 15 years as pharmaceutical companies began to produce more multidose vials to cut costs. Without the preservative, a multidose vial can become tainted once its seal is broken.
The increase in the use of thimerosal coincided with an increase in the number of vaccines administered to children. Children today can receive about 36 doses of 11 vaccines by age 5.
And those two trends corresponded with a surge in autism rates throughout the country, say supporters of the mercury/autism theory. They fear that some children can't flush all the mercury from their systems, so it builds up and triggers autism, a neurological disorder that affects communication and socialization.
Many doctors and scientists say such fears are unwarranted. But if the theory is so full of holes, the supporters ask, why did the government direct vaccine manufacturers in 1999 to remove thimerosal and other mercury from common childhood vaccinations, including hepatitis?
They say the CDC encouragement means children might again be given vaccines containing mercury. Flu shots have not traditionally been childhood vaccines, so many multidose vials still contain thimerosal. It is unclear exactly how much of the flu vaccine supply contains the preservative.
"Promoting flu shots for healthy children concerns me a great deal," said Miami lawyer Roberto Villasante, co-chairman of the vaccine litigation group for the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. "I think the big question should be: Is this vaccine absolutely necessary?"
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Kim Dabney was shocked when she heard the news from the CDC last month.
Her son Drew had suffered from earaches and flulike symptoms. They weren't serious, but they were enough for her pediatrician to recommend that Drew receive a flu vaccination last year. He was 15 months old.
"After that shot, that was the end of Drew as we knew him," Dabney said.
Drew stopped making eye contact, stopped having fun, stopped making sense.
He had had some trouble after a round of shots administered a few months earlier, Dabney said, but the flu shot "put him over the edge."
Drew's pediatrician, like some other doctors, had never heard of thimerosal or theories about a link between vaccinations and autism, Dabney said.
But when Dabney researched Drew's vaccination record, she found it loaded with shots containing mercury.
The Dabneys, who moved from Miami to Charlotte, N.C., last year, have spent close to $50,000 on therapy and other treatments for Drew, who is showing marked improvement.
"No one wants the flu, but no one wants mercury poisoning either," she said. "Now that these links are showing up, I cannot believe they aren't screaming to get this stuff off the shelves."
Most members of the medical community think such a move is unnecessary. They note that many children with risk factors such as cystic fibrosis have received flu shots for years. If there were a link, many more of those children would have autism, they say.
Some children don't show signs of autism until they are a few years old. The vaccinations don't cause it, the doctors argue, they just happen to be given around the same time.
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Barbara Fisher is co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center, a nonprofit group that advocates reforming the mass vaccination system. She encourages parents of children in the 6- to 23-month age group to arm themselves with as much information as possible before they decide whether to vaccinate their children against the flu.
Even if science never finds a definite link between thimerosal and autism, it's worth considering, Fisher said.
She recommends that parents who want their children vaccinated against the flu read the manufacturer's insert that comes with the vaccine to determine whether it contains thimerosal or any other mercury.
"Parents should not rely solely on their doctors, who don't always have all the information themselves," she said. "Whatever decision is made, it should be made from a position of knowledge, not a position of ignorance."
-- Graham Brink can be reached at (813) 226-3365 or brink@sptimes.com.
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© Copyright St.
Petersburg Times.
ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND
MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION
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