Is Thimerosal Still Found In Vaccines
Thimerosal has been removed or reduced to trace amounts in most vaccines, with the exception of the multi-dose vial of the seasonal flu shot. Thimerosal is added to multi-dose vials to help prevent overgrowth of bacteria.
For parents who prefer, preservative-free versions of the flu shot are available all you have to do is request it from your doctor or pharmacist. You may need to check with your insurance first to be sure they’ll pay for the preservative-free form.
Thimerosal used to be found in the hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type B and diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccines, among others. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has worked with vaccine manufacturers to eliminate thimerosal from vaccines recommended for children 6 years and younger. In many common childhood vaccines, thimerosol was never present.
Thimerosal is not present in any COVID vaccine issued for emergency use authorization in the U.S. To see a full list of ingredients for COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S., follow this link.
At this time, the only COVID-19 vaccine authorized for use in children is the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and it is only used in children 16 years or older. Studies in younger populations are ongoing.
Study Made Possible By Large Database
The investigators performed their analysis using the claims records from a large US health plan database . Participants included children continuously enrolled in an associated health plan from birth to at least 5 years of age between 2001 and 2012. All had an older sibling.
Of the 95,727 children in the study, around 1 percent were diagnosed with autism during the studys follow-up period. Among those who had an older sibling with autism , approximately 7 percent developed the disorder. This difference in autism prevalence between children with or without an older sibling affected by autism is consistent with earlier studies.
Has Incidence Of Autism Increased
Recently a report from the CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network indicated that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders amongst 8-year-old children had increased from 6.7 per thousand children in the year 2000 to 11.3 children per thousand children in 2008. That means that in the year 2000, one in 150 children was diagnosed with ASD and in 2008 it was one in 88 children. The question is why has the incidence increased so steadily? None of us medical professionals currently know, but most believe the majority of the increase is due to our greater awareness of the diagnosis and improved record keeping. There are likely many factors that account for the increase in the incidence of recorded ASD and researchers continue to search for exposure or risk factors. However, there are a number of established risk factors for developing an ASD and these include genetic and non-genetic associations including:
- Sibling or parent with an ASD
- Children born to older parents
- Certain genetic disorders
- Certain drugs
- Low birth-weight, prematurity
One of the major challenges of ASDs is that they can neither be simply categorized nor described. They exhibit a spectrum of symptoms and severities involving a variety of typical social, communication, and repetitive behaviors.
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Events Following Reductions In Vaccination
In several countries, reductions in the use of some vaccines were followed by increases in the diseases’ morbidity and mortality. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, continued high levels of vaccine coverage are necessary to prevent a resurgence of diseases that have been nearly eliminated. Pertussis remains a major health problem in developing countries, where mass vaccination is not practiced the World Health Organization estimates it caused 294,000 deaths in 2002. Vaccine hesitancy has contributed to the resurgence of preventable disease. For example, in 2019, the number of measles cases increased by thirty percent worldwide and many cases occurred in countries that had nearly eliminated measles.
Is There A Link Between Autism And Vaccines
There is no documented link between vaccines and autism. Illnesses that can be prevented by vaccines are much worse than any risk from the vaccines developed to prevent them. Moreover, that there was no evidence that vaccines are linked to autism. The primary study linkingimmunization with the MMR vaccine and thimerosal with autism was withdrawn due to falsification of data, and since then there have been a number of studies that have verified the lack of an association between MMR and ASDs. It is very important to remember that despite the fact that no new vaccine licensed by the FDA for use in children has contained thimerosal as a preservative since 2001, the number of children diagnosed with autism has almost doubled. It seems clear that thimerosal and vaccines are not the culprits.
Unfortunately, anti-vaccine groups continue to demonize the practice and are promoting concepts that are putting children at risk. Herd immunity occurs when the majority of individuals are immunized. Individuals who decide not to immunize their children put that herd immunity at risk, and are dependent upon the vaccine status of the rest of our children. The problem is that at some point herd immunity wanes and then those old diseases arise again. As a result, measles cases are on the rise and other vaccine-preventable illnesses are starting to show up after years of lying dormant.
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Nigeria Polio Measles Diphtheria
In the early first decade of the 21st century, conservative religious leaders in northern Nigeria, suspicious of Western medicine, advised their followers not to have their children vaccinated with the oral polio vaccine. The boycott was endorsed by the governor of Kano State, and immunization was suspended for several months. Subsequently, polio reappeared in a dozen formerly polio-free neighbors of Nigeria, and genetic tests showed the virus was the same one that originated in northern Nigeria. Nigeria had become a net exporter of the poliovirus to its African neighbors. People in the northern states were also reported to be wary of other vaccinations, and Nigeria reported over 20,000 measles cases and nearly 600 deaths from measles from January through March 2005. In Northern Nigeria, it is a common belief that vaccination is a strategy created by the westerners to reduce the Northerners’ population. As a result of this belief, a large number of Northerners reject vaccination. In 2006, Nigeria accounted for over half of all new polio cases worldwide. Outbreaks continued thereafter for example, at least 200 children died in a late-2007 measles outbreak in Borno State.
Myth #: Vaccines Cause Autism
The widespread fear that vaccines increase risk of autism originated with a 1997 study published by Andrew Wakefield, a British surgeon. The article was published in The Lancet, a prestigious medical journal, suggesting that the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine was increasing autism in British children.
The paper has since been completely discredited due to serious procedural errors, undisclosed financial conflicts of interest, and ethical violations. Andrew Wakefield lost his medical license and the paper was retracted from The Lancet.
Nonetheless, the hypothesis was taken seriously, and several other major studies were conducted. None of them found a link between any vaccine and the likelihood of developing autism.
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Aftermath Of Initial Controversy
Wakefield continued to conduct clinical research in the United States after leaving the Royal Free Hospital in December 2001. He joined a controversial American researcher, Jeff Bradstreet, at the International Child Development Resource Center, to conduct further studies on the possible relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism.
In 2004, Wakefield began working at the Thoughtful House research center in Austin, Texas. Wakefield served as Executive Director of Thoughtful House until February 2010, when he resigned in the wake of findings against him by the British General Medical Council.
Twenty-four hours before the 2004 Sunday Times report by Deer, The Lancet‘s editor Richard Horton responded to the investigation in a public statement, describing Wakefield’s research as “fatally flawed” and said he believed the paper would have been rejected as biased if the peer reviewers had been aware of Wakefield’s conflict of interest. Ten of Wakefield’s twelve co-authors of the paper in The Lancet later published a retraction of an interpretation. The section of the paper retracted read as follows:
Interpretation. We identified associated gastrointestinal disease and developmental regression in a group of previously normal children, which was generally associated in time with possible environmental triggers.
The retraction stated:
Do Vaccines Cause Autism Spectrum Disorder
Lee Ann Annotti, PhD Jennifer V Hogan, MD
Surveys suggest that about 20% of parents believe vaccines will lead to symptoms of autism spectrum disorder. This is a startling number. Vaccines are given to children to prevent common diseases including measles, mumps, rubella, polio and chickenpox. When a child goes without vaccinations, it leaves his or her immune system susceptible to being infected. Here we explain the common myth that vaccines are linked to autism and studies that prove that this myth is officially busted.
What is the concern?
Many parents are especially concerned about the MMR vaccine. This belief is strengthened for parents by the fact that regression in children later diagnosed with autism might occur weeks to months after the MMR vaccine is given. This timing has led many parents to mistakenly assume a cause-and-effect relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism. Many parents also worry about thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative used in vaccines to prevent bacterial contamination. A more recent concern is the American Academy of Pediatrics schedule for administering multiple vaccines at one time.
Studies show
Dont delay vaccinations
As mentioned above, there is growing concern that getting multiple vaccines at the same time might somehow weaken the immune system and trigger the development of autism. As such, some families have decided to space out vaccines by using an alternative vaccine schedule. This is not the recommended approach.
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Talking About Vaccines: Autism
Claims that vaccines cause autism have led some parents to delay or refuse vaccines for their children. The most common claims are that autism is caused by MMR vaccine, vaccines that contain thimerosal, or too many vaccines. Many scientific studies have been done to test these claims. None has shown any correlation between vaccines and autism.
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Studies That Disprove Links Between Mmr And Autism
One study of more than 500 000 Danish children found no increased risk of autism among those who had received the MMR vaccine compared with those who had not.
Another study of more than 27 000 Canadian children noted that rates of pervasive developmental disorder increased over time. But this happened when the rate of MMR vaccination was going down, which means the MMR vaccine was not causing the cases of autism.
Other researchers found that rates of autism continued to rise in a region of Japan even after the MMR vaccine was stopped. Again, this suggested that the MMR vaccine was not the cause of autism.
In an attempt to replicate part of Dr Wakefields findings, researchers compared bowel tissue of 25 autistic children who had bowel disorders with 13 children with only bowel disorders. The researchers found no differences in the presence of the measles virus between the two groups.
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Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism
- Some people have had concerns that ASD might be linked to the vaccines children receive, but studies have shown that there is no link between receiving vaccines and developing ASD. The National Academy of Medicine, formerly known as Institute of Medicine, reviewed the safety of 8 vaccines to children and adults. The review found that with rare exceptions, these vaccines are very safe.Adverse Effects of Vaccines: Evidence and Causality external icon
- A CDC study published in 2013 added to the research showing that vaccines do not cause ASD. The study focused on the number of antigens given during the first two years of life. Antigens are substances in vaccines that cause the bodys immune system to produce disease-fighting antibodies. The results showed that the total amount of antigen from vaccines received was the same between children with ASD and those that did not have ASD.Increasing exposure to antibody-stimulating proteins and polysaccharides in vaccines is not associated with risk of autism external icon
What About All Vaccinations Combined
Researchers have also looked to see if all the vaccines required before age 2 somehow together triggered autism. Children receive 25 shots in the first 15 months of life. Some people feared that getting all those shots so early in life could lead to the development of autism, but there is no evidence that this is true.
But the CDC compared groups of children who received vaccines on the recommended schedule and those whose vaccines were delayed or didnât get them at all. There was no difference in the autism rate between the two groups.
In 2004, the Immunization Safety Review Committee of the Institute of Medicine published a report on the topic. The group looked at all the studies on vaccines and autism, both published and unpublished. It released a 200-page report stating there was no evidence to support a link between vaccines and autism.
Still, studies continue to look at the issue. In 2019, the largest study to date looked at almost 660-thousand children over a course of 11 years and found no link between the vaccine and autism.
Indian Journal of Psychiatry: âThe MMR Vaccine and Autism: Sensation, Refutation, Retraction, and Fraud.â
Offit, P., and Moser, C., Vaccines and Your Child: Separating Fact from Fiction, Columbia University Press, 2011.
American Journal of Medical Genetics: âComorbidity of Intellectual Disability Confounds Ascertainment of Autism: Implications for Genetic Diagnosis.â
BMJ: âHow the Case Against the MMR Vaccine Was Fixed.â
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Family To Receive $15m+ In First
The first court award in a vaccine-autism claim is a big one. CBS News has learned the family of Hannah Poling will receive more than $1.5 million dollars for her life care lost earnings and pain and suffering for the first year alone.
In addition to the first year, the family will receive more than $500,000 per year to pay for Hannah’s care. Those familiar with the case believe the compensation could easily amount to $20 million over the child’s lifetime.
Hannah was described as normal, happy and precocious in her first 18 months.
Then, in July 2000, she was vaccinated against nine diseases in one doctor’s visit: measles, mumps, rubella, polio, varicella, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, and Haemophilus influenzae.
Afterward, her health declined rapidly. She developed high fevers, stopped eating, didn’t respond when spoken to, began showing signs of autism, and began having screaming fits. In 2002, Hannah’s parents filed an autism claim in federal vaccine court. Five years later, the government settled the case before trial and had it sealed. It’s taken more than two years for both sides to agree on how much Hannah will be compensated for her injuries.
Lower Vaccination Rates Among Families Affected By Autism
Some 15 year ago, a small, now-discredited study sparked concerns about a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Since then, a large and growing body of research has continued to find no association. Still, the continuing uncertainty around what does cause autism has left some people worried. Such concerns likely explain why vaccination rates have dropped in families that have an older child with the disorder.
In the new study, MMR vaccination rates for children without an affected older siblings were 84 percent at 2 years and 92 percent by age 5 years. Vaccination rates for children with an older sibling affected by autism were significantly lower: 73 percent at 2 years and 86 percent at age 5 years.
In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Bryan King, director of the Seattle Childrens Autism Center, writes:
Taken together, some dozen studies have now shown that the age of onset of ASD does not differ between vaccinated and unvaccinated children, the severity or course of ASD does not differ between vaccinated and unvaccinated children, and now the risk of ASD recurrence in families does not differ between vaccinated and unvaccinated children.
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Myth #: Infant Immune Systems Can’t Handle So Many Vaccines
Infant immune systems are stronger than you might think. Based on the number of antibodies present in the blood, a baby would theoretically have the ability to respond to around 10,000 vaccines at one time. Even if all 14 scheduled vaccines were given at once, it would only use up slightly more than 0.1% of a baby’s immune capacity. And scientists believe this capacity is purely theoretical. The immune system could never truly be overwhelmed because the cells in the system are constantly being replenished. In reality, babies are exposed to countless bacteria and viruses every day, and immunizations are negligible in comparison.
Though there are more vaccinations than ever before, today’s vaccines are far more efficient. Small children are actually exposed to fewer immunologic components overall than children in past decades.
Autism And Vaccines In The Media
A Journalists Guide to Covering Outbreaks of Vaccine-Preventable DiseaseFrom the producers of the PBS-NOVA special VaccinesCalling the Shots.
On January 21st, 2011, Dr. Paul Offit was on The Colbert Report speaking about his new book, Deadly Choices: How The Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All..
On September 9, 2014, ASF President Alison Singer was on The Leonard Lopate Show to talk about the risks of not vaccinating.
Whats Next?
If we ask the same questions well get the same answers. Weve asked the autism vaccine question over two dozen times and each time we get the same response: no relationship. We need to move on. We need to invest in studying genetics, the brain structures of children with autism, and environmental factors that may be playing a role.
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