http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/nelson...flu-shots.html

Mercury-free flu shots
A reader sent me an e-mail yesterday because she'd seen a TV show on the flu
vaccine and pregnant women and said it failed to mention that a flu shot
without mercury preservative is available. She wanted pregnant women to know
that's an option for them.

Many physician practices automatically give pregnant women this vaccine,
which is in shorter supply then flu shots containing thimerosol (a
preservative that is almost half ethylmercury), and you can always request
it from your doctor. Generally if you're getting the shot at a mass clinic,
it's not going to be the mercury-free one.

I should pause here to note that the CDC maintains that years of study have
found no link between mercury in vaccines and adverse effects, including
autism. But if you are so inclined to play it safe, here's some more info.



First of all, thimerosal is actually still used in the manufacture of most
of these vaccines, but it's used early in the manufacturing process and gets
diluted along to the way to the point where there are just "trace" amounts
of thimerosal, allowing the maker to label the vaccine "preservative-free."

The equivalent is already done across the board with the vaccines used for
childhood immunizations, so all the ones used in the U.S. are now required
to be thimerosal-free or have only trace amounts.

But most flu vaccine distributed in the U.S. still has thimerosal.

For this flu season, the CDC estimates there will be about 50 million doses
of preservative-free flu vaccine available. This includes the sole product
licensed for children 6-23 months old.

The CDC still says thimerosal-containing flu vaccines are safe for pregnant
women ("A study of influenza vaccination examining over 2,000 pregnant women
demonstrated no adverse fetal effcts associated with influenza vaccine") and
children ("Based on guidelines established by the FDA, the EPA and the
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, no child will receive
excessive mercury from childhood vaccines regardless of whether or not their
flu shot contains thimerosal as a preservative").

Influenza, of course, can and does harm pregnant women and children every
year. So, regardless of whether or not you believe thimerosal is harmful,
it's nice to have another option