Letters - Is flu vaccine safe?

http://www.cranstononline.com/index....8&Ite mid=35I humbly stood beside Dr. Edward Yazbak (who started the Infectious DiseaseDepartment in Rhode Island) and Wendy Fournier of National AutismAssociation in an attempt to block mercury (Thimerosal 49.6 percentethylmercury) from vaccinations. After reading your notification for peopleto get the flu vaccine, I found myself angered that you didn't offermothers-to-be and parents the knowledge of some facts concerning the seconddeadliest toxin known to man which is in the flu shot, unless they request avaccine free of mercury.This vaccine contains an unconscionable amount of toxic mercury. The fluvaccine is recommended for women at all trimesters of pregnancy. A pregnantwoman receiving the adult flu vaccine gets 25 micrograms of mercury, whichaccording to the EPA, can only be processed by someone weighing 550 pounds.This mercury quickly passes the placental barrier and enters the developingfetus. Despite the common understanding that mercury is one of the mosttoxic substances on Earth, the CDC refuses to specify that pregnant womenreceive a mercury-free flu shot.The flu vaccine is also recommended for children from 6 months to 5 years ofage. The children's flu shot has 12.5 mcg of mercury, something meant forsomeone weighing 275 pounds according to the EPA.In July 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that thimerosalbe removed from vaccines "as soon as possible." It's been over seven years -Why?Just as we would be shocked to hear that lead was used in vaccines orfillings, we should be equally alarmed when the medical and dentalcommunities assure us that it's safe to use mercury in their products.According to the Physician's Desk Reference, the flu vaccine is considered acategory C drug. Drugs in this classification have not undergone animalreproductive studies and should only be administered during pregnancy if thebenefit far outweighs the risk. "It defies all reason that our governmentagencies continue to tell the public that injecting mercury has noconsequences for unborn children, at the same time warning pregnant womennot to eat too much fish because of the threat posed by mercury to thedeveloping brain," commented Laura Bono, NAA board member and mother to amercury-injured son.According to a paper on the ACIP recommendations for pregnant women by F.Edward Yazbak, M.D., and David Ayoub, M.D., in the 2006 summer issue of thepeer-reviewed Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons:There is no convincing evidence of the effectiveness of influenzavaccination during this critical period.No studies have adequately assessed the risk of influenza vaccination duringpregnancy.Thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative present in most flu shots, has beenimplicated in human neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism.The ACIP policy recommendation of routinely administering influenza vaccineduring pregnancy is ill advised, unsupported by current scientificliterature and should be withdrawn.Use of thimerosal during pregnancy should be contraindicated.In an effort to understand why parents and physicians alike are concernedabout thimerosal it is important to understand just how much mercury is invaccines preserved with thimerosal. Thimerosal is typically added tovaccines at a concentration of 1:10,000 which is equivalent to 100,000 partsper billion (ppb). Because thimerosal is almost one-half mercury, theconcentration of mercury in the vaccine vial is at 50,000 ppb. To put thisin perspective, the EPA requires liquid waste which exceeds 200 ppb ofmercury to be sent to a special hazardous waste landfill and according tothe EPA, drinking water cannot exceed 2 ppb of mercury. Therefore, unusedthimerosal-preserved vaccines must be disposed of as a hazardous waste. Whatif we dropped the vial in the CVS flu clinic - HAZMAT would have to becalled in.It seems U.S. newspapers ignored a story that was everywhere recently inBritain, Canada and Australia.The British Medical Journal, the London Times, the BBC and dozen of newssites across Britain and Canada and elsewhere reported on the research ofvaccine expert Dr. Tom Jefferson of the respected Cochrane Collaborationshowing that there is little evidence that flu vaccines are effective intackling seasonal outbreaks of the virus.Writing in the British Medical Journal, vaccine expert Tom Jefferson saidthere is a big gap between policies promoting annual influenza vaccinationsfor most children and adults and supporting scientific evidence.While the American press endlessly reports on U.S. health officials urgingeveryone to get the flu vaccine, regardless of the mercury content, they allmissed this story on the reality of its effectiveness.It says a lot about the forces that control the news in the U.S. that thisstory is all over the British and Canadian press, BUT NOT THE AMERICAN.I care so much because I am an aunt of two autistic children, mother of ason with developmental issues and in a circle of friends and co-workers thatall seem to have children with some sort of neurological issue. Not tomention Alzheimer's and dementia have also exploded over the last 20 years.Another fact, Big Pharma pays 85 percent to 90 percent of budget not onadvertising, but on doctors' symposiums and other benefits for doctors -someone with strong ethics would view this as a conflict of interest. Whywould Dr. David Gifford urge pregnant women and young children to get a shotwith mercury is beyond me.Parents and journalists can't write enough about issue, as an example we inRhode Island have seen over a 21 percent increase in Special Needs Educationcosts, which will be a big burden.To prevent parents from becoming anti-vaccine friendly, we need to ensurethe public's safety - which has NOT been proven. We parents are not sayingno to vaccines - just no to the one with poison . I'll take it without itplease.I look forward to your next article.