Position
The members of this blog support the passage of the Mercury-Free Vaccines Act of 2009 (HR 2617). We personally feel that this bill will increase public support for recommended immunizations and decrease fear associated with the presence of mercury in vaccines. This decreased fear has the potential to increase the number of individuals who receive recommended vaccines. As student nurses we recognize the importance of immunizations as an aspect of preventive health. According to the CDC's annual National Immunization Survey (NIS), the percentage of U.S. children 19 to 35 months of age who have received the recommended series of childhood vaccines was 76.1 percent in 2008 (cdc.gov). This would support the Healthy People 2010's goal to increase the number of children who receive recommended vaccinations to 80%. While the majority of vaccines contain little to no traces of thimerosal currently, we think it is important to pass a law to continue this practice. Vaccines such as the influenza vaccine may still contain traces of thimerosal, which may be especially concerning to populations such as pregnant women. We feel that passage of this bill would decrease these concerns.
Political Action Plan
1) Continue updating our blog with the most recent information and political activity related to HR 2617
2) Contact key stakeholders and legislators and invite them to view and participate in our blog
3) Advocate for further research to be done related to the presence of mercury in vaccines within our community
4) Create an online petition advocating for this bill
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Ladies, I think you have all done a great job putting this blog together. It is very informative and it is a great bill to support. This bill is a good idea because many people are afraid to get the vaccines for their children because they hear the word mercury and immediately think danger. Even if they end up proving that the mercury is not causing autism, I believe taking it out anyway will make people happy and will definitely increase the rate of child immunizations.
ReplyDeleteA few questions...
Which vaccines still actually contain the thimerosal?
When did they notice the mercury was a potential problem and when did they begin to remove the thimerosal from the vaccines?
Going along with Preston's comment a few days ago, are there any proven medical problems in adults when they receive the influenza vaccine?
Just a suggestion for your political action plan...maybe advocate for research on which agent would work as a preservative to replace the thimerosal.
--posted by advocates for healthier babies (Bailey Houck, Sara Hatchell, Katya Chopivsky, Caitlin Howard, Kimberly Kavanaugh, and Heather Emerson
I feel like a lot of the reasoning for putting this bill into action is based off of the public's perception of vaccines and possibly related health problems. The connection between vaccines and autism is still something being researched, but I feel the public thinks that there is a direct connection between the two, so they refuse to vaccinate their children without becoming fully educated and researching this topic in depth.
ReplyDeleteIf this bill were to go in effect, in order to reassure the public of the safety of vaccines and encourage them start getting them, there would be a great need for mass public education. How would this bill provide the means for making the public aware of this change and reassure them enough so that vaccination rates will increase.
How will this bill affect the availability of vaccines? A shortage in vaccines is something we have already begun to see with the H1N1 virus, could a similar shortage happen if this bill were to take effect?
- posted by Heroes at Home
ReplyDeleteI think this bill is a great idea. If it can help more children get their vaccinations, then it is worth trying to pass. The first thing I thought about when reading the bill was the association claimed between vaccinations and autism. I know that is a huge debate about that issue. It could put a lot of mothers at rest knowing their children are not receiving vaccines with mercury. If mercury is taken out of vaccines will it affect the vaccine at all? Will it still be as effective. It is still in there so I am assuming it must serve a purpose or something else must be available to take its place?
ReplyDeleteBailey and the Advocates for Healthier Babies group: Thanks for the suggestion for our political action plan. Advocating for research on another preservative to replace thimerosal would be especially useful in order to find the safest and cost-effective preservative. Here are the answers to some of your group’s questions. The vaccines that still contain thimerosal are some influenza, DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis), and TT (tetanus) vaccines. Mercury was noticed as a potential problem in the 1990s because of the rise of children with autism. A comprehensive review was done in 1999 by the FDA that found no evidence of harm from the use of thimerosal in vaccines other than local injection site sensitivity. Even though evidence has rejected a causal relationship between thimerosal in vaccines and autism, vaccine manufacturers started removal of thimerosal in 1999. By 2001, it was removed from most vaccines. There are no proven medical problems in adults when they receive the influenza vaccine except for minor effects of redness and swelling at the injection site.
ReplyDeleteKristin and Heroes at Home: Pertaining to the future availability of thimerosal-free vaccines, we can not predict the shortages. If this bill passes we hope that the vaccine companies will have been notified with enough time to prepare the vaccine, as well have the supply to meet the demand. Unlike the H1N1, which sprang up rapidly, the vaccine manufacturers should have plenty of time to produce the adequate amount of vaccines with thimerosal-free preservatives. The media plays a huge role in letting the public know about change. Officials from governmental agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration as well as others would explain the purpose of passing a law for thimerosal-free vaccines. This will hopefully decrease public fear associated with mercury in vaccines.
Heather: To answer your questions, thimerosal acts as a preservative in the vaccine. Preservatives are used to prevent the contamination of vaccines by various bacteria. On the market today are many vaccines that are thimerosal free, meaning they contain some preservative other than thimerosal. These vaccines are just as effective as thimerosal-containing vaccines.