Impacts … No images are available for this medication.Selected from data included with permission and copyrighted by First Databank, Inc. Committee on Infectious Diseases and Committee on Environmental Health.
mgeier@comcast.net Thimerosal is an ethylmercury (49.55% mercury by weight) preservative … Mercury is considered by WHO as one of the top 10 chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern. Methylmercury exposure in the womb, which can result from a mother's consumption of fish and shellfish that contain methylmercury, can adversely affect a baby's growing brain and nervous system. An evaluation of the effects of thimerosal on neurodevelopmental disorders reported following DTP and Hib vaccines in comparison to DTPH vaccine in the United States. Vaccine manufacturers have conducted research into alternative preservatives but, except for research on inactivated polio vaccine and a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, there has been a conspicuous lack of success.Vaccines could be supplied in preservative-free single-dose vials as is the case for the majority of vaccines used in industrialized countries. It can irritate the eyes, digestive, and respiratory systems too. Other expert groups (the U.S. Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the United Kingdom Committee on Safety of Medicines, and the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products), have reached similar conclusions.The concerns that were raised in 1999 in the USA regarding exposure to mercury following immunization with thiomersal-containing vaccines were based on the calculation that the cumulative amount of mercury in infant immunization schedules potentially exceeded the recommended threshold for methyl mercury set by a U.S. government agency. WARNING/CAUTION: Even though it may be rare, some people may have very bad and sometimes deadly side effects when taking a drug. Thimerosal is a mercury-containing compound that prevents the growth of dangerous bacteria and fungus. There is no guarantee of obtaining a vaccine of equivalent quality, safety and efficacy following replacement of thiomersal as an inactivating agent or replacement or removal of thiomersal as the preservative from an existing licensed product. However, many people have no side effects or only have minor side effects. This is why the presence of a preservative is a regulatory requirement.The environmental cost of replacing all multi-dose vials with single-dose vials must be taken into consideration. However, many people have no side effects or only have minor side effects. During 2010, UNICEF and the Pan American Health Organization Revolving Fund supplied 325 million doses of thiomersal-containing vaccines for routine vaccination activities and response to outbreaks of infectious diseases such as influenza or epidemic meningitis.Live vaccines, such as oral poliovirus vaccine; yellow fever vaccine; and measles, mumps and rubella vaccines, do not contain thiomersal, because it would kill the immunizing component. In inactivated vaccines, when only single-dose presentations are available from a particular manufacturer, there is no thiomersal component in sufficient concentration required to prevent contamination of a vial because those presentations are not meant to be reused.WHO has closely monitored scientific evidence relating to the use of thiomersal as a vaccine preservative for over 10 years, in particular through its independent expert advisory group, the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety. doctor or get medical help right away if you have any of the following signs or symptoms that may be related to a very bad side effect:All drugs may cause side effects. “It’s a huge growth area for pharmaceuticals at a time when other areas are refraining from doing so well,” he says, noting that the pipeline for more traditional hit drugs such as Lipitor and Nexium has actually thinned.As constantly with pandemic flus, taxpayers are footing the $1.5 billion check for the 250 million swine flu vaccines that the government has actually bought up until now and will be dispersing totally free to medical professionals, drug stores and schools.