Autism worries fuel concern about swine flu vaccine
August 1st, 2009From ABC News, CBS News (with video), and USA Today:
As the U.S. scrambles to release a vaccine for the H1N1 swine flu virus, autism concerns are being raised by parent activists who worry that the new vaccine could be rushed to market without enough proof that it’s safe.
They say they’re concerned that the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal could be an ingredient in some of the doses of the flu vaccine.
Concern over thimerosol has been raised for years, despite research that has found it to be harmless. “We have yet to find any evidence that thimerosol has hurt anyone,” said Dr. Andrew Pavia, chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Utah.
The vaccine is being recommended for 159 million Americans, most notably children and pregnant women.
See also:
Pregnant women hit hard by swine flu – Katharine Mieszkowski in Salon
Only about 15 percent of pregnant women get vaccinated for seasonal flu, although the CDC recommends that they all should. Thanks to those unfounded fears about vaccines causing autism that just will not die, some women are concerned that the flu vaccine will harm the developing fetus.
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October 13th, 2009 at 9:34 am
I don’t understand why doctors get so bent out of shape over how much canned fish we eat but we can inject something in ourselves that contains not only mercury but also has adjuvants in it that has been shown to cause the Gulf War disorder and you can’t tell me that none of that goes to the fetus! And why inject ourselves w/ those “poisons” in them that can potentially cause harm to brain development when in fact their brains aren’t fully formed? I think the CDC needs to step up and admit that they are not completely safe. Back before we had to inject our kids as well as pregnant women w/ so many vaccines containing mercury, there was so much less incidents of children diagnosed w/ autism and now I heard it might be 1 in 100 kids! I don’t dispute that vaccines can be beneficial, but quit overloading children w/ them and quit pushing them on pregnant women. Let their babies brains develop 1st!
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:32 am
Nope, my twins will not get the Swine Flu shot. What the heck is in that crap? I agree with Tammy, my kids aren’t autistic but i’m not going to inject my sons with something that they just mixed up and decided to call a vaccination.
August 8th, 2009 at 8:34 am
Lynne, clearly you don’t have a child with autism.
I don’t for a second question the severity of the diseases we vaccinate for. You must understand though, that when you are faced with such a huge “what if” it is terrifying.
I had a flu shot before i realized, i was pregnant with my autistic son. Every day it is a struggle for him, dealing with things that come natural to everyone else…It breaks my heart to see him have such a tough time.
And now I am pregnant again, faced with the most difficult decision of protecting myself and unborn baby against Swine flu when the vaccine comes out, but potentially having another child with autism.
It is not as black and white as you have said!!!! It is the “what if” that haunts me.
August 3rd, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Right, ‘cuz leaving your child vulnerable to potentially fatal infectious disease is just SO much better than a jab which has a small chance of making him feel low for a day or two.
“Logic” such as this astonishes me. It’s the very success of vaccines which has left you in a position to underestimate the severity of real disease.
August 1st, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Enough is enough. Our kids are already required to get too many shots. No more. I have never let my autistic son get flu shots and his doctor even advised against it. I would definitely not let him get a new shot that hasn’t even been proved affective.