FP Report -- August 1999
Here's guidance about mercury in vaccines
The Food and Drug Administration is asking the pharmaceutical industry to remove mercury from vaccines or reduce the amount of it in vaccines because of a minimal, if any, risk to babies' health.
Some parents may draw wrong conclusions from news reports on the FDA action.
"The risk of devastating childhood diseases from failure to vaccinate far outweighs the minimal, if any, risk of exposure to cumulative levels of mercury in vaccines," says U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., a family physician.
The Public Health Service is asking family physicians for help in setting parents straight. Some tips:
First, thimerosal, a preservative containing mercury, helps prevent bacterial contamination when vaccine vials are opened.
Second, no known harm has occurred from vaccines used in the United States, but due to theoretical concerns, vaccines in the future will be made according to a broader measure of safety.
Third, the current immunization schedule should be followed, with two exceptions for the first dose of Hepatitis B vaccine. Namely:
- For infants born to Hepatitis B surface antigen-negative women, the first dose of Hepatitis B vaccine should be given at two to six months of age (instead of during the first two months of age, as currently recommended). This shift in schedule may be temporary, lasting only until Hepatitis B vaccines without thimerosal are available.
- Preterm infants born to HBsAg-negative mothers should receive hepatitis B vaccine when they reach term gestational age and a weight of at least 2.5 kilograms.
The above guidance, developed by the Public Health Service and the American Academy of Pediatrics, was approved by the AAFP July 8. AAFP's policy is online at www.aafp.org/policy/camp/20.html.
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department. Copyright © 1999 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
FP Report | Headlines |AAFP Home | Search