rssHow McCain Jumped on Anti-Vaccine Wagon
Tuesday, March 04, 2008 at 10:30 am
- 6 Comments
Yesterday we noted that John McCain had become the first candidate to speak out in favor of the anti-vaccine lobby. It turns out that McCain’s involvement began last year when he met Lin Wessels, an Iowa mom with an autistic child, on the campaign trail. Wessels’ son was born premature in 2002 and diagnosed with autism two years later. She joined A-CHAMP, one of various activist mom groups that believe, despite evidence to the contrary, that a mercury-containing preservative called thimerosal caused their child to become autistic. Thimerosal was removed from nearly all shots given to babies six years ago but autism rates in the “un-thimerosaled” group continue to rise (a story that’s been told in exhaustive detail; here’s a good place to start). The story of Wessels’ afflicted child and her effort to get politicians interested is told here and here. You can’t help feeling sorry for her. That doesn’t mean she’s right, although she’s become the momentary darling of the anti-vaxers, funded by a wealthy Portland investment banker named J.B. Handley.
Mindful of Obama’s comments about judgement v. experience in regard to the Iraq war, let’s hope that McCain doesn’t drive us into another ditch. We don’t need more misinformed parents failing to vaccinate their kids because of irresponsible politicians. (For those of you who read my piece on the CDC on March 3, this is also a reminder of why we need a solid vaccine safety branch — to look into real safety issues, and thereby reassure the public).
6 Comments
Comment posted March 7, 2008 @ 9:53 am
When the mercury mommies don’t like the facts, they just make up their own. How resourceful.
I wonder whether they know that repeating something over and over doesn’t make it true, no matter how many capital letters and exclamation points you use.
Comment posted March 5, 2008 @ 10:57 am
Hello Mr. Allen,
So very nice to hear your misconstrued perception of the truth. You’ve made it more than obvious where you stand on this, so it comes as no surprise.
Please, may I be the first to enlighten you just a bit…the FDA acknowledged to Congressman Weldon that thimerosal in common pediatric vaccines was actually present until at least 2003, if not beyond. I
Comment posted March 5, 2008 @ 4:57 am
Hello Mr. Allen,
So very nice to hear your misconstrued perception of the truth. You've made it more than obvious where you stand on this, so it comes as no surprise.
Please, may I be the first to enlighten you just a bit…the FDA acknowledged to Congressman Weldon that thimerosal in common pediatric vaccines was actually present until at least 2003, if not beyond. I
Comment posted March 7, 2008 @ 3:53 am
When the mercury mommies don't like the facts, they just make up their own. How resourceful.
I wonder whether they know that repeating something over and over doesn't make it true, no matter how many capital letters and exclamation points you use.
Comment posted November 4, 2009 @ 5:02 pm
Thimerisol is still in the flu vaccine and that is now on the mandatory schedule so I think your information is a little off..and it's not just vaccines it's alot of the crap they put in them so if you want to inject your children with nasty chemicals that we now are toxic go right ahead. As I have said before if it has'nt happened to your child you don't care to fix it..so let it be.
Comment posted November 4, 2009 @ 11:17 pm
http://www.fourteenstudies.com
There is evidence that vaccines can cause autism and the US government has already conceded several cases. Also, there are actually very few “anti-vaxers” within the vaccine injury movement. Most lobby for safer vaccines and the removal of toxic ingredients such as MSG, diethylene glycol, formaldehyde (I know, “formulin”, supposedly naturally occuring…but not in synthetic form) and animal biologics; removal of unnecessary-but-big-money-making shots from the schedule. Of course all are lobbying for the removal of thimerosal which, btw, is still in the shots, just at somewhat reduced levels. This isn't saying much: 5 mcg of thimerosal still contain 5,000 times the EPA limit of mercury for drinking water.
For flu shots containing the typical 25 mcg of thimerosal, the level of mercury is 50,000 times the EPA limit. It's frequently said that the mercury in typical flu shots is less than that found in a can of tuna. This is false. Tuna is ingested, not injected: most toxic metals are filtered out by the gut. An intramuscular injection has a direct route to the bloodstream which cannot filter, increasing the impact of the mercury exponentially; for a 25 LB infant, the mercury in a flu shot is equivalent to roughly *11,000* cans of tuna eaten within a few minutes. Not to mention that the form of mercury in the shots– ethylmercury– can't be excreted from the brain once its in. The brain has an easier time ejecting the form found in fish (Burbacher).
Unexpired, thimerosal containing vaccines were still being distrubuted as late as 2006, even early 2007. In 2006, an infant could still receive nearly the amount of thimerosal in the routine shots as in the late 90s. Therefore the addition of the mercury-laden flu shot given prenatally and at six months could conceivably have raised total mercury exposure to levels higher than had ever been seen. The youngest children who were potentially exposed to those levels are just turning three at this point; many have not yet been diagnosed but the numbers coming in so far don't look good. There's also the issue of “the earlier the worse”.
Rates of autism among children born to Rh- mothers who received mercury-containing Rhogam shots in pregnancy as late as 2003 were 50% higher than average at the time, so it's predictable that autism rates among children born to mothers who received an equivalent amount of mercury via flu shots in pregnancy would be equivalent as well.
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