The Only Thimerosal Free Vaccination Schedule

Managing Editor's Note: There's an update to this post at the end. The CDC had incorrect info available to the public.

By Julie Obradovic

Question:

If I used to smoke 25 cigarettes a day and now I only smoke 3, am I “smoke-free”?

I think most people would agree the answer is “no”. Sure, I may be taking a step in the right direction. And sure, I’m being exposed to substantially less toxicity than previously.

But “smoke-free”? Not a chance.

So how is it that the CDC can consider a thimerosal containing vaccine with 3 micrograms of thimerosal or less “thimerosal-free”? This is their definition, and they even site studies to support it (JAMA 1999; 282(18) and JAMA 2000; 283(16)). According to them, 3 micrograms of thimerosal has “no biological effect” and is therefore the same as not having been exposed to it at all.

Call me skeptical, but I find that very hard to believe. I’ve seen the video from the University of Calgary  (HERE)  showing what happens to a neuron when exposed low levels of mercury.

Furthermore, isolating only 1 incidence of exposure via 1 vaccine is manipulative. Assuming they’re right and 3 micrograms of thimerosal won’t do anything “biological” in and of itself, what happens if a baby is given 2 “thimerosal-free” vaccines (like the Hep B and the DTaP) at 6 micrograms of exposure? Is that still considered “thimerosal-free”?

And what about if that baby just got those 2 shots and a flu shot with 25 more micrograms?  Now what? Was the baby not just exposed to 31 micrograms of thimerosal instead of 25? Any “biological effect” yet?

It’s like the tobacco industry advertising a carton of cigarettes on the premise that smoking 3 or less cigarettes at a time won’t hurt you because they’ve done a study to prove they have no biological effect when smoked in that way, with no regard to how many you smoked prior to or after those 3. Can you imagine?

Anyway, this infuriates me. It’s false advertising. If a parent asks their pediatrician for thimerosal-free vaccines, or if that pediatrician is claiming that they are a thimerosal-free office, are they really getting or giving them?  Is it possible a mom requesting thimerosal free vaccines at the 2 month visit actually just injected her child with 6 micrograms via the DTaP and HepB? According to the CDC it is!

So I took the liberty of creating an authentic thimerosal free vaccination schedule for parents who are trying to adhere to one. All vaccines listed are brands that contain no thimerosal and never did. All information may be checked HERE using the CDC’s own data.

Keep in mind, if this schedule is not adhered to, meaning flu shots are administered with full doses of thimerosal and brands of DTaP, Hib, HepB, and HepA with trace amounts are as well, a parent may possibly expose their child to 202 micrograms of thimerosal over the first 6 years of life!

To use the better known comparison, by 6 months of age it is still possible for a baby to receive 71 mcg of thimerosal versus the previous 187.5 mcg! Here’s how it could easily happen:

Prenatal: Flu shot [Fluzone, Flulaval, or Fluvirin (25mcg)]
Birth: HepB [Engergix (3mcg)]
1month: HepB [Energix (3mcg)]
2 months: DTaP [Tripedia (3mcg)] or DTaP/Hib [TriHIBit (3mcg)]
4 months: HepB [Energix (3mcg)] and DTaP [Tripedia (3mcg)] or DTaP/Hib [TriHIBit (3mcg)]
6 months: same as 4 months, plus a flu shot

This clearly falsifies the repeatedly stated mantra that babies are no longer being exposed to thimerosal these days. They most certainly are.

Moms and Dads, if you are planning on following the CDC recommended vaccine schedule, here is the only the possible way to implement a truly thimerosal free one (brand name in parenthesis). Remember, ALL flu shots have thimerosal and therefore, none can be given.

Prenatal:  NO FLU SHOT.

Birth:   Hep B (Recombivax)

1 month: Hep B (Recombivax)

2 month: DTaP (Daptacel or Infarix)
    Hib  (any)
    IPV (any)
    PCV (any)
    Rotavirus (any)

4 month: Hep B (Recombivax)
    DTaP (Daptacel or Infarix)
    DTaP/HepB/IPV (Pedatrix)
    Hib (any)
    IPV (any)
    PCV (any)
    Rotavirus (any)

6 month: same as 4 month, but NO FLU SHOT

12 month: Hib (any)
      MMR (any)
      Varicella (any)
      PCV (any)

15 month: DTaP (Daptacel or Infarix)

18 month: Hep A (Havrix or Vaqta)
       NO FLU SHOT

30 month: NO FLU SHOT

42 month: NO FLU SHOT

48 month: MMR (any)
      DTaP (Daptacel or Infarix)
      IPV (any)

54 month: NO FLU SHOT

66 month: NO FLU SHOT

Julie Obradovic is the mother of a recovered child.

Update:

Well, well, well.

Looks like the CDC made an ass out of me…again. As if it’s not bad enough what they did to my child, now they made me look like an idiot. (What’s that saying? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me?)

In this post on a thimerosal free vaccination schedule, I wrote about how upset I was that the CDC defines a trace as less than 3 micrograms. That amount is most definitely not a “trace”, especially in the context of recommended flu shots which possibly contain 25 mcg themselves. I pointed out that at the 6 month visit a child could potentially get 31 mcg of thimerosal as a result.

Now, I didn’t pull that number out of thin air. I spent quite a bit of time studying documents from the CDC’s website, and according to one of those documents called Vaccine Excipient & Media Summary, Part 2 the CDC says this:

*Where “thimerosal” is marked with an asterisk (*) it indicates that the product should be considered equivalent to thimerosal-free products. This vaccine may contain trace amounts (<3 mcg) of mercury left after post-production thimerosal removal, but these amounts have no biological effect. JAMA 1999;282(18) and JAMA 2000;283(16)

(Still, there were some corrections needed to my post, as were pointed out by commenters. For example, I didn’t mention Flu Mist as being a thimerosal free flu vaccine, but that was because I was only listing injected vaccines. And yes, there is one version of the flu shot that in single dose vials is thimerosal free, something I misinterpreted on the CDC document.)

Shortly after my post went up, someone pointed out that I appeared to have made a grave error by mistaking 3 micrograms of thimerosal as a trace amount instead of 0.3 micrograms, a substantial and important difference. I panicked at the thought of having made such a huge mistake and immediately went back and consulted the information I had researched.

But sure enough, according to what I had, I had not made a mistake. Indeed the CDC was claiming a trace amount of thimerosal was 3 micrograms or less, as is stated above. I replied so, to which I was then told that the CDC had obviously made a type-o.

“A type-o?” I questioned.

That seems a bit odd, doesn’t it? I mean, far be it from me to think the CDC free from error, but really…a type-o? On something of this importance? On a document dedicated to the most crucial component of the vaccine controversy (their ingredients)? This is where they mess up defining exactly what kids are being exposed to and how much of it? You’ve got to be kidding me.

So I contacted the CDC for clarification. Perhaps they were defining a trace amount as less than 3 micrograms even though the actual exposure is only less than 0.3 micrograms? Perhaps they were right and the pharmaceutical companies were wrong?

Nope. They were wrong. They messed up. Shocking, I know.

Just this morning I received this email:

Dear Ms. Obradovic,

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.  In fact, it is a misprint on our website.  It should read 0.3 mcg, not 3 mcg.  We will correct the error immediately.

Regards,
Skip Wolfe
Immunization Program
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention

So, folks, that’s it. In the grand scheme of things, this is good news. I’m relatively relieved kids are not receiving trace amounts higher than 0.3 micrograms, although I believe they shouldn’t be receiving any. And the fact remains that the schedule I proposed is indeed thimerosal free, although the word “only” no longer applies.

Sorry for the mistake.

Comments

[Karina Coleman]

Anybody has any idea what are the minimum amount of vaccines I would have to give my 2yr old son now that we live in Lima, Peru??? He had his first Polio shot before we left the States 4 months ago but other than that he's vaccine free and super healthy... I am terrified of giving him any vaccines. Doctors here seem puzzled when I ask them for the vaccines' ingredients list. I want to buy some US vaccines without Mercury in them because these diseases actually exist here but I have been delaying it because I dont like vaccines. What do I do?? I can't keep my baby at home all day! I'm afraid to even take him to the park!

[Shawn Siegel]

Julie, 0.3 mcg of thimerosal in a standard vaccine dose equates to up to 300 times the concentration of mercury the EPA allows in drinking water - and we don't inject drinking water. So I would say, though it's obviously better than 3.0 mcg, it is far, far from good news.

[Alison]

The second MMR is NOT necessary unless a titre says that your child is not immune. According to Merck (the MAKER of the MMR), the first shot gives lifetime immunity to 95%; the second shot is required only because 5% fail to develop antibodies. There are no studies showing whether or not those 5% develop antibodies after the second shot.

The Hep B vaccines are NOT necessary at birth, or even during infancy, unless you or and/or your child engage in unprotected sex with strangers, or share needles. Those are the high risk factors for develping hep B.

BTW, I love the smoke analogy--great!

[Twyla]

Regarding the update and the CDC's amazingly stupid typo... Supposedly mecury is used in the manufacturing process and then reduced to less than 0.3 mcg through a purification process, but I never could get a straight answer from the CDC and FDA about whether there is ongoing testing of this purification process to see whether it is actually working. So, who knows how much mercury is really in these vaccines?

[Twyla]

"Believe in Science" -
Oh, really? You say that, "If you inject high amounts of Aluminum into a vein it is dangerous. If you inject it into tissue (muscle or fat) it is ok." Show me one study that shows it is safe to inject aluminum into tissue. Dr. Robert Sears looked for a study showing safe levels of aluminum for injection and could not find any.

Intramuscular injections distribute through the body more slowly than injections into a vein, but there is no filtering of toxins. Muscles and fat are not like kidneys or intestines.

Clearly you are not listening to any of the concerns raised on this web site. Do some more reading. You don't know as much as you think.

[Believe In Science - Vaccinate]

The routine CDC schedule for children less then 3yo can be completed as is done in California Thimerosal-free.

Breastmilk has aluminum in it, and Soy formula has quite a high amount. If you inject high amounts of Aluminum into a vein it is dangerous. If you inject it into tissue (muscle or fat) it is ok.

There are no studies showing that altering the CDC's standard vaccine schedule is safe. Do this at your own risk. Don't delay prevention, get your child Vaccinated appropriatly.

[jill r]

just looking at how many shots are given at the 12 month "well" visit makes me sick. that is where i lost my son. right there at that visit. we just getting him back with biomed treatments. everyday he does something that i was told he would never do. how great is that?!

[Randy]

Julie - the cigarette analogy reminded me of blog entry by Cornelia Read
http://www.nakedauthors.com/labels/CDC.html

Cornelia is one of the Naked Authors blogging at http://www.nakedauthors.com - and she's the mom of a young girl with autism. Anyone who's been lurking around AoA for a while might recall that her "CDC" post was also reprinted here in March

http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/03/the-naked-autho.html

For anyone who isn't familiar with this particular piece, take a few minutes to give it a read. It is a brilliant and intense reminder of what we're all are up against.

Like Cornelia said in her closing comments, "smoke 'em if you got 'em..."

[Monica]

Twyla, here is one study I know of regarding the damage of nanomolar thimerosal-

"Uncoupling of ATP-Mediated Calcium Signaling and Dysregulated Interleukin-6 Secretion in Dendritic Cells by Nanomolar Thimerosal"

http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2006/8881/abstract.html

here it is described in layman's terms-
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/7973

[Amy]

I have an idea of a possible reason why Energix-B causes more multiple sclerosis than Rocombivax.

Energix-B contains 5% yeast protein, while Recombivax contains only 1% yeast protein.