Amador County Public Health, 10877 Conductor Blvd, Ste 400
Sutter Creek, CA 95685
Phone (209) 223-6407 Fax (209)223-1562
publichealth@co.amador.ca.us
FROM: Dr. Robert
Hartmann
Amador
County Health Officer
DATE: November 1,
2009
RE:
Vaccination Myths
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Vaccine Myths
Public health officials are now battling not only a fast-spreading
influenza virus but also unfounded fears about the vaccine that can prevent it.
The good news is that for the first time in more than 50
years we’ve made a vaccine against a pandemic strain of influenza before the
onset of winter, when lower temperatures and humidity allow the virus to spread
more easily. Distributing this vaccine to those who need it most — pregnant
women, health care workers, children older than six months and people with
compromised immunity — will be difficult enough. But the task is made harder by
the various myths, spread on TV talk shows and Web sites, suggesting that
Americans have more to fear from the vaccine than from the deadly disease it
prevents. Here are some of those myths, and why they’re wrong:
Myth #1 - SWINE FLU VACCINE IS UNSAFE
The H1N1 virus revealed itself too late for it to be
included in this year’s seasonal flu vaccine. But the H1N1-specific vaccine was
manufactured in the same way as the regular vaccine: The shot form is made by
growing the virus in hen’s eggs, purifying it and then treating it with a
chemical that inactivates it. This technology has been used to make influenza
vaccines for 60 years, and it has an excellent safety record. The nasal spray
form is made by adapting the virus to temperatures below those typically found
in the body. This allows it to reproduce in the relatively cool lining of the
nose, but not in the lungs where it could cause harm. This technology has been
used safely for more than 30 years. FluMist, a seasonal flu vaccine used since
2003, is made the same way.
Myth #2 - THE VACCINE IS UNTESTED
The H1N1 vaccine has already been given to thousands of
volunteers to determine whether it could protect them from the virus and to
make sure that it caused no adverse reactions.
Only then did the Food and Drug Administration license it.
Myth #3 - THE VACCINE CONTAINS A DANGEROUS ADJUVANT
Some vaccines, like the hepatitis B and human papillomavirus
vaccines, have substances called adjuvants, which are added to enhance the
immune response, so that smaller quantities of vaccine can be given. Some
people fear that the H1N1 vaccine contains, in particular, squalene, an
adjuvant that, while included in other vaccines in Europe and Canada, has never
been used in routine vaccines in the United States. But the H1N1 vaccine available in the United States has no
adjuvant of any kind.
Myth #4 - THE VACCINE HAS A DANGEROUS PRESERVATIVE
According to the CDC, the 2009 novel H1N1 influenza vaccines
that FDA is licensing will be manufactured in several formulations. Some will
come in multi-dose vials and will contain thimerosal as a preservative.
Multi-dose vials of seasonal influenza vaccine also contain thimerosal to
prevent potential contamination after the vial is opened.
Some vaccine manufacturers will be producing novel H1N1
influenza vaccine in single-dose units, which will not require the use of
thimerosal as a preservative. In addition, the live-attenuated version of the
vaccine, which is administered intranasally (through the nose), is produced in
single-units and will not contain thimerosal.
Thimerosal is an important preservative that protects
vaccines against potential microbial contamination, which may occur in opened
multi-dose vials of vaccine. Such contamination could cause serious illness or
death. Since seasonal influenza vaccine is produced in large quantities for
annual immunization campaigns, some of the vaccine is produced in multi-dose
vials, and contains thimerosal to safeguard against possible contamination of
the vial once it is opened.
Three leading federal agencies (CDC, FDA, and NIH) have
reviewed the published research on thimerosal and found it to be a safe product
to use in vaccines. Three independent organizations (The National Academy of
Sciences’ Institute of Medicine (IOM), the Advisory Committee on Immunization
Practices (ACIP), and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)) reviewed the
published research and also found thimerosal to be a safe product to use in
vaccines.
Nonetheless, the presence of the preservative thimerosal in
vaccines and suggestions of a relationship to autism has raised concerns. Since
2001, no new vaccine licensed by FDA for use in children has contained
thimerosal as a preservative. All
vaccines routinely recommended by CDC for children under six years of age have
been thimerosal-free, or contain only trace amounts, except for some
formulations of influenza vaccine. Yet,
we have not seen reductions in the numbers of children diagnosed with autism,
indicating that the cause of autism is not related to thimerosal.
As pointed out by one pediatrician, Ari Brown, MD, FAAP, “a
tuna sandwich has FIVE TIMES more mercury than one dose of flu vaccine.” 1
H1N1 influenza vaccine is expected to have a similar safety
profile to seasonal flu vaccines, which have a very good safety track record.
Data from novel H1N1 trials among children are not available yet.
Excerpted paragraphs from Paul A. Offit, the chief of the
infectious diseases division of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia,
“Nothing to Fear but the Flu Itself” New York Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/opinion/12offit.html?_r=4&scp=1&sq=Nothing
to Fear but the Flu Itself &st=cse.
1 - Dr. Ari Brown received her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas; she did her pediatric residency at Harvard Medical School/Boston Children’s Hospital. Quote excerpted from: http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p2068.pdf.