Oak Park Voters to Consider Vaccine Referendum
Local advocate stresses transparency in listing ingredients of inoculations.
Voters in Oak Park will be asked on Nov. 2 if they would like to require those who administer vaccines to provide accompanying literature listing a medicine manufacturer's vaccine ingredients.
Specifically, the referendum asks:
Shall the Village of Oak Park require those who inject vaccines, in the Village of Oak Park, to give the vaccine recipients, their parents or guardians the vaccine manufacturer's specific package inserts of the vaccines they will receive, and to inform them that, thimerosal/mercury-containing vaccines, including but not limited to, influenza (flu), meningococcal (meningitis) and tetanus vaccines, may contain 3 1/2 times the daily toxic dose of mercury exposure for an 148-pound adult?
The ballot question originated last spring with a group called the Illinois Vaccine Awareness Coalition. Led by Oak Park resident Barbara Mullarkey, the group gathered 15 signatures and was successful in having the question added to the Nov. 2 general election ballot, by way of a provision in the Oak Park Township code allowing citizens to put forth an "advisory referendum" on the ballot each year. (See above accompanying PDF for more information.)
Oak Park health officials say they don't endorse or support the claims made in the referendum.
Public health director Margaret Provost-Fyfe said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine roundly reject the group's claims about mercury levels.
On its website, the CDC states "there is no convincing evidence of harm caused by the low doses of thimerosal in vaccines, except for minor reactions like redness and swelling at the injection site."
But the CDC goes on to say "in July 1999, the Public Health Service agencies, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and vaccine manufacturers agreed that thimerosal should be reduced or eliminated in vaccines as a precautionary measure."
A full FAQ, or frequently asked questions, on thimerosal can be found at the CDC's website.
An Institute of Medicine (IOM) representative said the group would not comment on the claims made in the Oak Park referendum, but said IOM scientists have "reviewed the full body of scientific evidence on whether there are any links between thimerosal and autism. In a 2004 report, the IOM stated that the evidence does not show a link between autism and thimerosal-containing vaccines."
But Mullarkey said it's not about reducing mercury levels or even autism.
Instead, she said it's about transparency.
"Basically, what we'd like is vaccine disclosure," Mullarkey said. "Doctors and health officials give information on drugs all the time. Why can't the package insert be given...so people have knowledge of the ingredients and side effects?"
Bob Apthorpe
9:56 pm on Monday, October 25, 2010
If the referendum is not about mercury, then why mention mercury & thimerosal at all? And why lie about mercury toxicity? Different chemical forms of mercury have different biological effects & retention times in people; without more specific information it's not clear that the stated toxicity is even relevant for thimerosal.
This referendum is nothing but anti-vaccination scaremongering, the ultimate effect of which is to put the residents of Oak Park and surrounding communities at increased risk of preventable infectious disease. There have been at least ten infant deaths from whooping cough (pertussis) in California this year, the worst epidemic since 1958. Ten babies too young to be immunized are dead now because of low vaccination rates. This isn't scaremongering - this is a fact.
It's not just kids either. Tomorrow I get to give myself my weekly injection of an arthritis medication designed to keep my immune system from attacking my joints. Without it, it's hard to move and I'm in a lot of pain. With it, I have reduced defenses against infectious disease. To keep myself healthy and to protect those around me, I have to keep current on my vaccine schedule: TDaP, Hepatitis A/B, Tuberculosis, and seasonal flu. I don't particularly like getting poked but the alternative is much worse. Vaccine injury is much rarer than the illnesses the vaccines are intended to prevent and the consequences of contracting these diseases are much much worse than any vaccine side-effects.
Bob Calin-Jageman
12:42 pm on Tuesday, October 26, 2010
This referendum is unecessary and potentially harmful.
First - the proposed 'information' is unnecessary. Thimerisol is not used in the vast majority of U.S. vaccines. This has been true since 2002 and includes all children's vaccines. For the few adult vaccines with small amounts of this preservative, thimerisol-free formulations are available for pregnant women.
Worse, the proposed referendum would require doctors to compare the doses of *ethyl*mercury, the metabolite of thimerisol, to the safety levels of *methyl*mercury, a distinct and more-toxic molecule. This is a deliberate mixing of apples and oranges. There is no reason to mandate such misinformation about vaccines.
Even if thimerisol were still in common use, the evidence is quite clear that vaccines in general are quite safe and that this additive, specifically, is not a causal factor in autism. Although there are a few adverse reactions every year to vaccines, the advantages far outweigh the risks.
You can get some accurate information about vaccine safety from the CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/Concerns/Thimerosal/thimerosal_faqs.html