Vaccine Worries Put Children at Risk

The Sept. 29 story, “Bill to Limit Mercury in Shots OKd,” fuels unsupported anti-vaccine fears and omits the positive, pro-vaccine core of the governor’s message. The American Academy of Pediatrics and others in 1999 recommended the removal of thimerosal from vaccines based on the potential for a cumulative load of mercury, from foods and other sources, which might exceed acceptable standards for the youngest infants. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stated that he was signing AB 2943 “in an abundance of caution,” consistent with that 1999 policy. He also said that there were significant risks associated with the failure to vaccinate children that far outweighed any theoretical risk associated with thimerosal and explicitly urged parents to get their children vaccinated.

AB 2943 does not take effect until July 2006. It provides that vaccines containing thimerosal as a preservative may be used in emergencies after that date, including when other vaccine supplies are inadequate.

The message from the governor is clear.

More than 150 children died from influenza in the U.S. last year.

If this article causes one parent to forgo a thimerosal-containing influenza vaccine out of fear of undocumented thimerosal risks, the authors and, indeed, The Times, should be ashamed of themselves.

Wilbert Mason MD

Head, Div. of Infectious

Diseases, Childrens

Hospital, Los Angeles