I don’t blame you for not wanting to read this article. There is a lot of information on the web about swine flu these days so you are probably thinking to yourself, ‘Not another swine flu article!’ However, I promise to make this brief, to the point and worth your while.

The long-awaited swine flu vaccine is expected to be released in late 2009 for the flu season. Many are worried about the possible presence of chemical additives and preservatives in the vaccine, particularly the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal.  This is probably due to the fact that the swine flu vaccine released nearly 30 years ago for a reported swine flu outbreak in the 1970s was linked to an increased risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome. Further, thimerosal is used as a preservative in a variety of vaccines and has been linked to autism. This is particularly concerning due to the fact that the list of vaccinations children should receive, as recommended by the CDC, continues to grow.

The CDC does not say whether or not the new vaccine will contain thimerosal but it does say that thimerosal will be manufactured in a manner similar to the common influenza flu vaccine (which may contain thimerosal). This may be concerning because the CDC recommends that swine flu vaccinations target the following populations:

--pregnant women

--persons who live with or provide care for infants less than 6 months of age

--healthcare and emergency medical services personnel

--persons aged 6 months to 24 years old

--persons aged 25-64 years old who are at a higher risk for influenza-relatedcomplications

The populations listed above represent approximately 159 million people in the United States, many of them who are children. Many researchers maintain that the link between autism and thimerosal has not been firmly established and that side effects with the swine flu vaccine (as with the influenza flu vaccine) are very rare. When making the decision whether or not to get the swine flu vaccine, one should take this into account. It is also important to remember that the influenza flu vaccine will not protect against the swine flu because they are different strains. 

Author: Christi Larson, Pharm. D.

Dr. Larson is a pharmacist, author of Empowered Medicine; A Guide for Consumers and creator of Empowered Medicine. You can read more about her by visiting www.EmpoweredMedicine.com and clicking on the 'About Us' tab.  EmpoweredMedicine.com is committed to providing evidence-based medical information from a pharmacist's point of view.