Thank you for linking to my article! I love your blog and read it all the time so it's an honor to be linked to here.

I've got thoughts on this over at my site. Tried to TrackBack but it was refused (403 Throttled, you may be getting a lot of spam pings and I got choked out).

They no longer put mercury in children's vaccines.

Yes, there is mercury in certain children's vaccines. However, the total exposure, has been GREATLY reduced over the last decade or so. See info re mercury content of various vaccines at http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/thi-table.htm. Most children receiving a flu vaccine this year will get some mercury in the shot.

Nearly all children's vaccines are now mercury-free...BUT, the flu shot still contains thimerisol(the mercury-containing preservative). And it was on the schedule for my 18-month old's last check-up, and so I refused it. I've gone along with most of the vaccine schedule. I did a lot of research when I was pregnant and it was pretty inconclusive. In the end I figured the benefits of vaccination most likely outweighed the risks. I did refuse the Hep-B shot they tried to give him at 2 DAYS OLD in the hospital...just didn't feel right to do something invasive like that so soon.
Also, I guess there's still unknown factors regarding the safety of whatever preservative has replaced thimerisol. I give kudos to moms who try to create a safer vaccine schedule, because you tend to counter opposition. And my general advice is-don't blindly accept the mainstream advice, but don't jump on a paranoia bandwagon either...just do the research, and trust your logic and intuition!
This conversation reminds me of the ones I have every single time I bring my son in for a check up. While I'm generally satisfied with our pediatrician, he seems determined to get my son on fluoride supplements(we don't have it added to our water here). Every time I refuse, I get the sense he's a little offended that his expertise is being questioned. This last time, though, I said something like "Well, I still keep hearing a lot of controversy over this. And it's not just from "fringey" groups, but groups like the Canadian Dental Association(or was it medical?) that are no longer recommending fluoride be ingested". And he seemed surprised and said "Hm, I hadn't heard about that!" So, who knows...maybe he'll even look into it...

Two comments:
Thimerosal is only used in the multidose flu-shot vials. Most of the shots people get come from the single dose, which are preservative free.

Stellamaris, although I don't agree with your choice on the Hep B, I totally agree with your choice on refusing the fluoride supplements. (You could also note that the ADA now recommends that formula isn't made with fluoridated water).

Thanks for the comments, guys.

I think the real point here is that Cristina's doctor wasn't really willing to hear her concerns. The line about the Rotavirus vaccine makes that clear.

Maybe it was a miscommunication, but she was saying "I'm not sure I believe the safety tests are enough" and he was saying "but they've been safety tested!"

I dunno AngryTox, while I generally agree that kids really need vaccines, I think it is fine for a parent to skip the birth dose of the Hep B shot if they know they and other families are Hep B free. A newborn isn't likely to have blood contact w/strangers during their first 2 months.

This underscores the problem with vaccines (in my mind at least). The discussion (and increasingly the shots themselves) are so all or nothing. We are talking about a whole bunch of different diseases and dose regimes. Most are crucial, but goofy things like chicken pox shot and mercury-laden flu shots make it hard for me to throw my entire faith behind the medical othodoxy. And combined shots don't let parents have any control about staggering their shots if they so prefer (though it causes too many trips to the doctors for my taste).

I actually think the Dr did decently with the Rotavirus part, but if you read Christina's whole encounter, you see that the staff refused to engage her in a conversation about the real risks and benefits of shots, and give her the tools, (like the ingredient lists) to help her make a decision.

There are nasty things like formaldehyde, aluminum, some thimerosal, etc... in shots. Nobody should try to hide that. But despite that we still know that most do more harm than good. ...though I'll wait a bit longer before I decide about the chicken pox vax. I don't want to risk my son getting a worse case as an adult.

I am a nurse at a pediatricians office and we use PF which is preservative free and it contains no mercury, I am very concerned about children I have 2, and I am very concerned about the environment so I like to help as much as possiable, even if it is giving shots to children with no preservative, and it is true that they do clinical studies on many children before putting it on the market, (Rotateq) is for rotavirus and it is a great thing if you have ever seen a child with rota you would be glad to know that your child got the series of vacines.

The doctor was brushing her concerns off when she addressed the rotavirus vaccine issue.

However, I think it would be better on her part to follow the standard schedule on older, well-established vaccines such as HepB, polio. Those vaccinations have been going on for decades. But for newer vaccines, doctors should inform the patients everything about it.. both risks and benefits.