Western medicine confounds me. They're like "Hey be careful pregnant and nursing women! Don't eat too much of that fish because it might have mercury in it!" But then they see my sweet little babe and then they're like "hey! I have this vial with some mercury in it! Let's inject it directly into her BLOODSTREAM! Our tests say it's OK!" I just don't get it. They know mercury is a toxic substance. That's why they warn against the fish. Why is it ok in vaccines?? I remember in high school science class when they passed the mercury around that we weren't even allowed to touch it because supposedly it could enter into us through our skin.
Anyway, we had a frustrating experience with the doctor's office today. We love our doctor, he is a family friend, but his office doesn't always seem to know what's going on. I called to see if they had pediatric flu vaccine available and if they did if it was thimerosal free or not (thimerosal is the preservative that is 50% mercury). Well, first of all they weren't sure if they even had vaccine. When it was determined that they did for young children they told me that it didn't have mercury in it, it had EGG in it. HUH? I had read that the flu vaccine is incubated with chicken eggs, but what did that have to do with the mercury? So I called again and talked to someone else and they told me that there was no mercury in it. I wanted to talk to a nurse so she called me back. We talked, and she assured me that there was no mercury in it. I packed Lilli up, drove to the clinic, and sat in the waiting room for half an hour. Finally the nurse called us back and she informed us that she and the doctor had just checked, and indeed, there was mercury in the vaccine. At that point I was just glad to get a straight and truthful answer. If they hadn't double (triple) checked for me I was going to ask to see the package anyway, because I doubted that this clinic which apparently had never heard of mercury free vaccine, would have had the foresight to order it the season before. Oh well. Now I just can't take her anywhere during the flu season.
Anyway, we had a frustrating experience with the doctor's office today. We love our doctor, he is a family friend, but his office doesn't always seem to know what's going on. I called to see if they had pediatric flu vaccine available and if they did if it was thimerosal free or not (thimerosal is the preservative that is 50% mercury). Well, first of all they weren't sure if they even had vaccine. When it was determined that they did for young children they told me that it didn't have mercury in it, it had EGG in it. HUH? I had read that the flu vaccine is incubated with chicken eggs, but what did that have to do with the mercury? So I called again and talked to someone else and they told me that there was no mercury in it. I wanted to talk to a nurse so she called me back. We talked, and she assured me that there was no mercury in it. I packed Lilli up, drove to the clinic, and sat in the waiting room for half an hour. Finally the nurse called us back and she informed us that she and the doctor had just checked, and indeed, there was mercury in the vaccine. At that point I was just glad to get a straight and truthful answer. If they hadn't double (triple) checked for me I was going to ask to see the package anyway, because I doubted that this clinic which apparently had never heard of mercury free vaccine, would have had the foresight to order it the season before. Oh well. Now I just can't take her anywhere during the flu season.
posted by mariko at 3:05 PM
2 Comments:
so the babe gets no vaccine and has to be exposed to the flu virus for the next 6 months?
Correct. I would rather risk the flu than inject her with mercury. Of course, I would most rather have a vaccine with no mercury in it!
Post a Comment
<< Home