What progress has been made since July 1999 in removing thimerosal from vaccines routinely recommended for infants?
Substantial progress has been made in the effort to reduce thimerosal exposure from vaccines. Today, with the exception of some flu vaccines, none of the vaccines used in the U.S. to protect preschool aged children against 12 infectious diseases contain thimerosal as a preservative. The vaccines with trace amounts of thimerosal licensed to date contain less than 0.5 micrograms of mercury per dose, that is, a given dose of vaccine contains less than 1 part per million. Prior to the recent initiative to reduce or eliminate thimerosal from childhood vaccines, the maximum cumulative exposure to mercury via routine childhood vaccinations during the first six months of life was 187.5 micrograms. With the newly formulated vaccines, the maximum cumulative exposure during the first six months of life will now be less than three micrograms of mercury; this represents a greater than 98 percent reduction in the amount of mercury a child would receive from vaccines in the first six months of life.
Substantial progress has been made in the effort to reduce thimerosal exposure from vaccines. Today, with the exception of some flu vaccines, none of the vaccines used in the U.S. to protect preschool aged children against 12 infectious diseases contain thimerosal as a preservative. The vaccines with trace amount of thimerosal licensed to date contain less than 0.5 micrograms of mercury per dose, that is, a given dose of vaccine contains less than 1 part per million. Events that contributed to accomplishing this goal include the licensure of a thimerosal free Hepatitis B Vaccine (Recombinant) manufactured by Merck and Company in August 1999. FDA licensed another hepatitis B vaccine with only trace amounts of thimerosal, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline in March 2000. A supplement for a new formulation of Aventis Pasteur’s DTaP Vaccine with only a trace amount of thimerosal was approved in March 2001. Additionally, Wyeth-Lederle Vaccines and Pediatrics now only markets a single-dose, thi
Substantial progress has been made in the effort to reduce thimerosal exposure from vaccines. Today, with the exception of some flu vaccines, none of the vaccines used in the U.S. to protect preschool aged children against 12 infectious diseases contain thimerosal as a preservative. The vaccines with trace amount of thimerosal licensed to date contain less than 0.5 micrograms of mercury per dose, that is, a given dose of vaccine contains less than 1 part per million. Events that contributed to accomplishing this goal include the licensure of a thimerosal free Hepatitis B Vaccine (Recombinant) manufactured by Merck and Company in August 1999. FDA licensed another hepatitis B vaccine with only trace amounts of thimerosal, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline in March 2000. A supplement for a new formulation of Aventis Pasteur’s DTaP Vaccine with only a trace amount of thimerosal was approved in March 2001. Additionally, Wyeth-Lederle Vaccines and Pediatrics now only markets a single-dose, thi
