unavoidably

UNSAFE

Know

the

Facts

Mercury in Flu Vaccines

• TheFoodandDrugAdministration(FDA)warns

pregnant women and young children not to eat

fishcontaininghighlevelsofmethylmercury.

YettheCentersforDiseaseControlandPrevention

(CDC)recommendspregnantwomenandinfants

getinfluenzavaccines,manyofwhichcontain

mercuryfromthepreservativethimerosal.
• AccordingtoEnvironmentalProtectionAgency

(EPA)guidelinesonewouldhavetoweigh550lbs

tosafelyprocessthe25mcgofmercuryinaflu

vaccine.Mercuryisknowntobehighlytoxicto

braintissueandcanimpactcriticalstagesofbrain

developmentinafetusinutero,aninfantorachild.
• In2004,theEnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA)

estimatedthatoneineverysixwomenhasmercury

bloodlevelsthatcouldposearisktoanunborn

child.Twostudiesin2012showedthatamother’s

mercuryexposureislinkedtoattentionproblems

inherchildren.
• Scientificstudieshavedocumentedthatmercury

rapidly crosses the placenta and accumulates in

thefetusathigherlevelsthaninthemother.Ethyl

mercuryusedinvaccinesresultedinmorethan

doubletheamountofmercurydepositedinto

primateinfantbrainsthanequalamountsof

ingestedmethylmercury.
• In2001,theprestigiousInstituteofMedicine

recommendedthatpregnantwomen,infantsand

childrenNOTreceivevaccinespreservedwith

mercurybuttheCDCAdvisoryCommitteethat

makesvaccinerecommendationschosenotto

followtheiradvice.
• It is inconsistent and dangerous to recommend

vaccinescontainingethylmercurywhenalso

counselingpregnantwomentoavoidseafood

highinmethylmercuryduetotheknownharmful

effectsmercurycanhaveonthedevelopingfetus.
• Thimerosal-containingfluvaccinescontain250

timesthemercuryleveltheEPAusestoclassify

hazardouswaste.Unusedthimerosal-containing

fluvaccineshouldbereturnedtothemanufacturer

forappropriatedisposal.
Forcompletereferences,pleasevisitourwebsite

atwww.childrenshealthdefense.org/flufacts

You want to do

everything

right

foryourhealth,youwould

neverknowinglyallowsomeonetoinject
something into you or your children that
wasn’tcompletelysafe.Beforegetting
afluvaccine,youneedtoknowthis:
TheSupremeCourtruledthatvaccinesare

OUR MISSION

about us

Mission

Our mission is to end the childhood health epidemics
by working aggressively to eliminate harmful exposures,
hold those responsible accountable, and establish
safeguards so this never happens again.

HowtoGetInvolved

Signupforfreeupdatesat

www.childrenshealthdefense.org

Becomealifelongmember of

Children’s Health Defense for just $10.00

Use social media to help us to get the word out

regarding the childhood health epidemics and
what can be done to stop them.

Supportourefforts through a generous

tax deductible donation

Children’s

HealthDefense

1227NorthPeachtreePkwy,Suite202

PeachtreeCity,GA30269
Phone:[phone]

Contactustovolunteer or for additional information

FollowusonFacebookandTwitter
www.facebook.com

@childrenshd

what you

need

toknow

FLU VACCINES

2018-

2019

Flu Vaccines

More V

accine

Facts

to

Know

Accor

ding to in

fluenza v

accine packag

e inserts,“A

vailable

da

ta

onin

fluenza

vaccines

adminis

ter

edto

pr

egnantw

omenar

e

insufficientt

oin

form

vaccine-associa

ted

risk

sin

pr

egnantw

omen.”

A2017

CDC

study

link

smisc

arriage

to

fluv

accines,particularly

in

thefir

sttrimes

ter

.Pr

egnantw

omenv

accinated

in

the

2010/2011

and2011/2012

flu

seasons

had

tw

otimes

gr

eater

odds

of

ha

vinga

miscarriag

ewithin

28

da

ysof

receiving

the

vaccine.

In

w

omenwho

hadreceiv

edthe

H1N1

vaccine

in

the

pr

evious

flu

season,

the

odds

ofha

vinga

misc

arriage

within28

da

ysw

ere

7.7times

gr

eater

than

inw

omenwho

did

not

receiv

ea

flu

shot

during

their

pr

egnancy.

Astudy

published

in

2016

tha

tlook

eda

tthe

sa

fety

of

flu

vaccines

found

a

moderat

elyele

vat

edrisk

for

major

birth

de

fects

in

infan

tsborn

to

w

omenwho

had

receiv

eda

flu

vaccine

during

thefir

sttrimes

ter

of

pr

egnancy.A

study

published

in

2017

found

anele

vat

edrisk

of

autism

spectrum

disor

dersin

childr

enwhose

mothershad

a

first

trimes

ter

flu

shot.

Flu

vaccine

adminis

tration

isdocumen

ted

to

cause

an

in

flammator

yresponse

in

pr

egnant

women.

Recen

tresear

chfound

in

flammation

during

pr

egnancyis

associated

with

the

de

velopmen

tof

autism

spectrum

disor

ders.

Alar

ge

study

in

appr

oxima

tely

50,000

pr

egnantw

omeno

ver

fiv

e

fluseasons

found

no

diff

erence

in

the

risk

for

de

veloping

in

fluenza

orsimilar

illnesses

be

tween

those

who

receiv

edthe

in

fluenza

vaccine

during

pr

egnancyand

those

who

did

not.

Anindependen

t2014

re

view

found

no

randomiz

edc

ontr

olled

trialsassessing

vaccina

tionin

pr

egnantw

omen.It

st

ates,

“The

only

evidence

av

ailablec

omesfr

omob

serva

tionalstudies

with

modes

t

methodologic

alquality

.On

this

basis,

vaccina

tionsho

wsv

ery

limited

eff

ects.”

Kno

w the Facts: Flu V

accines for In

fan

ts and Children

Are

view

in

the

medic

aljournal

The

Lance

tfound

a

lackof

health

benefits

fr

omin

fluenza

vaccine

in

childr

enunder

tw

oalong

with

significan

tlyincr

easedra

tes

of

vaccine-r

elated

adv

erse

ev

ents.

Astudy

tha

tc

ompared

childr

enwho

receiv

edflu

vaccine

to

those

whodid

not

found

no

signific

antdiff

erence

in

the

ra

te

ofin

fluenza

betw

eenthe

activ

eand

placebo

gr

oups.

It

alsofound

tha

tthe

group

of

childr

enwho

receiv

edthe

flu

vaccine

had

a

4.4times

rela

tive

riskof

non-in

fluenza

respir

ator

ytr

actin

fections.

AnAus

tralian

study

found

one

in

ev

ery

110childr

enunder

the

age

offiv

ehad

con

vulsionsfollo

wingv

accination

with

the

FL

UVAX

H1N1v

accinein

2009.

Additional

resear

chfound

a

spike

inc

ases

ofnar

colep

sy

inchildr

enassocia

ted

with

the

H1N1

vaccine.

Influenz

a vaccines — Unit

ed Stat

es, 2018–19 influenz

a season*

FluV

accinesDuring

Pr

egnancy

Trade name

Manufactur

er

Presen

tation

Age

indication

Mercur

y

(from

thimerosal,

µg/0.5 mL)

Inactivated Influenz

a Vac

cines (IIVs) and R

ecombinan

t Influenza V

accine (RIV4)†

Afluria

Quadrivalen

t

Seqirus

0.5 mL prefilled s

yringe

≥5 yrs

NR

5.0 mL multi-dose vial

≥5 yrs

(needle/syring

e)

18 through 64 yr

s

(je

t injector)

24.5

Fluarix

Quadrivalen

t

GlaxoSmithKline

0.5 mL prefilled s

yringe

≥6 months

NR

FluLaval

Quadrivalen

tID

Biomedical

Corp.

ofQuebec

0.5 mL prefilled s

yringe

≥6 months

NR

5.0 mL multi-dose vial

≥6 months

<25

Flucelvax

Quadrivalen

t

Seqirus(ccIIV4)

0.5 mL prefilled s

yringe

≥4 yrs

NR

5.0 mL multi-dose vial

≥4 yrs

<25

Fluzone

Quadrivalen

t

SanofiP

asteur

0.25 mL prefilled s

yringe

6 through 35

months

NR

0.5 mL prefilled s

yringe

≥3 year

s

NR

0.5 mL single-dose vial

≥3 year

s

NR

5.0 mL multi-dose vial

≥6 months

25

Trivalen

t IIV (IIV3s)

Afluria

Seqirus

0.5 mL prefilled s

yringe

≥5 year

s

NR

5.0 mL multi-dose vial

≥5 yrs

(needle/syring

e)

18 through 64 yr

s

(je

t injector)

24.5

Fluad Seqirus

(aIIV3)

0.5 mL prefilled s

yringe

≥65yr

s

NR

Fluzone

High-Dose

SanofiP

asteur

(HD-IIV3)

0.5 mL prefilled s

yringe

≥65 yrs

NR

Quadrivalent RIV (RIV4)

Flublok

Quadrivalen

t

SanofiP

asteur

0.5 mL prefilled s

yringe

≥18 year

s

NR

Live Attenuat

ed Influenza V

accine (LAIV4)

FluMist

Quadrivalen

t

Astr

aZenec

a

0.2 prefilled

intr

anasal spray

er

2 through 49 yr

s

NR

Ever

yy

ear,the

Cen

ter

sfor

Disease

Con

trol

and

Pr

even

tion

(CDC)and

pharmaceutic

alc

ompaniesmoun

tan

ag

gressiv

e

campaign in the mains

tream media t

o persuade Americ

ans to

get

their

flu

shots.

Flu

shots

ar

ebig

business:

indus

try

analysts

estima

te

thatwithin

the

ne

xtfiv

ey

ears,

theU

.S.flu

vaccine

market

will

be

w

orthalmos

t$3

billion

annually

.

TheCDC

has

advised

the

indus

try

to

hike

demandthr

ough

theuse

of

a

“recipe”

of

messaging

to

ge

ty

ourflu

shot

no

w

through

adv

ertisements

tha

tinclude

“…s

tat

ements

of

alarm

by

publichealth

authorities…pr

edictionof

dir

eout

comes

fr

om

influenz

a…con

tinuedreports

tha

tin

fluenza

isc

ausingse

ver

e

illnessa

ffecting

lots

of

people…r

epeated

ur

gingof

in

fluenza

vaccina

tion…”tha

tbombar

dc

onsumers.

From

2014

to

2015,

the

NVICP

flu

shot

se

ttlements

incr

eased

from

$4.9

million

to

$61

million—an

1100%

incr

ease.As

the

Vaccine

Adv

erse

Ev

entR

eportingS

yst

em(V

AERS),

a

volun

tar

y

surveillance

sy

stem,

is

acknowledg

edb

ythe

go

vernmen

tto

cap

ture

aslittle

as

one

per

centof

actual

adv

erse

ev

ents,

the

flu

vaccine

injuries

and

dea

thsar

esub

stan

tiallyunderr

eported.

Accor

ding to the CDC

, ov

erthe

pas

t14

seasons,

thee

ffectiv

enessof

the

in

fluenza

vaccine

has

varied

from

10%

to

60%.

When offer

ed a flu vaccine

Vaccine

decisions

should

not

be

made

without

doing

your

resear

chfir

stand

deciding

if

thein

fluenza

virusis

a

significan

t

concern

for

you

and

your

family

.

Besur

eto

find

out

the

manuf

acturer

and

av

oidv

accinesfr

om

multi-dosevials

tha

tc

ontain

the

pr

eserva

tive

thimerosal.

Revie

wthe

evidence

reg

arding

the

eff

ectiveness

of

the

flu

vaccine

in

actually

pr

even

tingin

fluenza.

For

in

forma

tionvisit

ww

w.summaries.c

ochrane.or

g

Donot

le

ty

ourself

be

pr

essured

in

to

receiving

a

vaccine

tha

t

you

don’t

w

ant;

shouldy

ouchoose

to

vaccina

te,

insis

ttha

t

your

doct

oror

pharmacis

tfind

you

a

mercur

y-fr

eev

accine.

Tips f

or Prev

enting the Flu

Simpletechniques

such

as

av

oidingthose

with

flu-lik

eillnesses,

eating

a

healthy

dietand

good

hand

w

ashingc

anpr

even

tman

y

cases

of

flu.

If

you

do

con

tract

in

fluenza,

op

timizingvit

aminD

levels,

fluid

in

tak

eand

res

tc

anboos

timmune

function.

Abbreviations: IIV=inactivat

ed influenza vac

cine; RIV=recombinan

t influenza vac

cine;

HA=hemagglutinin; LAIV=live attenuat

ed influenza vac

cine; mos=months; yrs=years.

Know

the

Facts: