Thursday July 8 5:49 PM ET

Mercury to be removed from vaccines

NEW YORK, Jul 08 (Reuters Health) -- The US Public Health Service (PHS) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have asked vaccine manufacturers to phase out a mercury-containing preservative that has been used in some vaccines since the 1940s.

The preservative, thimerosal, has not been shown to harm children, but some infants under age 6 months may be exposed to mercury levels in excess of federal guidelines with the current recommended immunization schedule. However, ``children who have received thimerosal-containing vaccines do not need to be tested for mercury exposure,'' according to a joint AAP/PHS statement.

Health officials advise parents to continue their children's immunization programs, because the risk of not immunizing children far outweighs the small risk posed by thimerosal.

``Terrible childhood diseases like whooping cough, bacterial meningitis, polio and diphtheria are waiting for us to let our guard down,'' according to a statement issued by Dr. David Satcher, the US. Surgeon General. ``The risk of devastating childhood diseases from failure to vaccinate far outweighs the minimal, if any, risk of exposure to cumulative levels of mercury in vaccines.''

The joint AAP/PHS statement on thimerosal in vaccines appears in the July 9th Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the weekly publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. Stories from the MMWR are available at the CDC website, www.cdc.gov.

The report's authors note that European regulatory community reached similar conclusions earlier this year.

In a statement, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) note that while there is currently ``no clinical evidence that the use of thimerosal has caused adverse health consequences, there is general consensus that it would be preferable to eliminate thimerosal from vaccines whenever possible. The vaccine industry is working closely with FDA and other government agencies to meet this objective.''