NEPA Vital Signs - Winter Spring 2018 - 8

L ACKMEDSOC.ORG

LUZERNEMEDSOC.ORG

Feature

Q? Do vaccinations still contain

thimerosal/mercury?

Q? Can the influenza vaccine cause

paralysis? 7

The correlation between paralysis and influenza vaccine gained
a lot of momentum back in the 1970s when the swine flu vaccine of the time was thought to be associated with an increased
incidence of Guillain-Barré syndrome. However, decades of
studies surrounding the influenza vaccine demonstrate the
risk of a patient becoming paralyzed from the flu vaccine is
roughly 0.0001% or one case of Guillain-Barré per one million
people vaccinated.

There have been concerns in the past about thimerosal (mercury) containing vaccinations for the possible allergic response
and falsely identified link to autism. According to the FDA other
than allergic responses in some individuals, there was no known
health risk from thimerosal-preservative at the concentration
used in vaccines, although this ingredient was removed from
childhood vaccines in the U.S. in 2001 due to scientific uncertainty at the time. Additionally, research does not show any link
between thimerosal in vaccines and autism. Many well conducted
studies have concluded that thimerosal in vaccines does not
contribute to the development of autism. Even after thimerosal
was removed from almost all childhood vaccines, autism rates
continued to increase, which is the opposite of what would be
expected if thimerosal caused autism. There are some vaccines
that still contain thimerosal including afluria, fluvirin, flulaval,
and fluzone multi-dose vials, fluvirin single dose, and meningococcal (menactra).

Q? If a patient currently has a case
of shingles, can they receive the
zoster vaccine? 3
It is not recommended that a patient receive the zoster
vaccine if they currently have or recently had a case of shingles. If a zoster vaccine is administered to a patient whose
immunity is currently or has recently been boosted by a case

1 Product Information: FLUARIX(R) QUADRIVALENT intramuscular injection suspension, influenza vaccine intramuscular injection suspension. GlaxoSmithKline (per FDA), Research Triangle Park, NC, 2017.
2 Vaccine Recommendations and Guidelines of the ACIP. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/general-recs/administration.html. Published October 4, 2017.
Accessed December 2, 2017.
3 Ask the Experts: Topics. Ask the Experts: Administering Vaccines. http://www.immunize.org/askexperts/administering-vaccines.asp. Accessed December 2, 2017.
4 Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/appendix/appdx-b.html. Published April 28, 2016.
Accessed December 2, 2017.
5 Influenza (Flu). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/egg-allergies.htm. Published September 2, 2016. Accessed December 2, 2017.
6 Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. Vaccine Safety & Availability - Thimerosal and Vaccines. U S Food and Drug Administration Home Page. https://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/SafetyAvailability/VaccineSafety/UCM096228. Accessed December 2, 2017.
7 Influenza (Flu). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/guillainbarre.htm. Published November 2, 2017. Accessed December 2, 2017.
8 Vaccinations. National Multiple Sclerosis Society. https://www.nationalmssociety.org/Living-Well-With-MS/Diet-Exercise-Healthy-Behaviors/Vaccinations. Accessed December 2, 2017.
9 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases. Hamborsky J, Kroger A, Wolfe S, eds. 13th ed. Washington D.C. Public Health Foundation, 2015.

N E PA

VITAL SIGNS

http://www.lackmedsoc.org http://www.LUZERNEMEDSOC.ORG https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/general-recs/administration.html http://www.immunize.org/askexperts/administering-vaccines.asp https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/appendix/appdx-b.html https://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/egg-allergies.htm https://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/SafetyAvailability/VaccineSafety/UCM096228 https://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/guillainbarre.htm https://www.nationalmssociety.org/Living-Well-With-MS/Diet-Exercise-Healthy-Behaviors/Vaccinations

NEPA Vital Signs - Winter Spring 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NEPA Vital Signs - Winter Spring 2018