Thimerosal was brought into this world in the 1930’s. It was a promising young ingredient used in many vaccines, but tragedy struck in 2001 when it was removed from children’s vaccines. *Sheds tear* According to the CDC, thimerosal is a mercury-containing preservative, but the important thing to note here is not all types of mercury are the same. Simply put, some are harmful and some are perfectly safe. However, that did not stop people from latching onto the bad connotation of the word “mercury” and assuming that thimerosal was making them sick. The mercury in thimerosal does not stay in the human body, so it’s unlikely that it would cause illness. The CDC also reports there have been many studies done on the use of thimerosal in vaccine and they have concluded it is a perfectly safe ingredient to use in vaccines. If thimerosal is so safe, then why did its use come to a tragic end nearly two decades ago?
Starting in the early 1990s there was an increase in the number of autism diagnoses, so naturally people wanted answers. More specifically the parents of autistic children wanted answers and where do most people go to gather the quickest information. That’s right… the internet. Unfortunately, not all information on the web is well-researched or even true. That being said these parents embarked on a search for answers and the web served as a platform in which people from many different areas could converse and form advocacy groups. An article, written by PhD holder Jeffrey P. Baker, found that among the forming of these parental advocacy groups, the notion of an autism “epidemic” first took root. These organizations were able to reach those who would have normally been unreachable while also creating a sense of urgency for the growing autistic epidemic. While the advocacy groups started the autism hysterics, what linked thimerosal in the public’s mind to the autism “epidemic”?
I have a feeling the final nail in the thimerosal coffin was Andrew Wakefield’s anti-vaccine article (If you want to know more about the craziness that ensued from his biased piece of garbage article, then check out my previous blog post). Wakefield’s article was publicly published in 1998, so the timeline matches. In a nutshell his study reported that a small number of patients developed autistic regression after getting their measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) immunization. As soon as this was published people went into a panicked frenzy. The internet only heightened this anti-vaccine controversy because parents of autistic children believed Wakefield’s findings and spread his ideas like wildfire around their communities and online. Despite the failure to confirm Wakefield’s findings people linked the cause of autism to vaccines and their minds could not be changed. The MMR vaccine doesn’t even contain thimerosal, but this hysteria over vaccines causing autism was enough for people to look at all vaccines and blame it on the ingredients. It seems thimerosal was the perfect scapegoat since it contains mercury. However, as I stated above this is a different type of mercury known as ethylmercury which is safer for human use. Many studies have shown there is no connection between thimerosal and autism, but sadly it was still removed from children’s vaccines in 2001.
I’m sure above the thimerosal grave, its stone reads, “Here lies the sweetest little vaccine ingredient who wanted to do nothing but help those in need. Gone too soon, fly high little angel”. Yes, very sad that thimerosal is no longer used in children’s vaccines, but there is some good news! If you’re a fan of thimerosal’s work, then have no fear because thimerosal is still an active ingredient in some flu vaccines.
The Fascination with Vaccination 