Place holder for some links I'm going to be needing shortly.

The first is from the Honolulu Advertiser ...

Next is the levels of mercury in the H1N1 shot ...


http://www.doh.wa.gov/cfh/Immunize/documents/suspensionfaq.pdf

What are Washington’s legal limits on mercury in flu vaccine?

Washington has a law that sets a limit on how much mercury can be in vaccines for pregnant women and children younger than three years old. The law requires the flu vaccine, including H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine, given to people in these groups have no more than 1.0 microgram of mercury per 0.5 milliliter dose. Your doctor or nurse can explain the meaning of these amounts.

What do these limits mean for H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine?

Some H1N1 (swine flu) vaccines will meet the mercury limits (1.0 microgram per 0.5 milliliter dose or less) and some will not.

The some unit conversions ...

How many milliliters in 1 grams? The answer is 1.

We assume you are converting between milliliter and gram [water].

Wikipedia entry for Microgram ...

a microgram (μg or sometimes ug) is 1/1000000 of a gram (1 × 10–6), or 1/1000 of a milligram

and finally PBS' guide to mercury in fish ...

HOW MUCH MERCURY IS IN 6 OUNCES OF CHUNK WHITE TUNA?

* Multiply amount of fish by average mercury level for chunk white albacore.
* Convert 6 ounces to grams = 170 grams 170 grams X .31 ppm (or micrograms per gram)**

MERCURY INGESTED = 52.7 micrograms per gram

Now, your starter for ten is ... how much mercury in Yellowfin Tuna is equivalent to the amount of mercury in an H1N1 shot ?

Slightly over three grams

The bonus is .... Wikipedia's entry for Mercury Poisoning !

Have a nice day :O)

Next step .... background reading.


The 1918 flu pandemic or The Spanish flu pandemic.

The problem they are trying to prevent.


The mathematics of mass vaccination

The methodology by which they aim to prevent a pandemic.


Smallpox eradication

An example supporting the case for immunology.


Herd immunity

A type of immunity that occurs when the vaccination of a portion of the population provides protection to unprotected individuals.


Whole-cell pertussis vaccine controversy

The root of negative publicity surrounding vaccines.

Possibly last, but by no means least ...

Mercury concentrations and metabolism in infants receiving vaccines containing thiomersal: a descriptive study.

BACKGROUND: Thiomersal is a preservative containing small amounts of ethylmercury that is used in routine vaccines for infants and children. The effect of vaccines containing thiomersal on concentrations of mercury in infants' blood has not been extensively assessed, and the metabolism of ethylmercury in infants is unknown. We aimed to measure concentrations of mercury in blood, urine, and stools of infants who received such vaccines. METHODS: 40 full-term infants aged 6 months and younger were given vaccines that contained thiomersal (diptheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis vaccine, hepatitis B vaccine, and in some children Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine). 21 control infants received thiomersal-free vaccines. We obtained samples of blood, urine, and stools 3-28 days after vaccination. Total mercury (organic and inorganic) in the samples was measured by cold vapour atomic absorption. FINDINGS: Mean mercury doses in infants exposed to thiomersal were 45.6 microg (range 37.5-62.5) for 2-month-olds and 111.3 microg (range 87.5-175.0) for 6-month-olds. Blood mercury in thiomersal-exposed 2-month-olds ranged from less than 3.75 to 20.55 nmol/L (parts per billion); in 6-month-olds all values were lower than 7.50 nmol/L. Only one of 15 blood samples from controls contained quantifiable mercury. Concentrations of mercury were low in urine after vaccination but were high in stools of thiomersal-exposed 2-month-olds (mean 82 ng/g dry weight) and in 6-month-olds (mean 58 ng/g dry weight). Estimated blood half-life of ethylmercury was 7 days (95% CI 4-10 days). INTERPRETATION: Administration of vaccines containing thiomersal does not seem to raise blood concentrations of mercury above safe values in infants. Ethylmercury seems to be eliminated from blood rapidly via the stools after parenteral administration of thiomersal in vaccines.

Thiomersal (INN) (C9H9HgNaO2S), or sodium ethylmercurithiosalicylate, commonly known in the United States as thimerosal, is an organomercury compound (approximately 49% mercury by weight) used as an antiseptic and antifungal agent.

it has been used as a preservative in vaccines, immunoglobulin preparations, skin test antigens, antivenins, ophthalmic and nasal products, and tattoo inks.

Risk assessment for effects on the nervous system have been made by extrapolating from dose-response relationships for methylmercury. Methylmercury and ethylmercury distributes to all body tissues, crossing the blood-brain barrier and the placental barrier, and ethylmercury also moves freely throughout the body. Concerns based on extrapolations from methylmercury caused thiomersal to be removed from U.S. childhood vaccines, starting in 1999. Since then, it has been found that ethylmercury is cleared from the body and the brain significantly faster than methylmercury, so the late-1990s risk assessments turned out to be overly conservative. A 2008 study found that the half-life of blood mercury after vaccination averages 3.7 days for newborns and infants, much shorter than the 44 days for methylmercury.

There is no convincing evidence that thiomersal is a factor in the onset of autism. Despite this, many parents, and some scientists and doctors, believe there is a connection. Parents may first become aware of autistic symptoms in their child around the time of a routine vaccination, and parental concern about vaccines has led to a decreasing uptake of childhood immunizations and an increasing likelihood of measles outbreaks.] More than 5,000 U.S. families have filed claims in a federal vaccine court alleging autism was caused by vaccines, most implicating thiomersal; the majority of these claims are still being adjudicated. The U.S. federal government agreed to award damages in one case, to a girl with a mitochondrial enzyme deficiency who developed autistic-like symptoms after receiving a series of vaccines, some of which contained thiomersal. Many parents view this ruling as confirming that vaccines cause regressive autism; however, most children with autism do not seem to have mitochondrial disorders, and the case was conceded without proof of causation.

UPDATE : Looks like I haven't got around to writing that article ... should have left it in drafts, especially as noone contributed.

Anyway, the Lancet has accepted the MMR study linking it to autism to be false and has published a retraction according to the Beeb ...

The medical journal which originally published the discredited research linking autism and MMR has now issued a full retraction of the paper.

The Lancet said it now accepted claims made by the researchers were "false".

It comes after Dr Andrew Wakefield, the lead researcher in the 1998 paper, was ruled last week to have broken research rules by the General Medical Council.

The publication caused vaccination rates to plummet, resulting in a rise in measles.

The Lancet had already issued a partial retraction.