The efforts of a Ball State University student organization have led to the Amelia T. Wood Health Center getting rid of flu vaccines containing thimerosal, which could be linked to neurological disorders.
Ball State's Health Center ordered its first shipment of Fluarix, a thimerosal-free flu vaccine, instead of previously-used Fluzone, Dr. Kent Bullis, medical director of the Health Center, said Monday.
Thimerosal contains traces of mercury, which is used as a preservative to kill bacteria and other microbes that can get into the vaccine bottles every time a syringe is inserted. Fluarix comes in one-use vials, so there is no need for preservatives, Bullis said.
Fluarix will cost about the same as Fluzone, he said. The Health Center pays about $100 for a 10-use bottle of Fluzone. Bottles of one-use Fluarix cost about $10, Bullis said.
The Health Center ordered 800 bottles of Fluarix last month so they would be delivered to Ball State by October. The clinic also ordered one bottle of Fluzone because Fluarix can cause complications for patients with latex allergies because there is some on the bottles, Bullis said.
Thimerosal has drawn attention because of studies linking the substance with disorders such as autism in children and Alzheimer's disease in the elderly.
Bullis said the Health Center staff decided to switch to thimerosal-free Fluarix after members of the Ball State Truth Movement approached them with concerns about the drug ingredient.
"Certainly there's no question that mercury in certain doses and certain situations can be toxic," Bullis said. " ... Since the group of students came to us and expressed concerns about it, we decided to change. I consider the students to be my customers and want to give them what they want."
Tony Farmer, president of the Ball State Truth Movement, said group members began assembling three binders of research highlighting problems with thimerosal in November. The research focused more on Alzheimer's than autism because that is what affects college students the most, Farmer said.
"That was our concern on the college campus - students getting this vaccine three or four years in a row can lead to Alzheimer's," he said.
Doctors began using vaccines with ingredients containing mercury, such as thimerosal, in the 1930s as a way to prevent bacteria from getting into multiple-use vials, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The mercury killed potentially-harmful bacteria, but concerns have been raised about the liquid metal's toxicity. The FDA continues allowing pharmaceutical companies to use thimerosal, saying there is not enough evidence to ban it.
Farmer said he and most of the Truth Movement's 25 active members think the FDA's position on thimerosal is wrong.
"I think there's just a lot of misconceptions out there about thimerosal," he said. "In my opinion and the opinions of a lot of the members of our organization is [the government] is wrong; that [the information it provides] is false. We're saying 'Look at this data.' I've got three binders full of information that the FDA says doesn't exist."
Farmer referred to a press release about thimerosal's possible link to autism issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the United States Public Health Service in 1999.
In the press release, the organizations state the risks of not immunizing children outweigh the autism risks of using vaccines with mercury.
But the agencies continue to write: "because of any potential risk is of concern, the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and vaccine manufacturers agree that thimerosal-containing vaccines should be removed as soon as possible."
Farmer said the 10-year-old press release shows the government's lack of action.
"They were saying 'We don't want to take any chances,' and 10 years later, this hasn't changed," he said.
Bullis theorized drug companies have continued making vaccines with thimerosal because it is cheaper to produce the larger bottles than single-use ones. He didn't know how many other vaccines at the Health Center had thimerosal or other mercury ingredients.
"We have a huge number of different vaccines we use for travel abroad, and so on and so forth," he said, "but I'm sure we have some [with mercury.]"
Farmer said he hopes the Truth Movement's ability to persuade the Health Center to get rid of the thimerosal-containing flu vaccinations will begin a national movement.
"We got this done at Ball State, and we're hoping that this can catch on," he said. "We're hoping that other schools in the state have seen what we've done. Once health centers will start switching to [non-thimerosal vaccines], then the pharmaceutical companies will stop making it."
The Medical Center's announcement about the change came a week before a Truth Movement-sponsored debate about thimerosal between Dr. Ted Muellerleil, a Milwaukee pediatrician, and Boyd Haley, a professor at the University of Kentucky.
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