Everything you need to know about preservative-free vaccines can be a tough topic to discuss. But misinformation can cause a lot of confusion.

Key points

Infectious disease needs prevention as a best practice.

Avoid misinformation regarding vaccines and preservatives.

CDC has multiple resources to educate you about the type of preservatives in vaccines.

The single-dose preservative-free vaccine is now available for several infections , but multidose vials for community vaccination need preservatives to prevent contamination.

Prevention works

When it comes to infectious diseases, prevention is always better than cure.  Vaccinations can be ranked as one of the most significant achievements of modern healthcare. However, there is a lot of misinformation about preservative-free vaccines in the market. Thimerosal is one of the most commonly used preservatives.

Several well-researched peer-reviewed articles have failed to find any correlation between thimerosal and childhood neuropsychiatric problems like autism.

I know this information about preservatives in vaccines because I am a Doctor. Yet, I had anxiety when I had to vaccinate my child. Every mother has doubts and wants the best for her child. I talked to my child’s Paediatrician to allay my fears.

Here’s what I found out about preservative-free vaccines, not just as a medical practitioner but as a mother as well.  

One of the first questions I had was why preservatives were needed in vaccines. Well, when the vaccines are in multi-dose vials, preservatives are required to avoid the risk of contamination. Thimerosal is used commonly. There’s also phenol which is used as a preservative.

Now, thimerosal does sound very scary to the average person but it is easily excreted by the body. [1]

A lot of parents ask me why preservatives are needed in the first place. In times of endemics and pandemics, multi-dose vials of vaccines were the best option to ship to the affected areas. To prevent contamination, preservatives were used.

In recent times, there has been a worry that these vaccines cause a build-up of mercury in the human body, leading to disorders in children. However, this is not correct at all! There have been several pieces of research and reviews by FDA and CDC that have conclusively proved that there is no correlation between vaccines, the preservatives used and disorders like autism in children. In fact, autism continues to rise in the US, despite preservatives being removed from the vaccines.

This clears the air about the safety of the preservative. However, preservative-free vaccines are now available in India and I prefer to go in for those when it comes to vaccination.

It’s a good feeling that I have a choice when it comes to vaccination.

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References:

1. https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/safety-availability-biologics/thimerosal-and-vaccines

2.https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/thimerosal/index.html

3. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/patient-ed/conversations/downloads/vacsafe-thimerosal-color-office.pdf

4.Vaccines: Which one has what

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf

5.Carrier, G; Bouchard, M; Brunet, RC; Caza, M (2001). “A Toxicokinetic Model for Predicting the Tissue Distribution and Elimination of Organic and Inorganic Mercury Following Exposure to Methyl Mercury in Animals and Humans. II. Application and Validation of the Model in Humans”. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology. 171 (1): 50–60. doi:10.1006/taap.2000.9113. PMID 11181111.

6.Thimerosal Exposure in Infants and Developmental Disorders: A Retrospective Cohort Study in the United Kingdom Does .Not Support a Causal Association by Nick Andrews et al. Pediatrics. September 2004. Vol 114: pages 584–591. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/ full/114/3/584

7. Association between Thimerosal-Containing Vaccine and Autism by Anders Hviid et al. Journal of the American Medical Association. October 2003. Vol 290: pages 1763–1766. http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/290/13/1763

8.Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism. Institute of Medicine. The National Academies Press: 2004. http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2004/Immunization-SafetyReview-Vaccines-and-Autism.aspx

9.Prenatal and Infant Exposure to Thimerosal from Vaccines and Immunoglobulins and Risk of Autism by Cristofer Price et al. Pediatrics. September 2010. Vol 126: pages 656-664.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/
full/114/3/584

10.Early Thimerosal Exposure and Neuropsychological Outcomes at 7 to 10 Years by William Thompson et al. The New England Journal of Medicine. September 2007. Vol 357: pages 1281­-1292. http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa071434