By Elise Craig on June 28, 2010
Combining the vaccine for MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) with varicella (chicken pox) increases a child’s chances of having a fever-related seizure seven to 10 days after inoculation, according to a new report by the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center.
But researchers say the risk to toddlers is still pretty low.
“What’s important for parents to understand is ... Read more »
Posted in News & Notes, Pharmaceutical Industry, Vaccine Safety
By Matthew Richmond on May 7, 2010
Health authorities in Hong Kong on Friday ordered the recall of rotavirus vaccine contaminated by a pig virus, though members of an advisory panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the vaccine did not appear to create health risks and should still be used.
The Rotateq vaccine recalled in Hong Kong is made by Merck and is one ... Read more »
Posted in News & Notes, Pharmaceutical Industry, Product Hazards and Recalls, Vaccine Safety
By Bridget Huber on March 15, 2010
The vaccine preservative thimerosal does not cause autism, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled Friday.
Thimerosal contains mercury, which can affect children’s brain development. But vaccines containing the preservative have tiny amounts of the heavy metal, and many studies have found no evidence that autism is more common among kids who have received vaccines preserved with thimerosal, ... Read more »
Posted in News & Notes, Vaccine Safety
By U.S. News & World Report on December 11, 2008
The National Institutes of Health has put out a call for answers
December 11, 2008 | By Bernadine Healy, M.D., U.S. News & World Report
The way to cool the hot debate on vaccine safety is to turn to science and get the facts, and here, there is reason for optimism. Last August, the National ... Read more »
Posted in Vaccine Safety
By the Los Angeles Times on April 10, 2006
States push for bans in children’s vaccines. But leading medical groups are pushing back.
As lawmakers in about 20 states press for bans on mercury in children’s vaccines, they are meeting stiff resistance from influential health and medical organizations, including groups that get substantial funding from drug makers and the Centers for ... Read more »
Posted in Vaccine Safety
By the Los Angeles Times on February 8, 2005
A memo from Merck & Co. shows that, nearly a decade before the first public disclosure, senior executives were concerned that infants were getting an elevated dose of mercury in vaccinations containing a widely used sterilizing agent.
The March 1991 memo, obtained by The Times, said that 6-month-old children who received their ... Read more »
Posted in Vaccine Safety
