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The FluMist nasal spray vaccine does not contain thimerosol and thus doesn't have mercury in it.  (For more info, see http://www.cdc.gov/FLU/about/qa/nasalspray.htm)   This is the case with either the seasonal FluMist or the new H1N1 FluMist.

However, you should know that the nasal flu vaccine is not appropriate for many people who could benefit from a flu vaccine.  This is because it contains modified, weakened live flu rather than the killed flu used in vaccines given by injection.  For example, the nasal mist is not recommended for pregnant women or those 50 years old or more.  Perhaps most importantly, it is recommended for "healthy" people, specifically excluding those with "an underlying medical condition that predisposes them to influenza complications".  This means that many of the people who could most benefit from a vaccination can't receive the nasal mist version.

If you're concerned about thimerosol, be aware that injectable flu vaccine (either seasonal or H1N1) is made both with and without thimerosol.  With multi-dose vials, you have to make sure that there won't be bacterial contamination of the vial.  Because thimerosol is of greatest concern for pregnant women and the babies they're carrying, flu vaccine is also available without thimerosol in single-use pre-filled syringes.

posted 3 years, 7 months ago
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Something to keep in mind with the Canadian study is that it is reported in the press to be the result of analyzing databases on treatments &  health outcomes - not as the result of a randomized study comparing people randomly chosen to get a flu shot to people randomly chosen to not get a flu shot.

While epidemiological reports on diseases in populations can give useful leads to things needing further investigation, they can never firmly identify what, if anything, is causing what.  This kind of research can only identify correlations between things that may turn out not to have any cause-effect relationship at all.  People, including some medical researchers, often dn't keep aware of the implications of this.

In this case, it's quite possible that the people who were more likely to have had a seasonal flu vaccination last year are members of groups that for some reason are already at higher risk of getting the new H1N1 strain this year.  Or perhaps they're members of groups with an increased chance of being tested and diagnosed as having H1N1 and may not have an increased chance of getting H1N1 at all.

In other words, it might not be the seasonal flu vaccine that increased their likelihood of getting H1N1 at all, but rather that some other thing increased both the likelihood of getting a seasonal flu shot and getting diagnosed with H1N1.

posted 3 years, 7 months ago
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