Fw: Re: Merck lied about Hep B

[Guest guest]

My son got the HIB/HepB by Merck. Is that the same as just the Hep B? Would it still have mercury in it? It was manufactored in 98, if that helps.

-- Merck lied about Hep B

Here you go Becky,

The 1999 Merck announcement claims that Merck's Hep B vaccine line

for infants will be mercury-free.

Page 3 of the FDA letter to Dr. Weldon states they were still selling and

shipping thimerosal

Hep B in 2000 and 2001, expiration date was not until 2002. This shows

thimerosal vaccines

were still on the market in 2001 and 2002.

Merck was obviously lying in their 1999 press release and gave false

information to doctors

and parents. Some people call that FRAUD.

Bobbie

The release of the Merck Hep B announcment also coincided with CDC

reintroduction of Hep B at birth.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4835a3.htm.

Weekly

September10, 1999 / 48(35);780-782

Notice to Readers: Availability of Hepatitis B Vaccine That Does Not

Contain Thimerosal as a Preservative

On August 27, 1999, Merck Vaccine Division* (Merck & Co., Inc., West

Point, Pennsylvania) received approval from the Food and Drug Administration

(FDA) of a supplement to Merck's license application to include the

manufacture of single-antigen preservative-free hepatitis B vaccine

(Recombivax HB®, Pediatric); distribution is expected to begin September 13,

1999. In addition, Kline Beecham Biologicals (Kline Beecham,

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), expects to make single-antigen

preservative-free hepatitis B vaccine (Engerix-B®, Pediatric) available in

the near future. Further product information will be provided when it

becomes available. Product packaging and labels will indicate that these

vaccines do not contain preservative.

To prevent shortages because of limited supplies of single-antigen

hepatitis B vaccines that do not contain thimerosal as a preservative and to

assure prevention of perinatal and early childhood hepatitis B virus (HBV)

infection during the transition when both vaccines that contain and do not

contain thimerosal as a preservative are available, the following three

steps should be taken:

1.. Newborn infants. The priority for use of single-antigen

hepatitis B vaccines that do not contain thimerosal as a preservative should

be to vaccinate newborn infants. Routine hepatitis B vaccination policies

for all newborn infants should be reintroduced immediately in hospitals in

which these policies and practices have been discontinued. All hospitals

should ensure that newborn infants of hepatitis B surface antigen

(HBsAg)-positive mothers and of mothers whose HBsAg status is unknown

receive their first dose of hepatitis B vaccine within 12 hours of birth. If

hepatitis B vaccine that does not contain thimerosal as a preservative is

not available, then thimerosal preservative-containing vaccine should be

used for these infants.

2.. Infants aged less than 6 months. When available, hepatitis B

vaccines that do not contain thimerosal as a preservative should be used to

vaccinate infants aged less than 6 months (single-antigen hepatitis B

vaccine for infants aged less than 6 weeks and either single-antigen or

combination products for infants aged greater than or equal to 6 weeks).

Infants in groups at high risk for perinatal and early childhood HBV

infections should complete the three-dose hepatitis B vaccine series by age

6 months. When vaccines that do not contain thimerosal as a preservative are

not available, these groups should be vaccinated with thimerosal

preservative-containing vaccine. For infants born to HBsAg-negative mothers

and who are not in high-risk groups, existing recommendations should be used

for administering thimerosal preservative-containing hepatitis B vaccines if

vaccine that does not contain thimerosal as a preservative is not available

(1-4). These groups should complete the three-dose hepatitis B vaccine

series by age 18 months.

3.. Children aged greater than or equal to 6 months, adolescents,

and adults. Thimerosal preservative-containing hepatitis B vaccines can

continue to be used for vaccinating children aged greater than or equal to 6

months, adolescents, and adults as is recommended (1-6).

Reported by: National Center for Infectious Diseases; National

Immunization Program; Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry;

National Center for Environmental Health, CDC.

Editorial Note:

On July 8, 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the

Public Health Service (PHS) released a joint statement about thimerosal in

vaccines, and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) released a

comparable statement (1-3). Thimerosal is a mercury-containing preservative

that has been used as an additive to biologics and vaccines since the 1930s

because it is effective in preventing bacterial and fungal contamination,

particularly in open multidose containers. Vaccine manufacturers, FDA, and

other PHS agencies are working together to replace expeditiously thimerosal

preservative-containing vaccines whenever possible with vaccines that do not

contain thimerosal as a preservative while ensuring maintenance of high

vaccination coverage levels and prevention of disease.

Previous recommendations for using thimerosal-containing vaccines

indicated that clinicians and parents could take advantage of the

flexibility in the immunization schedule to delay hepatitis B vaccination

from birth until age 2-6 months for infants born to mothers who are HBsAg

negative (1-4). No changes were made in recommendations for immunization at

birth of infants of HBsAg-positive mothers or infants of mothers with an

unknown HBsAg status.

After the joint AAP/PHS statement on thimerosal, the AAP and CDC

provided additional implementation guidance (3,4). CDC guidance included

hepatitis B vaccination should be continued at birth for infants born to

HBsAg-negative mothers belonging to populations or groups that have a high

risk for early childhood HBV infection, including Asian/Pacific Islanders,

immigrant populations from countries in which HBV infection is of high or

intermediate endemicity (7), and households with persons with chronic HBV

infection. To ensure the prevention of perinatal HBV transmission, hospitals

should continue policies to vaccinate all infants at birth until procedures

are in place to guarantee that 1) the HBsAg status of every pregnant woman

is reviewed at delivery, 2) appropriate passive-active immunoprophylaxis

(hepatitis B immune globulin and hepatitis B vaccine) is provided for

infants of HBsAg-positive women within 12 hours of birth, and 3) appropriate

active immunoprophylaxis (hepatitis B vaccine) is provided for infants of

women with an unknown HBsAg status.

After the statements on thimerosal in vaccines were published, changes

occurred in newborn hepatitis B vaccination policies and practices in some

hospitals, including unintended changes affecting immunization of infants at

risk for perinatal HBV transmission. In August 1999, state and territorial

health department hepatitis coordinators conducted surveys of selected

birthing hospitals in their project areas. Of 977 hospitals surveyed in 48

project areas, 773 (79%) were aware of the joint AAP/PHS statement on

thimerosal. Of 574 hospitals that were aware of the statement and had

existing policies or standing orders to vaccinate all newborns, 262 (46%)

reported a policy change to no longer routinely vaccinate newborns of

HBsAg-negative mothers. In addition, 52 (9%) reported they no longer

routinely vaccinate any newborn (CDC, unpublished data, 1999). Such a policy

usually requires a physician's order to vaccinate infants of HBsAg-positive

mothers and infants of mothers whose HBsAg status is unknown. CDC also has

received anecdotal reports of hospitals in which policies were changed, and

infants born to HBsAg-positive mothers and infants born to mothers with

unknown HBsAg status were not vaccinated within 12 hours of birth (CDC,

unpublished data, 1999). Chronic HBV infection develops in approximately 90%

of infants infected perinatally; among chronically infected infants, the

risk for premature death from HBV-related liver cancer or cirrhosis is

approximately 25% (8). The availability of hepatitis B vaccine that does not

contain thimerosal as a preservative should alert medical facilities to

review their policies to ensure the vaccination of newborns as recommended

by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, AAFP, and AAP.

References

1.. CDC. Thimerosal in vaccines: a joint statement of the American

Academy of Pediatrics and the Public Health Service. MMWR 1999;48:563-5.

2.. American Academy of Pediatrics. Thimerosal in vaccines: an

interim report to clinicians. AAP News 1999;15:10-2.

3.. American Academy of Family Physicians. Policy statement of the

American Academy of Family Physicians on thimerosal in vaccines, July 8,

1999. Available at http://www.aafp.org/policy/camp/20.html. Accessed

September 3, 1999.

4.. CDC. Implementation guidance for immunization grantees during

the transition period to vaccines without thimerosal, July 14, 1999.

Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nip/news/thimerosal-guidance.html. Accessed

September 3, 1999.

5.. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Hepatitis B virus:

a comprehensive strategy for eliminating transmission in the United States

through universal childhood vaccination. MMWR 1991;40(no. RR-13).

6.. CDC. Update: recommendations to prevent hepatitis B virus

transmission--United States. MMWR 1999;48:33-4.

7.. CDC. Health information for international travel 1999-2000.

Atlanta, Georgia: US Department of Health and Human Services, 1999:98-102.

8.. Margolis HS, PJ, Brown RE, Mast EE, Sheingold SH,

Arevalo JA. Prevention of hepatitis B virus transmission by immunization: an

economic analysis of current recommendations. JAMA 1995;274:1201-8.

* Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only

and does not imply endorsement by CDC or the U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services.

Disclaimer All MMWR HTML versions of articles are electronic

conversions from ASCII text into HTML. This conversion may have resulted in

character translation or format errors in the HTML version. Users should not

rely on this HTML document, but are referred to the electronic PDF version

and/or the original MMWR paper copy for the official text, figures, and

tables. An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the

Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO),

Washington, DC 20402-9371; telephone: (202) 512-1800. Contact GPO for

current prices.

**Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be

addressed to mmwrq@....

Page converted: 9/9/1999

Print Help

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[Guest guest]

Hi ,

that should have been the Comvax, which according to this FDA page

http://www.fda.gov/cber/vaccine/thimerosal.htm (scroll down a bit)

NEVER contained thimerosal/mercury. Actually, that page should help

you further in your search how much thimerosal/mercury your son got.

best

>

>

>

> My son got the HIB/HepB by Merck. Is that the same as just the Hep

B? Would

> it still have mercury in it? It was manufactored in 98, if that helps.

>

>

> -- Merck lied about Hep B

>

> Here you go Becky,

>

> The 1999 Merck announcement claims that Merck's Hep B vaccine line

> for infants will be mercury-free.

>

> Page 3 of the FDA letter to Dr. Weldon states they were still

selling and

> shipping thimerosal

> Hep B in 2000 and 2001, expiration date was not until 2002. This shows

> thimerosal vaccines

> were still on the market in 2001 and 2002.

>

> Merck was obviously lying in their 1999 press release and gave false

> information to doctors

> and parents. Some people call that FRAUD.

>

> Bobbie

>

>

> The release of the Merck Hep B announcment also coincided with CDC

> reintroduction of Hep B at birth.

> http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4835a3.htm.

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Weekly

>

>

>

> September10, 1999 / 48(35);780-782

>

>

>

> Notice to Readers: Availability of Hepatitis B Vaccine That

Does Not

> Contain Thimerosal as a Preservative

> On August 27, 1999, Merck Vaccine Division* (Merck & Co.,

Inc., West

> Point, Pennsylvania) received approval from the Food and Drug

Administration

> (FDA) of a supplement to Merck's license application to include the

> manufacture of single-antigen preservative-free hepatitis B vaccine

> (Recombivax HB®, Pediatric); distribution is expected to begin

September 13,

> 1999. In addition, Kline Beecham Biologicals (Kline Beecham,

> Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), expects to make single-antigen

> preservative-free hepatitis B vaccine (Engerix-B®, Pediatric)

available in

> the near future. Further product information will be provided when it

> becomes available. Product packaging and labels will indicate that these

> vaccines do not contain preservative.

>

> To prevent shortages because of limited supplies of single-antigen

> hepatitis B vaccines that do not contain thimerosal as a

preservative and to

> assure prevention of perinatal and early childhood hepatitis B virus

(HBV)

> infection during the transition when both vaccines that contain and

do not

> contain thimerosal as a preservative are available, the following three

> steps should be taken:

>

> 1.. Newborn infants. The priority for use of single-antigen

> hepatitis B vaccines that do not contain thimerosal as a

preservative should

> be to vaccinate newborn infants. Routine hepatitis B vaccination

policies

> for all newborn infants should be reintroduced immediately in

hospitals in

> which these policies and practices have been discontinued. All hospitals

> should ensure that newborn infants of hepatitis B surface antigen

> (HBsAg)-positive mothers and of mothers whose HBsAg status is unknown

> receive their first dose of hepatitis B vaccine within 12 hours of

birth. If

> hepatitis B vaccine that does not contain thimerosal as a

preservative is

> not available, then thimerosal preservative-containing vaccine should be

> used for these infants.

> 2.. Infants aged less than 6 months. When available, hepatitis B

> vaccines that do not contain thimerosal as a preservative should be

used to

> vaccinate infants aged less than 6 months (single-antigen hepatitis B

> vaccine for infants aged less than 6 weeks and either single-antigen or

> combination products for infants aged greater than or equal to 6 weeks).

> Infants in groups at high risk for perinatal and early childhood HBV

> infections should complete the three-dose hepatitis B vaccine series

by age

> 6 months. When vaccines that do not contain thimerosal as a

preservative are

> not available, these groups should be vaccinated with thimerosal

> preservative-containing vaccine. For infants born to HBsAg-negative

mothers

> and who are not in high-risk groups, existing recommendations should

be used

> for administering thimerosal preservative-containing hepatitis B

vaccines if

> vaccine that does not contain thimerosal as a preservative is not

available

> (1-4). These groups should complete the three-dose hepatitis B vaccine

> series by age 18 months.

> 3.. Children aged greater than or equal to 6 months,

adolescents,

> and adults. Thimerosal preservative-containing hepatitis B vaccines can

> continue to be used for vaccinating children aged greater than or

equal to 6

> months, adolescents, and adults as is recommended (1-6).

> Reported by: National Center for Infectious Diseases; National

> Immunization Program; Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry;

> National Center for Environmental Health, CDC.

>

> Editorial Note:

> On July 8, 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the

> Public Health Service (PHS) released a joint statement about

thimerosal in

> vaccines, and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)

released a

> comparable statement (1-3). Thimerosal is a mercury-containing

preservative

> that has been used as an additive to biologics and vaccines since

the 1930s

> because it is effective in preventing bacterial and fungal

contamination,

> particularly in open multidose containers. Vaccine manufacturers,

FDA, and

> other PHS agencies are working together to replace expeditiously

thimerosal

> preservative-containing vaccines whenever possible with vaccines

that do not

> contain thimerosal as a preservative while ensuring maintenance of high

> vaccination coverage levels and prevention of disease.

>

> Previous recommendations for using thimerosal-containing vaccines

> indicated that clinicians and parents could take advantage of the

> flexibility in the immunization schedule to delay hepatitis B

vaccination

> from birth until age 2-6 months for infants born to mothers who are

HBsAg

> negative (1-4). No changes were made in recommendations for

immunization at

> birth of infants of HBsAg-positive mothers or infants of mothers with an

> unknown HBsAg status.

>

> After the joint AAP/PHS statement on thimerosal, the AAP and CDC

> provided additional implementation guidance (3,4). CDC guidance included

> hepatitis B vaccination should be continued at birth for infants born to

> HBsAg-negative mothers belonging to populations or groups that have

a high

> risk for early childhood HBV infection, including Asian/Pacific

Islanders,

> immigrant populations from countries in which HBV infection is of

high or

> intermediate endemicity (7), and households with persons with

chronic HBV

> infection. To ensure the prevention of perinatal HBV transmission,

hospitals

> should continue policies to vaccinate all infants at birth until

procedures

> are in place to guarantee that 1) the HBsAg status of every pregnant

woman

> is reviewed at delivery, 2) appropriate passive-active immunoprophylaxis

> (hepatitis B immune globulin and hepatitis B vaccine) is provided for

> infants of HBsAg-positive women within 12 hours of birth, and 3)

appropriate

> active immunoprophylaxis (hepatitis B vaccine) is provided for

infants of

> women with an unknown HBsAg status.

>

> After the statements on thimerosal in vaccines were published,

changes

> occurred in newborn hepatitis B vaccination policies and practices

in some

> hospitals, including unintended changes affecting immunization of

infants at

> risk for perinatal HBV transmission. In August 1999, state and

territorial

> health department hepatitis coordinators conducted surveys of selected

> birthing hospitals in their project areas. Of 977 hospitals surveyed

in 48

> project areas, 773 (79%) were aware of the joint AAP/PHS statement on

> thimerosal. Of 574 hospitals that were aware of the statement and had

> existing policies or standing orders to vaccinate all newborns, 262

(46%)

> reported a policy change to no longer routinely vaccinate newborns of

> HBsAg-negative mothers. In addition, 52 (9%) reported they no longer

> routinely vaccinate any newborn (CDC, unpublished data, 1999). Such

a policy

> usually requires a physician's order to vaccinate infants of

HBsAg-positive

> mothers and infants of mothers whose HBsAg status is unknown. CDC

also has

> received anecdotal reports of hospitals in which policies were

changed, and

> infants born to HBsAg-positive mothers and infants born to mothers with

> unknown HBsAg status were not vaccinated within 12 hours of birth (CDC,

> unpublished data, 1999). Chronic HBV infection develops in

approximately 90%

> of infants infected perinatally; among chronically infected infants, the

> risk for premature death from HBV-related liver cancer or cirrhosis is

> approximately 25% (8). The availability of hepatitis B vaccine that

does not

> contain thimerosal as a preservative should alert medical facilities to

> review their policies to ensure the vaccination of newborns as

recommended

> by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, AAFP, and AAP.

>

> References

> 1.. CDC. Thimerosal in vaccines: a joint statement of the

American

> Academy of Pediatrics and the Public Health Service. MMWR 1999;48:563-5.

> 2.. American Academy of Pediatrics. Thimerosal in vaccines: an

> interim report to clinicians. AAP News 1999;15:10-2.

> 3.. American Academy of Family Physicians. Policy statement

of the

> American Academy of Family Physicians on thimerosal in vaccines, July 8,

> 1999. Available at http://www.aafp.org/policy/camp/20.html. Accessed

> September 3, 1999.

> 4.. CDC. Implementation guidance for immunization grantees

during

> the transition period to vaccines without thimerosal, July 14, 1999.

> Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nip/news/thimerosal-guidance.html.

Accessed

> September 3, 1999.

> 5.. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Hepatitis

B virus:

> a comprehensive strategy for eliminating transmission in the United

States

> through universal childhood vaccination. MMWR 1991;40(no. RR-13).

> 6.. CDC. Update: recommendations to prevent hepatitis B virus

> transmission--United States. MMWR 1999;48:33-4.

> 7.. CDC. Health information for international travel 1999-2000.

> Atlanta, Georgia: US Department of Health and Human Services,

1999:98-102.

> 8.. Margolis HS, PJ, Brown RE, Mast EE, Sheingold SH,

> Arevalo JA. Prevention of hepatitis B virus transmission by

immunization: an

> economic analysis of current recommendations. JAMA 1995;274:1201-8.

> * Use of trade names and commercial sources is for

identification only

> and does not imply endorsement by CDC or the U.S. Department of

Health and

> Human Services.

>

> Disclaimer All MMWR HTML versions of articles are electronic

> conversions from ASCII text into HTML. This conversion may have

resulted in

> character translation or format errors in the HTML version. Users

should not

> rely on this HTML document, but are referred to the electronic PDF

version

> and/or the original MMWR paper copy for the official text, figures, and

> tables. An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the

> Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO),

> Washington, DC 20402-9371; telephone: (202) 512-1800. Contact GPO for

> current prices.

>

> **Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be

> addressed to mmwrq@c...

>

> Page converted: 9/9/1999

>

>

>

>

> Print Help

>

> MMWR Home | MMWR Search | Help | Contact Us

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>