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Mercury, vaccines, and autism: one controversy, three histories - PubMed

Mercury, vaccines, and autism: one controversy, three histories

Jeffrey P Baker. Am J Public Health. 2008 Feb.

Abstract

The controversy regarding the once widely used mercury-containing preservative thimerosal in childhood vaccines has raised many historical questions that have not been adequately explored. Why was this preservative incorporated in the first place? Was there any real evidence that it caused harm? And how did thimerosal become linked in the public mind to the "autism epidemic"? I examine the origins of the thimerosal controversy and their legacy for the debate that has followed. More specifically, I explore the parallel histories of three factors that converged to create the crisis: vaccine preservatives, mercury poisoning, and autism. An understanding of this history provides important lessons for physicians and policymakers seeking to preserve the public's trust in the nation's vaccine system.

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Comment in

Mercury, vaccines, and autism, revisited.
Silbergeld EK. Silbergeld EK. Am J Public Health. 2008 Aug;98(8):1350; author reply 1350-1. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2008.138776. Epub 2008 Jun 12. Am J Public Health. 2008. PMID: 18556596 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

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Mercury, vaccines, and autism: one controversy, three histories - PubMed