Autism bump. Sorry, I don't have my full list with me....
Even though the risk of thimerosal is hypothetical, thimerosal began to be removed from childhood vaccines in 1999. The federal government, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and others agreed that thimerosal should be reduced and eliminated in vaccines as a precautionary measure. The FDA encouraged companies to comply with this recommendation. Currently, all routinely recommended vaccines manufactured for infants in the United States are either thimerosal-free or contain only trace amounts.
--snip--
For the 2004-2005 flu season, the CDC is recommending that children ages 6 months to 23 months get vaccinated annually against the flu (influenza) with the inactivated flu shot. "The influenza vaccine is available both with thimerosal as a preservative and without it," Midthun says. "But the benefits of flu vaccination outweigh any theoretical risk from thimerosal."
According to the CDC, the amount of flu vaccine without thimerosal as a preservative will increase as manufacturing capabilities expand. "To eliminate thimerosal as a preservative from flu vaccines, manufacturers will have to switch from multi-dose to single-dose preparations, which requires greater filling and storage capacity," Midthun says.
If thimerosal is the culprit, then I think epidemiologists or administrators for special education funding might have started to notice a decrease in the incidence of the diagnoses of autistic spectrum disorders.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.