Despite the known risks associated with administering mercury/thimerosol-stabilized vaccines to pregnant women and children under the age of 3, health officials in Washington state have temporarily canceled the limit on how much mercury may be allowed in swine-flu vaccine given to pregnant women and to children up to the age of 3. The six-month suspension will be in effect through March 23, 2010, and apply only to the swine-flu vaccine.

Mary Selecky, secretary of the Washington State Department of Health, has said, “Mercury-free H1N1 vaccine may not always be in stock, and we want to be sure there are no barriers to protecting people” (http://www.klewtv.com/internal?st=print&id=61286912&path=/news/local).

H1N1 vaccination is voluntary in Washington, but the law requires that women who are pregnant or nursing, and parents/guardians of children under the age of 18, be told that the vaccine they are getting contains more mercury than is usually permitted. Most patients will learn this from a handout. But will the handout contain any information about the risks of mercury administered to pregnant women and young children? And will the handout explain that there is a subset of the population who are unable to detoxify mercury, a possible link to learning and behavior disorders, including autism?

Epidemiological studies in the United States have discovered less than optimal levels of vitamin D in certain vulnerable populations, including seniors, pregnant women and young children. Given that Washington is at a latitude where vitamin D deficiency is common, the suspension of limits on mercury in order to “improve access” to the H1N1 vaccine rings hollow unless that state’s residents are also educated about vitamin D and the flu, monolauric acid and the flu, and how nutrition and lifestyle can optimize immune system function.