Don't believe everything you read in the Athens NEWS letters sections

To the Editor:

Picking up The Athens NEWS is a nice part of my week. I enjoy reading the opinion pages, often in agreement, anger or sometimes just to get a laugh. Rarely does anything provoke me enough to write in because, frankly, I'm kind of busy and the last thing that I need is to become entangled in local news debates. However, after reading Wesley Thompson's letter regarding vaccinations (The NEWS, Oct. 29), I was hoping to throw out a word of caution.

To start with, Thompson states that squalene, a chemical that occurs naturally in the human body and is a component in vaccines, is the cause of Gulf War Syndrome. The original study that implied this has been debunked by the World Health Organization. It was found that antibodies for squalene, which were the reason for the belief that squalene was the culprit, occur in many people who have not even had the vaccine, and that the military vaccines issued did not even contain squalene. The organization went on to say that despite the fact that this chemical has been used on millions and millions of people (nearly 100 million worldwide by my count), there have never been any significant adverse reactions.

Another point raised was the mercury in flu shots. If Mr. Thompson is concerned about this amount of mercury (.5 mcg for children and 25 mcg for adults), then he might be surprised to know that the level of mercury in an adult dose of the vaccine is about what you get when you eat a single can of tuna. If you take nothing else from this, please do not keep your child from getting a flu shot because you don't want them exposed to about 2 percent of the mercury in a can of tuna. To my knowledge, there is currently no FDA regulation for this type of mercury, and the FDA approved this vaccine.

Mr. Thompson's other argument is that there is no reason to get a shot because you might already be immune. This argument is pretty astounding and makes me wonder if he believes in the use of ANY vaccines. His evidence for this is to tell us to look at how strong our ancestors were. Would these be the ancestors who died in large numbers from pandemic diseases?

To be honest, I probably won't get a flu shot myself. I'm slightly out of the high -isk category, the odds of me dying from the flu are pretty slim, and I really just don't want to wait in line.

However, if you are pregnant or have a small child, why take the risk? Lose your case of the crazies and get the shot.

Almost all doctors and health organizations recommend getting the vaccine, and I'm sure these people are more qualified than the two doctors Mr. Thompson was able to cite, both of whom make a lot of money with their vaccination stance by giving speeches and selling "natural remedies" for various illnesses. One of these doctors was on the losing side of one of the biggest malpractice cases in history.

My point: Be careful whom you listen to.

David Burnette
P.O. Box 217
Buchtel