Whooping cough vaccine scrapped

The Scottish Executive today announced plans to scrap a whooping cough vaccine which contains traces of mercury. Officials said it will be replaced in September with a new five-in-one jab.

The Scottish Executive today announced plans to scrap a whooping cough vaccine which contains traces of mercury. Officials said it will be replaced in September with a new five-in-one jab.The current whooping cough vaccine contains a mercury-based preservative, thiomersal, which campaigners claim could be linked to autism.But following recommendations from health officials and developments in medicine, all vaccines provided in the future will be thiomersal free, where possible.The new five-in-one jab will protect children against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hib and polio and will come into force from September.(Source: The Scotsman, August 2004)