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Vaccinations - Are They Safe?

Both The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and The Center for Disease Control (CDC) say that vaccinations are an important component of your child’s general health and preventive care. They stress that by having your child immunized, he or she can be protected from nine different deadly diseases. Dr. Bill Atkinson, a medical epidemiologist at the CDC, explains that, "Measles used to kill hundreds - sometimes thousands - of people a year. In the 1920's over 10,000 people a year died from diphtheria. And in the 1940's and 50's tens of thousands of children were crippled and killed by polio. Even today these diseases can lead to pneumonia, choking, brain damage, heart problems, and blindness in children who are not protected. And they still kill children every year."

Many individuals are not aware of potential adverse reactions that a vaccine might cause. Parents are told by their child’s pediatrician that vaccines are safe, and that, at worse, the child might get a low grade fever, at which point the child is to be given Tylenol. It seems to be unanimous among government agencies that serious reactions to vaccines are rare and that the risks associated with any of the nine dangerous childhood diseases are far greater than the risk of having a serious reaction from a vaccination. Many parents who have been through the immunization process with their children, however, beg to differ.

In 1988, the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act mandated that certain adverse reactions to vaccinations be reported to help ensure the safety of vaccines being distributed throughout the United States. As a result, the Vaccine Adverse Event Report System (VAERS) was established in 1990, which provides a database for the collection and analysis of adverse reactions following a vaccination. In a 5 year period, 65,720 cases were reported to VAERS and currently, VAERS receives approximately 800-1000 reports each month. Disturbingly, these current figures most likely represent only 10% of actual cases. Therefore, in any given year, there may actually be 96,000 to 120,000 cases of adverse reactions to vaccinations.

In response to the number of children being adversely affected by vaccines, organizations such as The National Vaccine Information Center, have been created to serve a number of purposes. Founded in 1982, the NVIC (which is a national, non-profit, educational organization) was created to assist in the prevention of vaccine injuries and deaths through public education. In particular, the NVIC "provides assistance to parents whose children have suffered vaccine reactions; promotes research to evaluate vaccine safety and effectiveness as well as to identify factors which place individuals at high risk for suffering vaccine reactions; and monitors vaccine research, development, policymaking and legislation."

There have been reported adverse events following the administration of all vaccines. There has been paralysis from the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV), collapse, convulsions, encephalopathy, anaphylactic reaction (difficulty breathing, hypotension, shock), sudden infant death syndrome, and infantile spasms from the Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis vaccine (DTP), and encephalitis, encephalopathy, convulsions, and anaphylactic reactions from the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine. These actual reported cases consist of situations where perfectly healthy children have, after receiving a vaccination, allegedly become paralyzed, been placed on respirators, developed seizures, become learning disabled, developed asthma, and become mentally retarded.

You may be wondering that if vaccinations can have such detrimental effects on a healthy child, exactly what can happen to a child who already has special needs - who already suffers from seizures and other neurological disorders? According to the CDC, children with neurologic conditions such as uncontrolled epilepsy, infantile spasms, and progressive encephalopathy should not receive certain vaccines, such as Pertussis. And, if a child has experienced anaphylactic reactions to neomycin, he should not be given the MMR vaccination. However, it is considered safe, once again by government agencies, to give children with stable conditions such as cerebral palsy, developmental delay, and well-controlled seizures vaccinations.

As a parent, you want to do what is best for your child, however, it’s difficult to make a decision when you don’t have all the facts. Yes, it’s true that vaccinations are generally safe. But, what about the thousands of children who are now permanently disabled because of a vaccination (for an illness they may never even be exposed to in their lifetime)? To help avoid possible vaccination reactions, the NVIC recommends you ask yourself the following 8 questions:

1. Is my child sick now?

2. Has my child had a bad reaction to a vaccination before?

3. Does my child have a personal or family history of:

4. Do I know if my child is at high risk of reacting?

5. Do I have full information on the vaccine’s side effects?

6. Do I know how to identify a vaccine reaction?

7. Do I know how to report a vaccine reaction?

8. Do I know the manufacturer’s name and lot number?

If you decide that you want to refuse vaccination, contact your local reference librarian to assist you in obtaining a copy of your state’s exemption laws. In all 50 states, medical exemption to vaccination is allowed providing you have a signed statement from a physician (medical doctor) explaining that vaccinations would be detrimental to the health of your child. Some states will accept a private physician's statement, while other states may require the state health department to review the statement and make the final decision.

In the future, you will continue to see programs emphasizing childhood immunization. In fact, the World Health Organization is co-sponsoring the Children’s Vaccine Initiative, which includes a Strategic Plan that not only will call for the introduction of new vaccines, but will call for improvements in existing vaccines by making them easier to administer (e.g. oral delivery), freer of side effects, and more effective against more diseases with fewer doses. The plan further explains that the development of new vaccines for diseases such as rotavirus diarrhoea and pneumococcal pneumonia, and the use of under-used vaccines for diseases such as measles, can save up to 12 million lives a year, mostly from infections in childhood.

In conclusion, whenever your child is due for a vaccination (which can be anywhere from birth to age 16 years), remember to ask yourself the eight questions listed above, discuss your concerns with your child’s pediatrician, including risks versus benefits, and make an educated decision; your child is depending on you. For more information on vaccine safety, visit the National Vaccine Information Center at http://www.909shot.com.

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