Current vaccine schedule safe, says IOM report
In light of recent concerns about vaccines, a review of scientific evidence supports the safety of the current vaccination schedule, according to an Institute of Medicine report released today.
Current vaccine schedule safe, says IOM report
In light of recent concerns about vaccines, a review of scientific evidence supports the safety of the current vaccination schedule, according to an Institute of Medicine report released today.
The federal childhood immunization schedule covers children from birth through age 6 years and protects against 14 diseases, including the measles, mumps, and polio. Roughly 90 percent of American children receive most childhood vaccines advised by the federal immunization schedule by the time they enter kindergarten.
Children may receive up to 24 immunizations by the age of two and up to 5 injections in a single visit. Some parents have said this may present unnecessary risks because of the timing and number of vaccinations. These parents have requested delays of one or more immunizations, or have had fewer vaccinations given at each visit. Some parents also refuse immunizations because of a vaccine’s potential side effects. The report points out these decisions may reflect the significant and sustained decline of vaccine-preventable diseases over the past several decades causing parents to believe that it’s not worth the risk of an extremely rare negative reaction to a vaccine.
A delay or refusal to immunize their children has already contributed to outbreaks of disease across the United States that pose a risk to the health of many people, particularly those with compromised immune systems, according to the report.
We asked blog contributor Gary A. Emmett, M.D., F.A.A.P., an attending pediatrician at Nemours Pediatrics, Philadelphia, and director of hospital pediatrics at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital to review the report and answer questions about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines:
What do I need to know about the IOM report?
It is a very objective view of the issue of immunization and their effects. I am old enough to remember the devastation of even common “mild” childhood infections. The chicken pox could be fatal for a pregnant woman and cause blindness when it attacked the surface of the eyes. It was a fatal disease in all of my adolescents patients with cystic fibrosis. None of the people who refuse immunization seem to remember that these diseases can cause tragic outcomes and some even fatal.
What did the IOM committee do to come to these findings?
The committee looked at every paper ever done for side effects and effects, and could find no collaboration of all the “rumors” on the internet about immunizations causing widespread problems.They could not find anything to suggest that the childhood immunization schedule is linked to autoimmune diseases, asthma, hypersensitivity, seizures, child developmental disorders, learning disorders or developmental disorders, or attention deficit or disruptive behavior disorders.
Are vaccines becoming more safe?
The number of vaccines has increased over the years to protect against a greater number of diseases, but children now receive fewer antigens because of technological advances. Antigens are the components of vaccines that stimulate the immune system.
I have actually done vaccine safety studies on the human papillomavirus or HPV vaccine for males. The total lack of side effects even surprised me. There were not even many local soreness or swelling episodes.
Having seen at least one teen with whooping cough early this week, we may have made the pertussis vaccine so safe that it does not last as long as the one with all the side effects that was given 30 years ago.
Why is it important to immunize my child?
Immunizations are not just for your child, they are for the community. The German measles shot does not protect the child given it, so much as it protects hundreds of thousands of unborn babies from deafness and brain damage by protecting the mothers of those children. Immunizations protect the whole “village,” not just the person who gets them.
What are some of the reactions a child can have to a vaccine? Are they common?
They are not common except for the pain and swelling after tetanus that occurs approximately 40 percent of the time about 4 to 8 hours after being given the immunization. Vaccines, in rare cases, can cause illness. Most children who experience a negative reaction to immunization have a preexisting susceptibility.
How will the government keep tracking the safety or current and new vaccines?
Philadelphia has one of the best immunization registries in the country. Every vaccine given to every child in the city is easily accessible by any doctor’s office. It really prevents accidentally giving too many shots or not enough. It is wonderful and helps Philadelphia achieve one of the highest vaccination rates in the United States.
There's still side effects regardless of the "safe" claims. And the one thing that is never studied appropriately is the long term effects of these vaccines.— Superskunk- The problem with this study and others, is that they are looking for a direct cause/effect, so I'm not surprised by the results. The biggest red flag to me, and the one that should be to others examining this issue, is the dramtic spike in autisum, asthma, etc. that occured when they changed the immunization schedule in the 90's. If they can explain why that is, it would go a long way toward earning the public's trust. Personally, however, I think there is a link, so they should be trying to determine exactly what in the vaccines is causing this.— tfnj42
- Countless studies have been done, and I mean countless, and there is zero connection between autism and vaccines. Norway, who keeps very good medical records, did a multi-year study and found zero connection. People had autism before widespread vaccinations. It's just that it wasn't diagnosed. As for studies of long term effects, well that's easy. Just study most of the population in the industrialized world, who have all been vaccinated since the late sixties. What's amazing is that we have fallen so far as to believe vaccinations are worse than the diseases they are preventing. Don't like vaccinations, well go live in a third world country where people are still getting measles, Polio, and TB. You'll have no issue with vaccines after that.— Hemingway
- Heminway - If you did your research, you would know that the diseases you mention were 98-99% wiped out in the U.S. BEFORE vaccines came on the scene due to better living/sanitary conditions. And again, have someone, or find a study that can explain the dramatic spike that occured and I'm all ears. And, on a related note, the New England Journal of Medicine just related information that 80-90% of whooping cough cases are kids who had the vaccine, so the thing is useless to being with. — tfnj42
- wrong wrong wrong. actually, if you did your research, the introduction of vaccines DRAMATICALLY reduced the incidence of common transmissible infectious diseases. As in from approximately 150000 cases of pertussis (whooping cough) in the early 20th century in the USA down to 6000 cases in the 1980s. Please get your facts straight. — muddyfuddyPA
- just to clarify, that's 150k cases per YEAR in the early 20th century reduced to 6000 cases per YEAR in the 1980s. see: http :// archive.hhs.gov/nvpo/concepts/intro6.htm — muddyfuddyPA
- @tfnj42, actually, multiple studies have confirmed that the rates of autism are statistically no different between children who have received a vaccine versus those that did not (i.e. there is no difference in the risk of developing a neurodevelopmental disorder like autism) in different countries (including the USA). Look it up on PubMed, if you are curious. The real problem is the breaking of herd immunity and thus increasing the risk to those who cannot receive a vaccine (like those who are immunocompromised from chemotherapy) to preventable infectious diseases.
Indeed, there are side effects to receiving a vaccine, but as with anything in life, you have to weigh the risk of the next best option and it is almost impossible to argue convincingly that the odds of not getting one of the infectious diseases the vaccines prevent are better than the odds of being affected by one of the vaccine's side effects. As with anything vaguely science related these days (e.g. global warming), there is so much misinformation out there that people are easily swayed by testimonial evidence out there on the internet & mass media and not by the multiple quantitative, scientific studies that provide overwhelming evidence for the lack of association between vaccines & autism.— muddyfuddyPA - You're right. There is a ton of misinformation out there and I'm just as frustrated as the next person trying to decipher what's true and what's not. While I appreciate the PubMed data you pointed out, I'm not entirely comfortable with data put out there by the Federal Government. There are many layers to the vaccine debate ranging from whether they do harm or not, to whether they even work at all, which makes it tough to discuss in this type of forum. Personally, I believe in allowing my immune system to work for me, and taking the steps to making it as strong as possible (diet, exercise, sleep, etc.). Early on, I truly believe that vaccines were developed to do good, but in the last 20 years or so, the industry has become corrupt and driven by trying to increase profits at the expense of our well being. Time will tell which is right. — tfnj42
I see we have a Jenny McCarthy fan here. You want to know why autism rates went up? They changed the diagnosis criteria. Asperger's syndrome is lumped in with autism now. Maybe vaccines are responsible for peanut allergies now, too? Anyhoo, would you rather have your kid with an allergy or your kid dead?— verve- Talk about an ignorant statement. There is a huge number of MDs and scientists out there that are questioning how safe vaccines are. In this case, the IOM, who were tasked by the CDC to provide new research in this area, INCLUDING doing a study comparing vaccinated kids vs. unvaccinated kids have dropped the ball. They simply analyzed existing data. There has NEVER been a study that compares vaccinated vs. unvaccinated. And verve, if you want to be one of the sheep that believes everything you hear from the CDC, who is run by former big pharma executives, go ahead. If you've naive enough to think that the hundreds of billions of dollars involved in that industry do not impact their integrity, then go ahead. I wish I could do that, but I can't. — tfnj42
- Jenny McCarthy is a rocket scientist so do what she says. Jim Carey as well!— Dunsmore
Here is our growing list of expert contributors:
Stephen Aronoff, M.D., M.B.A., Temple University Hospital
Christopher C. Chang, M.D., Ph.D., Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Jefferson Medical College
Katherine K. Dahlsgaard, Ph.D., Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Gary A. Emmett, M.D., Nemours Pediatrics, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Jefferson Medical College
Hazel Guinto-Ocampo, M.D., Bryn Mawr Hospital
Rima Himelstein, M.D., Crozer-Keystone Health System
W. Douglas Tynan, Ph.D., Ph.D., Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Jefferson Medical College
Beth Wallace, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Click on their names for fuller biographies. Questions? Email us at HealthyKids@philly.com
Reach Healthy at HealthyKids@philly.com.
