 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
Vaccine Preventable Disease Consumer Information
HPV Vaccine and Your DaughterDownload the brochure HPV and Your Daughter in English and Spanish. Vaccine Safety
Scientific research and experience have shown that serious adverse effects from vaccines are extremely rare. The chance of serious complications (including death) from the diseases that vaccines prevent is many times higher than the chance of complications related to vaccines. Additional resources on vaccine safety and efficacy:
Vaccine Testing, Approval, and Monitoring The approval process for a biological product such as a vaccine is based on federal regulations and involves clinical trials in three phases. Clinical trials have been going on for many years before a vaccine is licensed. On average, it takes over five years from the time of application for licensure until FDA approval of a product. After a product is approved for sale, FDA continues to monitor vaccine safety and effectiveness by various means, including on-site inspections of the manufacturing facility to review the manufacturers testing of vaccines for safety, potency, and purity. There is also a national system operated by FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for reporting any possible adverse reactions following immunizations. This system is called the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (Link:www.vaers.hhs.gov). Shortly after rotavirus vaccine became available in 1999, cases of bowel obstruction among some infants who had received the vaccine were reported to VAERS. CDC recommended that use of the rotavirus vaccine be suspended pending further evaluation. The CDC's recommendations were a direct result of the data obtained through VAERS.
Thank you for your interest in finding out more about immunizations. As parents, we are asked to make many important decisions concerning our children. To have your child immunized is one of these important decisions. Immunization is the most effective way to prevent your child (and your neighbor's child) from getting dangerous childhood diseases. When using the internet to gather information on immunizations, choose your sites wisely. The internet is full of information about immunizations but not all of the information is based on science. Much is based in fear and misinformation. Be sure you go to reputable sites for your information. Parents who would like to know more about childhood immunizations are encouraged to read the Parent Guide to Immunizations, a pamphlet prepared by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Additonal resources:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Why should children be vaccinated?
2. Why do we still need to vaccinate? Aren't these diseases gone? Vaccines are responsible for the control of many infectious diseases that were once common in this country. Vaccines have reduced, and in some cases, eliminated, many diseases (measles, diphtheria, pertussis, polio, etc.) that routinely killed or harmed many infants, children, and adults. However, the viruses and bacteria that cause vaccine-preventable disease and death still exist and can be passed on to people who are not protected by vaccines. Our current situation is a lot like bailing out a boat with a slow leak. When we started bailing, the boat was filled with water. But we have been bailing fast and hard, and now it is almost dry. We could say, "Good. The boat is dry now, so we can throw away the bucket and relax. But the leak hasn't stopped. Before long we'd notice a little water seeping in, and soon it might be back up to the same level as when we started. So vaccination keeps our communities free of disease. When we get vaccinated, we protect not only ourselves, but also our neighbors. There are a small number of people who cannot be vaccinated (because of severe allergies to vaccine components, for example), and a small percentage of people don't respond to vaccines. These people are susceptible to disease, and their only hope of protection is that people around them are immune and cannot pass disease along to them. A successful vaccination program, like a successful society, depends on the cooperation of every individual to ensure the good of all. We would think it irresponsible of a driver to ignore all traffic regulations on the presumption that other drivers will watch out for him or her. In the same way we shouldn't rely on people around us to stop the spread of disease; we, too, must do what we can. 3. What would happen if we stopped vaccinating? Before long we would see epidemics of diseases that are nearly under control today. More children would get sick and more would die. There are numerous examples of societies that have let their vaccination rates slip and then suffered the consequences Three countries- Great Britain, Sweden, and Japan - cut back on the use of pertussis vaccine because of fear about the vaccine. The effect was immediate and dramatic. In GB, a drop in pertussis vaccination in 1974 was followed by an epidemic of more than 100,000 cases and 36 deaths by 1978. In Japan, a drop in vaccination rates from 80% to 20-40% led to a jump in pertussis from 393 cases and no deaths in 1974 to 13,000 cases and 41 deaths in 1976. In Sweden, the incidence rate per 100,000 went from 700 in 1981 to 3,200 in 1985. 4. How do vaccines work? Vaccines are made from weakened or killed disease germs and are given by a shot, liquid drops, or an inhaled spray. After getting a vaccine, the body makes antibodies and activated lymphocytes that fight and destroy real disease germs. Vaccines help your children's immune system work better and protect your child from catching a disease. 5. Are vaccines safe? Vaccines are very safe and effective. Sometimes people will have minor reactions to a vaccine such as a sore arm or a slight fever. More serious complications from vaccines are very rare. However, the risk of catching a serious or even fatal diseases is greater than the risk of a bad reaction from a vaccine. There is some concern that vaccines contain harmful preservatives 6. What diseases do vaccine prevent? Hepatitis B, Hepatitis A, Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Polio, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Varicella (chickenpox), Pneumococcal disease, and Influenza. 7. I've heard that giving multiple vaccinations at the same visit will overwhelm my child's system. Is this true? Children (and adults) are exposed to many germs every day. Eating food introduces new bacteria into the body, and numerous bacteria live in the mouth and nose, exposing the immune system to still more antigens. An upper respiratory viral infection exposes a child to 4 - 10 antigens, and a case of 'strep throat' to 25 - 50. According to Adverse Events Associated with Childhood Vaccines, a 1994 report from the Institute of Medicine, "in the face of these normal events, it seems unlikely that the number of separate antigens contained in childhood vaccines . . . would represent an appreciable added burden on the immune system that would be immunosuppressive." And, indeed, available scientific data show that simultaneous vaccination with multiple vaccines has no adverse effect on the normal childhood immune system. A number of studies have been conducted to examine the effects of giving various combinations of vaccines simultaneously. In fact, neither the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) nor the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) would recommend the simultaneous administration of any vaccines until such studies showed the combinations to be both safe and effective. These studies have shown that the recommended vaccines are as effective in combination as they are individually, and that such combinations carry no greater risk for adverse side effects. Consequently, both the ACIP and AAP recommend simultaneous administration of all routine childhood vaccines when appropriate. Research is under way to find ways to combine more antigens in a single vaccine injection (for example, MMR and chickenpox). This will provide all the advantages of the individual vaccines, but will require fewer shots. There are two practical factors in favor of giving a child several vaccinations during the same visit. First, we want to immunize children as early as possible to give them protection during the vulnerable early months of their lives. This generally means giving inactivated vaccines beginning at 2 months and live vaccines at 12 months. The various vaccine doses thus tend to fall due at the same time. Second, giving several vaccinations at the same time will mean fewer office visits for vaccinations, saving parents both time and money and may be less traumatic for the child. 8. I've heard that vaccination causes harmful side effects, including disease and death. Is this true? Vaccines are actually very safe, despite implications to the contrary in many anti-vaccine publications. There is a national tracking system for monitoring vaccine adverse events called Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS). Most vaccine adverse events are minor and temporary, such as a sore arm or mild fever. These can often be controlled by taking acetaminophen before or after vaccination. More serious adverse events occur rarely (on the order of one per thousands to one per millions of doses), and some are so rare that risk cannot be accurately assessed. As for vaccines causing death, again so few deaths can plausibly be attributed to vaccines that it is hard to assess the risk statistically. Of all deaths reported to the VAERS between 1990 and 2002, only one is believed to be even possibly associated with a vaccine. Each death reported to VAERS is thoroughly examined to ensure that it is not related to a new vaccine-related problem, but little or no evidence suggests that vaccines have contributed to any of the reported deaths. The Institute of Medicine in its 1994 report states that the risk of death from vaccines is extraordinarily low. The smallpox vaccine is an exception to this rule. Recent events have raised the fear that smallpox or other biological agents might be used in bioterrorist attacks. Because smallpox was officially eradicated in the late 70's, the live viral vaccine being used to immunize members of the military and small numbers of public health and medical care workers is 30 years old and is being used because it is the only current source of vaccine. If tested today, it would probably not pass safety standards. 9. I've heard that vaccines contain mercury that may cause autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders? What about other additives? What about SIDS? Today, all vaccines in the recommended childhood immunization schedule that are licensed for use in the U.S. market contain no thimerosal or only trace amounts (less than 1 part per million per dose is considered a trace or insignificant, amount). Some vaccines intended for adults or adolescents, such as influenza (flu) and tetanus and diphtheria vaccines (Td and DT), still contain thimerosal as a preservative. Click below for scientific studies:
The original furor and recommendation that thimerosal be removed (July, 1999) was due to 'biological plausibility'; that is, the cumulative mercury dosage in infants (relatively small body mass) receiving vaccines was nearing the EPA limits for exposure to mercury and therefore might be harmful. But the EPA recommendations are actually based on methyl mercury levels and not ethyl mercury, which is the form of mercury found in thimerosal. Furthermore, EPA limits for exposure are usually set about 10 times lower than the amount likely to cause any toxicity in order to provide a buffer of protection. Interestingly, recent studies indicate that ethyl mercury (the thimerosal mercury) is removed much more rapidly from the body in children than methyl mercury and that mercury levels in the blood of children vaccinated with thimerosal-containing vaccines do not exceed EPA limits.
Most vaccines contain small amounts of materials that may either be left over from the manufacturing process or added to increase vaccine potency or stability. None of these constituents are harmful unless the recipient has an allergy to one of them. The Vaccine Information Statement for each vaccine discusses who should avoid being vaccinated. For further discussion of the safety data on vaccine additives, click below to download:
One myth that won't seem to go away is that DTP vaccine causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). This belief came about because a moderate proportion of children who die of SIDS have recently been vaccinated with DTP; and on the surface, this seems to point toward a causal connection. But this logic is faulty; you might as well say that wearing diapers causes SIDS since nearly all children who develop SIDS also wear diapers. In other words, since most SIDS deaths occur during the age range when 3 shots of DTP are given, you would expect DTP shots to precede a fair number of SIDS deaths simply by chance. In fact, when a number of well-controlled studies were conducted during the 1980's, the investigators found, nearly unanimously, that the number of SIDS deaths temporally associated with DTP vaccination was within the range expected to occur by chance. In other words, the SIDS deaths would have occurred even if no vaccinations had been given. In fact, in several of the studies children who had recently gotten a DTP shot were less likely to get SIDS. The Institute of Medicine reported that "all controlled studies that have compared immunized versus nonimmunized children have found either no association . . . or a decreased risk . . . of SIDS among immunized children" and concluded that "the evidence does not indicate a causal relation between [DTP] vaccine and SIDS." While we still don't fully understand what causes SIDS, a number of contributory factors have been identified, including genetic background, developmental abnormalities, sleep environment, etc. For review of current knowledge on SIDS, click below. Ultimately, it is prudent ot weigh both risks and benefits. Even one serious adverse effect in a million doses of vaccine cannot be justified if there is no benefit from the vaccination. If there were no vaccines, there would be many more cases of disease, and along with them, more serious side effects and more deaths. For example, according to an analysis of the benefit and risk of DTP immunization, if we had no immunization program in the United States, pertussis cases could increase 71-fold and deaths due to pertussis could increase 4-fold. Comparing the risk from disease with the risk from the vaccines can give us an idea of the benefits we get from vaccinating our children. 10. How can I best prepare for my children's vaccine visits?
Children may be scared about getting a vaccine. These tips may help:
Immunization Fact Sheet
Click here to download the Immunization Fact Sheet (pdf) Immunization Fact Sheet (doc) Ten Things You Should Know about Immunizations 1. Why your child should be immunized Children need immunizations (shots) to protect them from dangerous childhood diseases. These diseases can have serious complications and even kill children. 2. Diseases that childhood vaccines prevent
3. Number of shots your child needs The following vaccinations are recommended by age two and can be given over 4-5 visits to a doctor or clinic:
4. Like any medicine, there may be minor side effects Side effects can occur with any medicine, including vaccines. Depending on the vaccine, these can include: slight fever, rash, or soreness at the site of injection. Slight discomfort is normal and should not be a cause for alarm. Your health care provider can give you additional information. 5. It's extremely rare, but vaccines can cause serious reactions and weigh the risks! Serious reactions to vaccines are extremely rare. The risks of serious disease from not vaccinating are far greater than the risks of serious reaction to a vaccination. 6. What to do if your child has a serious reaction. If you think your child is experiencing a persistent or severe reaction, call your doctor or get the child to a doctor right away. Write down what happened and the date and time it happened. Ask your doctor, nurse or health department to file a Vaccine Adverse Event Report form available at vaers.hhs.gov or call 1-800-338-2382 to file this form yourself. 7. Why you should not wait to vaccinate Children under 5 are especially susceptible to disease because their immune systems have not yet built up high level defenses to fight infection. By immunizing on time (by age 2), you can protect your child from disease and also protect others at school or daycare. 8. Be sure to track your shots via a health record A vaccination health record helps you and your health care provider keep your child's vaccinations on schedule. If you move or change providers, having an accurate record might prevent your child from repeating vaccinations he or she has already had. A shot record should be started when your child receives his/her first vaccination and updated with each vaccination visit. 9. All children in New Mexico are eligible for free vaccinations A federal program called Vaccines for Children provides free vaccines to eligible children, including those without health insurance coverage, all those who are enrolled in Medicaid, American Indians and Alaskan Natives. The State of New Mexico provides additional funding to purchase vaccine for all VFC-non-eligible children so that all children 0-18 years of age in New Mexico receive free vaccine. 10. More information is available.
|
||||
|
Although parents often have concerns about vaccine safety, vaccines are extremely safe and getting safer and more effective all the time as a result of medical research and ongoing review by doctors, researchers, and public health officials. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses very stringent scientific criteria to ensure that vaccines are safe and effective (protect from disease) before they are approved, and then continue to monitor vaccines for safety even after approval. 
To download a free copy of Acrobat 
Vaccine save lives and protect people from illness and permanent disability. Young children need to be vaccinated because they are more likely to develop complications or die from vaccine-preventable diseases than older children and adults.
 |
|