Immunization

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.”

Misconception #7 There is no good reason to immunize against chicken pox because it is a harmless disease.

Chicken pox is thought of as a harmless disease by many people. Most children who contract it do recover uneventfully, save a few minor scars from scratching. However, more than 10,000 persons are hospitalized each year with chickenpox and about 100 die. On average, one child dies each week from chickenpox, with most of these children having been healthy prior to contracting the disease.

Misconception #8 Vaccines do not work.

This vaccine myth sometimes takes the form of allegations that most of the people who contract a disease during an outbreak have been vaccinated against that disease. While this may be factually correct in some instances, we must remember that there are very logical reasons why this is sometimes the case. We know that not every person who is vaccinated develops adequate antibodies to a disease, although the vast majority of people do. Most routine vaccinations are effective for 85%-95% of recipients. Therefore, it is possible for example, in a population of 1000 people in which all but 5 have been vaccinated to have several people who have received the vaccine, but still get the disease. In this population in which a very high percentage of the people have been vaccinated, we may see more vaccinated people than unvaccinated people who contract the disease. Let’s say that 7 vaccinated people contract the disease and only 5 unvaccinated people do. Anti-vaccine groups would try to use this as “proof” that the vaccine didn’t work. But as one can easily see, this occurred simply because most of this population has been vaccinated. those who were vaccinated but didn’t respond simply outnumbered those who were unvaccinated. Another way to look at it would be to examine the percentages of unvaccinated vs. vaccinated people who contract a disease. In our example, 100% of the unvaccinated people contracted the disease, while less than 1% of the vaccinated people become ill.

Misconception #9 Vaccines cause autism.

This misconception has arisen due to sensational media reports and parental concerns about a reported connection between the Measles/Mumps/rubella vaccine (MMR) and autism. The only “evidence” that exists for this connection is a single, questionably valid study of a group of only 12 children. Since this study was published in 1998, several larger, more systematic and standardized reviews have not shown any connection between the MMR vaccine and autism. Although autism rates have risen since 1979, there was no jump after the introduction of MMR in 1988. Other studies have shown that rates of autism are not greater in vaccinated vs. unvaccinated children.