Current Paediatrics
Volume 12, Issue 1 , Pages 62-66, February 2002

The adverse effects of vaccines—fact and fiction

  • Helen E. Bedford (Senior Research Fellow)

      Affiliations

    • Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guildford Street, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
    • Correspondence to: HEB. Tel: 020 7905 2333; Fax: 020 7242 2723; E-mail: h.bedford@ich.ucl.ac.uk
    • Both authors have received funding from vaccine manufacturers as well as other sources, to attend educational meetings and conduct research.
    • ,
  • David A.C. Elliman (Consultant in Community Child Health)

      Affiliations

    • Department of Child Health, St George's Hospital, Tooting, London, SW17 0QT, UK
    • Both authors have received funding from vaccine manufacturers as well as other sources, to attend educational meetings and conduct research.

Abstract 

As vaccine-preventable diseases become less common, concerns about possible adverse effects of vaccines take on greater prominence. Often it is assumed that because an event has been noted to follow vaccination, it is due to the vaccine. This may lead to a ‘vaccine scare’ followed by a reduction in uptake and resurgence of disease. Yet when the situation is examined properly, it is usually found that there is no causal connection between the vaccine and the adverse event. In this article, we describe how vaccine safety is assured and some of the scares that have arisen in the past.

Keywords: vaccination, infectious diseases, adverse events, MMR, polio vaccine, pertussis vaccine, hepatitis B vaccine, multiple sclerosis, rotavirus vaccine, vCJD, safety, thiomersal

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PII: S0957-5839(01)90249-0

doi:10.1054/cupe.2001.0249

Current Paediatrics
Volume 12, Issue 1 , Pages 62-66, February 2002

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