Child vaccine safety concerns persist
While the vast majority of parents believe vaccines protect their children from life-threatening illnesses, many continue to have concerns about the safety of childhood vaccines, according to a new national survey.
More than half -- 54 percent -- of the 1,552 parents surveyed said they have serious worries about adverse affects and overall vaccine safety, according to the findings, appearing today in the journal Pediatrics. And nearly 1 in 8 parents said they refused to have their child vaccinated against at least one recommended vaccine.
News of the 2009 survey comes just a month after the Lancet retracted a controversial article from a dozen years ago that first linked the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine to autism, sparking a global panic over the safety of routine childhood inoculations.
Nevertheless, more than 1 in 5 parents believe that some vaccines cause autism, the survey found. The study calls that figure "disturbingly high."
Well before the Lancet retraction, the evidence had been stacking up for years: study after study showed child vaccines are safe and effective ways at preventing a host of horrible diseases. So why so much fear among parents?
Many simply aren't getting the correct information, the paper states. Public health education campaigns are clearly falling short and more aggressive outreach is needed, said the study's authors, a team of University of Michigan researchers.
Of course, the survey is limited by it's small sample size. Still, it drives home a fascinating debate.
In addition, it had a few interesting demographic tidbits: Latino parents were more likely than whites or blacks to believe that vaccines cause autism. And black parents were more likely than whites or Latinos to have refused a pediatrician-recommended vaccine. Overall, women were more likely to have concerns about childhood vaccines than men.
Those findings should be taken into account when building effective public education programs, the author said.
Baltimore Sun photo
Comments
That (as the paper laments) "Many simply aren't getting the correct information" is probably due as much to to buggy reporting that allows the co-mingling of data points such as "54 percent... worries about adverse affects and overall vaccine safety" as though they were related.
Most new parents have a generalized low level anxiety about everything that their infant encounters... injections of anything will fall into that category. Simple calm reassurance will resolve nearly all of these.
But the virus like misinformation and unsubstantiated fear mongering propagated by the actively anti vaccine groups warrant active counter measures by both the qualified and the (presumably) unbiased... such as the media.
Posted by: MrRational | March 1, 2010 10:40 AM
While the studies may show that vaccines are safe, one can design a study to show anything one might desire---including such outrageous ideas as smoking does NOT cause cancer.
How long did the studies track the children? How many children were "lost" during the studies? Were the children from homogenous populations? How reliable was the method of information collection? What conditions or side effects were the subject of questions? More importantly, which potential side effects were not asked about?
A vaccine is not a suitable replacement for a healthy immune response. Nonetheless, many laypeople and so-called experts use a vaccine in precisely that manner. Ex: How often have we heard that vaccination is the best defense against H1N1? What about adequate rest, a good diet (including plenty of fruits and vegetables), sufficient water intake, proper physical activity, and reducing stress?
Oh right, I forget---these play absolutely no role whatsoever in health and immune response. And if it weren't for the vaccines, we'd all be dead by the age of 12. Gosh, how did anyone survive before the age of vaccination??
If some choose to get injected with antibiotics, chemical preservatives and potentially allergenic animal proteins (not to mention the agent itself), that's fine with me. I'll take my chances with my own innate defense tools. And, to paraphrase Charlie Heston, the experts and the state health police can have my arm when they can pry it off my cold, dead body.
Posted by: Mark | March 2, 2010 2:17 AM
So what causes autism if it's not vaccines? I mean everyone is so sure its not vaccines, what is causing this epidemic then? Old man sperm? Old lady eggs? Vinyl flooring? Plastics? Pesticides? Some kind of time released genetics? Surely it's not vaccines or the schedule or the adjuncts such as aborted baby fetus, aluminum, mercury, and we all know how safe they are, even if those trusted with being the government's authorities are taking money from the pharmaceutical companies. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/health/policy/18cdc.html?_r=2&ref=health
Yep vaccines are safe. Safe as a Chesterfield.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3336455/Secret-report-reveals-18-child-deaths-following-vaccinations.html
Posted by: bensmyson | March 2, 2010 6:52 PM
Did you know that highly refined peanut oil is generally recognized as safe and does not have to be listed as in ingredient on vaccines and other pharmaceuticals? Did you know that which vaccines and pharmaceuticals have peanut oil as an ingredient is a protected trade secret so doctors cannot find out this information?
Did you know that there is a serious peanut allergy epidemic among our vaccinated children?
Posted by: barb | April 4, 2010 9:12 AM