Are Vaccines Safe

Are vaccines safe?
Vaccine controversy has existed as long as vaccination itself and to this date
the topic remains debatable. Vaccines are weakened viruses, killed viruses or
bacteria or modified toxin produced by bacteria injected into the body to increase
immunity to a particular disease the individual is vaccinated against. Many reliable
scientific studies support that vaccines are able to protect a person from infections
developing when exposed to certain viruses and could even eradicate diseases such
as smallpox. However, at the meantime, there are views stating that vaccines are to
blame for autism in children, vaccination programs are only promoted so that big
pharma can generate more income and so forth.
The development of a vaccine takes 10 to 15 years on average. It is a relatively
long process that generally involves a number of stages. In the U.S., the general
stages involve: exploratory stage, pre-clinical stage, clinical development, regulatory
review and approval, manufacturing and quality control. The clinical development
further diverges into a three-phase process. After approval of a vaccine product by
the FDA, they continue to monitor the safety of its production by, for example,
periodic facility inspections and requiring submission of samples of each vaccine lot
by manufacturers to the FDA for testing. Surveillance of the vaccine when it is
marketed is also done by Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)
established by the CDC and FDA. VAERS receives side effects reports lodged by
concerned individuals and work on analysing the vaccine to determine whether the
side effects are linked to the vaccine. This sophisticated system exists to ensure that
vaccines produced are safe to be used by the public.
Vaccines work by mimicking an infection to trigger immune response. It will
not be potent enough to cause symptoms and diseases. The potency is just sufficient
to increase the specific antibody level against the pathogen. The vaccinated
individuals will then have relatively higher antibody level so that in the event the
disease-causing agent invades the body, they will not get an infection. Therefore,
vaccination has shown great success in reducing the number of victims of several
diseases. One well-known example is the successful eradication of smallpox disease.
The WHO started the eradication programme in 1956, they finally declared the world
free of smallpox in 1980. One of the major reasons for its success was coordinated
efforts of people around the globe in administering and accepting vaccination.
Currently, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative has set a goal to eradicate
polioviruses such that the world will be polio-free. Since its foundation in 1988, there
is 99.9% decrease in global incidence of polio. Measles vaccination has also proved a
huge success in decreasing deaths. In between 2000 to 2016 there is an 86% drop in
measles deaths worldwide.
Despite all the research in developing safe vaccines and its positive outcomes,
there are still groups of people who are anti-vaccines. Anti-vaxxers are mostly
Are vaccines safe?
parents as they are concerned about their children’s health. They believe vaccines to
be one of the causes for autism, asthma, allergies, ADHD and other medical
conditions. Most of the time, their belief is influenced by sources on the internet and
through word of mouth. Dr. Robert Mendelsohn MD, a pediatrician, became the first
medical doctor in North America to be against vaccination. “There are significant
risks associated with every immunization and numerous contraindications that may
make it dangerous for the shots to be given to your child…. Immunization against
relatively harmless childhood diseases may be responsible for the dramatic increase
in autoimmune diseases.”, said Dr. Mendelsohn. Dr. Jane Orient, a physician and an
executive director of Association of American Physicians and Surgeons writes, "Our
children face the possibility of death or serious long-term adverse effects from
mandated vaccines that aren’t necessary or that have very limited benefits". Thus, it
is no surprise that the common people too become worried since a few medical
professionals themselves are in disagreement with vaccination. There are also
studies, although not officially supported, stating that Sudden Infant Death
Syndrome (SIDS) correlates with vaccine injections. The hypothesis derives from
when Japan raised the minimum age of vaccinating babies from 2 months old to 2
years old, the rate of SIDS showed decline.
Much as there are studies supporting vaccination, it appears that there are
still claims that link vaccines to diseases which to date remain unconcluded. Thus,
there are still possibilities that the claims might be true. Nevertheless, it seems that
anti-vaxxers are often inclined to nitpick and suggest causal relation between
vaccines and illnesses. Most of the time, these citations are not clearly fact-based
and they are backed up with ill-defined analysis reports. On the other hand,
evidence-based studies and statistical reports have clearly shown the benefits of
vaccines. It is also very clear that if vaccination is to be discontinued, the resulting
public health implications will be undesirable. In fact, the presence of anti-vaccine
groups actually do help the public in a way that due to their criticisms, studies are
then carried out to further investigate the safety of vaccine. For example, when
thimerosal-containing vaccines are said to cause neurodevelopmental disorders
(NDDs), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the U.S. Public Health Service
(PHS) issued a joint statement in July 1999 recommending the removal of thimerosal
from vaccines after the FDA determined that under the recommended childhood
immunization schedule, infants might be exposed to cumulative doses of
ethylmercury that exceed some federal safety guidelines established for ingestion of
methylmercury. However, according to research, this does not mean that thimerosal
in vaccines can cause NDDs. In general, the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the
disadvantages of it. Until there is a proven study where vaccine causes significant
harm, it should be continued in order to control the spread of diseases that could
cost lives.
Are vaccines safe?

Are Vaccines Safe

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What are the stages involved in developing a vaccine?

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Are vaccines safe?

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