The vaccine controversy encompasses many issues over the benefits and risks of Vaccines .
Vaccine s are widely credited with reducing the prevalence and consequences of many diseases. National and international public health organizations have made vaccination a central part of their strategies. The consensus of health organizations and medical doctors is that mass Vaccination campaigns have eradicated or controlled several deadly diseases via individual and Herd Immunity .
Critics question the claimed efficacy and safety of such programs. See Anti-vaccinationist about the individuals involved. The medical community, however, overwhelmingly then and now supports vaccination as an effective and safe means of preventing the spread and reducing the impact of infectious illnesses. Public Health advocates overwhelmingly hold the opinion that the benefit to the public justifies mandatory programs.
Research continues both into the development of new vaccines for a broadening array of diseases, and into the efficacy and safety of vaccines already in common use.
The case for widespread vaccines
Public health officials, the medical community and public opinion overwhelmingly agree that children should routinely be vaccinated against a range of diseases, such as Measles , Polio , Diphtheria , Rubella , Tetanus , Pertussis , Hepatitis B , and others. Some vulnerable groups are also advised to be vaccinated against Influenza . Supporters of widespread vaccine policies contend that:
- Vaccines have saved more lives than any other form of medical intervention. Among the most striking successes are the worldwide destruction of Smallpox and the near eradication of Polio .
- Vaccines are a cost-effective way of ensuring health, compared to treatment of a manifest disease. Routine childhood immunization saves about $40 billion in overall healthcare and social costs per birth year cohort vaccinated. {Link without Title}
- Vaccines prevent epidemics in vulnerable areas. When vaccination against polio was recently halted in Nigeria, for instance, the number of cases significantly rose {Link without Title} .
- Critics of vaccination often lack relevant qualifications, may be ideologically opposed to mandatory health programs, and are commonly associated with fringe views about alternative therapies and the achievements of drug-based medicine.
- Physicians almost uniformly support polyvalent (more than one antigen) vaccines, such as DPT and MMR, as being in the best interests of the child. The reasons given are that it reduces the unprotected exposure to all but one of the components over that of spaced immunisation with single components, one injection is less uncomfortable than several, and it is more cost-effective for payors.
- If individual or multiple vaccinations were to "weaken the immune system", then they would be expected to increase hospitalisation for other infections following immunisation. Epidemiological surveys give a probability below one in a thousand that this happens. The Statistical Power of the study —given the Cohort size— is too small to reduce uncertainty further. {Link without Title} .
Criticism of widespread vaccine policy
The practice of vaccination has been opposed by some since its inception in the late 18th century {Link without Title} , but criticism has become more visible in the US and some other developed countries in recent years partly paralling the widespread availability of information through the web. While positions vary from outright rejection of the practice to calls for more selective and cautious use of vaccination, one or several of the following arguments are typically invoked:
- Critics claim that the public health benefits of vaccinations are exaggerated. They further claim that the mortality rates of some illnesses were already dramatically reduced before vaccines were introduced, and claim that further reductions cannot immediately be attributed to vaccines.
- Secondary and long-term effects on the immune system from introducing Immunogen s directly into the body are not fully understood.
- The recommended vaccination schedule does not consider the cumulative effect of being exposed to multiple immunogens at the same time and at a young age.
- At least some vaccine studies did not include such young children (e.g., 5 week old infants, 2 month old infants), yet vaccination schedules start with newborns {Link without Title} . There can be a vast difference between the weight and all around development of a newborn baby versus a toddler, yet this is not accounted for.
- Opponents of current vaccination policy question if vaccinations actually create immunity against the targeted diseases because some people who have been vaccinated still contracted the illness.
- By not exposing children to common childhood illnesses, they may be more susceptible to diseases at a point when their immune system is weakened, e.g., at an old age or when sick for other reasons.
- As is true with any medication, adverse events to the vaccine (even when rare) may be worse than the disease itself, and there are isolated reports of serious health damage and even death within hours or a day or two of vaccination. Although there are now various national databases where reported reactions can be recorded, anti-vacinationists claim that serious adverse events are grossly under-reported.
- There are a number of possible conflicts of interest that may affect the research design, findings, and opinions about vaccines, including financial interests of companies, the self-regulatory mechanism of medical doctors, and fear of the consequences should vaccines be found to be dangerous (see 2000 Simpsonwood CDC Conference for example of such fears). But there are also concerns that opponents of vaccines may be seeking to enrich themselves through litigation or the sale of alternatives, by spreading fear and misjudgment among the public.
Vaccination supporters
Supporters of vaccination, which includes most medical organizations:
- Bono
- Eric Fombonne , MD, FRCP,
- Thomas Francis, Jr. , MD
- Robert Koch , MD
- Edward Jenner , MD
- Paul Offit , MD
- William Osler , MD "the father of modern medicine"
- Louis Pasteur
- Albert Sabin
- Jonas Salk , MD
- Thomas Verstraeten , MD, MSc
- Almroth Wright
Organizations
Vaccination critics
- Beddow Bayly , MRCS, LRCP
- Sallie Bernard
- Liz Birt
- Mark Blaxill , MBA
- Jeff Bradstreet , MD
- Patty Brennan
- Gerhard Buchwald , MD
- Rep. Dan Burton (R- Indiana )
- Jonathan Campbell
- Alan Cantwell , MD
- James Compton-Burnett , MD
- Harris Coulter , PhD
- Charles Creighton , MD, MA, MB, CM
- Judith A. DeCava , BS, CNC
- Richard Deth , PhD
- Barbara Loe Fisher , DC
- Mike Frandsen, MBA
- Mark Geier , MD, PhD
- Walter Hadwen , MD, MRCS, MRCP
- Sen. Chuck Hagel (R- Nebraska )
- Boyd Haley , PhD
- Sepp Hasslberger
- Archie Kalokerinos , AMM, MBBS, PhD, FAPM
- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
- David Kirby
- Arthur Krigsman , MD
- Lily Loat
- Bill Maher
- Robert Mendelsohn , MD
- Joseph Mercola , DO
- Neil Z. Miller , BA
- Jamie Murphy
- Randall Neustaedter , OMD
- Gary Null
- Dan Olmsted
- Charles Pearce , MD
- Bernard Rimland , PhD
- Lyn Redwood , RN, MSN,
- Rick Rollens
- Diane Rozario
- Viera Scheibner , PhD
- William Tebb
- Vijendra K. Singh , PhD
- Andrew Wakefield , MD
- Lord Alfred Wallace
- Rep. Dave Weldon , MD (R- Florida )
- Edward Yazbak , MD, FAAP
Organizations
References
- "Content and Design Attributes of Antivaccination Web Sites" Robert M. Wolfe, MD; Lisa K. Sharp, PhD; Martin S. Lipsky, MD Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA. 2002;287:3245-3248 : Systematically examined antivaccination Web site attributes and delineated specific claims and concerns of antivaccination groups. 22 sites.
- Miller, C.L. ''Deaths from measles in England and Wales. 1970-83.''], Epidemiological Research Laboratory, Public Health Laboratory Service, London; measles mortality statistics published in the ''British Medical Journal'', Vol 290, February 9, 1985
External links
Vaccine promotion sites, little or no anti-vaccination viewpoint
Sites or articles supportive of vaccines
- CDC.gov - 'National Immunization Program: leading the way to healthy lives', US Centers For Disease Control (CDC information on vaccinations)
- CDC.gov - 'Mercury and Vaccines (Thimerosal)', US Centers for Disease Control
- NYTimes.com - 'On Autism's Cause, It's Parents vs. Research', Gardiner Harris, Anahad O'Connor, '' New York Times '' (front page; June 25, 2005)
- OpinionJournal.com - 'Autism and vaccines: Activists wage a nasty campaign to silence scientists' (editorial), '' Wall Street Journal '' (February 16, 2004)
- SNHS.com - 'Anti-vaccine activists get jabbed', Michael Fumento (March 11, 2004)
- ZyNet.co.uk - 'Polio Virus, Vaccine and Eradication', Lincolnshire Post-Polio Network (UK)
- iVillage ParentsPlace Vaccine Support Message Board
Sites or articles critical of vaccines
- GenerationRescue.org - 'Thousands of parents, hundreds of doctors and scientists and several congressmen agree. The Cause of autism - and its cure- has been found.', Generation Rescue
- About.com - 'Killing the Messenger: Dr. Andrew Wakefield Fired', Floyd Tilton (December 5, 2001)
- InformedParent.co.uk - 'MMR Manufacturers Keep Up Legal Pressure on MMR Children', Informed Parent
- [http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2005/10/26/s_1873_pandemic_vaccine_bill_to_put_drug_firms_beyond_reach_of_law.htm NewMediaExplorer.org] - 'S 1873: Pandemic Vaccine Bill To Put Drug Firms Beyond Reach Of Law', Sepp Hasslberger, Health Supreme (October 26, 2005)
- NVIC.org - National Vaccine Information Center
- [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7483530?rnd=1121712672766&has-player=unknown RollingStone.com] - 'Kennedy Report Sparks Controversy: Intense reaction from medical establishment and leading news organizations' (editorial), Rolling Stone (July 14, 2005)
- ThinkTwice.com - Think Twice Global Vaccine Institute
Sites decidedly or apparently totally against vaccination
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