Fears over the safety of vaccines felt by children's caregivers are understandable. Research, however, shows that most of the biggest fears about vaccinations are unfounded.
Public health officials and physicians have been combating misconceptions about vaccine safety for over twenty years. They've had mixed success.
Despite the fact that numerous studies have found no evidence to support the notion that vaccines cause autism and other chronic illnesses, there's a lot of disinformation out there. That disinformation poses a public health risk. Researchers now link falling immunization rates to recent resurgences of vaccine-preventable diseases.
Here are 8 major vaccine myths that research has shown to be baseless:
Myth #1: Vaccines cause autism -- Several major studies have been conducted. None of them found a link between any vaccine and the likelihood of developing autism.
Myth #2: Infant immune systems can't handle vaccines -- Though there are more vaccinations than ever before, today's vaccines are far more efficient, exposing children to fewer immunologic components overall than in the past.
Myth #3: Natural immunity is better than vaccines -- The dangers of this approach far outweigh the relative benefits.
Myth #4: Vaccines contain unsafe toxins -- There is no scientific evidence that the low levels of this chemical, mercury or aluminum in vaccines can be harmful.
Myth #5: Better hygiene/sanitation is actually responsible for decreased infections -- Better sanitation, nutrition, and the development of antibiotics helped a lot too. But when these factors are isolated and rates of infectious disease are scrutinized, the role of vaccines cannot be denied.
Myth #6: Vaccines aren't worth the risk -- There has never been a single credible study linking vaccines to long term health conditions.
Myth #7: Vaccines infect children with disease it's trying to prevent -- Vaccines can cause mild symptoms resembling those of the disease they are protecting against, but do not signal infection.
Myth #8: We don't need vaccines when infections rates are so low -- If too many people don't vaccinate themselves or their children, they contribute to a collective danger, opening up opportunities for viruses and bacteria to establish themselves and spread.
The full article is available here
