Addressing Common Concerns

Myths and misinformation about vaccine safety can confuse parents who are trying to make sound decisions about their children's health care.

Vaccination is a common, memorable event, and association of events in time often signals cause and effect. While some of the sickness or reactions that follow vaccination may be caused by the vaccine, many are unrelated events that occur by coincidence after vaccination. Therefore, the scientific research that attempts to distinguish true vaccine adverse events from unrelated, chance occurrence is important.

Vaccine Safety Concerns

• Adjuvants
• Autism
• Fainting (Syncope)
• Febrile Seizures Following Childhood Vaccinations
• Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS)
• IOM Report on Adverse Effects of Vaccines
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
• Thimerosal
• CDC Statement on Discontinued Use of Pandemrix Influenza Vaccine in Europe

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) and Menactra® Meningococcal Vaccine
• Hepatitis B (Hep B) Vaccine and Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• HPV Vaccine Safety
• Multiple Vaccines and the Immune System
• Safety of the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Vaccine
• Syncope (Fainting) After Vaccination
• Thimerosal (Ethylmercury)
• Vaccine Recalls
• Vaccine Safety

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Related Scientific Articles

Donahue JG, Kieke BA, Yih WK, Berger NR, McCauley JS, Baggs J, Zangwill KM, Baxter R, Eriksen EM, Glanz JM, Hambidge SJ, Klein NP, Lewis EM, Marcy SM, Naleway AL, Nordin JD, Ray P, Belongia EA for the Vaccine Safety Datalink Team. Varicella vaccination and ischemic stroke in children: Is there an Association? Pediatrics 2009; 123;228–234.

Haber P, Sejvar J, Mikaeloff Y, DeStefano F. Vaccines and guillain-barré syndrome. Drug Safety 32:4.

Lieu TA, Kulldorff M, Davis RL, Lewis EM, Weintraub E, Yih K, Yin R, Brown JS, Platt R; for the Vaccine Safety Datalink Rapid Cycle Analysis Team. Real-time vaccine safety surveillance for the early detection of adverse events. Medical Care 2007;45(10 Suppl 2):S89–95.

Sutherland A, Izurieta H, Ball R, Braun MM, Miller ER, Broder KR, Slade BA, Iskander JK, Kroger AT, Markowitz LE, Huang WT. Syncope after vaccination—United States, January 2005–July 2007. MMWR 2008;57(17):457–460.

Vellozzi C, Burwen DR, Dobardzic A, Ball R, Walton K, Haber P. Safety of trivalent inactivated influenza vaccines in adults: background for pandemic influenza vaccine safety monitoring. Vaccine 2009 Mar 26;27(15):2114-20.

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