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Abstract
As vaccine-preventable diseases become less common, concerns about possible adverse
effects of vaccines take on greater prominence. Often it is assumed that because an
event has been noted to follow vaccination, it is due to the vaccine. This may lead
to a ‘vaccine scare’ followed by a reduction in uptake and resurgence of disease.
Yet when the situation is examined properly, it is usually found that there is no
causal connection between the vaccine and the adverse event. In this article, we describe
how vaccine safety is assured and some of the scares that have arisen in the past.
Keywords
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FURTHER READING
- Immunization.Childhood and Travel Health. Blackwell Science, Oxford2001
- Immunizing Children. Radcliffe Medical Press, Abingdon2001
- Childhood Immunisation—The Facts. Health Promotion England, London2001
- Immunisation against infectious disease. HMSO, London1996
Health Promotion England, http://www.hpe.org.uk
Department of Health, http://www.doh.gov.uk/
Public Health Laboratory Service, http://www.phls.co.uk/
Centers for Disease ControlUSA, http://www.cdc.gov/
World Health Organization, http://www.who.int/
Article Info
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© 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
