The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration have jointly created a database to collect reports about abnormal reactions to vaccines. The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) collects reports made by both healthcare professionals and private individuals, and it is accessible by anyone.
The flu virus can be deadly for children with certain preexisting medical conditions. A recent study found that the flu vaccination cut the threat of flu-associated death for these children by 51%.
- Repeated human papillomavirus (HPV) infections can cause a variety of cancers in both men and women. The HPV vaccine series prevents such infections and therefore prevents the resulting cancers.
- Adverse reactions to vaccination are more rare than those occurring from use of the most common children's medications.
5)A 1998 article published in a British medical journal first asserted the possibility of a link between autism and the MMR vaccine. Although the article was eventually retracted, and multiple studies have been unable to substantiate its original claim, continued public statements by one of the authors has caused a decrease in measles vaccinations and an increase in cases of measles across Britain.
Andrew Wakefield, the author of an article suggesting a possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism, did not suggest that parents stop vaccinating their children altogether, but that they obtain a different form of vaccine.