The safety and
effectiveness
of vaccines are under constant study.
Because
vaccines are designed
to be
given routinely during
well
-
child care
visits
, they must be extraordinarily safe. Safety
testing begins as soon as a new vaccine is contemplated
,
continues until it is
approved by the
FDA
,
and
is monitored
indefinitely after licensure. The American Academ
y of Pediatrics
(AAP)
works closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC)
to make
re
commendations for vaccine use.
Over the past decade, questions have been raised regarding a relationship between autism and
vaccines
.
Along with genera
l safety concerns, p
arents have wondered about:
•
too many vaccines
overwhelming the immune system
;
•
the measles, mumps, rubella combination vaccine (MMR)
; and
•
the preservative thimerosal, which was never present in MMR but was present in several
vaccines use
d in the 1990s
, but
has since been removed from all routinely used childhood
vaccines with the exception of flu
.
Research has been conducted on all of these topics, and
the studies continue to find vaccines to
be a safe and effective way to prevent seri
ous disease.
This document lists those studies and
provides links to the publications to allow parents
and all those who administer or recommend
vaccines to read the evidence for themselves. These studies do not show any link between autism
and MMR vaccine
, thimerosal, multiple vaccines given at once, fevers or seizures. Thi
s is not an
exhaustive list
-
vaccine safety studies are
constantly being conducted and published and may not
be reflected here
.
Please examine the evidence for yourself. If you have any
questions, speak with your
pediatrician