8 Myths About Vaccines

Vaccines have a long history of protecting children from infectious diseases such as measles, whooping cough, polio and hepatitis. The development of vaccines is one of the greatest advancements ever made for human health.

Many parents have questions and concerns about vaccine safety. With a growing amount of information and misinformation online, it can be hard to know what’s true. Amy Edwards, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, addresses some common vaccine myths.

Myth #1: Vaccines cause autism.

This myth originated from a small study in the 1990s that claimed there was a link between the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine and children with autism. That study was flawed and conducted unethically. It was debunked and retracted by the authors.

Since then, studies from all over the world have shown there is no difference in autism rates among vaccinated, partially vaccinated and unvaccinated kids. “Together these studies include millions of children across several decades. No link between vaccination and diagnosis of autism has been found,” she says.

Myth #2: Vaccines contain dangerous ingredients like aluminum and formaldehyde.

“While it’s true that vaccines contain aluminum and formaldehyde, they aren’t harmful or dangerous at the doses found in vaccines,” says Dr. Edwards.

Vaccines use aluminum salts, which are not the same as aluminum metal, which is used in tinfoil. These salts help the immune system build protection. They make vaccines work better. Aluminum salts occur naturally in plants and are present in many things people eat, the water they drink, even in breast milk. Human bodies are good at getting rid of aluminum, and the amount in vaccines is far too little to cause any harm, Dr. Edwards says.

“Aluminum salts are in several of our vaccines that we give to children. But the amount in our vaccines are several thousand times lower than the amount of aluminum that you get exposed to on a daily basis through deodorant, food, water, aspirin and a number of other sources,” Dr Edwards says.

Formaldehyde exists in every living being on earth because it is a natural biproduct of various cellular pathways. Because some vaccines are created using viruses from human cells, they will have trace amounts of formaldehyde in them naturally

“Some formaldehyde makes its way into vaccines, but at levels about 1,000 times lower than what is naturally present already in humans, even in babies,” Dr. Edwards says. “The amount in vaccines is so negligible compared to the amount already in your body that it makes no difference and it is not dangerous or harmful.”

Myth #3: The vaccine can give you the disease.

“I often hear people say that they don't want to be vaccinated because the vaccine is going to make them sick with that virus. This is simply not true,” Dr. Edwards says.

Most vaccines are made from a dead virus or only have harmless pieces of the virus or bacteria. They can’t cause disease. “Because they're not in their whole form and they're not alive, they can’t infect humans.”

Vaccines given routinely to children to prevent measles, mumps, rubella and varicella have living virus in them. But the virus is weakened before being put into vaccines, Dr. Edwards says. There are a handful of documented cases in medical literature of children getting very mild forms of some of these infections after vaccination. But they are very rare and universally mild compared to the actual disease, she says.

Myth #4: The effectiveness and safety of vaccines has never been proven.

“There is a myth in circulation right now that the vaccines that we use on our children have not been studied in an effective way. And that is simply not true,” Dr. Edwards says. “All of our vaccines have undergone thorough and careful testing, both for efficacy and safety.”

All vaccines have to be approved for use by the FDA. In order to gain this approval, vaccines must undergo a randomized controlled trial. FDA approval also requires safety data.

“The safety of vaccines is also monitored after approval, with periodic publication of safety data. This is true for other countries, not just the U.S. Many of these safety studies have lasted for decades,” Dr. Edwards says. “There are thousands of studies that include millions of people and show very clearly that serious adverse events are incredibly rare, if they happen at all.”

Myth #5: The vaccine schedule is too aggressive and should be spaced out

This is a myth that too many vaccines can overwhelm the immune system or that children don’t need multiple doses of certain vaccines.

First, multiple vaccines don’t overwhelm the immune system. Vaccines contain antigens, which are weakened or inactive parts of an infection-causing bacteria or virus, to stimulate an immune response. Childhood vaccinations combined have a very low antigen load. People are exposed to far higher amounts of antigens in the environment every day, Dr. Edwards says. “The small amount of antigens in a handful of vaccines at a well-child visit is hardly a blip on the screen for the immune system.”

The number of doses for a vaccine is determined by the disease and the age of the patient. Infants have immature immune systems that have a hard time forming “memory cells,’ which are important to maintaining immunity, Dr. Edwards says. “Because of this, infants get repeat doses of some vaccines to provide ongoing protection during their highest risk period of life,” she says.

“We could give fewer doses if we waited until they were older to start vaccinating, but young infants are the ones most likely to die if they become infected with many of these diseases. So, leaving them unvaccinated is unwise.”

Myth #6: We don’t see many of these diseases anymore. Do we still need vaccines?

It’s true that modern sanitation, clean water and better nutrition have wiped out some illnesses, but not ones like measles, chickenpox or polio. Those diseases spread through the air and aren’t affected by hygiene improvements.

“If we stopped vaccinating today, we probably wouldn’t notice a big difference right away. But after several months or a year, we’d start seeing more outbreaks – first measles and whooping cough, then pneumonia, meningitis and even polio again.”

Vaccines are the reason we don’t see these diseases much anymore, and keeping up with vaccination is how we make sure they stay gone, Dr. Edwards says.

Myth #7: Hundreds (or thousands) of children die from vaccines every year.

Deaths reported after vaccination are extremely rare. The vast majority of deaths investigated by public health agencies are found not to be caused by the vaccine itself.

“In rare cases vaccines can cause anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction that can cause death if not recognized and treated quickly,” Dr. Edwards says. “This is why it’s advisable for providers and parents to monitor a child closely for 30-60 minutes after getting a new vaccine.”

“There may be other very rare complications such as Guillain-Barre syndrome, but these happen so rarely after vaccination and at the same or lower rate as in the general population, so it’s unclear if the vaccine is causing it or not.”

There also have been rare deaths in children who had very compromised immune systems and were given live virus vaccines such as MMR, Dr. Edwards says. For this reason, live viruses are not recommended for children or infants with severely compromised immune systems.

Myth #8: Vaccine-preventable diseases are part of childhood. It’s better to have the disease than to become immune through vaccines.

It’s true that many of these diseases aren’t life-threatening for most children. But it’s impossible to predict who will develop severe illness. “It’s random chance, not based on how healthy you are,” Dr Edwards says. “About 1 or 2 percent of people with polio will develop meningitis and about one in 200 will become paralyzed.”

“Statistically, it’s true your child will probably be fine. But there is no way to predict which child won’t be fine and the risk of a bad outcome is too high when we have a safe and effective alternative in vaccines.”

Dr. Edwards encourages parents who have questions or concerns about vaccines to talk to their child’s doctor. “We want to listen to your concerns and help answer all of your questions, so that you can make the right decision for your child.”

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