5 Common Vaccine Myths and My Answers to Them

Vaccines are one of the greatest medical discovery of all time. Millions of lives have been saved because of them. Unfortunately, many myths exist about vaccines and the information can be confusing and scary. While we don’t see a lot of vaccine preventable diseases anymore due to high vaccination rates, an outbreak can be lurking just around the corner.

Measles, for example, has made several nasty comebacks. These outbreaks create a huge crisis as measles is very dangerous, extremely contagious and outbreaks are a public health nightmare. In early 2015 a measles outbreak started at Disneyland, something I tweeted about right away before the story made it to mainstream media.  Since then, we’ve seen more measles outbreaks throughout the United States. These outbreaks occur because of decreased vaccination rates against measles with the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine called MMR. 

Why would any parent NOT want to protect their child from a deadly infection like measles? Simply put, fear and propaganda. An unethical, discredited and retracted study published in Lancet in 1998 attempted to prove that the MMR vaccine caused developmental regression. The study was fraught with problems including a small sample size (12), study subjects who were not cleared through the proper ethical channels, and Andrew Wakefield, the author, was being paid by lawyers to prove there was a safety issue with the vaccine. Multiple very large studies around the world have since disproven over and over and over again that MMR does not cause developmental regression or autism. A description of Wakefield’s fraudulent behavior can be found here.

With the damage done, more and more parents have begun questioning the safety of all vaccines. Furthermore, continued propaganda by the anti-vaccine movement instills fear into parents. Many aren’t sure who to believe. Partly we are a product of our own success since it’s hard to convince someone to prevent something we almost never see anyway. Unfortunately, lowered vaccine rates will lead to outbreaks. Therefore, parents should find doctors who they trust to give them accurate and evidence-based answers to their questions.

Before reading my responses to common vaccine myths, please read my post, Becoming a Doctor.  I believe this insight into my background will help you understand my perspective on this issue.  At no point in that post do I report ever being given kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies or being brainwashed during medical school.  My discussion of common vaccine myths is based on medical evidence and clinical experience. 

Myth #1: My child will get too many shots at once and overwhelm their immune system.

The immune system is a complex part of our body’s defense against invaders. From birth it is developing to figure out which invaders are harmful and which are not. Quietly it builds an army to attack and neutralize the harmful invaders and keep us free of infection.  In children with a normally functioning immune system, daily exposures activate these pathways constantly. It can not be overwhelmed. Everything your child breathes, eats and touches is stimulating the immune system to fight the germs immediately and make memory cells for the future.  This is how we stay healthy in a germ infested environment and how we get less infections as we get older.  

The immune system recognizes proteins on the surface of germs called antigens and forms attack cells against them. These attack cells are sometimes stored as memory cells to prevent infection in the future. The number of antigens in the entire series of vaccines is a tiny drop in the bucket compared to all of the antigens children are exposed to daily.  Just 177 antigens prevents 16 infectious diseases! This is significantly less than the number of antigens in the smallpox vaccine or original diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine. Scientific advancement has purified the vaccines so much that the exposure is tiny.

Myth#2: Other ingredients in the vaccines, like mercury, are dangerous.

Vaccines are made to introduce antigens that will stimulate the immune system. This is how we get immunity without getting sick. In order for the immune system to be properly stimulated, adjuvants need to be used. Furthermore, the vaccines need to be sterilized and free of contaminants. This leaves traces of ingredients that may sound scary but in tiny doses are very safe and are usually found in larger doses in our environment and food supply. A complete list of vaccine ingredients is available on the Centers for Disease Control website with an explanation into the necessity and safety of each ingredient. 

Thimerosal, the mercury containing preservative previously used in vaccines, was once also blamed for causing autism. Thimerosal is broken down into ethylmercury which is easily excreted from the body and in small doses has never been proven to cause any disease. As a precautionary measure, in 2000, it was removed from all vaccines given to children under 3 years of age. Ethylmercury is different from methylmercury, which is found in the environment and has been linked to health problems. Of note, thimerosal was never present in the MMR vaccine.

Myth#3: It is safer to split up the vaccines and spread them out.

The vaccine schedule is set for a reason. Infants are most vulnerable to certain life threatening infections which we can now prevent with vaccines. Some vaccines like MMR and chicken pox are given later because babies retain some immunity from their mother. Before the vaccines can enter the CDC approved schedule, rigorous testing for safety and efficacy is done. Also, there is good data that following the recommended schedule does not increase the risk of adverse events compared to spacing out the vaccines. Most importantly, staying on schedule protects your child from diseases at the precise time they are most at risk. 

Many parents also worry about their baby’s pain response to more than one injection at a time. Studies show that the initial injection causes a stress reaction but each further injection does not. The stress reaction remains constant. That means 4 injections at once is one stressful event compared to 4 stressful events if they were given at 4 separate times.

Myth#4: Vaccine preventable diseases don’t exist anymore.

Vaccine preventable diseases are endemic in other parts of the world and are a plane ride away. We know that from the Disneyland measles outbreak and others started by unvaccinated travelers. Furthermore, as more people follow fear as opposed to doctors and scientists, some communities will have lower vaccine rates. This puts everyone at risk.

Herd immunity happens when enough people are vaccinated so that the infection stays away all together. Imagine a brick wall surrounding a community that may include people who are unable to be vaccinated or who are too young to be vaccinated.  This community may also include vaccinated individuals in which their vaccine did not provide 100% protection (nothing is 100% effective) or their memory cells have decreased.  The brick wall is made up of citizens who are vaccinated and protected.  Now, imagine holes in the wall that represent people who decide not to get vaccinated.  The diseases sneak in and make their way through the community and can infect the most vulnerable citizens, including newborns and immunocompromised individuals.  Vaccinating your child is not only important for your family’s health but for the health of your community.

Myth#5: I heard vaccines cause autism.

NO THEY DON’T.  When a child is diagnosed with autism, parents can be devastated. While there are great therapies available to help children with autism, parents can still feel a sense of loss and anger. They want an explanation or something to blame. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects language and social skills. These skills are emerging around the same time that certain vaccines like MMR are given. Therefore, many have jumped onto the Wakefield bandwagon and assume the vaccine was the culprit. But correlation does not equal causation and many studies involving over 1 million children around the world have shown no link.

In conclusion, it’s important to look at the risk benefit ratio of vaccination.  Nothing is 100% effective and nothing is without risk.  What we know is that the risks of vaccinating are very low (common side effects include pain at injection site or fever) and the benefits are astronomical (no life altering or life threatening disease!).  It is clear that vaccines are the single most important discovery of our time.  They save lives, plain and simple.  No amount of sleep, exercise, fresh air or organic food (while a very healthy lifestyle) will create the memory cells in your immune system that fight infection.  You will still get sick if exposed.  Furthermore, a large portion of children in this country don’t have the luxury of safe outdoor space to play or organic food.  So in the end, with the benefits far outweighing the risks, vaccinate to protect yourself, your children and your neighbors.