Vaccine Myths Still Persist

There’s a measles outbreak. It didn’t have to be. Measles could have been prevented, at least mostly, by routine vaccination, but in 1998 Dr. Andrew Wakefield published a report claiming that the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine was apparently the cause of autism. This report caused parents to be concerned. and a growing number to reject vaccination. The reply, which is 360 pages long and has the catchy title “Adverse Effects of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines: A Report of the Committee to Review the Adverse Consequences of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines,” was issued by the Institute of Medicine (US) Committee to Review the Adverse Consequences of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines. The paperback edition costs $96.75, but it’s available for free as a download. Result: “... the committee found:• no evidence bearing on a causal relation between DPT vaccine and autism;• insufficient evidence to indicate a causal relation between DPT vaccine and aseptic meningitis, chronic neurologic damage, erythema multiforme or other rash, Guillain-Barrè syndrome, hemolytic anemia, juvenile diabetes, learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder, peripheral mononeuropathy, or thrombocytopenia, and between the currently used rubella vaccine (RA 27/3) and radiculoneuritis and other neuropathies or thrombocytopenic purpura ...”Read More.Source: The Progressive Populist/SAM URETSKY