- Vaccine preventable diseases can be deadly.
- Vaccines are one of the most monitored and studied things in medicine because they are given to healthy children.
- Serious side effects (adverse events) from vaccines are extremely rare and are closely monitored and tracked nationwide.
Did you know?
Vaccine safety and effectiveness are very closely monitored in Canada. There is an independant Canada-wide monitoring system called IMPACT (Immunization Monitoring Program ACTive) run by the Canadian Pediatric Society. This independent program pays for doctors and nurses to work in the major children's hospitals in Canada (including our BC Children's Hospital). These health care providers spend their time examining children who are admitted to the hospital to make sure that no serious vaccine associated adverse events are missed. They also monitor the effectiveness of vaccines by working with families to check the child's immunization history if they do get a vaccine preventable disease.
The information that these nurses and doctors collect is then sent to researchers who examine all of the information to make sure that even very rare adverse events are caught and addressed quickly.
Find out more about IMPACT here: http://www.cps.ca/english/surveillance/impact/impact.htm
Vaccine versus Disease Risk: By the Numbers
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Measles |
Mumps |
Rubella |
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DISEASE RISK |
- Pneumonia/Ear Infections: 1 in 10
- Encephalitis(severe brain swelling): 1 in 1000
- Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis (SSPE) – a progressive destruction of brain cells: 1 in 100,000 (occurs years after infection and is fatal)
- Death: 1 in 1000
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- Meningitis:
1 in 10
- Encephalitis:
1 in 200
- Deafness:
1 in 200,000
- Orchitis: 2-3 in 10 in post pubertal males
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- If a mother catches rubella in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth or of the developing baby being born with serious birth defects is 85% in the first trimester.
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MMR
VACCINE RISK |
- Encephalitis or severe allergic reaction: 1 in 1,000,000
- Temporary drop in the blood cells that help prevent bleeding: 1 in 30,000
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(The vaccines for common childhood illnesses Measles, Mumps and Rubella are given as one immunization shot known as MMR.)
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Diphtheria |
Tetanus |
Whooping Cough
(Pertussis) |
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DISEASE RISK |
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- 2 in 10 infants under 12 months of age hospitalized
- 1 in 400 hospitalized infants dies of brain damage or pneumonia
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DtaP
VACCINE RISK |
- 1 in 300 inconsolable crying then full recovery
- Hypotonic/Hyporesponsive Episode (HHE): 1 in 2100 to 4200 injections with full recovery The risk of brain damage after pertussis vaccine is too small to be measured
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Haemophilus influenzae type b |
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DISEASE RISK |
- Death due to meningitis: 1 in 20
- 1 in 3 survivors of Hib meningitis has detectable brain damage
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HiB
VACCINE RISK |
- Local reaction (sore arm, redness): 5 to 15 in 100
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Varicella (Chickenpox) |
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DISEASE RISK |
- Risk of death:
- under 1 year of age: 7/100,000
- ages 1 – 19: 1 – 1.5/100,000
- adults: 30/100,000
- It has been estimated that chickenpox increases the risk of severe invasive group A streptococcal infection among previously healthy children by 40 to 60-fold (NACI 2004)
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Varicella
VACCINE RISK |
- 1 – 2 in 10: local pain, swelling, redness
- 1 – 1.5 in 10: low grade fever
- 3 – 5 in 100: varicella-like rash at injections site after first dose consisting of 10 pox or less
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