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WASHINGTON (AP) — Vaccines can cause certain side effects but
serious ones appear very rare – and there’s no link with autism and
Type 1 diabetes, the Institute of Medicine says in the first
comprehensive safety review in 17 years.
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The report released Thursday isn’t aimed at nervous parents. And
the side effects it lists as proven are some that doctors long have
known about, such as fever-caused seizures and occasional brain
inflammation.
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Instead, the review comes at the request of the government’s
Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which as the name implies,
pays damages to people who are injured by vaccines. Federal law
requires this type of independent review as officials update side
effects on that list to be sure they agree with the latest
science.
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“Vaccines are important tools in preventing serious infectious
disease across the lifespan, from infancy through adulthood. All
health care interventions, however, carry the possibility of risk
and vaccines are no exception,” said pediatrician and bioethicist
Dr. Ellen Wright Clayton of Vanderbilt University, who chaired the
institute panel.
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Still, the report stresses that vaccines generally are safe, and it
may help doctors address worries from a small but vocal
anti-vaccine movement. Some vaccine-preventable diseases, including
measles, are on the rise.
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“I am hopeful that it will allay some people’s concerns,” Clayton
said.
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The review echoed numerous other scientific reports that dismiss an
autism link.
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But it found convincing evidence of 14 side effects:
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-Fever-triggered seizures, which seldom cause long-term
consequences, from the measles-mumps-rubella, or MMR,
vaccine.
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-MMR also can cause a rare form of brain inflammation in some
people with immune problems.
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-The varicella vaccine against chickenpox sometimes triggers that
viral infection, resulting in widespread chickenpox or a painful
relative called shingles. It also occasionally can lead to
pneumonia, hepatitis or meningitis.
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-Six vaccines – MMR and the chickenpox, hepatitis B, meningococcal
and tetanus-containing vaccines – can cause severe allergic
reactions known as anaphylaxis.
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-Vaccines in general sometimes trigger fainting or a type of
shoulder inflammation.
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There’s suggestive evidence but not proof of a few other side
effects, including anaphylaxis from the human papillomavirus, or
HPV, vaccine and short-term joint pain in some women and children
from the MMR vaccine.
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On the other hand, the report cleared flu shots of blame for two
long-suspected side effects: Bell’s palsy and worsening of
asthma.
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That doesn’t mean there aren’t other side effects – the review
couldn’t find enough evidence to decide about more than 100 other
possibilities. Some vaccines are just too new to link to something
really rare. Another example: Flu shots have long come with a
caution about rare, paralyzing Guillain-Barre syndrome, but Clayton
said research hasn’t settled if that’s a coincidence since the
disorder is more common during the winter.
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The Health Resources and Services Administration, which runs the
vaccine compensation program, is reviewing the report but said it’s
too early to predict if it will prompt changes to the injury
list.
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