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Study Finds Vaccine Side Effects Extremely Rare

Source: USA Today

By: Szabo, Liz

07/01/2014

An analysis of 67 research studies by researchers at Rand and Boston Children’s Hospital, published in Pediatrics, indicates that serious vaccine-related complications are rare. Moreover, the study found no evidence that vaccines cause autism. Although flu shots and the MMR vaccine are associated with an increased risk of fever-related seizures in small children, the study indicates they are generally benign and cause no long-term problems. Margaret Maglione, a researcher at Rand and co-author of the study, says complications are “extremely rare” and should be weighed against the benefits of immunization. “This report should give parents some reassurance,” says Dr. Courtney Gidengil of Rand and Boston Children’s Hospital, another co-author of the study. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in April that 322 million illnesses, 21 million hospitalizations, and 732,000 deaths will be prevented due to vaccines administered in infants and children over the last 20 years.



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