Debunking common myths about vaccines.
August is National Immunization Awareness Month, a period meant to emphasize the importance and role of vaccinations in our lives. From the development of the first vaccine by Edward Jenner in 1798 for protection against smallpox, to the chickenpox vaccines you may have received as a child, immunizations have long helped protect against disease and, in some cases, even eradicated them. However, for as long as vaccines have been around, so have myths about their effectiveness, necessity, and side effects, oftentimes rooted in misinformation and distrust.
Myth: Vaccines cause autism
The supposed connection between vaccines and autism arose in 1998, when a group of researchers published a paper about a study that they conducted, which proposed that the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine caused autism. This study asserted that the vaccine caused inflammation in the colon, thus allowing toxic proteins to reach the bloodstream and brain, leading to autism.
Over the years, the findings of this study were disproven. The main researcher behind the study, Andrew Wakefield, was accused of research misconduct and having conflicts of interest. This, along with the rates of autism rising despite an increasing number of parents opting out of the MMR vaccine, and the general increase in autism diagnoses that were occurring at the same as the study, all helped to discredit the study results.
Myth: Rare diseases don’t require vaccinations
Across the world during the 19th and 20th centuries, polio was a feared and deadly disease. In the United States (US), outbreaks would lead to thousands of deaths, and even more living with the lifelong complications of having contracted the disease. It wasn’t until the early 1950s that Jonas Salk developed the first vaccine for use against polio. Currently, because of mandated polio vaccinations in childhood, contraction of wild poliovirus in the US has been eliminated, and cases around the world have decreased by more than 99% since 1988.
So why get vaccinated against polio, especially if you live in the US? Just because a disease is eradicated in one country, doesn’t mean it’s eliminated from existence. Around the world, such as in Afghanistan and Pakistan, polio remains endemic. If an unvaccinated individual were to travel to one of these countries and return to their native land, they may bring the disease with them and potentially infect others.
Myth: Vaccines contain dangerous ingredients
Vaccines undergo a vigorous development cycle that requires multiple phases of clinicals trials to evaluate their safety and effectiveness. Despite this lengthy process, people can be skeptical about the ingredients that go into these vaccines. For instance, in fall 2023, a social media post went viral, falsely claiming that the flu vaccine contained ingredients such as antifreeze and monkey kidney cells. Actual ingredients that were mentioned, such as aluminum, while potentially sounding scary and dangerous, are far from it.
The mention of aluminum may make you think of metal – something not meant for human bodies. However, aluminum is harmless and even found in the air we breathe. When used in vaccines, aluminum plays the role of an “adjuvant,” which helps to boost the immune response of the vaccine. Aluminum adjuvants have been used since 1932 and are currently in more than 30 licensed vaccines.
Vaccines are an important step in keeping ourselves and the ones we love healthy and safe from common ailments, such as the flu and COVID-19, as well as dangerous, wide-spreading, and lifelong conditions such as polio. If you’re interested in getting involved with vaccine development, consider visiting ClinicalTrials.gov to volunteer for a vaccine research study.
Or, if you’re interested in creating awareness or recruiting individuals for a clinical research study, get in contact with our team. We’ll give it our best shot!
