Safety Tidbit 6.09 - Vaccine Primer

Safety Tidbit 6.09 – Vaccine Primer

 

Reference:       Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Making the Vaccine Decision Addressing Common Concerns

 

People are exposed to thousands of germs every day from the environment. This happens through the food eaten, air breathed, and anything put into the person’s mouth. Immunity is the body’s way of preventing disease. When you are born, a person’s immune system is not fully developed, which can put them at greater risk for infections. Vaccines reduce the person’s risk of infection by working with their body’s natural defenses to help safely develop immunity to disease.

 

Vaccines use very small amounts of antigens to help your child’s immune system recognize and learn to fight serious diseases. Antigens are parts of germs that cause the body’s immune system to go to work. For instance, getting a disease or getting a vaccine can both give you future protection from that disease. The difference is that with the disease you must get sick to get that protection. With the vaccine you don’t.

 

All ingredients of vaccines play necessary roles either in making the vaccine, triggering the body to develop immunity, or in ensuring that the final product is safe and effective. Some of these include:

• Adjuvants help boost the body’s response to vaccine. (Also found in antacids, buffered aspirin, antiperspirants, etc.)
• Stabilizers help keep vaccine effective after manufactured (Also found in foods such as Jell-O^® and resides in the body naturally.)
• Formaldehyde is used prevent contamination by bacteria during the vaccine manufacturing process. Resides in body naturally (more in body than vaccines). (Also, found in environment, preservatives, and household products.)
• Thimerosal is also used during the manufacturing process but is no longer an ingredient in any vaccine except multi-dose vials of the flu vaccine. Single dose vials of the flu vaccine are available as an alternative. No reputable scientific studies have found an association between thimerosal in vac­cines and autism.
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Before a vaccine is ever given to people, FDA oversees extensive lab testing of the vaccine to make sure it is safe and effective. After the lab, testing in people begins and before the clinical studies are complete and the vaccine may be licensed. Once a vaccine is licensed, FDA, CDC, National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other federal agencies routinely monitor its use and investigate any potential safety concerns.

 

I hope this was helpful and thank you for reading my Safety Tidbits! Comments and questions are always welcome. ~ Bryan

 

P.S. If you have a new safety or health question, please let me know