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Evaluating risk

Jenette's story about polio

  

Did you know?

More babies die of measles per year worldwide than are born in Canada each year.

Vaccine preventable diseases can kill you.

Severe adverse events from vaccines are extremely rare and are closely monitored and tracked nationwide. Eg: risk of anaphylactic reaction is literally 1 in a million doses of vaccine given.

Vaccines are one of the most monitored and studied things in medicine because they are given to healthy children.

airplaneWorrying about the risks of the vaccine rather than the disease it prevents is a bit like being outside and constantly looking skyward because you are afraid you may get hit by an aircraft. As a result, you get hit by a car. Try not to focus on the wrong risk!


Evaluating risk by the numbers…

Here's a look at the risks from the disease versus the risks from the vaccine.

Measles

Mumps

Rubella

DISEASE RISK
  • Pneumonia/Ear Infections: 1 in 10
  • Encephalitis: 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
  • Meningitis:
    1 in 10
  • Encephalitis:
    1 in 200
  • Deafness:
    1 in 200,000
  • Orchitis: 2-3 in 10 in post pubertal males
  • Risk of fetal damage following maternal infection is 85% in the first trimester.

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

(The vaccines for common childhood illnesses Measles, Mumps and Rubella are given as one immunization shot known as MMR.)

Diphtheria

Tetanus

Whooping Cough

(Pertussis)

DISEASE RISK
  • Death: 1 in 10
  • Death: 2 in 10
  • 2 in 10 infants under 12 months of age hospitalized
  • 1 in 400 hospitalized infants dies of brain damage or pneumonia

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

Haemophilus influenzae type b

DISEASE RISK
  • Death due to meningitis: 1 in 20
  • 1 in 3 survivors of Hib meningitis has detectable brain damage

HiB
VACCINE RISK
  • Local reaction (sore arm, redness): 5 to 15 in 100

Varicella (Chickenpox)

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)

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