http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=64761&dopt=Abstract
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Lancet 1977 Jan 29;1(8005):234-7 |
Vaccination against whooping-cough. Efficacy
versus risks.
Stewart GT.
Calculations based on the mortality of whooping-cough before 1957 predict
accurately the subsequent decline and the present low mortality. Notifications
of incidence, though variable and incomplete, follow the same pattern of steady
decline in the United Kingdom and are unaffected either by small-scale
vaccination beginning about 1948 or by nationwide vaccination beginning in
1957. When valid comparisons can be made, attack-rates may be lower and
complications fewer in vaccinated children, but allowance has to be made for
overcrowding and socio-economic differences which may be more important as
determinants of attack-rates. No protection by vaccination is demonstrable in
infants. Adverse reactions and neurotoxicity following vaccinations were
studied in 160 cases. In 79, the relationship to pertussis vaccine was strong.
In 14 of these cases, reaction was transient but characteristic of a syndrome
of shock and cerebral disturbance, which, in the other 65 cases, was followed
by convulsions, hyperkinesis, and severe mental defect. It seems likely that
most adverse reactions are unreported and that many are overlooked. Precise
information about the efficacy and safety of this vaccine is lacking, because
existing provisions, national and international, for epidemiological
surveillance and evaluation are inadequate. The claim by official bodies that
the risks of whooping-cough exceed those of vaccination is questionable, at
least in the U.K.
PMID: 64761 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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