Immunization Newsbriefs (c) Copyright
Information Inc., Bethesda, MD. Brought to you by the National Network for
Immunization Information (NNii). Visit NNii's new website at
http://www.immunizationinfo.org.
Reuters Health Information Services (www.reutershealth.com)
(10/28/02); Woodman, Richard
Researcher Thomas Jefferson--who coordinates
vaccine work for the Cochrane Collaboration from Italy and is studying vaccine
safety with funding from the European Commission--believes that a lack of
unbiased, large clinical trials involving vaccines for childhood diseases and a
lack of intense surveillance puts children at risk of adverse events following
vaccination. He also praised the pilot immunization registries, soon to be
implemented in Sweden and Finland, that will record when each person is
vaccinated, the specific vaccine batch, and subsequent health outcomes.
Additional steps that could be taken to improve vaccine safety evaluation
include internationally agreed upon definitions of adverse events and continuous
reviews of evidence associated with vaccines.
ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND
MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION
PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS
OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR
LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND
COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH
YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.
"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"