Has any vaccine ever been shown to have a long term side effect?

Question

ever?

I read through the CDC site and it was very helpful but i am still unclear as to what side effects are acute and what side effects are long term, as in occurring many months or years post vaccination.

Answer 1

It is possible, although extremely unlikely, for a chicken pox vaccine to result in shingles, which is usually a life-long condition. Some people get a mild case of chicken pox from the vaccine, and in some of those people, the chicken pox vaccine remains dormant or semi-dormant in the body from then on. It emerges later in life as shingles -- severe, blistering nerve pain. There is no cure at present, although antiviral drugs can help keep the virus dormant.

This is not meant to be a recommendation against getting the chicken pox vaccine, however! Far more people get serious complications (including death) from chicken pox, including shingles, than those who get the vaccine.

Answer 2

Yes, all vaccines have hurt someone. There are some people that are allergic to the ingredients in a vaccine and may not know it. The absolute worst case would be death. Here are a few stats on some of the vaccines (http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/VIS/default.htm)

DTaP (Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis)
Severe Problems (Very Rare)
• Serious allergic reaction (less than 1 out of a million
doses)
• Several other severe problems have been known to
occur after DTaP vaccine. These include:
- Deafness
- Long-term seizures, coma, or lowered consciousness
- Permanent brain damage

MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella)
Severe Problems (Very Rare)
• Serious allergic reaction (less than 1 out of a million
doses)
• Several other severe problems have been known to
occur after a child gets MMR vaccine. But this
happens so rarely, experts cannot be sure whether
they are caused by the vaccine or not. These include:
- Deafness
- Long-term seizures, coma, or lowered consciousness
- Permanent brain damage
Polio
These people should not get IPV (Inactivated Polio Vaccine):
• Anyone who has ever had a life-threatening allergic
reaction to the antibiotics neomycin, streptomycin or
polymyxin B should not get the polio shot.
• Anyone who has a severe allergic reaction to a polio
shot should not get another one.

These people should wait:
• Anyone who is moderately or severely ill at the time the
shot is scheduled should usually wait until they recover
before getting polio vaccine.

The vaccine used TODAY has never been known to cause
any serious problems, and most people don't have any
problems at all with it.

However, a vaccine, like any medicine, could cause
serious problems, such as a severe allergic reaction. The
risk of a polio shot causing serious harm, or death, is
extremely small.



Here are some stats if we stopped vaccinating (http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/fs/gen/WhatIfStop.htm):

Before the polio vaccine 13,000 to 20,000 cases of paralytic polio were reported each year in the UNITED STATES.

In 1999, as a result of global immunization efforts to eradicate the disease, there were about 2,883 documented cases of polio in the WORLD.
============================================
Before measles immunization nearly everyone in the U.S. got measles. An average of 450 measles-associated deaths were reported each year between 1953 and 1963. In developing countries death occurs in about one of every 100 persons with measles.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 900,000 measles-related deaths occurred among persons in developing countries in 1999. In populations that are not immune to measles, measles spreads rapidly. If vaccinations were stopped, each year about 2.7 million measles deaths worldwide could be expected.

As for Mercury - this is from http://www.cdc.gov/od/science/iso/concerns/thimerosal.htm

Thimerosal is a mercury-containing preservative used in some vaccines and other products since the 1930's. No harmful effects have been reported from thimerosal at doses used in vaccines, except for minor reactions like redness and swelling at the injection site. However, in July 1999, the Public Health Service (PHS) agencies, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and vaccine manufacturers agreed that THIMEROSAL SHOULD BE REDUCED OR ELIMINATED IN VACCINES as a precautionary measure.
Today, with the exception of some Influenza (flu) vaccines, NONE of the vaccines used in the U.S. to protect preschool children against 12 infectious diseases contain thimerosal as a preservative.

The link between autism and MMR or thimerosal was discounted by both National Institutes of Health (NIH) asked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2004.

Sorry this is so long, but hope it helps.

Answer 3

Very good question! Yes, absolutely (and unfortunately).

Google these words:
Vaccine
Murcury
Autism

And that's not an "urban legend" or myth, or theory, like people such as the Washington Post will try to tell you. There are hundreds of scholarly articles, websites, and books on this issue. Know-vaccines.org is a good place to start. Here is an article from their site: http://www.know-vaccines.org/autism.html

Hope this helps answer your question!

Answer 4

You can read about vaccine side effects here:
http://www.patientsville.com/vaccine/

Answer 5

Sometimes. As will all medical treatments, the risks need to be outweighed by the benefits for it to make sense to administer it.

Nothing is perfect.

Answer 6

the anthrax vaccine has been implicated in causing gulf war syndrome