Running Head: HEALTH EFFECTS OF VACCINES 1

The Health Effects of Vaccines on Children and the Possible Risks of Getting Vaccinated

Zoe Stankowski

Frisco Reedy High School

 HEALTH EFFECTS OF VACCINES 2

Abstract

This paper explores research conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

(CDC) on vaccines and their relationship to Autism, seizures, metabolic disorders, and more.

These studies explain the research that was conducted, and why these studies disprove the

connection on a molecular level. The original report by Thompson et al. (2004) suggested there

is a connection between the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine and Autism and

gastrointestinal issues, however the studies conducted by Poland (2011), Fombonne and

Chakrabarti (2001), Smith and Woods (2010), Klein et al. (2012), Comings et al. (2005), Klein et

al. (2011), Davis et al. (2001), and Miao, Mzolo, & Pellegrini (2019) disprove the evidence of

these links. This paper examines the disproven connection, but also states the risk of getting

vaccinated.

Keywords: v​ accines, immunizations, Autism, MMR

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The Health Effects of Vaccines and Their Controversies

During the past few years, there has been a dramatic rise in the movement against

vaccinations because of the studies establishing a link between immunizations and neurological

disorders including Autism (Thompson et al., 2004). In the coming years, this article was proven

to be false due to mistakes and inconsistencies in the research process, but the anti-vaccination

movement has still been growing. This sparked a debate of the pros and cons of immunizations,

since choosing to either get vaccinated or not does have risks that affect not only the child, but

the population. Because of this debate, further research has been published to inform the public

of the effects of vaccines to further disprove Thompson’s link with studies. This paper examines

the studies of the adverse reactions and risks of immunizations with research by Poland,

Fombonne and Chakrabarti, and other researchers who disproved the causal relationship of

immunizations and neurological disorders. This paper also examines the potential risks of getting

vaccinated and how abundant these risks are.

Literature Review

There is a study by Poland (2011) which explores the social effect of the anti-vaccination

movement. Media and news outlets spread the extreme cases of adverse reactions from vaccines,

which further fuel the anti-vaccination movement. This paper also explains why getting

vaccinated is so important, since measles is highly transmissible, and in order for herd immunity

to work, 96% of the population must be vaccinated (Poland 2011). This article claims that in

order to move past the anti-vaccination movement, all incorrect or biased information about
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immunizations must be discarded and health professionals and the media must spread unbiased,

accurate information surrounding the pros and cons of receiving immunizations (Poland 2011).

Autism

In Fombonne and Chakrabarti’s (2001) study, they compared the amount of diagnoses of

Autism concerning regressive symptoms and gastrointestinal issues as well as the amount of

MMR vaccines administered in children. This type of Autism with these unique symptoms in the

digestive system is known as Autistic Enterocolitis, but after comparing the reported visits to the

doctor due to these symptoms and the number of administrations of the vaccine, there is no link

that MMR can cause Autistic Enterocolitis in children (Fombonne & Chakrabarti 2001). To be

exact, the prevalence of the disorder was 0.6/10,000, or 0.006%, which is not frequent enough in

order to present evidence of a causal relationship between the MMR vaccine and Autistic

Enterocolitis. There also proved to be no new link to Autism itself as the percentage of reported

symptoms of regression postvaccination (15.6%) is no higher than what was originally reported

(18.4%) (Fombonne & Chakrabarti 2001). Autism is a genetic disorder connected to the X

chromosome, or can rarely be caused by a deficiency of an enzyme, leading to metabolic

disorders and brain damage which leads to regression (Turkington & Nurmi 2019). However,

there was no evidence of a link to getting vaccinated with MMR and developing metabolic

Autism (Autistic Enterocolitis) (Fombonne & Chakrabarti 2001).

Neuropsychological Disorders and Fevers

In Smith and Wood’s (2010) study, they compared the test results of children vaccinated

and unvaccinated/received delayed vaccinations within their first year, especially after seven to

ten years after initial vaccination. The test results were compared to a multitude of
 HEALTH EFFECTS OF VACCINES 5

neuropsychological diseases, including a regression chart for Autism (Smith & Wood 2010). The

comparison was found to have no statistical significance to favor unvaccinated/late vaccinations,

and vaccinated children outperformed the comparison group is a multitude of areas (Smith &

Wood 2010). Therefore, this study proves not only that vaccines do not show evidence of

causing neuropsychological disorders and regression, but that receiving a multitude of

immunizations at a young age do not harm children but aid in building their immunity. Vaccines

at an early age do not cause adverse effects in the brain.

A further study by Klein et al. (2012) including not only the MMR vaccine, but the MMR

Varicella (MMRV) vaccine and the possible linking to febrile seizures in children four to six

years old. Results were reports of children who had received a vaccine with measles to outpatient

visits treating febrile seizures. Fevers, especially febrile seizures, are one of the more common

reactions to getting vaccinated, although the symptom itself is still rare (Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention 1996). The data from the reports shows that the number of febrile

seizures is not only extremely low, but fairly consistent, no matter which variation of the vaccine

is received (1 per 15,000 MMR doses and 1 per 18,000 MMR + V doses), including MMR,

MMRV, Varicella alone, and MMR + V (Klein et al. 2012). Therefore, this study adds that

measles-containing vaccines and Varicella vaccines do not enhance the risk of a child

contracting a febrile seizure.

In a research article by Commings et al. (2005), there is a discussion on how the heavy

toxins, especially mercury, in immunizations may have a causal relationship to ADHD and

Autism, making it a possible risk of getting vaccinated. Because of this concern, mercury was

fully removed from all vaccines in 2001. However, the rate of diagnosis of ADHD did not
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decline after mercury was removed (Commings et al. 2005). This could mean that other heavy

metals could be the cause, for example lead and manganese, or that there is not a link between

heavy metals in vaccines and neurodisorders like ADHD and Autism. Therefore, although heavy

metals are toxic to the human body, there is no evidence that there were large enough doses in

measles-containing vaccines in order to cause brain disorders, since the traits of ADHD are

hereditary, and may be the reason why ADHD was being diagnosed rapidly, since the population

is growing exponentially (Commings et al. 2005).

Metabolism

Children with metabolic disorders are more prone to contracting illnesses that are

preventable by vaccines, and therefore there are concerns if children with metabolic disorders

should receive these vaccines, although the vaccines are dead or weakened versions of the virus.

The study conducted by Klein et al. (2011) compared the reports of adverse effects of vaccines in

children who had metabolic disorders and children who did not have metabolic disorders. The

study resulted in having similar proportions of adverse reactions to immunizations in each

population, as long as the vaccines were received on time and according to schedule (Klein et al.

2011). Therefore, this study proves that metabolic disorders do not prevent children from getting

vaccinated with an increased risk of adverse effects, and therefore should receive vaccinations in

order to establish herd immunity within the population.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Critics of vaccines worry that the timing of vaccines may increase the chances of children

contracting Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) due to vaccines being administered early in life

to children. The study from Davis et al. (2001) compares if the heavy metals that were in
 HEALTH EFFECTS OF VACCINES 7

vaccines could have a causal relationship with IBD, specifically Crohn’s Disease or ulcerative

colitis. Data was gathered from public hospital databases across the United States, collecting the

reports of the onset of symptoms from these diseases postvaccination (Davis et al. 2001). The

data in turn showed that there is no statistically significant increase in risk of contracting IBD

after receiving the MMR vaccine at any age, including under twelve months, in between twelve

and eighteen months, and over eighteen months old (Davis et al. 2001). This study proves that

delayed vaccination does not decrease the risk of having an adverse reaction to the vaccine, since

receiving the MMR vaccine while younger than one year old does not increase the risk of having

an adverse reaction.

Infant Immune System

A common fear of new parents is that an infant receiving multiple immunizations at a

time may “overwhelm” the immune system, leading the blood cells to having difficulty fighting

the dead virus. In the study conducted by Miao, Mzolo, and Pellegrini (2019), they compared the

results of children who received a placebo vaccine, and the children who received a quadrivalent

vaccine containing HPV4, Tdap, and MenACWY, or HPV4, Tdap, and the placebo (Miao et al.

2019). The results contained the seroprotective antibody levels in the bloodstream one month

post vaccination (Miao et al. 2019). The data collected shows that the seroprotective antibody

levels are the same for the placebo and the real quadrivalent vaccine, meaning the bloodstream

had similar reactions to both of the vaccines (Miao et al. 2019). A child’s blood cells have the

same learning and recovery period for a multitude of vaccines as a smaller amount of vaccines,

so receiving multiple vaccines at once does not harm children.

The Real Risks

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Since the previous adverse reactions have been disproved to having a causal link with

immunizations, it is difficult to understand what the real risks of getting vaccinated are.

According to the CDC (1996), the adverse reactions to vaccines are extremely rare, but they do

occur. The fatality of having an adverse reaction to a vaccine does greatly increase however, if

an individual is immunocompromised. Although it is still quite rare, vaccines like the MMR or

OPV can very rarely cause death in certain immunocompromised individuals (fewer than five for

over 200 million doses administered) (Center for Disease Control and Prevention 1996).

However, if an individual has started chemotherapy or is HIV-infected, these live vaccines can

cause dangerous reactions (Center for Disease Control and Prevention 1996). For

non-immunocompromised individuals, the most common reactions are pain at the injection site,

drowsiness, or a slight fever (Center for Disease Control and Prevention 1996). Hypersensitivity

or an allergic reaction can also occur in reaction to the vaccine (Center for Disease Control and

Prevention 1996).

Discussion

Vaccines can rarely cause adverse reactions after being administered, however there is no

evidence of a causal link to IBD, Autism, ADHD, and febrile seizures. There were studies

conducted that compared the commonality of diseases between vaccinated children and

unvaccinated or delayed-vaccination children, or the commonality of adverse side effects with

placebo vaccines versus real vaccines.

Although there are adverse reactions to immunizations and a possibility of an allergic

reaction, the chances are very low, so therefore the risks of getting vaccinated outweigh the risks

of getting unvaccinated, since staying unvaccinated most likely leads to death. Not only is
 HEALTH EFFECTS OF VACCINES 9

staying unvaccinated a danger to the children themselves, but it also is a danger to the

individuals who cannot get vaccinated due to chemotherapy or another disease like HIV. This

research does support the fact that there are little to no chances of vaccines being able to cause

Autism or other disorders like IBD or ADHD. This collection of research could help end

misinformation about immunizations, as Poland (2011) insists is necessary, since these studies

are not disputed by facts and do not have errors that could invalidate the results of the studies.

There are possible limitations to these studies, for example, location. Many of these

studies are focused in either Europe or the United States, more developed countries. This means

that the sample size may not be as diverse and accurate to different races and different disorders

in people, but also the location itself. The location of each hospital may have different guidelines

on how to diagnose Autism or IBD, especially from doctor to doctor and practice to practice, and

so these numbers of diagnoses may change from China to the United Kingdom. From here, there

should be ways found to limit this limitation, to try to find information from all over the world

with a diverse amount of people, and with doctors that may have different guidelines of severity

in diagnosing disorders.

The significance of this is to explain the myths behind vaccines in order to spread the

truth about getting vaccinated to allow new parents and new adults to have a fully informed

decision whether or not they should vaccinate themselves and/or their children.

Conclusion

In order to gain a full understanding of the effects of vaccines and how the virus impacts

the human body, it is important to analyze the results of a vaccinated population with an

unvaccinated population, and if these differences are harmful or helpful to the rest of the
 HEALTH EFFECTS OF VACCINES 10

population. This includes, but is not limited to, hypersensitivity, febrile seizures, IBD, Autism,

and ADHD. As science and vaccines continue developing, it is important that they are

thoroughly tested and studied in order to combat possible myths or assumptions about vaccines,

especially with the continuing rise of the anti-vaccination movement.

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