Plain Talk About Childhood Immunizations

Extract from King County web site

Risk of disease and serious complications	Risk of serious reaction from being immunized

Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib)	Hib Vaccine
Hib disease Before Hib vaccine, 1 in 200 children developed meningitis or other invasive Hib disease by age five. Before vaccine, Hib was the leading cause of bacterial meningitis. 60% of cases occur in children younger than one year. Neurologic damage: up to 45 in 100 children with invasive Hib disease. Death: 1 in 20 children with invasive Hib disease	No known association between Hib vaccine and serious adverse events.
Polio	Inactivated Polio Vaccine
38,000 cases per year prior to vaccine; including 21,000 cases with paralysis. 5,000 cases in 1952. During 1970s, several outbreaks in the U.S. in non-immunized populations, none in U.S. since 1979. Permanent paralysis: 1 in 100 Death: 1 in 20 children and 1 in 4 adults with paralytic polio.	No known association between IPV and serious adverse events.
Measles	MMR Vaccine
Prior to the introduction of vaccine, 400,000 reported cases per year. In 1989-91 epidemic: 55,622 cases due to large number unimmunized children, 45% less than 5 years old; 20% hospitalized, 123 deaths. Pneumonia: 1 in 20 Encephalitis (brain fever): 1 in 1,000 Thrombocytopenia: 1 in 6,000 Death: 1 to 3 in 1,000	Thrombocytopenia (bleeding tendency from temporary decrease in blood platelets): Less than 1 in 30,000
	MMR Vaccine - Measles component
	Severe allergic reaction: less than 1 in 3,000,000.
Mumps	MMR Vaccine - Mumps component
Cases: 200,000 per year before vaccine became available, currently 3,000-5,000 per year. Encephalitis: 2 in 100,000 Testicular swelling: 1 in 5 adults Deafness: 1 in 20,000 Death: 1 in 3,000 to 1 in 10,000	Severe allergic reaction: less than 1 in 3,000,000.
Rubella	MMR Vaccine - Rubella component
12.5 million cases in 1964-65, including 2,100 infant deaths, 11,250 fetal deaths, and 20,000 newborns born with congenital rubella syndrome (see below). Arthritis: (usually temporary): 7 in 10 adult women. Thrombocytopenia: 1 in 3,000. Congenital Rubella Syndrome: (deafness, cataracts, mental retardation) in 1 in 4 infants if women infected in early pregnancy.	Arthritis (usually temporary): Up to 1 in 4, usually teenage or adult women. Severe allergic reaction: less than 1 in 3,000,000.
Diphtheria	DTaP Vaccine - Diphtheria component
Prior to vaccine, 200,000 cases and 15,000 deaths in U.S. each year. Outbreak in Washington State during 1970s; 40 cases in U.S. 1980-93. With decreased immunizations, over 50,000 cases in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in 1995. Death: 1 in 10	No know association between diphtheria vaccine and serious adverse events.
Tetanus	DTaP Vaccine - Tetanus component
Prior to vaccine, 600 cases and 180 deaths per year in U.S. 50-100 cases per year in U.S.: greater than 500,000 deaths per year worldwide. Death: 1 in 3	Severe neuritis (inflammation of the nerves): 1 in 100,000 Severe allergic reaction: 1 in 1 million
Pertussis	DTaP Vaccine - Pertussis component
(Whooping Cough): Prior to vaccine, 200,000 cases and 8,000 deaths per year in U.S. Over 400 confirmed cases in King County, WA in 1999. 69% of all U.S. cases less than 5 years old, and almost half of these were younger than 12 months old. Many infants hospitalized. Pneumonia: 1 in 8 Convulsions/seizures: 1 in 100 Death: 1 in 500	Fever greater than 105 deg. F.: 1 in 3,000 doses Prolonged crying for 3 hours or more: 1 in 2,000 doses Seizure or convulsions: 1 in 14,000 doses NOTE: The Institute of Medicine concluded that there is no evidence that pertussis vaccines causes SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
Hepatitis	Hepatitis B Vaccine
Estimated number of persons infected each year in U.S.: 200,000 to 300,0000. Nine of 10 infants infected at birth will become lifelong carriers of the disease, and one out of four of these infants will ultimately die of liver failure. Hospitalizations per year: 15,000 Deaths: 5,900	Severe allergic reaction: 2 in 100,000 doses
Varicella (Chickenpox)	Varicella Vaccine
Prior to vaccine, 3-4 million cases per year in U.S.; 10,000 hospitalized with complications. Nine out of ten people in a household who have not had chickenpox already will catch the virus if exposed to an infected household member. Disease is more severe and complications more frequent in adolescents and adults, and in those with weakened immune systems. Complications include: Bacterial infection of skin lesions and scarring Pneumonia Brain inflammation Hospitalization: 3 in 1,000 cases Deaths: 50-100 per year in the U.S., mostly in healthy children and adults. Reactivation of varicella virus as Herpes Zoster (shingles) in later life.	Seizure caused by fever: less than 1 in 1,000 people vaccinated. Pneumonia very rare.
Hepatitis A	Hepatitis A Vaccine
125,000 - 200,000 cases in U.S. each year. 10-15% of cases have prolonged or recurring disease lasting up to 6 months. Death: 70-100 per year in U.S.	No known association between hepatitis A vaccine and serious adverse events
Pneumococcal Disease	7-valent conjugate vaccine
Streptococcus pneumoniae accounts for an annual estimated burden of: 3,000 cases of meningitis 50,000 cases of bacteremia (blood infection) 500,000 cases of pneumonia 40,000 deaths (primarily in the very young and in the elderly)	No know association between pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and serious adverse events
	23-valent polysaccharide vaccine
	Severe allergic reaction: Less than 1 in 10,000 doses