Side Effects of Vaccine

Side Effects of Vaccine

What is Vaccine? 

A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins or one of its surface proteins. The agent stimulates the body's immune system to recognize the agent as a threat, destroy it, and keep a record of it, so that the immune system can more easily recognize and destroy any of these microorganisms that it later encounters.

Vaccines can be prophylactic (example: to prevent or ameliorate the effects of a future infection by any natural or "wild" pathogen), or therapeutic (e.g., vaccines against cancer are also being investigated; see cancer vaccine). Vaccinations save us from specific diseases that can make us very sick, disable or even kill you. They boost our body's own defense system, which is also called the immune system. Vaccines create immunity that protects us from an infection without causing the suffering of the disease itself.  Sometimes vaccines are called immunizations, needles or shots.

Vaccination is the supervision of antigenic material (a vaccine) to stimulate an individual's immune system to develop adaptive immunity to a pathogen. Vaccines can prevent or improve morbidity from infection. The effectiveness of vaccination has been widely studied and verified; for example, the influenza vaccine, the HPV vaccine, and the chicken pox vaccine. Vaccination is the most effective method of preventing infectious diseases; widespread immunity due to vaccination is largely responsible for the worldwide eradication of smallpox and the restriction of diseases such as polio, measles, and tetanus from much of the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that licensed vaccines are currently available to prevent or contribute to the prevention and control of twenty-five infections.

The active agent of a vaccine may be unharmed but inactivated (non-infective) or attenuated (with reduced infectivity) forms of the causative pathogens, or purified components of the pathogen that have been found to be highly immunogenic (e.g., outer coat proteins of a virus). Toxoids are produced for immunization against toxin-based diseases, such as the modification of tetanospasmin toxin of tetanus to remove its toxic effect but retain its immunogenic effect.

Side Effects from Vaccines

As with any medication, there are possible risks and side effects associated with vaccines. However, the risk of serious allergic reaction is very rare. In comparison, the risk of severe complications, hospitalization or death from vaccine-preventable disease is much greater. The benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks.

Vaccines undergo rigorous safety testing prior to being approved by the FDA and are continually monitored for safety. All vaccine ingredients are tested to be safe. Vaccines are also studied to be administered together, to work in conjunction to safely prompt your child's immune system to build protection.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in most cases vaccine side effects are minor and go away within a few days. Side effects vary according to vaccine type, but generally mild side effects may include:

Pain, redness, tenderness or swelling at injection site

Fatigue

Headache

Itching at injection site

Nausea

Dizziness or fainting (most common in adolescents)

Fever

Mild rash

What is Vaccine and its Side Effects?- Video

Parents should keep an eye out for any bizarre condition, such as a high fever, weakness, or behavior changes. Signs of a serious allergic reaction can include difficulty breathing, hoarseness or wheezing, hives, paleness, weakness, a fast heartbeat or dizziness. In the unlikely case that your child experiences signs of allergic reaction or a side effect, you should contact your doctor immediately.

While serious side effects are rare, parents are encouraged to report any severe side effects to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) which serves to report, analyze and make incidences of adverse side effects available to the public.

Any vaccine can cause side effects. For the most part these are minor (for example, a sore arm or low-grade fever) and go away within a few days. Listed below are vaccines licensed in the United States and side effects that have been associated with each of them. This information is copied directly from CDC's Vaccine Information Statements, which in turn are derived from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations for each vaccine.