In information recently released by the
Vaccine Safety website, the rate of asthma for children ages birth to 17 has risen dramatically in the past few years, and now this rise is being linked to the pertussis vaccine. This comes on the heels of research that links vaccines to many other illnesses ranging from Autism to Diabetes.
The research, based in New Zealand found that the incidence of asthma was more common in children that had received the vaccination than in those children who did not receive any vaccinations at all. This research supported earlier research done in 1994 and 1998 that showed the same relationship. During a 10 year study, the asthma rate per 100,000 children rose by nearly 40 percent according to a National Health Interview Survey.
The
World Health Organization has also seen an increase in pediatric asthma world wide, and while they question some of the variable results found in the research, they call for more research being conducted to get a clearer picture of the relationship between vaccines and asthma. Reports from the National Vaccine Information Center which were published in Science Magazine also show the same relationships between asthma rates in unvaccinated children and those who received vaccinations. A
study by New Zealand researchers published in Epidemiology, analyzed the health of 1,265 people born in 1977. Of these, 23 didn't get any childhood vaccinations and none of them suffered childhood asthma. Among the 1,242 who got polio and DPT shots, more than 23 percent later had episodes of asthma.
It appears that in each of these studies, the children who received vaccinations and developed pediatric asthma, were vaccinated later in childhood. The data regarding children vaccinated soon after birth does not appear to support the same conclusions. This difference is currently under study in several nations, and should help present a clearer picture of the actual relationships between childhood asthma and vaccinations.
As more data becomes available, hopefully physicians and public health agencies will modify or rewrite their current vaccination schedules and recommendations to account for the most up-to-date research findings. While vaccines do help prevent the spread of some diseases, the link to their causing others is increasingly clear. If the medical community uses the new data correctly, perhaps a public policy that serves everyone will be developed and the goal of eradicating some serious diseases will truly be accomplished.
