Medical Health Encyclopedia **All children aged 6-23 months should receive an annual flu shot. Children older than 2 years of age who have chronic medical conditions should also receive influenza vaccination. The flu shot is not approved for children less than 6 months of age.

Side Effects and Anti-Immunization Groups

Of great concern are anti-immunization organizations and websites, which were formed mostly because of unsubstantiated reports which linked small numbers of serious problems to some vaccines. The following watchdog systems are now in effect to monitor side effects from vaccination:

• VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) is a government service that it registers all adverse events reported after vaccination, including those not related to the vaccine. It is useful for surveillance, but has limitations. For example, it may record the same case more than once. In addition, more serious events that occur after a vaccination are more likely to be reported than later and milder events, and such events are not necessarily linked to the vaccine.
• VSD (Vaccine Safety Datalink) is a linked database that analyses the records of over seven million patients. It is more accurate than VAERS, although its information is not as timely.
• The CDC has established the national network of Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment (CISA) Centers. It will provide services to physicians to help them evaluate and manage patients who may have had a side effect.

Studies using these systems are ongoing and none to date have confirmed reports of any significant association between most vaccines and severe side effects that would outweigh the benefits of these important and life-saving agents. For example, a 2001 analysis that examined VSD data confirmed the overall safety of the childhood MMR and DTP vaccines.

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Granted, no vaccine is 100% safe. Allergic and serious reactions are possible. In two cases, the early polio vaccine and the rotavirus vaccine, problems did occur, some serious. It is important to note, however, that even in these cases, the vaccines were withdrawn and the severe events still were far fewer than the lives saved.

The focus on vaccination side effects is ironic due to the fact that reports of such adverse effects outnumber the number of actual infections. Because vaccinations have been in existence for so long, today''s parents have no direct knowledge of the consequences of these dreaded infections, which killed or severely sickened millions of children in the past.

It should be noted that studies are reporting that the risk for infection increases significantly in children who are not vaccinated. There is also a rise in infections among immunized children, suggesting resistance to the vaccines.