New vaccine
Mandatory Flu Shots for Toddlers Attending Daycare in New Jersey: WHERE is the Science?
The Public Health Council voted to require New Jersey children attending preschool or licensed day care to get annual flu shots, and to get three additional vaccines for youngsters starting Sept. 1, 2008.
This was justified, not by reference to scientific research, but with this statement:
“The amendments to the rules governing immunizations will have a direct impact on reducing illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths in one of New Jersey’s most vulnerable populations – our children,” said Commissioner Jacobs. “Vaccinations have proven to be one of the most effective and safe forms of disease prevention.”
However, a Cochrane systematic review found that:
In children under two, the efficacy of inactivated vaccine was similar to placebo.
and:
That no safety comparisons could be carried out emphasizes the need for standardisation of methods and presentation of vaccine safety data in future studies. It was surprising to find only one study of inactivated vaccine in children under two years, given recent recommendations to vaccinate healthy children from six months old in the USA and Canada. If immunisation in children is to be recommended as public–health policy, large–scale studies assessing important outcomes and directly comparing vaccine types are urgently required.
How can a vaccine that has no effect on babies and toddlers reduce illness, hospitalisations, and deaths in little ones? Compulsory placebos? This is not evidence-based medicine.
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