Vaccine Safety

Vaccines have reduced and, in some cases, eliminated many diseases that killed or severely disabled children and adults just a few generations ago. For most Americans today, vaccines are a routine part of healthcare.

However, the disappearance of many childhood diseases has led some parents to question whether vaccines are still necessary. In addition, a growing number of parents are concerned that vaccines may actually be the cause of conditions such as autism, hyperactivity, diabetes, multiple sclerosis (MS), and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). These concerns have caused some parents to delay or withhold vaccines for their children.

As a result, MDH has put this site together to provide accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date information about childhood vaccines and the diseases they prevent for parents and health-care professionals.

• Vaccine Safety Basics
  Reliable resources on vaccine safety, how vaccines work, how they are monitored for safety, and screening for immunizations.
  
  
• Evaluating Health Information on the Web
  Sorting through the abundance of health information on the Web can be daunting. Get some tips on finding the most helpful and credible information.
  
  
• Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
  List of vaccine-preventable disease pages at MDH, plus links to other information and pictures about the diseases.
  
  
• Vaccines
  Information on each vaccine, with risks and benefits for each, plus Vaccine Information Statement fact sheets.
  
  
• Reporting Adverse Event
  Any suspected side effects from a vaccine can be reported via the VAERS program, now available on-line. There is also a national injury compensation program for vaccines.
  
  
• Vaccine Safety Concerns
  Research that examines common concerns about vaccine safety.
  
  
• Aluminum
• Diabetes
• MMR & Autism
• Multiple Immunizations
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Thimerosal

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If you have questions or comments about this page, use our IDEPC Comment Form or call 651-201-5414 (TTY: 651-201-5797) for the MDH Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Prevention and Control Division.