Children should get vaccinated against preventable and potentially deadly diseases. Period. [s]CNN[/s] reports that this is what a project that screened more than 20,000 scientific titles and 67 papers on vaccine safety concluded. The According to the study authors, the evidence strongly suggests that side effects from vaccines are incredibly rare. Also, they found no ties between vaccines and the rising number of children with autism and no link between vaccines and childhood leukaemia, something that was suggested in earlier studies. The researchers found that some vaccines did cause a few adverse effects but it was only for a tiny fraction of the population.
India’s[/b] new Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the free provision of four new vaccines as part of a programme to reduce child mortality. They include one for rotavirus, which kills thousands of children a year. [s]BBC News[/s] reports that the move brings to 13 the number of free vaccines provided in India against life threatening diseases. The four new vaccines will combat rotavirus, rubella, polio and [b]Japanese[/b] encephalitis.
Worrying for doctors and public health budgets, meanwhile, is that the price of vaccines has soared, from single to triple digits in some cases, reports [s]The Washington Times[/s]. Childhood vaccines are considered vital to public well-being, but old vaccines have been reformulated and enter the market at much higher prices, while new vaccines are introduced at ‘once-unthinkable’ prices. Since 1986, the cost of vaccinating a child until age 18 under private insurance has shot from $100 to $2,192. The [b]US[/b] government pays for about half of all children’s vaccines and its costs have increased 15-fold.
[link url=http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/01/health/vaccines-for-kids-safe/index.html?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=email]Full CNN report[/link]
[link url=http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2014/06/26/peds.2014-1079]Pediatrics Review abstract[/link]
[link url=http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2014/06/26/peds.2014-1494.citation]Pediatrics Commentary[/link]
[link url=http://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/ehc/products/468/1930/vaccine-safety-report-140701.pdf]Vaccine Safety Report[/link]
[link url=http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-28156436]Full BBC News report[/link]
[link url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/3/cost-vaccines-soaring-report]Full report in The Washington Times[/link]