Study finds vaccine side effects rare, outweighed by immunization benefits. 
 
 A nurse prepares the rotavirus vaccine to give to a baby during a program to start vaccination against the virus. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images file) 
 
 Serious complications related to vaccines are very rare, and there is no evidence that immunizations cause autism, according to an analysis of 67 research studies. 
 
 The analysis comes as many vaccine-preventable diseases are making a comeback, often in communities with low vaccination rates. At least 539 people across 20 states have been infected with measles this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
 
 "This report should give parents some reassurance," says pediatrician Courtney Gidengil of Rand and Boston Children's Hospital, co-author of the study out today in Pediatrics. 
 
 The report says there is "strong evidence" that the measles vaccine is not associated with an increased risk of autism. That myth gained popularity in 1998 because of a medical study that has been retracted. Still, the myth persists. 
 
 "There is a lot of misinformation out there about vaccines," says co-author Margaret Maglione, also a researcher with Rand. "With the rise of the Internet and the decline of print journalism, anyone can put anything on the Internet." 
 
 Like all drugs, vaccines can cause serious side effects. But those complications are "extremely rare" and should be weighed against vaccination's enormous benefits, Maglione says. 
 
 In an April report, the CDC noted that vaccines given to infants and young children over the past two decades will prevent 322 million illnesses, 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths over the course of their lifetimes. 
 
 The new report notes that some vaccines, including flu shots and the combined vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella, are associated with an increased risk of fever-related seizures in small children. Although these seizures can be frightening for parents, they're typically benign and cause no long-term problems. 
 
 According to the analysis, vaccines against rotavirus – a common cause of severe diarrhea and dehydration in children – increase the risk of a serious type of intestinal blockage called intussusception, in which part of the intestine telescopes into itself. The vaccines against it, RotaTeq and Rotarix, can cause an additional one to five cases of intussusception for every 100,000 doses given, the analysis says. 
 
 It's important to remember that rotavirus infection also causes intussusception, says pediatrician Paul Offit, chief of infectious disease at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a developer of the RotaTeq vaccine. He notes that rates of this complication are actually down slightly since the introduction of the vaccines. 
 
 The new analysis may not convince parents who are strongly anti-vaccine. University of Utah pediatrician Carrie Byington says she hopes it will persuade doctors to promote vaccines to their patients. 
 
 In an accompanying editorial, Byington notes that recent medical school graduates are more skeptical about the effectiveness of vaccines than older doctors, who have been around long enough to have treated children for measles and meningitis. In Washington state, a study found that more than half of medical providers were willing to consider untested, alternative immunization schedules that skip or space out vaccines. 
 
 Doctors say it's important to put risks into perspective. 
 
 Nearly 38,000 children under age 4 were injured in car accidents in 2012, and 523 died, according to the CDC. 
 
 "The most dangerous aspect of giving your child vaccines is driving to the office to get them," Offit says. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1luagYx ||||| The report should be reassuring to parents, the researchers say. For example, there still is no evidence the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine causes autism. Nor is there any proof vaccines cause childhood leukemia. 
 
 The assessment mirrors and updates a 2011 report on vaccine safety by the U.S. Institute of Medicine. That report found vaccines can cause certain side effects but serious ones are very rare. 
 
 Experts say such risks need to be balanced against the benefits of vaccines — the prevention of millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths annually. 
 
 But that message seems lost on some parents. A small but growing numbers of parents have tried to get their children exempted from school attendance vaccination requirements. And one recent study found vaccine safety messages actually reduced some parents' willingness to get their kids vaccinated. 
 
 "I don't think this report, alone, will convince parents that vaccines are safe," said Dr. Courtney Gidengil, one of the RAND Corp. researchers who did the report for federal health officials. 
 
 But maybe it will at least influence their family doctors, she and others said. 
 
 "Many parents look to their physicians as the ultimate sources of information," said Dr. Walter Orenstein, associate director of Emory University's Vaccine Center, adding "now it's up to them." 
 
 The new analysis looked at dozens of medical studies completed since the 2011 report. It echoes some of those findings and included vaccines that report hadn't addressed. 
 
 The journal Pediatrics published the report online Tuesday. Among its conclusions: 
 
 —Newer evidence confirms a link between the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and fever-triggered seizures. The seizures rarely cause long-term health problems, but can be frightening for parents. 
 
 —Apparently, flu shots can also spur fevers that can trigger seizures. The seizures seem to happen more often in children who get a vaccine against pneumococcal bacteria the same day. 
 
 —Newer vaccines against rotavirus, a severe diarrheal disease in children, slightly raise the risk of a rare bowel blockage. 
 
 The risks of serious side effects were deemed very low. For example, the rotavirus vaccines were linked to no more than five extra cases of the blockage for every 100,000 kids vaccinated. 
 
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 Online: 
 
 CDC vaccine info: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety ||||| All those vaccines that children get in the early years are very safe, and adverse side-effects are very rare, a large review of vaccine safety finds. The federal government commissioned the California-based RAND Corporation to review all that’s known about the battery of childhood vaccines to reassure people who still have their doubts. “Concerns about vaccine safety have led some parents to decline recommended vaccination of their children, leading to the resurgence of diseases,” RAND’s Dr. Courtney Gidengil and colleagues wrote in their report, published in the journal Pediatrics. 
 
 “We found evidence that some vaccines are associated with serious adverse events; however, these events are extremely rare and must be weighed against the protective benefits that vaccines provide.” The worst adverse events include a very rare intestinal blockage called intussusception caused by the rotavirus vaccine and a rare blood disorder called thrombocytopenic purpura linked with the chickenpox and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. But there’s no evidence linking vaccines with leukemia or autism, despite persistent rumors, the researchers found. 
 
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 IN-DEPTH 
 
 - Maggie Fox
– Another day, another study asserting that vaccines don't cause autism: This time, researchers analyzed 67 different studies and found no evidence that immunizations cause autism. "There is a lot of misinformation out there about vaccines," a co-author tells USA Today. "With the rise of the Internet and the decline of print journalism, anyone can put anything on the Internet." The new report finds "strong evidence" that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, implicated in an increased risk of autism in a since-retracted 1998 study, is not associated with such a risk. The study also found no proof vaccines cause childhood leukemia, the AP reports, and that in general, side effects from vaccines are "extremely rare." While some vaccines, including the MMR vaccine and the flu shot, can cause an increased risk of fever-related seizures in small children, those seizures are typically benign. The most serious side effects (an intestinal blockage caused by the rotavirus vaccine and a blood disorder linked to the chickenpox and MMR vaccines) are both rare, NBC News reports. Ultimately, the study concludes, the benefits of vaccines outweigh the small risks. And, to put those risks in perspective, one expert notes, "The most dangerous aspect of giving your child vaccines is driving to the office to get them."