How Safe Are Vaccines?

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Common Ground
That still leaves the broader community at risk. So, is there room between public health and personal choice? Science may eventually provide a way out. Most people agree that there may be kids with genetic predispositions or other underlying conditions that make them susceptible to being harmed by vaccines. The Georgia girl in the recent vaccine case is the first such documented child, but her story suggests there could be others. Though CDC director Julie Gerberding was quick to insist that the case should not be considered an admission that vaccines can cause autism, some parents will surely take it as just that. "In rare instances, there could be some gene-vs.-exposure interaction that in theory could lead from the vaccine to autism," says Dr. Tracy Lieu, director of the center for child-health-care studies at Harvard Medical School. "The future of vaccine-safety research lies in trying to answer questions of genomic contributions to responses to vaccines." Screening for genetic profiles that are most commonly associated with immune disorders, for example, would be a good place to start.

Whether tests like these, combined with detailed family histories, will make a difference in the rates of developmental disorders like autism isn't yet clear. But such a strategy could reveal new avenues of research and lead to safer inoculations overall. Parents concerned about vaccine safety would then have stronger answers to their questions about how their child might be affected by the shots. Vaccines may be a medical marvel, but they are only one salvo in our fight against disease-causing bugs. It's worth remembering that viruses and bacteria have had millions of years to perfect their host-finding skills; our abilities to rebuff them are only two centuries old. And in that journey, both parents and public-health officials want the same thing—to protect future generations from harm.

An Old Scourge Returns.

Measles cases are on the rise as growing numbers of families forgo immunization

In the first four months of this year, 64 confirmed cases of measles were reported in the U.S., scattered across 11 hot spots. This is the most by this date for any year since 2001; 54 cases had links to other countries, and only one of the 64 patients had been vaccinated. The outbreaks in Arizona and San Diego can be traced to travel to and from Switzerland, where many people choose not to be vaccinated.

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The original version of this article incorrectly stated that Hib is a virus. In fact it is a bacteria.