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 Vaccine Safety Basics
bullet Information for Parents
bullet Why It's Important to Monitor Vaccine Safety
bullet How Vaccines Are Tested and Monitored
bullet Common Questions
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bullet History of Vaccine Safety

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Contact CDC
  For immunization safety information, call the CDC-INFO Contact Center at:

English and Spanish:

(800)CDC-INFO
(800)232-4636
TTY:(888)232-6348


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Vaccine Safety Webmaster

 

Vaccine Safety Information for Parents

Photo of a Baby Being Vaccinated

Vaccines Are Safe

Vaccines are held to the highest standard of safety. The United States currently has the safest, most effective vaccine supply in history. Years of testing are required by law before a vaccine can be licensed. Once in use, vaccines are continually monitored for safety and efficacy.

Be Aware of the Risks

Immunizations, like any medication, can cause adverse events. However, a decision not to immunize a child also involves risk. It is a decision to put the child and others who come into contact with him or her at risk of contracting a disease that could be dangerous or deadly. Consider measles. One out of 30 children with measles develops pneumonia. For every 1,000 children who get the disease, one or two will die from it. Thanks to vaccines, we have few cases of measles in the U.S. today. However, the disease is extremely contagious, and each year dozens of cases are imported from abroad into the U.S., threatening the health of people who have not been vaccinated and those for whom the vaccine was not effective.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continually work to make already safe vaccines even safer. In the rare event that a child is injured by a vaccine, he or she may be compensated through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) or call 1-800-338-2382.

Related Links

*Links to non-Federal organizations found at this site are provided solely as a service to our users. These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at these links.

Page last reviewed: June 23, 2007
Page last updated: December 12, 2007
Content source: Immunization Safety Office, Office of the Chief Science Officer

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