Vaccines and SIDS
A speculated link between vaccines and SIDS has been refuted,[1] but remains a common anti-vaccine trope.[2] The claim - attributed to Robert Mendelsohn in 1991[3] and promoted by anti-vaccination activists such as Viera Scheibner in the early 1990s - is that vaccines, especially the DTP vaccine that protects against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, cause sudden infant death syndrome. The World Health Organization has classified this as a "common misconception".[4]
Claims | Vaccines are claimed to cause sudden infant death syndrome |
---|---|
Year proposed | 1991 |
Original proponents | Attributed to Robert Mendelsohn |
Subsequent proponents | Viera Scheibner, Kelly Brogan |
Pseudoscientific concepts |
Some also claim that a vaccine court case, Boatmon v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, 13-611 (Fed. Cl. 2017), proves this link. While compensation was awarded to Boatmon, this did not prove any link,[5] and the award was in any case vacated in July 2018 as the Special master had applied too low a standard of proof.[6]
Multiple studies and meta-analyses have shown that vaccinated children are less likely to die of SIDS.[7]
References
- "Declining SIDS is More Evidence Vaccines are Safe". American Council on Science and Health. 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Antivaccine propaganda from Dr. W. Gifford-Jones in The Toronto Sun". Science-Based Medicine. 2018-10-29. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
- Overell, Bette (1993). Animal Research Takes Lives: Humans and Animals Both Suffer. NZ Anti-Vivisection Society Inc. ISBN 9780473018467. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Six common misconceptions about immunization". WHO. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "No, a Vaccine Court ruling does not show that vaccines cause SIDS". Science-Based Medicine. 2017-08-21. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- Judge, THOMAS C. WHEELER. "BOATMON v. SECRETARY OF HHS". Leagle. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Vaccines and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)". www.cdc.gov. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2018-12-20. Retrieved 2019-02-01.