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| |    Myth: My Child Can Get the Disease From the Vaccine by Lynn Cates, M.D., F.A.A.P. reviewed by Laura Jana, M.D., F.A.A.P. Myth: My child can get the disease from the vaccine since it is made from the germ that causes disease. Fact: Vaccines are made from killed or weakened bacteria or viruses, benign products of these germs, or parts of these germs. None of these can cause disease except under very rare conditions. This myth is based on speculation that since the disease-causing germ is often used to make a vaccine, it is possible for the vaccine to cause disease. However, it is extremely unlikely for a vaccine to cause the disease it is supposed to prevent. One notable vaccine that, on very rare occasions (1 in 2.4 million doses) can cause disease is the oral polio vaccine (OPV). OPV is made of three types of poliovirus that have been attenuated (or weakened) so they don't cause disease in the vast majority of individuals. The rare exceptions include infants with abnormal immune systems, and a few adults who have not been immunized. Because a few individuals were developing polio from OPV each year, even though the number was very small, OPV recently was removed from the routine immunization schedule in the United States. It has been replaced by enhanced inactivated polio vaccine (eIPV). The polioviruses in eIPV have been inactivated completely and cannot cause disease. Adapted from the National Network for Immunization Information (NNii) Copyright 2000, and the National Immunization Program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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