Vaccinations and Birth Defects

 

By: Amanda Ziminski

Many people are quick to blame vaccinations as the cause of birth defects, amongst other health anomalies. Part of this is due to the misinformation plastered all over your news feed on Facebook, or it could be from your physician not explaining things well enough, or perhaps people have conspiracy theories that doctors are out to get you. However, there are multiple studies that are performed on vaccination safety before vaccines are even made available to the public, and once they are released vaccinations are heavily monitored by many organizations. Vaccinations aren't something that is taken lightly. They are handled meticulously, with extreme caution.

One common vaccine is the tetanus, diphtheria, and acelluar pertussis (Tdap). It vaccinates against the three diseases mentioned within the name, tetanus, diphtheria, and acelluar pertussis. These three diseases are now controlled due to the vaccination's efforts. However, these three diseases can be very harmful and sometimes fatal. They have the potential to cause very harmful side affects. In 2012, the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended that Tdap vaccine be administered during every pregnancy.

Cases of microcephaly, which is an abnormally small head due to failure of brain growth in Brazil increased substantially during 2015, likely associated with the zika virus infections. However, these cases overlapped with the November 2014 initiation of Brazil's maternal Tdap program. This led many people, as always, to point their fingers at the vaccine as the culprit. To test if the blame was correct a study was performed.

In the study, Malini DeSilva, M.D., M.P.H., of HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis, and colleagues included data from live births at 7 Vaccine Safety Datalink sites from January 2007 through September 2013 and compared prevalence of structural birth defects between infants born to women who received Tdap during pregnancy and unvaccinated women. Analyses included 324,463 live births. The researchers found that maternal Tdap was not significantly associated with increased risk for microcephaly.

After completing the study, the researchers recommend that pregnant women still receive the vaccine. There was no significant correlation to the Tdap and microcephaly, just as there is no correlation between vaccines and autism, which was proven in 2002. Although there is incidents where vaccinations are harmful, it is important to do your research before jumping to conclusions, or believing a story your coworker shared on Facebook. Getting vaccinated is great way to prevent infectious diseases and maintain public health.

Works Cited:

No association found between Tdap vaccination during pregnancy and microcephaly, structural birth defects in offspring. (2016, November 2). Retrieved November 6, 2016, from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/313840.php