TABLE 1.

Key concepts addressing common vaccine safety concerns.

Common vaccine safety myths	Key concepts
Too many vaccines too soon.	• The number of immunologic components in vaccines have declined over time. • The current 14 vaccines on the United States schedule contain 200 immunologic proteins in total, the smallpox vaccine contained 160.
Too many vaccines can “overwhelm” the immune system.	• Epidemiologic data and biologic data show that cumulative increases in the number of vaccines have no effect on immune function.
MMR vaccine causes autism.	• Original study making this claim contained 12 children, the paper was subsequently retracted due to evidence of misrepresented data. • Multiple large scale studies, including a study of half a million children have shown no association between receipt of MMR and risk of autism.
HPV vaccine increases risk of autoimmune disease.	• More than 270 million doses of HPV vaccine have been administered. • Repeated well-designed studies show no association between HPV and AI disease.
Influenza vaccine given in early pregnancy increases risk of miscarriage.	• A study of 2762 women showed no association between influenza vaccine and spontaneous abortion.