Risks of multiple vaccinations

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Risks of multiple vaccinations

Some people have voiced concern about immunizations when multiple vaccines for different diseases are given at the same time. These people fear that harmful side effects are more likely because the child's immune system is not able to combat all of the vaccine organisms at the same time.

Getting more than one shot (injection) of vaccine at the same time may seem like a lot to handle. But babies have billions of immune system cells in their bodies. Beginning at birth, the immune system actively responds to hundreds of thousands of invading organisms.

As extra assurance, there is no evidence that multiple vaccines harm or weaken the immune system.¹

The U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the American Academy of Pediatrics both recommend giving a child all of the routine childhood vaccines he or she needs at the same doctor visit.

Studies are being done to find ways of combining more vaccines into a single shot, such as the measles-mumps-rubella shot (MMR). Combining vaccines means fewer shots need to be given. Even though the vaccines are combined, each provides the same protection that it would if it had been given alone. Also, the combined vaccines have no greater risk for side effects than do individual vaccines.²

References

Citations

1. Offit PA, et al. (2001). Addressing parents' concerns: Do multiple vaccines overwhelm or weaken the infant's immune system? Pediatrics, 109(1): 124–129.

2. Atkinson W, et al., eds. (2007). Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, updated 10th ed. (The Pink Book). Washington, DC: Public Health Foundation. Also available online: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/default.htm.

Credits

Last updated:	November 21, 2008
Author:	Debby Golonka, MPH
Reviewed By:	Michael J. Sexton, MD - Pediatrics
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Pat Truman, MATC