The government tracks reported cases of vaccine side effects through the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Approximately 40 cases of death and permanent injury from the MMR vaccine are reported to VAERS annually. However, VAERS is a passive reporting system—authorities do not actively search for cases and do not actively remind doctors and the public to report cases. These limitations can lead to significant underreporting. The CDC states, “VAERS receives reports for only a small fraction of actual adverse events.” Indeed, as few as 1% of serious side effects from medical products are reported to passive surveillance systems, and as few as 1.6% of MMR-related seizures are reported to VAERS. In addition, VAERS reports are not proof that a side effect occurred, as the system is not designed to thoroughly investigate all cases. As a result, VAERS does not provide an accurate count of MMR vaccine side effects.
You are viewing a single comment's thread from: