Risks of multiple vaccinations
Some people have voiced concern about immunizations when multiple vaccinations 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 once.
Getting more than one injection of vaccine at the same time may seem like a lot to handle. However, 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, a recent study has found no evidence that multiple vaccines harm or weaken the immune system.1
The Canadian National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) and the Canadian Paediatric Society both recommend giving a child all of the routine childhood vaccines he or she needs at the same doctor visit.
Studies are underway to find ways of combining more vaccines into a single injection, such as the measles-mumps-rubella shot (MMR). Combining vaccines requires fewer shots. Even though the vaccines are combined, each provides the same protection that it would if it had been given alone.
| Author: | Alison Allen Debby Golonka, MPH | Last Updated: January 29, 2008 |
| Medical Review: | Michael J. Sexton, MD - Pediatrics Andrew Swan, MD, CCFP, FCFP - Family Medicine | |
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