Vaccines and SIDS
ClaimsVaccines are claimed to cause sudden infant death syndrome
Year proposed1991
Original proponentsAttributed to Robert Mendelsohn
Subsequent proponentsViera Scheibner, Kelly Brogan
(Overview of pseudoscientific concepts)

A speculated link between vaccines and SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) has been denied by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,[1] but remains a common anti-vaccine claim.[2] The claim, attributed to Robert Mendelsohn in 1991[3][non-primary source needed] and promoted by anti-vaccination activists such as Viera Scheibner in the early 1990s, is that vaccines, especially the DTP vaccine that protects against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, sometimes causes sudden infant death syndrome. The World Health Organization has classified this as a "common misconception".[4]

Some also claim that a vaccine court case, Boatmon v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, 13-611 (Fed. Cl. 2017), proves this link. While compensation was awarded to Boatmon, this did not prove any link,[5] and the award was in any case vacated in July 2018 as the Special master had applied too low a standard of proof.[6]

Multiple studies and meta-analyses have shown that vaccinated children are less likely to die of SIDS.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and Vaccines". U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 14 August 2020. Vaccines have not been shown to cause sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
  2. ^ "Antivaccine propaganda from Dr. W. Gifford-Jones in The Toronto Sun". Science-Based Medicine. 2018-10-29. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  3. ^ Overell, Bette (1993). Animal Research Takes Lives: Humans and Animals Both Suffer. NZ Anti-Vivisection Society Inc. ISBN 9780473018467. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  4. ^ "Six common misconceptions about immunization". WHO. Archived from the original on May 1, 2014. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  5. ^ "No, a Vaccine Court ruling does not show that vaccines cause SIDS". Science-Based Medicine. 2017-08-21. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  6. ^ Judge, THOMAS C. WHEELER. "BOATMON v. SECRETARY OF HHS". Leagle. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  7. ^ "Vaccines and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)". www.cdc.gov. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2018-12-20. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
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