Review of Hear the Silence: Public needs to know why adverse reactions to vaccines occur

doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7430.51

BMJ 2004;328:51 (3 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7430.51

Letter

Review of Hear the Silence

Public needs to know why adverse reactions to vaccines occur

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—The one size fits all approach to vaccination causesmore needless deaths than a mere film, both from serious reactionsto the vaccines and by breeding distrust of vaccines in general.¹It will not achieve its goal (herd immunity and the preventionof deaths from disease) as the public grows ever more scepticaland self informed.

The message from previous public health debates—for example,bovine spongiform encephalopathy—is clear: acknowledgeproblems, research them, develop strategies to combat them,and the public will trust you. Ignore the personal testimonies,vaccinate all regardless, and vilify those who rock the boat,and you will breed yet more distrust.

Money must be put into researching why adverse reactions tovarious vaccines occur in a few cases. That is the way to combatpublic fear and falling uptake.

C A Johnson, parent

Kendal, Cumbria LA9 4LA cj01@uk2.net

Competing interests: Mother of healthy (touch wood) childrenwho have received measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination . . . [Full text of this article]

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