A video clip of two anti-vaccine figures promotes the baseless claim that vaccines make children more susceptible to chronic illnesses. In the video, which suggests questioning everything, including childhood vaccines, they say that in the last 40 years, the rates of childhood chronic diseases have increased from 6 percent to 54 percent. They note that this period coincided with the addition of several new vaccines to the routine immunization schedule, insinuating that the rise in illnesses was caused by vaccines.
Recommendation: Emphasizing that vaccines have been monitored for safety and effectiveness for decades, and there is no evidence that any routine vaccine causes chronic illnesses in children, is recommended. While it is true that reported rates of chronic illness rates have increased in the last 40 years, the sources of the two numbers were looking at different types of data and can’t be used for comparison. The definition of chronic illnesses in children varies widely. Some definitions include only illnesses that cause disability, while others include seasonal allergies, chronic ear infections, and overweight BMIs. Fact Checking Source(s): FactCheck.org