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Do Vaccines Cause Asthma?

According to the American Lung Association, the latest statistics show that more than 20 million Americans have asthma, almost 1/3 of them children. The exact causes of asthma are not known, but some suspect vaccines are at fault.

  1. Asthma

    • Asthma is a condition in which the airways are constricted. Some evidence suggests that there is an association between an allergic response and asthma. In fact, controlling allergies may help prevent and relieve asthma symptoms.

    Vaccines

    • Vaccines are dead or attenuated viruses and bacteria, or pieces of those microbes, that trigger an immune response without causing disease. When the body is exposed to the full-strength microbe, the immune system is ready to react and prevent disease.

    Temporal Associations

    • Sometimes, when event A is followed by event B, the human brain associates B as being the effect of A. This may be the case between vaccines and asthma. If asthma symptoms appear after a vaccine, the person with asthma will associate it with the vaccine.

    Clinical Studies

    • Studies have been designed to assess any true association between vaccines of all types and asthma. They are scientifically designed and carried out to eliminate any bias, and, so far, no association between being vaccinated and developing asthma has been detected.

    Asthma and Respiratory Diseases

    • According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people with asthma are more susceptible to complications from respiratory conditions such as influenza. So it is recommended that people with asthma be vaccinated in order to avoid respiratory infections.

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