Clinical Update

Vaccine Components and Constituents:  responding to consumer concerns

The World Health Organization states “The two public health interventions that have had the greatest impact on the world’s health are clean water and vaccines”

 However, rates of vaccination uptake in Australia may be suboptimal. Concern about vaccine safety is a potential barrier to immunisation; and reductions in vaccination rates have been described after media reporting of adverse effects. Vaccination safety is a frequent motivation for consumers to contact drug information services operating out of the Mater Health Services in Brisbane (personal reflection). Vaccines contain constituents such as preservatives, stabilisers, adjuvants and biological growth media, which may contribute to consumer concern about vaccine safety; specifically:

presence of preservatives;

likelihood of allergic reactions; and

likelihood of allergic reactions; and

likelihood of allergic reactions; and

constituents of human or animal origin.

Community-based health professionals are in a key position toaddress these concerns by providing accurate information about vaccine constituents and components. However, much of this informationis not readily available. We sought to compile a comprehensive overview of constituents, culture and growth media used in the production of the vaccines available in Australia.

Read the entire report here.

(Note from SaneVax:  This report was published several years ago in an attempt to allay concerns being expressed by the general public over the safety of multiple vaccine components. Obviously the concerns still exist.)