A new peer-reviewed study has been published in the journal SAGE Open Medicine that looks at health outcomes of vaccinated children versus children who are unvaccinated. The study looks at three pediatric practices located in the United States. The study concludes that unvaccinated children appear to have better health outcomes than those who are vaccinated.
The overall sample size, including children under 3 years of age, is 4821, of which 44.5% were unvaccinated, while 55.5% were vaccinated. Among the 3797 children over 1 year of age, 37.6% were unvaccinated and 62.4% were vaccinated. Considering children with continuous follow-up who were over 3 years of age reduced the sample to 2047 patients, with 52% males. Unvaccinated children by 1 year of age comprised 30.9% of the sample as compared to vaccinated children (69.1%). The most prevalent diagnosis was ear infection.
They looked at the medical records of children and results showed that children vaccinated prior to turning one were substantially more prone to developmental delays, asthma, and ear infections.
A separate analysis also showed that children who received more vaccines were also more likely to be diagnosed with gastrointestinal disorders.
“The results definitely indicate better health outcomes in children who did not receive vaccines within their first year of life.”
Dr. Hooker, lead author of study
Currently, children receive up to 36 vaccine doses to protect against 14 different diseases by the time they’re 6 if following CDC’s recommended vaccination schedule.
Related:
Vaccination before 1 year of age was associated with increased odds of developmental delays (OR = 2.18, 95% CI 1.47–3.24), asthma (OR = 4.49, 95% CI 2.04–9.88) and ear infections (OR = 2.13, 95% CI 1.63–2.78). In a quartile analysis, subjects were grouped by number of vaccine doses received in the first year of life. Higher odds ratios were observed in Quartiles 3 and 4 (where more vaccine doses were received) for all four health conditions considered, as compared to Quartile 1. In a temporal analysis, developmental delays showed a linear increase as the age cut-offs increased from 6 to 12 to 18 to 24 months of age (ORs = 1.95, 2.18, 2.92 and 3.51, respectively). Slightly higher ORs were also observed for all four health conditions when time permitted for a diagnosis was extended from ⩾ 3 years of age to ⩾ 5 years of age.