WIAAP board of directors member Raj Naik, MD, FAAP has released a series of videos addressing vaccine myths. The brief videos are available for viewing through Gundersen Health System. Dr. Naik was one of the medical directors for WIAAP’s quality improvement initiatives around improving rates of HPV vaccination. He was named one of the CDC’s Immunization Champions in 2018.
General Vaccine Myths
- Vaccines cause autism
- Vaccines are not safe
- This vaccine is too new
- We are giving too many shots
- Preservatives in vaccines are unsafe or toxic
- It’s better to become immune by getting infections naturally
HPV Vaccine Myths
- HPV vaccine is too new
- It’s too early to give HPV vaccine
- Giving HPV vaccine early will make my pre-teen think about sex or lead to sex
- HPV vaccine will cause infertility, neurological disease, cancer, death or other serious side effects
- Boys don’t need HPV vaccine
- HPV vaccine can cause HPV infections
- HPV vaccine is not effective
- It’s better to get immunity naturally by getting infected with HPV
Flu Vaccine Myths
- I received the flu vaccine and got the flu anyway – the flu vaccine isn’t effective
- The stomach flu is caused by influenza and can be prevented by flu vaccine
- Flu vaccine will give me the flu
- Flu vaccine will make me feel sick
- I’m allergic to eggs so I cannot get flu vaccine
- I got the flu vaccine last year so I don’t need one this year
- I want to wait to get my flu vaccine so my immunity lasts through the end of the season
- It’s too late to get the flu vaccine after November
- I’m healthy so I don’t need flu vaccine – it’s better to get herd immunity from infection
- Flu vaccine can make you more susceptible to other respiratory infections