If ever there were a vaccine invented to prevent the type of cancer I had, I would never insist that other people take it nor accuse them of “Middle Eastern attitudes” if they refuse. All medical procedures carry a certain risk, and a decision that’s right for one person isn’t necessarily right for another.
The fact is that, when vaccinations are administered, usually the doctor or nurse hands you a piece of paper that lists all of the possible risks. That information comes straight from the CDC. Often, one of the possible risks is fatality.
It doesn’t matter if the risk of fatality is one in a million; statistics are no consolation if your child happens to be that one in a million.
The bottom line is that we each have the right to determine whether or not immunization shots (how many, which ones, etc.) are OK for us and our families.
Don't place so much significance on that patient information sheet. If you compare those pieces of paper between different vaccines, there is a list of risks that are always the same--they are a stock list of risks that the FDA requires to be distributed with all vaccines. The risks that are specific to the vaccine are those that state the exact incidence of the side-effect, for example, that swelling and localized inflammation or headache are seen in more than 10% of patients.
It doesn’t matter if the risk of fatality is one in a million; statistics are no consolation if your child happens to be that one in a million.
The annual risk of dying of cervical cancer is about 1 in 80,000. That is a rough estimate based on the total population of the US, uncorrected for gender or age. The death rate of teenagers age 12-19 between 1999 and 2006 was about 1 in 2,000; the death rate increases with age. The death rate of participants in this HPV vaccine study was about 1 in 1,200 regardless of whether they were in the vaccine or the control group (the death rate was actually slightly, but insignificantly, higher in the control group). I wouldn't worry about some hypothetical 1 in a million chance of dying from a vaccine; I'd worry about all those other things killing kids.
The bottom line is that we each have the right to determine whether or not immunization shots (how many, which ones, etc.) are OK for us and our families.
The bottom line is that an honest risk/benefit analysis supports the decision to vaccinate. Infectious disease is and always has been a major killer.