11 Vaccine Myths That Just Refuse To Die: Debunked

8. Myth: There Are Too Many Too Soon

Anti-vaccine activists don’t really have a leg to stand on regarding supporting scientific evidence for their belief system. Counter their points with scientific evidence, and they’ll suddenly shift the goalposts of their argument to move away from the evidence you have provided. Show them evidence of safety studies, and they’ll state an ingredient is damaging, show them evidence the ingredient is fine, they’ll move to a different ingredient. Show them evidence all of the ingredients are fine, and they’ll say “Too many too soon,” show them this article, and they’ll call you a shill.

This phenomenon has been described as: “fear and loathing of vaccines as an alleged cause of autism have “evolved” in response to what can be considered the “selective pressure” of scientific studies.”

The question: “Will the vaccine schedule overload my baby’s immune system?” is commonly abbreviated as “too many too soon.”

Unfortunately, it has become the battle-cry for anti-vaccine activists who are concerned with infant immune systems and may even try to sell you something that will “naturally boost” said immune system. In response to the commonly held question, science did its job and conducted research. The overwhelming scientific response has concluded that the current vaccine schedules in countries such as the US, UK, and Australia are perfectly fine. The latest study in the Journal of Pediatrics demonstrates these concerns to be unfounded and provides additional evidence that there is no association between receiving “too many vaccines too soon” and autism.

The conclusion further strengthens a comprehensive review by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2004 that concluded there was not even a causal relationship between certain vaccine types and autism. It also replicated the findings in the recent 2013 IOM Report on Childhood Immunization Schedule and Safety that concluded that the full vaccine schedule was safe.