Vaccines don’t cause many illnesses blamed on them in graphic
Vaccines do not cause many of the diseases and conditions attributed to them in an old antivaccine graphic circulating again on Facebook, although some vaccines have been linked to rare serious side effects. Vaccination also prevents diseases that can cause severe illness, disability and death.
Online influencer Maharajah Isa reposted the “Wheel of Vaccine Misfortune” on Facebook on Sept. 5 with the clickbaity caption:
Paki-tag ng mga gusto sumali sa contest (Tag someone who wants to join the contest)
The graphic attributes 23 diseases and medical conditions, aside from death, to vaccines.
The graphic has circulated for years. One of the earlier copies FactRakers found was posted on a blog in March 2019.
Isa’s post had gained 219 reactions, 65 comments and 52 shares as of Sept. 17. Comments show that some readers take the graphic seriously and regret getting vaccinated. Others shared it to draw traffic to their accounts.
Research does not support many of the sweeping claims on the wheel.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says multiple studies and safety reviews have found no link between vaccines and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), the unexplained death of a baby younger than 1.
CDC also says evidence does not show that vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, cause fertility problems in women or men. It cited a study of more than 2,000 women ages 21 to 45 and their partners that found COVID-19 vaccination did not affect the likelihood of becoming pregnant.
A World Health Organization systematic review published in September found that available studies from 2010 to 2025 do not support a causal link between vaccines and autism.
Evidence reviewed by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Vaccine Safety also does not show that routinely recommended vaccines cause strokes or heart attacks.
Its review of multiple sclerosis found that most studies reported no association with vaccination, while its review of diabetes cited studies that found no increased risk.
However, vaccines are not risk-free. Some have been associated with particular side effects, but the risks depend on the vaccine and are generally very small.
Anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction, can occur after vaccination. A study by researchers at CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2021 identified 21 cases after almost 1.9 million first doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, or about 11 cases per million doses. Seventeen of the 21 people had a history of allergic reactions.
Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), a rare disorder in which the immune system mistakenly attacks and damages nerves, has also been associated with some vaccines. The CDC says when an increased risk has been detected after flu vaccination, it has amounted to one to two GBS cases for every one million doses.
The CDC says an increased risk of febrile seizures—convulsions associated with fever in children—has been detected in some seasons when a flu shot was given at the same time as certain other childhood vaccines. Flu itself can cause febrile seizures.
A 2024 study published in the peer-reviewed journal Vaccine found an extremely low risk of contracting acute disseminated encephalomyelitis or ADEM (0.78 per million doses) and transverse myelitis or TM (1.82 per million doses) after the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Both inflammations of the nervous system, ADEM can happen anywhere in the nervous system, while TM affects the spinal cord. (VS)
