Abstract

KIE: Since 1974 when a report on the neurological complications of whooping cough immunization received massive professional and public attention, there has been a loss of confidence in the vaccine's safety resulting in a drop of immunization rates and a sharp rise in whooping cough morbidity in Great Britain. Nicoll attributes this loss of confidence to ambiguities in official guidelines on contraindications to immunization which have led to professional uncertainty and fear of responsibility for possible vaccine injury, and to the persistence among health professionals and the public of myths about immunization. The author urges an aggressive official approach to affirm the efficacy of immunization by issuing clear, factual guidelines, including an acknowledgement and repudiation of the myths.