This page is updated on a normal basis.
The medical journal Vaccine states, "It is known that, in many instances, antigen-specific antibody titers do not correlate with protection." PMID
"The findings of efficacy studies have not demonstrated a direct correlation between antibody response and protection against pertussis disease. Antibody studies are useful to compare amount of response elicited by different vaccines under different conditions or in different groups. Thus, efficacy studies are required to measure clinical protection conferred by each pertussis vaccine. MMWR
Vaccine Failures in America
Connecticut, Chicken Pox 2007: Connecticut: State health experts are investigating an outbreak of chicken pox in Colchester. Sixty-five students at the Jack Jackter Elementary School got chicken pox last year. It was one of the largest outbreaks in the state. The chicken pox vaccine has a known 20-percent failure rate.
Oklahoma, Chicken Pox Outbreak February 20, 2006: Elgin ISD Experiencing Chicken Pox Outbreak. More than 40 kids were out of school today in Elgin after an outbreak of chicken pox. School officials at Elgin Independent School District say on Friday they had 61 cases of chicken pox and strangely, school records show most of the kids have already been immunized.
Wisconsin, Chickenpox Outbreak Jan. 20, 2006: Health officials are looking into an outbreak of chickenpox in the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau School District in which all except two of the 44 affected children had been vaccinated against the illness. Winona Daily
Alabama, Chickenpox Dec. 15, 2005: Chickenpox outbreak zeroes in on school. Hazel Green kids discover vaccine is no guarantee.
Multistate, Mumps Outbreak January 1--May 2, 2006: In Iowa, preliminary vaccination data were reported through May 3, 2006. Among 1,192 patients, 94% were vaccinated, 141 (12%) had received 1 dose of MMR vaccine, and 607 (51%) had received 2 doses. The vaccination status of 375 (31%) patients, the majority of whom were adults who did not have vaccination records, was unknown. MMWR publication
Mumps Outbreak, April 19, 2006: Report from Julie Gerberding: "In addition, although this is a very good vaccine, it is not perfect. About 10 percent of people who get both doses of the vaccine still remain [susceptible] to mumps. So if you are in a community of 10,000 people and 10 percent of the people who got both doses of the vaccine are susceptible, once you get a little outbreak going in that community, that means that up to 1,000 people in the community would actually come down with mumps even though they were properly immunized with what we know is a very good vaccine." CDC Press Release
Oregon, Chickenpox Outbreak October 2001. Chickenpox Outbreak in a Highly Vaccinated School Population. A chickenpox outbreak occurred in a school in which 97% of students without a prior history of chickenpox were vaccinated. Students vaccinated >5 years before the outbreak were at risk for breakthrough disease. Pediatrics Vol. 113 No. 3 March 2004, pp. 455-459
Mumps Outbreak, 1995: Between October 3 and November 23, 1990, clinical mumps developed in 54 students; 53 had been vaccinated. Cheek et al. "Mumps outbreak in a highly vaccinated school population". Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med; 149: 774-778
Tennessee, Mumps Outbreak 1991. 99.6 percent of schoolchildren in Maury County, Tennessee met vaccination requirements for mumps. "Mumps outbreak traced to vaccine failure" (Medical) JournalWatch
Measles Outbreak 1987: An outbreak of measles in secondary school with more than 99 percent vaccination rate and more than 95 percent of students have measles antibody (vaccine immunity.) Gustafson et al. "Measles outbreak in a fully immunized secondary-school population", NEJM; 3216: 771-774
Measles Outbreak 1987: Nknowane BM et al. Measles outbreak in a vaccinated (70%) school population: epidemiology, chains of transmission and the role of vaccine failure": Am J Pub Health;77:434-438.1987
Measles Outbreak 1972: Twenty-four cases of measles occurred in a school in which 89% of children were immunized or had had natural disease; 19 of these cases were vaccine failures. Cherry JD et al. "Urban measles in the vaccine era: a clinical, epidemiologic, and serologic study". J Pediatrics; 81(2): 217- 230
Vaccine Failures Around the world
Australia, Bacterial Meningitis July 28, 2007: Two of the five cases were within the same family, the other three seem unrelated. Dr. Margot McLean, the Medical Officer of Health, reports that two of the children were completely immunized against meningococci while others ere partially vaccinated. Related article from Vaccine RX
Isreal, Pertussis Infection in Fully Vaccinated Children in Day-Care Centers. (REF: Emerging Infectious Diseases Vol. 6, No. 5; Sep-Oct 2000)
The Netherlands, Pertussis in the Highly Vaccinated Population. (REF: Emerging Infectious Diseases Vol. 6, No. 4 Jul-Aug 2000)
Australia, Pertussis in North-West Western Australia in 1999; All vaccinated. (REF: Communicable Diseases Intelligence 2000 Vol 24 No 12)
Hungary, Measles Epidemic occurred in Hungary during 1988-1989 despite over 93% of people born during 1970-1973 and over 98% born since 1973 had been vaccinated. Agocs et al."The 1988-1999 measles epidemic in Hungary: assessment of vaccine failure". International J Epidemiology; 21(5): 1007- 1013. 1992.
Spain, Mumps Outbreak occurred in a group of vaccinated children aged 3-4 years in San Sebastian (Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Spain) in 2000