As they say, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”. This is true with vaccines. We will often see common side effects from the vaccines we give (low grade fevers, soreness, etc). Very rarely, there is something more serious (a febrile seizure, for example). The internet is often ablaze with talk about these risks, but with very little talk about the risks of the diseases we vaccinate against. The New York Times just ran a fantastic article that gives a graphical representation of this comparison for three different diseases: measles, influenza, and HPV. Click this link to be taken to the article (it’s free if you haven’t read too much NYT lately).