The Claim:
An old myth is going around claiming that HCG was added to tetanus vaccines in Kenya in order to cause infertility.
The Facts:
This rumor is based on a tiny bit of truth. Scientists did create a vaccine that could also work as birth control in the early 1990s. It didn’t cause infertility and wasn’t even effective enough as birth control to go public. Only about 80% of women in the test made enough antibodies to prevent pregnancies.
In Kenya, in order to combat neonatal tetanus, The WHO and UNICEF worked to improve vaccination rates among women of child-bearing age.
Because of the persistence of the old rumors, testing was done on these vaccines. These tests detected a low level of “HCG-like activity,” thus launching the idea that the HCG was purposely placed in the vaccines to sterilize women.
The testing done was not to the standards that regulatory agencies such as the FDA would demand. If the HCG-positive results held, the amount of HCG that was detected would be far too low to affect fertility.
In the end, retesting was completed, and no HCG was detected in any vaccine.
Disclaimer: Science is always evolving and our understanding of these topics may have evolved since this was originally posted. Browse the latest information posted in Just the Facts Topics.
Just the Facts Newsletter:
Correcting this week's disinformation
Sign up to get a weekly look at the latest vaccination facts as we debunk the latest false vaccination claims making the rounds on the internet.