Immunisation holds an important role in our society that is to protect and prevent harmful infections from entering our community. Through the process of receiving a vaccine, immunisation uses the body’s natural defense mechanism and ensures a resistance to harmful infections, that has continued to benefit our modern society since 1924 (Australian Government Department of Health, 2013). It has been found that numerous members of the Islamic community are seeking exemption from immunisation citing their religious beliefs as their reason. As a result, life-threatening diseases such as polio still remain in three countries, restricting the advancement of our society. Should the opportunity to eradicate such deadly and debilitating diseases be passed up in order to respect the religious beliefs of others?
How does immunisation act to protect our society?
Immunisation is the safest and most effective way of protecting against disease. The first program of immunisation in Australia was proposed in 1924 with the mass immunisation of diphtheria antitoxin in Victoria (Australian Government Department of Health – Immunisation Australia Program, 2014). Since then, vaccinations have protected residents of Australia from life-threatening infections and diseases, increased life expectancy, and their vital role of immunity maintains health and wellbeing in our global society, as vaccines are estimated to prevent over 6 million deaths worldwide annually (J Enreth, 2013).
The potential benefits of vaccines and process of immunity in our society not only prevent the spread of the targeted disease. Vaccinations for Chronic Hepatitis B, an infection that leads to liver cancer, can prevent the cancer from accumulating in the body when the pathogens...
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...ses back into Australia, such as Polio, that was last recorded in 2000.
The Taliban, an Islamic government enforcing strict codes of behavior (The Free Dictionary, 2009) have proposed a ban on immunisation in Pakistan, Afghanistan and parts of Nigeria. Communities opposing immunisation, such as the Taliban, have relentless consequences, as 150,000 children in Pakistan remain unvaccinated, causing 300,000 children at risk of catching Polio (Ashfaq Yusufzai, 2013). The delay of advancement in medical science is causing extensive issues for Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, and additionally the world entirely, restricting the eradication of diseases and the health of society left endangered. The consequences of an individual or society failing to implicate vaccination on the basis of religion beliefs, and the benefits of vaccination in communities should be evaluated.
Health care is a major global issue that affects millions of people every day. In this paper I am going to review an important health care topic that includes childhood immunizations and religious exemption policies. Immunizations are one of the most cost-effective public health achievements that protect both individuals and the community as a whole. Vaccinated individuals help the community by creating what is called herd immunity for those who cannot be vaccinated due to age or current health conditions get some protection because the spread of contagious disease is contained. High vaccination rates and low incidences of diseases indicators of successful immunization programs.
Vaccines are becoming increasingly hazardous for many children and parents are not being informed about the safety of their children. Current reports are linking vaccines to serious life-threatening disorders such as asthma, autism, immune system dysfunction, and mental retardation (Williams). These recent revelations are causing an increasing amount of people to claim religious and medical exemptions from vaccines. From 1999 to 2006, exemptions have more than doubled from 9,722 to 24,919 (Cronin). It is very clear that vaccinations are posing many problems for parents everywhere. Each day researchers are finding out about vaccines and are realizing that there are a lot more risks than benefits. Dr Phillip F. Incao explains: “Today, far more children suffer from allergies and other chronic immune system disorders than from life-threatening infectious disease. It is neither reasonable nor prudent to persist in presuming that the benefits of any vaccination outweigh its risk” (qtd in Spaker). While infectious diseases are becoming uncommon there is no need for any person to get vaccinated.
Vaccination was first introduced globally for small pox and later on extended to other communicable diseases which are now known as vaccine preventable disease. Vaccination is beneficial both for individuals and community. This bring us to the ethical dilemma - Vaccination of a healthy child with the intention of protecting both the individual child and the community at the same time exposing the child to the theoretical risk of exposure to disease products whether live, attenuated or killed. There was a time when people never questioned the government or their physicians. Now because of more public awareness and accessibility to medical information, they are questioning the safety aspects of vaccines.
Vaccines have been used to prevent diseases for centuries, and have saved countless lives of children and adults. The smallpox vaccine was invented as early as 1796, and since then the use of vaccines has continued to protect us from countless life threatening diseases such as polio, measles, and pertussis. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2010) assures that vaccines are extensively tested by scientist to make sure they are effective and safe, and must receive the approval of the Food and Drug Administration before being used. “Perhaps the greatest success story in public health is the reduction of infectious diseases due to the use of vaccines” (CDC, 2010). Routine immunization has eliminated smallpox from the globe and led to the near removal of wild polio virus. Vaccines have reduced some preventable infectious diseases to an all-time low, and now few people experience the devastating effects of measles, pertussis, and other illnesses.
Vaccines are said to be one of the greatest public health achievements in history. They date back to 1796, when Edward Jenner used cowpox material to create immunity to the smallpox disease. (Historyofvaccines.org 2014) Now over two-hundred years later they’ve helped dramatically reduce the instance of viral diseases in children. For example, old childhood diseases such as Polio, Smallpox, and Diptheria have either been completely eradicated or are rarely seen in the United States thanks to vaccines. However, in recent years we’ve seen a sharp increase in parents who opt out of having their children receive these life-saving immunizations. This is mostly due to accusations over different side effects and a link between vaccines and autism, which is causing this new trend known to most as “the Anti-Vaccine Movement.”(Ashbrook, 2014) A major side effect of this movement is the comeback of old world diseases. We are seeing a rise specifically in measles and pertussis mostly within states that have the lowest vaccination rates. (Raja, Mooney 2014) Even though we have proof of their effectiveness based on scientific research and statistics, there are still parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated, ultimately putting their health at risk and the health of others who are not well enough or old enough to be vaccinated. It is extremely important that we try to reach out to these people and educate them on why their children should be vaccinated, not only for their health but for overall health within our communities.
Vaccinations have significantly reduced the disease rate throughout the world. Usually, vaccines prove to be between 90 and 99 percent effective. This reduces disease and mortality rate by thousands every year (Jolley and Douglas 1). On average, vaccines save the lives of 33,000 innocent children every year (“Vaccines” 1). In addition, if a vaccinated child did contract the vaccine’s targeted illness, that child would, in general, have more mild symptoms than an unvaccinated child that contracts the same illness. These vaccinated children will have less serious complications if they do contract the disease; they will be much more treatable, and have a lower risk of death (Jolley and Douglas 2). The risks of not vaccinating greatly outweigh the small risks of vaccination. Diseases like measles and mumps can cause permanent disability. While there i...
A vaccine is a manufactured drug, that helps your body fight of certain diseases, a vaccine is usually made by using a weak version of the virus or illness that is taken into the body so that your white blood cells can get trained for when the actual threat comes. The website www.wikipedia.com defines a virus as "A biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins or one of its surface proteins." The first ever vaccine was created at around 1796 by a man named Edward Jenner who created a vaccine for smallpox by using cowpox. He did this by observing that those who have had cowpox couldn’t get smallpox. He tested it first on an eight year old infant where he infected him with cowpox and once he was cured he infected him with smallpox and the child did not show symptoms. This procedure was not so risky because the effects of cowpox were not fatal but smallpox was. Vaccines these days have evolved mainly because of the introduction of microscopes and biological engineering into the medicine fields. There are three types of vaccines used these days live or attenuated vaccine, killed vaccines and toxoid vaccine.
Immunization has been proven by studies that it prevents deaths from diseases that once killed thousands or millions of people in the past. An example will be polio, which is an infectious viral disease that can be spread through feces contact. The virus infects the nervous system and causes paralysis. The disease is highly infectious, so to stop the virus people have to be
In recent years, the correlation between vaccines and autism has become the subject of much debate. On one side, there are the anti-vaccinators, or anti-vaccers. On the other, there’s pretty much everyone else. Despite the fact that the anti-vaccination movement has little base in scientific fact, their campaign to end early infanthood vaccinations rages on. While doctors and scientists try desperately to make parents look at the research studies, vaccination rates continue to fall. But, even in these dark times, there is still hope that scientific fact will prevail and defeat the anti-vaccination fear mongers who have caused many children to fall ill and even die because their parents did not properly vaccinate them. This is one of the most saddening scientific failures of the twenty-first century. A failure to educate the public properly has resulted in child, even infant, fatalities. The anti-vaccination movement was started based on falsified data and continues only because of a lack of knowledge and proper education of the general public.
Proponents and opponents of vaccination have different opinions about whether or not vaccines. Many people believe that vaccination may prevent people getting diseases and keep public safe. However, one primary argument espoused by opponents is that vaccination can cause side effects. Although one may argue vaccination can caused side effects. However, the truth of the matter is vaccines can help people to stop getting sick or terrible diseases.
To immunize or not to immunize your family Diseases and viruses have an epidemic way of spreading when introduced into a community. There are many Common ways people can contract or spread diseases/viruses for some are by sneezing, coughing, contact with bodily fluids, sexual contact or not washing your hands. Today one of the most effective ways of fighting off many of the diseases/viruses is through vaccinations, but there is mixed views about the benefits or downfalls of getting immunized. Should parents chose not to immunize their children now days, the reasons could be that they no longer trust the government or sience findings. it could also be that in today’s world we no longer see the high mortality rates caused by communicable diseases
Many diseases are contagious and can spread rapidly causing others severe harm, and in many cases, death. Research shows that if vaccinated for whooping cough, 85 out of every 100 people will be completely immune to it and for measles and rubella, 95 out of 100 people will be completely immune. According to The Age online, Australia has vaccination rates of more than 90 percent for children aged one to five, but more than 39,000 children aged under seven are not vaccinated because of their parents’ objections; which is an increase of more than 24,000 children over the past 10 years. Parents need to stop risking their child’s life. They need to vaccinate their
Vaccine preventable diseases haven’t went away, a vaccine can mean the difference between life and death, and they are safe and effective contrary to popular belief. Vaccines can be a critical health factor. It’s good to address that the diseases vaccines prevent against have not disappeared. They are still out there affecting many.
According to World Book Advanced Encyclopedia, immunization is defined as the process of protecting the body against disease by means of vaccines or serums (Hinman). While medical science backs up the efficiency and necessity of vaccines, within the past decade, a rise in parents disbelieving the medical community and neglecting to immunize their children has occurred. This “fear of vaccines” is nothing new, but with the ever-increasing safety of vaccines, the benefits of inoculation far outweigh the risks. Parents who refuse to vaccinate, or anti-vaxxers, put more than their children’s lives on the line, but also risk the safety of the whole community. Because vaccines are essential to protecting individuals and communities
The last five decades have seen a remarked development in medical treatments. Perhaps the advance of antibiotics has been mentioned as one of these successes in the fight against injection. The progress, which is as important as the presence of antibiotics however, has been the introduction of vaccination programs. Results indicate that immunisation has contributed to the dramatic elimination of serious epidemic diseases (Bigham & Hoefer, 2001, p. 73). The emergence of vaccines therefore, has lessened significantly the spread of certain infectious diseases and saved many lives. This report will indicate the ways in which immunisation has helped to provide direct personal protection to children as well as the establishment of herd immunity.