Why You Should Vaccinate Your Children Essay

Why You Should Vaccinate Your Children

There are several reasons as to why you should get your children vaccinated. Vaccinations are important for your children’s health as well as the community’s health. The decision of not getting vaccinated can affect more than just you and your children. Although vaccinations are not mandatory, it is required in all fifty states to be vaccinated to be able to attend public school. Vaccinations are safe, less harmful and less costly than if your child were to actually develop one of the diseases that vaccinations can prevent. The recommended number of vaccinations are twenty eight doses of ten different vaccines throughout the ages zero to six. Although many people tend to think vaccinations are harmful, they are safe for your children and better for their health than the alternative. The amount of ingredients that are used in the vaccines are small enough doses that it is not threatening to your child. (ProCon, 2016) Vaccinations are one of the greatest health developments of the 20th century. The

Vaccines have eradicated smallpox and have almost eradicated other diseases such as polio. In 2015, 189 people were reported to have measles during an outbreak at Disneyland because of someone who refused to get vaccinated and had spread the disease. (CDC, 2016) Also, in 2014, the United States had a record number of measles cases, with 667 cases from 27 states reported to CDC, which was the greatest number of cases since measles elimination was documented in the U.S. in 2000. Most of the people who had been infected reported to have been unvaccinated. Although the measles were reported eliminated in 2000, travelers from all over continue to bring it into the United States when traveling back and forth, therefore it is important to get vaccinated so there isn’t a chance of the disease resurfacing again in the United States. (CDC,