Your child. Their future. Your choice.
North American children are now the most vaccinated on earth. Children receive about thirty-three doses of ten vaccinations by the age of five years. Not only do children need a separate vaccine for most diseases (hepatitis B, polio, Hib, and chicken pox are single vaccines; DTaP and MMR are multiple) but they generally need more than one dose of each vaccine. Because of the many vaccines needed, vaccination is an extremely controversial topic in the United States Today. Whatever side of the aisle you may fall with regard to your opinion about vaccination, one thing is for certain: the choice to vaccinate or not is a decision that has the potential to greatly impact the health of you and most importantly, your children for the rest of their lives.
The idea behind vaccines is to provide the body with just enough of the disease-causing substance to trick the body into producing antibodies against it. By injecting weak or dead infectious agents through the skin, it’s believed that the body will create the appropriate immune defense. Infants come into the world with antibodies they have gotten from their mother through the placenta. Infants who are breastfed continue to receive many important antibodies in the colostrum (the thick, yellowish premilk that is secreted during the first few days after a woman gives birth) and breast milk. During the first year of life, the immunity an infant gets from its mother at birth wears off. To help boost the fading ability to fight certain diseases, vaccines are given. Once the antibodies are produced, they stay around, protecting the child against the disease they were designed to fight.
Stephanie Cave, a medical doctor, has said that the problem many doct...
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... you wait, the more likely your child’s immune system will be able to handle the onslaught with minimal damage” (Sarah). I am not suggesting that we return to the days without vaccines. But we must seriously address what appears to be an obvious link between the epidemic of developmental delays, autoimmune diseases, and the increasing number of mandatory vaccines. Every parent should know the advantages as well as the dangers associated with each and every vaccine, each and every time it is given. They should know the positive and negative consequences of refusing that their children be vaccinated, and be made aware of how they can go about getting exemptions. Also-- the government, industry, health-care professionals, and parents must band together to get the research needed to determine the safety of these vaccines. The stakes are too high for us to do otherwise.
“Vaccinations are causing a major upsurge in childhood diseases, adult maladies, and even deadly ailments such as Gulf War Syndrome and Lou Gehrig’s disease” (Blaylock). Every now and then an individual’s doctor calls telling them about the latest vaccine they should receive. The person immediately schedules a time to come in and get it done. But do they even give a second thought about it? Have they ever thought that maybe they do not need another vaccination? Many people have not taken the time to seriously think about the process of immunization. The truth is, there are many dangers that the average person should be unaware of. Rarely do vaccines actually accomplish what the public has been told. In fact, a lot of vaccines contain harmful substances that have been linked to disorders such as autism. The lack of education and dishonesty from doctors are putting people in danger of health problems without even realizing. Many parents feel obligated for their children to get vaccinated because of school, not knowing they have the alternative option of refusing immunization.
The current living situation of the children and family members and their access to health care services including transportation method, health insurance, financial concerns, and other economic constraints.
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.
The simple injections have potential to save thousands of lives every year and they are making the world a safer place. Vaccines can help create an environment where children are not receptive to disease which would have taken lives in previous decades, and for the general population to be healthy, and to keep children safe from illness and disease people should vaccinate themselves. Throughout my research for vaccinations, I didn’t realize the many stances parents could support. I knew previously before researching that many parents didn’t agree with the idea of giving their child a vaccination that could possible cause an issue that wasn’t present before. Although, I always supported vaccinations strictly because of scientific facts; when I read about the many reasons why parents didn’t it was a shock and ultimately overwhelmingly disappointing. Mainly, because it seems like parents are only looking at the few effects vaccinations could have on a child. Overall, I believe that everyone should be vaccinated, not only to help themselves but to help the public from outbreaks that can easily occur if the anti-vaccination movement continues and makes
A vaccine, once injected into your child's body, with cause a type of immune cell called lymphocytes to react and produce anti bodies to fight the disease the particular vaccine was designed for. This works by injecting weakened or dead antigens of the particular diseases which then prepares the body for the full strength pathogen. This also causes the lymphocytes to remember the particular antigen that the particular pathogen possess. This works as the antigens and antibodies stick together like a key and lock and the pathogen become traps then engulfed and destroyed by a white blood cell. Not only will the vaccination protect your child, but also the people around
“Childhood vaccines not only have personal benefits, but for entire communities and the future of public health” (Espejo 1). If a child goes without immunization, then he or she is also putting others at risk. Most parents do not consider all of the options and effects that come along with not having their child vaccinated. Many are quick to reject because of the possible side effects and harm it could cause. However, nothing in today’s world is completely harmless. An adult can easily be in a danger at work, while the child is in danger of disease at daycare. That is why it is completely necessary to vaccinate. By doing this, family, friends, and others are being protected as well (Allen 71). “There are also children who cannot get certain vaccines for medical or other reasons, and those who are too young to be vaccinated. These children have no protection if they are exposed to someone who is infected with a communicable disease” (Espejo 4). Commonly, this is not thought
A vaccination is the injection of weak disease-causing agents that help the body develop immunity against specific infectious diseases ("Why Are Childhood Vaccines So Important?"). It is through these vaccinations that children will develop immunity without suffering from the actual diseases that vaccines prevent ("Why Are Childhood Vaccines So Important?"). The field of medicine has come a long way. Vaccines are considered to be one of the public health’s greatest accomplishments to date. With the help of vaccines and public health, the overall goal is to prevent disease and promote health.
Vaccines are inactive viruses or bacteria that can’t move or do anything. This helps your immune system to help create an immunity to whatever type of virus or bacteria it is. Then they give you a dose of the real disease or virus so the cells know how it operates. The idea of actively preventing disease has been around for over 1,000 years, but Vaccinations only have been around since 1796. They were originally designed and produced in England by a man called Edward Jenner to prevent smallpox and cowpox. People thought that the vaccines were affective. From there onward people vaccinated their children and themselves.
The purpose of vaccinations is to help the immune system handle the illness without exposing to the illness first as “Vaccines contain the same antigens (or parts of antigens) that cause diseases…the antigens in vaccines are either killed, or weakened to the point that they don’t cause disease...immune system produce antibodies that lead to immunity”("Why Are Childhood Vaccines So Important?") This means that Vaccines have the same pieces of a regular disease but has been manipulated in some shape or form that cannot infect the vaccine receiver. Almost as if the body is exposed to the illness already, but not quite like having the body fight off the disease but rather receive the ability to fight contact with any disease they are vaccinated against. Without vaccination, some illnesses can be fought off with the immune system alone, such as chicken pox and measles, and then would have the immune system protect by using the to fight against it. However, there are more fatal diseases, such as Polio, that has the ability to paralyze the body of anyone infected and even cause death if not treated right away
Can vaccinations actually do more harm than good, are they safe for our children? Were vaccinated from the day were born, which helps make our immune system strong so we can fight bacteria and different sicknesses. Many parents do not have a problem with vaccinating their children but there are those certain parents who disagree with the vaccinations and refuse to let their children receive the vaccination.There have been case studies where children have became deathly ill from receiving a vaccination. That can have a big impact on the family and friends of that child which would make other citizens refuse to get that vaccination.According to “Vaccines,” an article from the Macnillan Social Sciences Library;” 1.8% of children are not receiving vaccines because their parents have refused to immunize them.” While these parents are not vaccinating their children they are putting other children at a greater risk of infection and sickness from being around their child. “Vaccines,” (Those who choose not to vaccinate are relying on those around them to be vaccinated to lessen their risk of exposure and may spread to those who cannot be vaccinated due to compromised health.) These parents are putting the community at risk, when they become sick and they go around other people that sickness will spread and it could cause an outbreak to all the un immunized people.
(Jane C Finlay, Noni E MacDonald, 2001). Working with Vaccine -hesitant parents. Canadian Paediatric Society. Retrieved May 3, 2013, from http://www.cps.ca
Each year, about 2.1 million people die from vaccine-preventable diseases. Many children may not receive their necessary first year vaccinations because of lack of availability, religious beliefs, and safety concerns (Healy, Rench, and Baker 540). The dictionary definition of a vaccine is a biological preparation that improves the immunity to a certain disease (Healy, Rench, and Baker 540). Although all 50 States in the United States require children to be vaccinated to certain diseases before entering school, the states also have exemptions for these vaccinations (Lu 870). Parents often choose not to get their children immunized, and it has proven harmful to the health of the global population. It is important for parents to have their children vaccinated against diseases such as measles, mumps, and polio because it is important to promote the welfare of the human race (Parkins 439).
Vaccines against diphtheria, polio, pertussis, measles, mumps and rubella, and more recent additions of hepatitis B and chicken pox, have given humans powerful immune guards to ward off unwelcome sickness. And thanks to state laws that require vaccinations for kids enrolling in kindergarten, the U.S. presently enjoys the highest immunization rate ever at 77%. Yet bubbling beneath these national numbers is the question about vaccine safety. Driven by claims that vaccinations can be associated with autism, increasing number of parents are raising questions about whether vaccines are in fact harmful to children, instead of helpful (Park, 2008).
Not only are we not allowing our body to build an immunity on it’s own, but we are also traumatizing our children by making them receive shots on a routine basis. There are many reasons that vaccinations should not be mandatory, but the most important are the number of vaccinations, ineffectiveness, and side effects. The number of vaccinations a child receives, in the first six years of his/her life, has increased dramatically. According to “Vaccine Controversies” by Kathy Koch, “Today, an American child receives up to 39 doses of 12 different vaccines, most given during the first two years of life. And, unlike in previous decades, today’s youngsters are given multiple inoculations on the same day” (643).
“Childhood vaccines are one of the great triumphs of modern medicine. Indeed, parents whose children are vaccinated no longer have to worry about their child's death or disability from whooping cough, polio, diphtheria, hepatitis, or a host of other infections.” (Ezekiel J. Emanuel, 1). Vaccines helped humanity for many years in eliminating illnesses that disfigured, disabled and a lot of times took lives away. Children who do not get vaccinated not only risk themselves by being an easy target for diseases they also, harm everyone around them. In the end, today's children are the fuel of the future. Every parent should think carefully before taking any chance that may harm the coming generation.