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Essays on the history of childhood vaccines
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Vaccine: a preparation of killed microorganisms living attenuated organisms, or living fully virulent organisms that is administered to produce or artificially increase immunity to a particular disease (“Vaccine.” Merriam-Webster.com.)
Most parents trust their pediatrician or family doctor more than anyone when it comes to the health of their child. However, many parents are beginning to question their doctor’s advice when it comes to vaccinating their children. After countless accusations of harmful effects of childhood vaccinations, some parents have decided to stop having their child vaccinated, putting not only their child, but the entire human population in danger.
In 1796, Edward Jenner created a vaccine developed from the cowpox virus. He then gave this vaccine to a 13 year old boy who was suffering from smallpox. The boy became immune to the smallpox disease and Jenner was named the founding father of vaccinations. After his discovery vaccines were later created for Cholera, Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis, and Polio. (“A Brief History of Vaccination”.)
Vaccines are the only government mandated health procedure. This is because the government has found that it can take weeks for the body to naturally protect itself from diseases. By that there can be severe progression or spreading of diseases that can not only harm an individual, but the public around them. At that point it becomes too dangerous to only depend on natural immunity. The purpose of vaccines are to “trick” the body into developing antibodies that are able to fight diseases and protect a person before they become sick or show signs of the disease. (“Understanding How Vaccines Work”.)
The controversy regarding vaccinations originally sprung because of a discove...
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... common as 1/150. Some say that this is not a coincidence because immune disorders are often brought on by environmental factors. When many people think of the vaccine controversy, they think of autism. Studies have shown Autism being caused by chemical toxins and have brain, immune, and intestinal repercussions. Children were not developing these symptoms until after vaccines had been given to them. Autism and mercury poisoning have almost identical symptoms, pointing towards Thermisol being a contributing factor to the jumps in Autism. (“Know…The Vaccine Controversy.”)
Parents also believe that they deserve to have the rights to choose what medications are injected into their child because of religious reasons. Forcing someone to perform an act in violation of their religion is a violation of the 1st amendment of the constitution. (“Know…The Vaccine Controversy”.)
They pose a real health concern to the public. Those that haven’t been vaccinated pose a risk to others that aren’t vaccinated, babies that are too young to vaccinate, and those with a weak immune system. The growing number of unvaccinated families has become a growing concern for physicians. The Chicago Tribune reported, “Almost all physicians encounter parents refusing vaccines, according to a recent study.”5 The study also reports, “A small number of pediatricians — about one in five — have turned away unvaccinated families from their practices, said Dr. Sean O 'Leary, an associate professor of pediatrics at Children 's Hospital Colorado and lead author of the study.”
Edward Jenner, “the father of immunology”, was born on May 17, 1749. He was one of nine siblings and he was treated for smallpox for a very long period of his childhood. I predict that his treatment to small pox as an infant encouraged his work into creating the vaccine for smallpox itself. It is said that his work “saved more lives than the work of any other human”. He found the similarities of cowpox and smallpox, and then analyzed his experiments to conclude that previous cowpox patients had immunization to smallpox.
Many people believe that medical decisions for children should be left up to the parents or the child’s legal guardian. “ If the state can tag, track down, and forced citizens against their will to be injected with biological products of known and unknown toxicity today, there will be no limitation which individual freedoms that state can take away in the name of the greater good tomorrow.” (Barbara Low Fisher, co-founder of the National Vaccine Information Center)
This article focus on a document publishes in the Canadian Paediatric Society website, which can help council hesitant parent that refuse to vaccine their children due to safety concern. This article use research information and premeditated steps to exemplify the issue surrounding the use of vaccine on children. Research shows that health care provider has a major influence on parental decision. In addition, Doctors should take into consideration and understand parent’s specific concern, by taking the time to explain the evidence so the hesitant parents will have a better understanding and this will determine whether a child get immunize. The information that present in the article comes from the “CPS” Infectious Diseases and Immunization Committee, which is research and educational source. This article provide a clear information on what can happen if a child is not vaccinate, due to the facts that parents believe if their child is healthy and strong that they will disease free. However, most parents based their information on what they heard on the media and internet for example, that vaccine cause autism, there is no prove that it does, however things like that will make any parents not want to vaccine their child. There are consequences of a parent not having their child. In Ontario if a child is not immunize they are, not allowed in the school system, this is due to the risk that may occur. For example, a child who is vaccine, but may have a low immune system will mostly like catch whatever disease or bacteria when he encounters that specific chi...
The fact that parents see’s vaccinations as a choice makes me think why do they see vaccinations as a “bad” thing. Then I realized just maybe some parents don’t know anything about vaccinations and prefer that they don’t put a unknown source in their baby, or maybe they are just given wrong information by other parents that don’t believe that infants should get vaccinated. I believe that every single parent should to a pediatrician/ or family doctor and ask them all the questions the have on vaccinations because at least they will get the right
Edward Jenner is often regarded as the “Father of Immunology” for his development of the smallpox vaccine. His remarkable discovery has laid the foundation for future scientists working with immunizations. Jenner’s impact is seen worldwide to this day with the complete eradication of the deadly smallpox virus. Edward Jenner’s Legacy will always live on as the first to vaccinate using a live virus. Vaccines are improving everyday, which benefits the public’s health, all thanks to Edward Jenner.
One of the major criticisms of mandatory vaccinations is the shift of balance in autonomy and choice versus the protection of the public (Anomaly, "Public Health and Public Goods"). I can see how from a Kantian perspective that mandatory vaccinations could be using people as mere means for the greater good of the public health, but when one’s individual rights and choices endanger my personal safety there needs to be some regulation. The idea of herd immunity may follow from a utilitarian framework that vaccinations bring about the greatest possibly good and minimize harm and ultimately maximize the happiness of the public, but it is a practice that promotes the health of our future generation. Individuals against mandatory vaccinations argue against the need for vaccinations due to the potential harmful side effects they may result in. The fear driving what vaccinations contain is based off misinterpreting data. The CDC provides great amounts of knowledge of the potential and tolerable side effects of vaccinations. Another major argument against mandatory vaccinations is the cost. Like mentioned above the vaccines that are currently required to go to school are measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), Polio, Whopping Cough, Diphtheria, Varicella, Hepatitis B and Hib, which can be a costly doctor visit. The likelihood that these vaccines will no longer be mandatory for school-aged children is
Vaccines have been around for hundreds of years starting in 1796 when Edward Jenner created the first smallpox vaccine. Jenner, an English country doctor noticed cowpox, which were blisters forming on the female cow utters. Jenner then took fluid from the cow blister and scratched it into an eight-year-old boy. A single blister came up were the boy had been scratched but it quickly recovered. After this experiment, Jenner injected the boy with smallpox matter. No disease arose, the vaccine was a success. Doctors all around Europe soon began to proceed in Jenner’s method. Seven different vaccines came from the single experimental smallpox vaccine. Now the questions were on the horizon. Should everyone be getting vaccinations? Where’s the safety limit? How can they be improved? These questions needed answers, and with a couple hundred years later with all the technology, we would have them(ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).
The history of differentiating between diseases and vaccinating them is a practice that has been used for more millennia than you can count on two fingers. In 900 BC, a Persian physician named Rhazes was the first to publish a written account attempting to distinguish between measles and smallpox (successful or not is a whole other matter). It takes about 2500 years before any more development in the field of vaccination. In 1661, Chinese Emperor Kiang wrote a letter that stated that he fully supports inoculation, which is the introduction of a pathogen or antigen into a living organism to stimulate the production of antibodies. Then in 1676, English doctor Thomas Sydenham publishes ‘Medical observations on the history and cure of acute diseases’ which successfully distinguishes measles from smallpox while in great detail. The report also stated details about Scarlet Fever which was big at the time. In 1678, a Boston newspaper published America’s first medical work, Thomas Thatcher’ pamphlet: A Brief Rule to Guide the Common People of New England how to order themselves and theirs in the Small Pocks, or Measles. Once again, Thomas Sydenham discovers a medical breakthrough in 1684 by concluding that the common health practices, not available to the poor, were more harmful than good in mild smallpox cases. Sydenham’s discovery would be the last big medical innovatio...
Illness has been a major part of humankind’s lives almost since the beginning of time. Throughout history, illnesses caused fatal epidemics that caused deaths between young and old, and brought fear upon all for the absence of a cure. Having an illness throughout most of history was considered an inevitable death sentence, as the majority of causes of death (Offit). Vaccinations have been experimented in China and Turkey in the 15th century, with methods such as inhaling or rubbing grounded up smallpox scabs against open cuts (Clem). Then in 1700s, the first form of modern vaccination was invented by Edward Jenner with the cowpox virus acting against smallpox, giving immunity against it (Offit).
Vaccinations are designed to help people go through their everyday life. A country doctor, Edward Jenner, who lived in Berkeley, England, first administered vaccines in 1796 (Health Affairs). Throughout history, vaccinations have become better to where they are safer for the human body. Everyone should get vaccinated against certain disease to stay healthy. Vaccines have been proven to make people immune to serious diseases (Childhood Immunization). By being vaccinated the person is not only helping themselves but others around them too. Vaccines are an important tool for preventing disease and should be mandatory for all people.
There are also many cases where many parents strongly believe that some vaccines may have caused autism in their children. The reason being that many parents noticed shortly after their child was vaccinated they noticed symptoms like loss of language abilities and they suddenly stopped interacting with people. Also, the vaccines used to treat measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) are linked to many autism cases. Vaccines that contain thimerosal, an organic compound that contains mercury, have also been suspected to cause autism in children. Thimerosal has been removed from most vaccines because of its linkage to autism.
There have been many issues surrounding vaccinations all around the world. Vaccines are made with dangerous toxins that can cause disorders in many different people. Dr. Joseph says that almost all vaccines are made with immune adjuvant, which causes the immune system to react in a harmful way (qtd. in Garcia). Some serious side effects of the immune adjuvant include lowering of intellectual and sexual abilities and death in serious cases (Garcia). Also, in a recent study Mark Geier and David Geier found that thimerosal in vaccines is linked to neurodevelopment disorders, such as autism. They found...
The number of vaccinations that a child has to receive is overwhelming to a child and parent. They will also be receiving boosters and other vaccinations throughout life. The ineffectiveness of vaccinations can also be a factor in a parent’s choice. Side effects are the main concern between parents’ decision of whether to vaccinate their children. Not everyone believes that vaccinations are helpful; it should be a parents’ choice whether their child should be
For innumerable centuries, unrelenting strains of disease have ravaged society. From the polio epidemic in the twentieth century to the measles cases in the latter half of the century, such an adverse component of nature has taken the lives of many. In 1796, Edward Jenner discovered that exposure to cowpox could foster immunity against smallpox; through injecting the cowpox into another person’s arm, he founded the revolutionary concept known as a vaccination. While many attribute the eradication of various diseases to vaccines, many United States citizens are progressively beginning to oppose them. Many deludedly thought that Measles had been completely terminated throughout the United States; however, many children have been patronized by