Science and medicine have come a long way since 1796, when Edward Jenner developed the practice of vaccination. Dedicated vaccination campaigns have managed to eradicate many diseases that once were unstoppable. However, over the last couple of decades, hostility against the practice of vaccination has emerged. By showing the causes of the anti-vaccination movement, parents will see how irrational it is to not vaccinate children.
Vaccines came into prominence in the mid-20th century as a way to combat common diseases. Children were vaccinated with only a few vaccines at the time: in 1970, only 3 vaccines were required. A common vaccine was MMR, to protect against measles, mumps, and rubella. These vaccines were widely accepted by parents until
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Andrew Wakefield, an English scientist, investigated the link between the MMR vaccine and the cause of autism in 1998. A woman named Rosemary Kessick appealed to Wakefield to investigate the causes of autism.
Kessick’s son had autism, and she thought the MMR vaccine caused his disorder. Wakefield conducted a study to determine any possible link between bowel disease, the MMR vaccine, and developmental disorders: “We identified associated gastrointestinal disease and developmental regression in a group of previously normal children, which was generally associated in time with possible environmental triggers” (Wakefield p.4). He concluded those environmental triggers were the increased presence of the MMR vaccine in the British population of children. Wakefield’s study was published in acclaimed peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet, and later he gave a press conference calling for the suspension of using the MMR vaccine. The impact immediately hit Britain and the United States: “Immunization rates in Britain dropped from 92 percent to 73 percent [...] researchers have estimated that as many as …show more content…
125,000 U.S. children born in the late 1990s did not get the MMR vaccine because of the Wakefield splash.” (Stobbe p.8) Wakefield’s study was sensationalized by parents suddenly fearing for the wellbeing of their children. Parents suddenly began to question the validity of vaccines and began to refuse any vaccinations for their children, not just MMR. Many studies followed soon after, disproving Wakefield’s results, but it was too late. Now, it seems like any Google search would bring up a slew of mommy blogs rationalizing why they refuse vaccines. Instead of just fearing autism, some additional fears include adverse reactions, fear of the ingredients in these vaccines, and the worry that children’s immune systems would be overwhelmed. However, these claims are also unwarranted. The Center for Disease Control reports that very few children have life-threatening reactions to vaccines. Serious side effects are so rare it is indeterminable if they are even caused by the medication. The list of ingredients may sound full of mysterious chemicals, but all ingredients are necessary for the vaccine to function. More vaccines are required for children as of 2017, but getting multiple shots at once doesn’t harm children’s immune systems. Ultimately what this argument comes down to is the question of choice.
Should immunizations be required or should it be up to parents? It is hard to draw the line between choice and necessity when that choice has the possibility of creating a health crisis. The decreasing amounts of vaccinated children directly impacts public health, as unvaccinated children are more likely to get and spread diseases. In recent years, outbreaks of diseases like measles and whooping cough have contributed to rising concerns about vaccinations. “In 2014, 23 measles outbreaks occurred in 27 states — causing the highest number of cases since the disease had supposedly been eliminated in 2000” (Lemons p.9). These outbreaks lead legislators to introduce mandatory immunization bills—like California’s SB277, which makes it illegal to enroll in schools or daycare without required vaccinations. Opposition arose from those saying that the bill took away the personal freedom to not be vaccinated. But what is the value in that
freedom? Causes of concern surrounding vaccines seem arbitrary: a fraudulent science report and misconstrued data. Nonetheless, the effect of failing to vaccinate children is appalling. By refusing to vaccinate, children's health is threatened. The sensible thing to do is trust science and vaccinate children with the recommended vaccines at the proper age.
“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.
In 2010, after an eight-year court process in the US federal vaccine injury compensation court it was concluded that the MMR vaccination did not cause autism in the six test cases that were examine by the court. Both theory one and theory two were found to be implausible (Kirkland, 237-261).
Despite all the testing and approval process of vaccines, many people still mistakenly believe that vaccines cause autism, even in light of research that has disproven the notion. This evidences the difficulty of dispelling false statements once someone has accepted a falsehood, especially if it has scientific research backing the results. It also highlights the gullibility of the public at large to believe anything that medical research reports without questioning the findings. Unfortunately, the media attention such examples of junk science receive aids in convincing many of its truthfulness. The hype surrounding the belief that vaccines cause autism began in 1998 when Andrew Wakefield in the UK published an article in the Lancet linking the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR...
Doctor Andrew Wakefield had written a paper in Lancet journal in 1998 which suggested that MMR vaccine causes autism. In his research, he found out that MMR vaccine was responsible for bowel inflammation that leads to the translocation of non-permeable peptides into the bloodstream. (American Academy of Pediatrics) This in turn carries them to the brain causing the root of autism spectrum disorder to form. His research was called weak by drug corporations, governments and media companies and was then discredited earning him a fraud reputation. His paper has since raised a decade long argument on MMR vaccine originating autism spectrum disorder. This has caused a lot of parents to withdraw their children from being vaccinated, which increased measles infections.
In the Frontline episode The Vaccine War, a progressively distressful debate ensues among many scientists and doctors within the public health system and an unnerving alliance of parents, politicians, and celebrities. The topic of debate is the overwhelming pressure parents feel to vaccinate their children and their right to decline such vaccinations. In several American neighborhoods, groups of parents have been exercising their right to refuse vaccinations, which has elevated anxiety on the return of vaccine-preventable diseases such as pertussis and measles. The reason such parents are denying their children various vaccines such as the MMR “triple shot” for measles, mumps, and rubella is because they are convinced that it is linked to autism, a link that has yet to be proven. Many of these parents are focused solely on their children, not taking into account that their decision may put the American populace at risk for disease. Such parents are not thinking about other members of society that vaccines don’t work for, and in certain adolescents the effects deteriorate, thus only when every person is immunized the “heard immunity” is successful.
After watching The Vaccine War, the main concerns of vaccines are public safety, the aftermath of injecting harmful chemicals into ones’ body and the parents that choose not to vaccinate their children. In the beginning of the documentary, a mother, Jennifer Margulis, states she felt like it was not needed for her newborn child to be vaccinated for a sexual transmitted disease. She feels like the ingredients are scary for a young child to take in with an immature immune system. The other issue is a massive outbreak of disease that could have been prevented. The Center of Disease Control is carefully watching the town that Ms. Margulis lives, Ashland, Oregon, because it’s the least vaccinated places in America due to parents opting out of vaccines.
The debate on vaccine safety has been gaining popularity among people in the US at a rapidly growing rate. The anti-vaccine movement was once a small and contained to a few questioning and concerned parents joined by a handful of doctors. However, the amount of doctors, naturopaths, and homeopaths joining the anti-vaccine movement has been increasing more over the last few years. The vaccine conversation has become even more popular in the last few months. This directly correlates with the upcoming presidential election as vaccinations have been one of the main discussion topics among candidates. (Benen) Along with the politicians and presidential candidates, there is also a growing list of celebrities who have become outspoken on the controversial
As the article “Responding to Parental Refusals of Immunization of Children” states, the immunization of children against a multitude of infectious agents has been hailed as one of the most important health interventions of the 20th century. Immunizations have wiped out smallpox infection worldwide, driven polio from North America, and made formerly common infections like diphtheria, tetanus, measles, and invasive Haemophilus influenzae infections rare occurrences. With that being said 7 out of 10 pediatricians that where surveyed said that they had a parent refuse immunizations on behave of their child. According to the article ‘Parents’ reported reasons for avoiding MMR vaccination a telephone survey’ which was conducted in Sweden states that “In the mid 1990s the debate on the alleged risks of childhood vaccines became intense. This debate was largely stimulated by publications from a single research group suggesting a possible link between measles, measles vaccine, and inflammatory bowel disease, and between measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR) and autism. To date, all expert reviews of the literature as well as population studies have refuted any such association.” Some of the main reasons why parents are refusing to vaccinate their children are fear of side effects, wanting the child to mature, and belief that the natural immunity is better than vaccine-induced. From the telephone survey conducted in Sweden 60% of parent surveyed decided to postpone vaccination while 40% of parents decided to completely refuse the vaccinations. In the article ‘Qualitative Analysis of...
Protecting Our Communities: Why Vaccines Should be Mandatory For Parents, hearing their children cry is like a stab to their heart. The restless nights are full of anguish for the parents, and pain for a child with measles. This disease, and many like it, can be completely eradicated simply by allowing children to get vaccinated. Throughout history, plagues and diseases have jeopardized civilizations and cultures. Modern medicine now provides protection against these diseases; it is a shame some parents still refuse this life saving aid.
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.
Numerous people have become afraid of vaccines due to the countless amount of false accusations against them. Some of the population is against them for other reasons. This uncertainty does not justify keeping your child from vaccination, which mostly stems from being uneducated on how vaccines work. This is harmful to the human population and is also causing fierce debate between those blindly believing the story of vaccines being harmful. Vaccines do not cause problems in children and are needed for our population to thrive.
The anti-vaccine started after the British surgeon, Andrew Wakefield published research suggesting that the increasing rate of autism in Britain could be linked to vaccinations. His research was published in the well-known medical journal the lancet . After publishing his discoveries British media grasped onto the discoveries, thus launching the anti-vaccine movement, and driving immunization rates down to 75% or lower
Some celebrities are well known and admired. Some have even affected our lives in a meaningful way, sometimes for the worse. Several celebrities such as Jim Carrey have joined the anti-vaccine campaign leading several to follow.These people have secretly and unknowingly aided the campaigns of diseases such as the highly contagious measles. That is why to prevent the anti-vaccine campaign from spreading, people need to well educated on the subject of vaccines and the government should ban copyrights or lower prices of vaccines.
Those who choose not to vaccinate their children are endangering the health of those unable to be vaccinated themselves, such as infants, pregnant people, and the immunocompromised, by jeopardizing community immunity. According to vaccine.gov, a federal government website managed by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, community immunity or “herd immunity” occurs when “a critical portion of the community is immunized against a contagious disease, most members of the community are protected against that disease because there is little opportunity for an outbreak” (Community Immunity). An infographic featured in an NPR article entitled “How Vaccine Fears Fueled the Resurgence of Preventable Diseases” illustrated the rise in measles cases in Western Europe and of pertussis (whooping cough) cases in the U.S (Doucleff). In the first eight months of 2014, there were eighteen measles outbreaks, and six hundred cases of measles. This is incredibly dangerous because outbreaks give these diseases the opportunity to evolve and become resistant to vaccines, putting even vaccinated children at risk (Harmon). Parents making the decision not to vaccinate are doing so out of a place that all parents share: a desire to keep their children healthy. However, these anti-vaxxers are basing their decision not on
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