Every summer before school starts I remember my mom taking me to get all of my vaccines. Although, at first I did not understand the importance I now realize how crucial vaccines truly are. Those vaccines were a major part of what kept me from obtaining harmful diseases or even passing them to other children. Vaccines are one of the safest medical products available and the best defense we have against preventable, contagious diseases. Not only are they beneficial to yourself, but also the rest of the population. Therefore, parents should be required to get their children vaccinated. Vaccines are a training for your body helping it to learn how to fight disease without actually having the symptoms. Antibodies are created in response to a disease …show more content…
The correlation exists because some children developed signs of autism shortly after being vaccinated. However, the only real relationship between the two is the timing of early childhood vaccinations and the first appearance of symptoms of autism (“Top 20 Questions”). Unfortunately, because of this many parents choose not to get their children vaccinated. This leads to many children facing serious illnesses and possibly infecting others, because parents believe the illness is less of a risk compared to ASD even though there is no proof. A 2013 CDC study added to the research showing that vaccines do not cause autism spectrum disorder. The study looked at the number of antigens from vaccines during the first two years of life. The results showed that the total amount of antigen from vaccines received was the same between children with ASD and those that did not have ASD (Knopf). This shows that although it is not a proven fact that vaccines cause autism it is very unlikely. Therefore, parents should ensure that their children are vaccinated because they have nothing to fear. Vaccines are only beneficial to the child's …show more content…
For example, in China, the measles vaccine consisting of two doses was first introduced in the National Expanded Program on Immunization. The Zhejiang provincial EPI program noticed that measles was beginning to decrease due to the vaccine, while mumps and rubella was still spreading. This is when the MMR vaccine was introduced and implemented. By 2007 the second dose of MV was replaced by the MMR vaccine. Following this development the rate of measles reached a historical low in 2011 due to the vaccine produced by the EPI. Not only did the cases of measles decrease but so did the cases of rubella with the introduction of the combined vaccine (He, n.p.). Additionally, a record 9,120 cases of pertussis were reported in California in 2010 the most since 1947. A study conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics was done to determine how this disease was spreading. Their results showed that among other factors the large amount of unvaccinated children in one area was a major contributor to the clusters of pertussis. There was a strong correlation between communities with a large number of unvaccinated children and pertussis outbreaks in California. This could have been avoided due to the fact that pertussis is a vaccine-preventable disease. The importance of vaccines can be seen through the results of this study, which show that parents intentionally avoiding the
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.
In 1999 a study was done in the United Kingdom to see if there was a link between the two. In this study, researchers compared children had had and had not gotten the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination. The study identified four hundred and ninety-eight cases of autism including core autism, atypical autism and Asperger syndrome in children born in the United Kingdom since 1979. There was an increase in cases by year of birth with no change after the introduction of the vaccination. There was also no age difference at diagnosis between the cases vaccinated before or after eighteen months of age and children that were never vaccinated. These results showed no temporal association between the onset of autism within one or two years after being vaccinated with MMR and developmental regression was not clustered in the months after vaccination. The data from these results does not support the connection between MMR and autism and if an association was to occur it was so rare it could not be identified. Many studies have been done over this topic but the results prove that it in fact does not cause autism. It is likely that this myth is strongly accepted because the symptoms of autism begin to occur around the same time as the child is to be vaccinated with the MMR
The individual has the right to refuse vaccination. But how does that effect the society the individual lives in? How does this refusal effect the healthcare provider that is trained to nurture and care for life? Is it right to force vaccination on someone? These are all ethical questions raised by the individuals chose for or against vaccinations. Vaccination is a safeguard for not just the individual, but also the vulnerable members of society. If vaccinations are so important for both the individual and society, why would anyone choose to forego vaccination? Could technology and a diverse population play a role in refusal of vaccination? These are all ethical questions raised by the individuals chose to forego vaccination. What, if anything
“In the past sixty-years, vaccines have helped eradicate smallpox and are close to eradicating polio” (11 Facts About Vaccines). According to recent studies, “vaccines prevent more than 2.5 million deaths each year”(11 Facts About Vaccines). With that information being stated, parents need to consider vaccinating their children in order to assure them against life threatening diseases. Vaccines can save children and their parents time and money, they are safe and effective, and in general can spare their lives in the long run.
...hildren” (“Vaccines”). Many studies have been lead to show that autism is not caused by vaccines. Therefore, if a parent is considering not vaccinating a child due to this reason, then they need to reconsider. However, it is understandable that a parent is simply taking precautions and thinking of what is best for their child. These lies about autism and vaccines should be put to rest in order to continue the successful avoidance of vaccine-preventable diseases.
Vaccines can be defined as a substance that provides immunity against diseases by stimulating the production of antibodies. Vaccines are made from the causative agent, in other words, the same virus that causes the illness is used, but it is weakened and treated to act as an antigen without causing harm to the body. When vaccines enter the body, the immune system remembers the virus. Therefore, if that same virus entered the body, the immune system would have already developed antibodies against the virus and would be able to fight off the disease. Vaccinations generally protect the body from diseases that may cause disabilities or fatality.
Vaccines must additionally be re-evaluated, for the adjuvants used in them can be harmful. In almost every vaccine, a form of aluminum is used as an adjuvant. Aluminum is used because it is causes the body to react quicker to the inactive virus in the vaccine (ProCon, 2016). This helps the body to react quicker to the vaccine and build antibodies faster. However, in recent studies, Aluminum has been discovered to have health effects on humans (ProCon, 2016). Aluminum is not used by the body such as other metals like Calcium or Potassium. When aluminum is in the bloodstream, it concentrates in the brain and substitutes for other important metals such as potassium and magnesium. As it serves no purpose to and does not benefit the human body,
Now it is rare for a child to get the measles. The decline in the disease has been attributed to vaccinations and their high success rate. According to ‘Childhood Vaccinations are Important for Public Health”, “by vaccinating we will make sure these 14 diseases will not become everyday events for our children.”. There are quite a few reasons why parents should not vaccinate their children. Some believe that it will cause harm to their children because of rumors.
Throughout the years the world has made many medicals advancements, one including vaccines. A vaccine is a substance that produces immunity from a disease, which is usually injected by a shot. Vaccines train the immune system by injected the disease into you so that when you come around the bacteria or virus again your body is able to fight it off. When the bacteria or virus enters the body immune cells attack it by producing protein molecules also knowns as antibodies. These antibodies then attack the virus or bacteria. The first immunisation known to us today happened hundreds of years ago when the Buddhist monks drank snake venom to make their bodies immune to a snake bite. However people consider Edward Jenner to be the founder of vaccinations. In 1798 He injected a thirteen year old with cowpox to demonstrate immunity to smallpox. Vaccines are extremely important because they aren’t like many other health things. For example if you don’t go to the dentist that is your own choice and it may have a big affect on you but it most likely won’t affect other people. But with vaccines it can affect the people around you as well as your community. You can catch or spread a disease in a workplace or school.
The major controversy about immunizations is whether or not they are safe. Most of the arguments against vaccination appeal to parents’ understandable deep-seated concerns for the health of their children, particularly with very young babies. Unfounded allegations regarding adverse effects from vaccines typically target feared diseases, or syndromes or conditions of unknown or uncertain cause, such as autism, sudden infant death syndrome and multiple sclerosis. The most asked question when debating this topic is of course whether or not vaccines are safe or if in reality it is more dangerous to get them, then to not get them.
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).
How would you feel if the right to choose to vaccinate your child was taken away? What if after the child received their vaccinations they contracted a serious illness or even died from the vaccinations? There are many cases that have shown adverse reactions in children who have had regular or mandatory vaccination series throughout their lives. Throughout our lives, we are introducing foreign particles and chemicals into our body by receiving the vaccinations that are mandated by our jobs or school. These vaccinations start from the time we are born and continue until the day that we die. Not only are we not allowing our body to build an immunity on it’s on, 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.
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.
Imagine this: your child so sick lying there and you so helpless watching strangers giving a shot to your child that you could have done to prevent this all from even happening. Doing something as simple as visiting the doctor's office to get a shot you do not even need to make a special appointment you could get it when you get a routine check up. The point is vaccines prevent the spread of disease, they are safe for minors to use, and they not only help the immune system fight off diseases but they build the immune system. As a result, it may make then minor ill, a vaccine should be given to all minors.
It is speculated that this increase in reported cases of pertussis and measles is directly attributed to people refusing to immunize their children. While most parents are inoculating their children at the ages they are required to receive them, there are a few that are against any and all vaccinations. In Dr. James Howenstine’s article, “Why You Should Avoid Taking Vaccines”, he discusses some of the reasons parents are not vaccinating. He explains why parents should not vaccinate because of the possible harmful effects of the vaccinations due to the chemical composition found in some of these vaccines. He is also reluctant to believe in their effectiveness stating that vaccinated individuals may still acquire the disease for which they were vaccinated. Some illnesses don’t require a vaccine because the disease is not serious enough such as influenza or chicken pox. He even claims that the government is only administering and mandating vaccines in order to make a profit. People who are opposed to vaccinations also believe that the vaccines actually tear down the immune system making the body more susceptible to other diseases such as cancer, auto immune diseases, and SIDS