The Pros And Cons Of Vaccines

There is a large buzz in the country these days about vaccines; are they safe, what are they, what are they made out of, will they make me sick. So many people have so many questions, and I am here to try to help bring these people some answers. I would like to help make some sense of this controversy that exists and brings up the question to vaccinate or not. First off I am going to begin with the basics; what is a vaccine? Well a vaccine is a product that produces immunity from a disease it can be administered through needle injections, by mouth, or by aerosol. (Basics, n.d.) Sounds simple right well that leads people to wonder how do they work? They help develop immunity by acting as the infection, it is only acting as the infection so

There are many but I’m going to explain to you the different types that have been created especially for the specific virus or bacteria they are meant to prevent. There are live, attenuated vaccines this type of vaccine contains a version of the living virus that is weakened so that it cannot cause the disease in people with healthy immune systems. (Measles Mumps, Rubella MMR, Varicella are examples.) Inactivated Vaccines is the next type these are made of inactivated or dead viruses with these though multiple doses are often required to build up immunity. (Polio Vaccine is an example.) Toxoid Vaccines are made of weakened toxins that would be released by the causative bacteria. (DTap, Diptheria, Tetanus are all Toxoids.) Subunit Vaccines only include part of the virus or bacteria not the whole germ. (Pertussis Vaccine is an example.) Conjugate Vaccines are made to fight against bacteria that have antigens with an outer coating which disguises itself making it hard to be fought off by a person with a weakened immune system. (Hib Vaccine is an

This is not always because they just don’t want immunized some people have serious reasons why they cannot receive them. These reasons would be called contraindications I am just going to give you some examples of a few reasons. Allergies is a main reason people cannot receive the flu vaccine if they have severe allergy to eggs, or if they have every had any problems with certain vaccines. Some vaccines are not recommended during pregnancy either. Also if a person has any sort of disease that causes them to be severely immunocompromised they shouldn’t receive most vaccinations. Your physician would talk to you before administration though to be sure you have none of these contraindications. People will often use the argument that most vaccinations are only 90-95% effective so there is still a 5% chance with the vaccine. Certain religions and countries have moral beliefs against vaccines which will stop them from vaccinating themselves and their