Immunization and vaccinations have been a topic of controversy for more than two centuries Morality, ethics, effectiveness and safety all come into question. Recently the newest topic of debate in the issue is whether laws should be passed that require children to get some or all vaccinations required by the FDA (Singer, 2009). Parents, health care specialists, nurses, teachers and children alike all have a very important stake on the topic. Many parents argue that they are the legal guardian and have the right to make those medical decisions for themselves and their children. Nurses and healthcare officials believe this is a much deeper situation. By giving parents the decision we would be putting massive amounts of children at risk for vaccine- preventable diseases. We are also into driving the risk of a full on outbreak of disease. If this is a risk some parents are willing to take, but many oppose with great passion there is definitely a platform for controversy and debate. Every parent is concerned with their individual child’s health. However, this concern can take many different directions and …show more content…
After all, it is the freedom of choice of every parent to decide how their child should be treated medically and also to refuse to vaccinate their children if they believe it is too dangerous for them. There are certain risks that, unfortunately, cannot always be foreseen and avoided, just like in any other medical decision a parent will make for themselves or their children. Ultimately calling vaccination a 100% safe prevention method would be definitely wrong (Rinner, 2010). However, calling a simple yearly checkup at your general practitioner 100% effective at telling parents weather or not their child is completely healthy would be definitely wrong. (Rinner,
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.”
Eradication is the concept that a disease is entirely eliminated in a region. (Carter n.d.) Only one infectious disease to date, smallpox, has been categorized as eradicated worldwide (CDC 2010). How did this eradication occur? From 1958 to 1965 all fifty states enacted legislation to mandate school age children receive the small pox vaccine (College of Philadelphia). Consequently, by 1971, no small pox cases had been reported in the United States for 20 years. The last known smallpox case in the world was in Somalia in 1977 (CDC 2010). Even though small pox is the only listed eradicated disease, the Carter Foundation has listed six other diseases as having the potential to be eradicated: lymphatic filariasis (Elephantiasis), polio, measles, mumps, rubella, and pork tapeworm. In addition to these previous listed diseases are to date the following diseases which are considered preventable by vaccination: chicken pox, diphtheria, Haemohphilus Influenza type B, Hepatitis A and B, HPV, Influenza, Measles, Meningococcal Disease, Mumps, Pertusis, Pneumonia, Polio, Rotavirus, Rubella, Shingles, Smallpox, Tetanus, Yellow Fever, and STDs (Carter n.d.).
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)
Parents deserve the right to choose to get their kids vaccinated or not. People are being forced against their will to have their children vaccinated with harmful substances that could potentially kill them (Cronin).
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
Vaccination was first introduced globally for small pox and later on extended to other communicable diseases which are now known as vaccine preventable disease. Vaccination is beneficial both for individuals and community. This bring us to the ethical dilemma - Vaccination of a healthy child with the intention of protecting both the individual child and the community at the same time exposing the child to the theoretical risk of exposure to disease products whether live, attenuated or killed. There was a time when people never questioned the government or their physicians. Now because of more public awareness and accessibility to medical information, they are questioning the safety aspects of vaccines.
Parents must be forced to vaccinate their children. The detrimental effects of failing to vaccinate a child can be spine chilling for not only your child but you and your loved ones around. Despite our best efforts to keep our children safe, their lives are unhygienic, a proverbial germ fest some might argue. Children must be vaccinated as they are unaware of their surroundings and a vaccination will save their life; only the child’s but also the people around them.
Why would anyone want to leave their child at risk of developing a sickness that could easily be preventable? Some people believe that vaccines do not work and are only harmful; they are wrong. Vaccines can be helpful not only to the child of the concerned parent, but also the children of other parents as well. Parents should vaccinate their children because it prevents illnesses, rarely has negative effects, and vaccines have increased the human lifespan. If an illness is preventable, parents should ensure that their children are getting the medical protection available.
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
Some of the most fatal and dangerous diseases known to the human race are measles, polio, and diphtheria. Before the 1900s, these diseases caused communities to live in fear as they went about their daily activities. Since then, vaccines have been a solution created to prevent people from acquitting these horrendous sicknesses. “In the 20th and 21st centuries, many people in the United States have not personally encountered some of the diseases that are now vaccine-preventable” (p. 132). However, even with a major advancement in medicine, there are still children all across the United States that are being deprived of life saving vaccinations. The universal vaccination dilemma causes moral principles such as beneficence and justice to be debated continuously in regards to how nurses provide care to patients.
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).
The decisions of parents not to vaccinate their children can directly harm other children and even increase the risk of an outbreak. And while the law of the land once viewed children as mere property that parents could control, it is crucial to mention that parental authority stems from a parent’s responsibility to protect their children’s welfare. However, as childhood vaccination exemption rates continue to increase and more parents continue to take advantage of the ineffective and unenforced exemption provisions, collaborative and proactive solutions are required to ensure the protection of the public’s health. Despite the debunking of vaccination myths championed by the retracted publication of the 1998 research which linked Autism to vaccination, it’s no secret that fears concerning the safety of vaccination has led to a decline in vaccination rates and consequently the reemergence of measles in the U.S.
Vaccines to protect people from various diseases have been around since the late 1940’s. The DTP vaccine, which protected against Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis, also a Smallpox vaccine was available. By the late 1950’s the Polio vaccine was also made available. More Vaccines were added by the late 1960’s such as mumps, measles, and rubella known as the MMR vaccine. Over the years more and more vaccines have been added to that list.
At the present time there does not appear to be enough sufficient evidence to recommend that children not be vaccinated. The benefits of having a child vaccinated clearly outweigh any possible harm that the vaccinations might be causing. Children should continue to be vaccinated according to the schedule that has been set down by the CDC, so that everyone can be protected.
According to World Book Advanced Encyclopedia, immunization is defined as the process of protecting the body against disease by means of vaccines or serums (Hinman). While medical science backs up the efficiency and necessity of vaccines, within the past decade, a rise in parents disbelieving the medical community and neglecting to immunize their children has occurred. This “fear of vaccines” is nothing new, but with the ever-increasing safety of vaccines, the benefits of inoculation far outweigh the risks. Parents who refuse to vaccinate, or anti-vaxxers, put more than their children’s lives on the line, but also risk the safety of the whole community. Because vaccines are essential to protecting individuals and communities