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Pros and cons of vaccinations
Vaccination advantages and disadvantages essay
Advantages and disadvantages of vaccines
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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.
In 1997, the American Nurses Association made a position statement supporting the intentional outreach to children and communities receiving vaccinations that still remains today. It states, “The fulfillment of the immunization goal is a major undertaking that cannot be realized...
“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.
America looks at disease as a war. Illness is the enemy, vaccinations are the weapons, and the unfortunate cost is that some innocent civilians may lose their lives. A vaccine is a substance used to provide immunity against a disease. In some cases, vaccines have done more harm than good. Ignoring this fact, vaccines are mandatory in every state, and some states are trying to take away the parent’s right to deny them. The disadvantages, diseases, and disabilities caused by vaccines justify the parent’s right to decide against the risk of vaccination.
Vaccines are said to be one of the greatest public health achievements in history. They date back to 1796, when Edward Jenner used cowpox material to create immunity to the smallpox disease. (Historyofvaccines.org 2014) Now over two-hundred years later they’ve helped dramatically reduce the instance of viral diseases in children. For example, old childhood diseases such as Polio, Smallpox, and Diptheria have either been completely eradicated or are rarely seen in the United States thanks to vaccines. However, in recent years we’ve seen a sharp increase in parents who opt out of having their children receive these life-saving immunizations. This is mostly due to accusations over different side effects and a link between vaccines and autism, which is causing this new trend known to most as “the Anti-Vaccine Movement.”(Ashbrook, 2014) A major side effect of this movement is the comeback of old world diseases. We are seeing a rise specifically in measles and pertussis mostly within states that have the lowest vaccination rates. (Raja, Mooney 2014) Even though we have proof of their effectiveness based on scientific research and statistics, there are still parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated, ultimately putting their health at risk and the health of others who are not well enough or old enough to be vaccinated. It is extremely important that we try to reach out to these people and educate them on why their children should be vaccinated, not only for their health but for overall health within our communities.
Vaccinations have significantly reduced the disease rate throughout the world. Usually, vaccines prove to be between 90 and 99 percent effective. This reduces disease and mortality rate by thousands every year (Jolley and Douglas 1). On average, vaccines save the lives of 33,000 innocent children every year (“Vaccines” 1). In addition, if a vaccinated child did contract the vaccine’s targeted illness, that child would, in general, have more mild symptoms than an unvaccinated child that contracts the same illness. These vaccinated children will have less serious complications if they do contract the disease; they will be much more treatable, and have a lower risk of death (Jolley and Douglas 2). The risks of not vaccinating greatly outweigh the small risks of vaccination. Diseases like measles and mumps can cause permanent disability. While there i...
The ethical issue within this example is whether or not the vaccine should be shipped out. This is the ethical issue because by shipping it out to hundreds of thousands of people will be saved from the flu and thousands may be saved instead of dying. On the hand, 1/4th of the people who do get vaccinated will receive the contaminated vaccine that could be ineffective on multiple levels: non effective and then possibly death. The repercussions are massive because we are dealing with peoples lives and if they were to die they would not come back live. The best decision would be to take care of the public, look for the best result and have intentions that are to pure.
In the United States, a study in 2011 found that 57% of people who do not vaccinate their children say that they have concerns about autism (Levs). The anti-vaccination movement has gained traction in the past couple of years, with more and more parents not vaccinating. The first vaccine was developed way back in 1796, and the polio vaccine was made in 1950, which helped start to eradicate one of the deadliest diseases in the world. This sudden distrust of vaccinations has not come up suddenly in the past few years. It has been developing due to to massive misinformation surrounding vaccinations. Medical professionals need to educate people on vaccinations by spreading information such as giving information to parents about vaccinations, disproving the idea that vaccines cause autism, and educating people of the risks of not vaccinating.
Vaccinations and whether to vaccinate or not has been a topic that has been argued for greater than 100 years. The use of vaccinations can be dated as far back as 1000 BC. “Indian doctors traveled to households before the rainy season each year” (Vaccinations, 1) and inoculated persons against smallpox. The encouraged use of vaccinations in the United States began in the early 1700’s with the smallpox vaccine. In 1813, “President James Madison signed into law An Act to Encourage Vaccination, which created the National Vaccine Agency (now part of the US department of Health & Human Services)” (Background of the Issue, 1). Approximately 40 years later states began “mandating vaccinations for schoolchildren” (Background of
Even in the present high-tech age of medicine, there is an ever growing population of outspoken objectors to the modern practice of routine childhood vaccinations. Many believe that vaccines are not safe because they are not natural, or that they cause autism and feel that the risk of negative side effects are not worth the benefit of protection against the infectious diseases themselves. Others just do not want to be told what they can and cannot do in regard to their own children’s health. Although the concerns may be well meaning, the reality is that the advent of vaccines has remarkably changed the landscape of disease in the United States for the better. The growing reluctance and refusal of some parents to immunize their children has resulted in the increased incidence of measles and other serious and often fatal diseases in
Vaccines used to be considered a normal part of childhood, like restroom training, and teaching children how to brush their teeth. Unfortunately, nowadays, vaccines have become a very major issue because parents do not want their children to be vaccinated due to safety concerns. Most of these concerns come from information they have acquired from social media or from friends. This seems crazy, considering the fact that vaccines prevent more than two point five million deaths each year. While others may argue that vaccines can cause serious side effects, vaccines should be mandatory because they can save children’s lives, save other people around them, and help rid the world of diseases.
Officials respect the opinions of those who don’t approve of vaccinations. They maintain the health of the public by keeping both individual rights and the needs of communities in check. By limiting one’s individual rights, the needs of the public can be met while at the same time, those who choose to not get certain vaccinations, can do so on their terms. It is a system that balances the wants and needs of the public. It is also understood that there are social and cultural reasons as to why someone would choose not to be vaccinated.
Since the creation of vaccinations two hundred years ago, 9 million people’s lives are saved every year. They have been a revolutionary invention that has decreased the amount of deaths due to diseases such as smallpox, diphtheria, whooping cough, measles, and polio. On November 13, 2015 an Australian mother posted a video on facebook of her 4 month old son who was infected with pertussis or whooping cough. She did this in effort to convince parents to vaccinate their children in order to protect them against diseases like the one that she could have prevented her son from becoming infected with through simply getting him vaccinated. The mother stated that doing nothing is just wrong. By not vaccinating children we are putting them, their families,
Across America, millions of young children walk into schools expecting to be taken care of, expecting to be safe. Millions of parents send their precious progeny out into the world trusting that the educators to whom they entrust their children’s lives will keep them safe. Millions of dollars are spent putting in state of the art security systems to keep students safe from rogue killers, yet these same schools allow unvaccinated students to walk through the doors as walking time bombs. These students, if vaccinated, could help prevent the “$10 billion worth of healthcare costs and over 30,000 otherwise avoidable deaths in America each year” (Ciolli). These avoidable deaths are so simple to prevent with just a few pricks of a needle, and yet thousands of Americans continue to put their own children at risk as well as the lives of those around them. Beyond just the protection of children, vaccinations are instrumental in protecting Americans from the tragedy of an outbreak of a preventable disease. Healthcare officials have discovered a phenomena known as “herd immunity”. As Steven L. Weinreb states in his New York Times article, “if 75 percent to 95 percent of the population” are immunized then those around them who cannot be vaccinated are safe. Therefore, Americans must understand that vaccinations are not just
“The American Academy of Pediatrics states that “most childhood vaccines are 90%-99% effective in preventing disease” (“Vaccines,” n.d., para. 1). Vaccines are the most effective way to protect children from serious diseases. Although some parents argue that vaccines cause other complications and diseases, most commonly autism. In the past few years parents have been fighting against vaccinating their children. Although many people argue against vaccinations, they are essential due to the chemicals in vaccines are proven safe, vaccines protect the community as a whole, and they also prevent disease early on.
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
Our country has been part of a national debate regarding childhood immunizations for hundreds of years, with some more afraid of the reactions from the vaccinations than the illnesses they control, and others pushing for mandatory immunizations. The controversy of this debate is due to the fact that vaccinations have a long and convoluted past of both sparing our lives and harming us. History has shown that a lack of vaccinations can lead to epidemics causing a vast amount of deaths. For this reason, vaccinations given for prevention of diseases such as polio, rubella, and mumps, should become mandatory for all children of the U.S. who wish to attend school, without exception. These vaccinations are critical to the control and prevention of