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Essays on vaccination debate
Essays on vaccination debate
Pros and cons of vaccinations
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Having a new baby is an exciting time in a person’s life. As a new parent, you want to make sure you do everything right. You research obsessively on the best things for your new baby. One important question that you will face as a new parent is whether you should vaccinate your child. The answer to this question is simple. But what is this word vaccine about. “Vaccination is the injection of a killed or weakened organism that produces immunity in the body against that organism” (Department of Health & Human Services, 2017). Every child should be vaccinated. I can remember as a child having to get shot. The thought of it scared me to death. I remember trying to do anything in my power not to get stuck by this sharp thing in my arm that I know was going to hurt. Although I …show more content…
(2015, 11 17). Not Up for Debate: The Science Behind Vaccination The New York Times Retrieved from https//www.nytimes.com/2015/09/18/upshot/not-up-for-debate-the-science-behind-vaccination.html?_r=0
CDLHN offers a two-part webcast on talking with parents and patients about vaccine safety...California Distance Learning Health Network. (2008). New York Family Medicine News, 2.
Daley, F. Glanz, J. (2011, 11 01). Straight Talk about Vaccination Scientific American. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/articles/straight-talk-about-vaccination/?print=true
Parker, L. (2015, 02 06). The Anti-Vaccine Generation: How Movement Against Shots Got Its Start National Geographic Retrieved from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/02/150206-measles-vaccine-disney-outbreak-polio-health-science-infocus.html
Measles, (n.d.) World Health Organization Retrieved from http://wwwwho.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs286/en/
Naprawa, Amanda Z. (2015, June 9). Vaccines Save More than Lives. Retrieved from http://www.berkeleywellness.com/
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. (2017, December 3). The history of Vaccine. Retrieved from
There is a war going on against parents that refuse to vaccinate their children. It is coming from the government that makes and enforces laws requiring parents to vaccinate their children, hostile parents of vaccinated children, and doctors that refuse to see unvaccinated children. They are concerned about the potential health risk unvaccinated children pose to the public. These parents aren’t lunatics but are concerned parents that are trying to make the best choice for their children. In fact, these parents aren’t fighting alone; a number of pediatricians and medical experts are apart of this crusade and have taken the lead. They will tell you there is an agenda, “Vaccine manufacturers, health officials, medical doctors, lead authors of important studies, editors of major medical journals, hospital personnel, and even coroners, cooperate to minimize vaccine failings, exaggerate benefits, and avert any negative publicity that might frighten concerned parents, threaten the vaccine program and lower vaccination rates.” 4
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.
The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear written by Seth Mnookin offers something for all potential readers. For those who are anti-vaccine, Mnookin offers valid science, testimony, history, and excerpts that demonstrate that vaccinating a child can be more beneficial than not. Instead of simply dismissing those who do not vaccinate their children, Mnookin offers valid points to counter argue in this debate. Mnookin offers thought, logic, reasoning, and research into his arguments, showing that his opinion is rooted in fact, rather than opinion or belief. Those who are on the fence about vaccination may find this book useful in that Mnookin not only offers plenty valid points about pro-vaccination, however, he also provides
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.
Atkinson, William. Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases. Washington: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1996.
“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.
A vaccine, once injected into your child's body, with cause a type of immune cell called lymphocytes to react and produce anti bodies to fight the disease the particular vaccine was designed for. This works by injecting weakened or dead antigens of the particular diseases which then prepares the body for the full strength pathogen. This also causes the lymphocytes to remember the particular antigen that the particular pathogen possess. This works as the antigens and antibodies stick together like a key and lock and the pathogen become traps then engulfed and destroyed by a white blood cell. Not only will the vaccination protect your child, but also the people around
Illnesses are not something that a child wants to have, nor is it something that a parent wants to deal with. Vaccinating your child will prevent him/her from either developing an illness or obtaining the illness
Offit, P. (2011). Deadly choices: how the anti-vaccine movement threatens us all. New York, NY: Basic Books.
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
The idea behind vaccines is to provide the body with just enough of the disease-causing substance to trick the body into producing antibodies against it. By injecting weak or dead infectious agents through the skin, it’s believed that the body will create the appropriate immune defense. Infants come into the world with antibodies they have gotten from their mother through the placenta. Infants who are breastfed continue to receive many important antibodies in the colostrum (the thick, yellowish premilk that is secreted during the first few days after a woman gives birth) and breast milk. During the first year of life, the immunity an infant gets from its mother at birth wears off. To help boost the fading ability to fight certain diseases, vaccines are given. Once the antibodies are produced, they stay around, protecting the child against the disease they were designed to fight.
Through the years, controversy has surrounded vaccinations such as, whether or not they have harmful side-affects, are a government scheme, or simply unnecessary. Parents today have a choice whether or not to vaccinate their children, but should vaccinations be choice? By mandating vaccinations, fewer people are likely to contract diseases. Although vaccines have been subject to scrutiny, vaccines have worked for many years, are not harmful, and use safe ingredients.
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).
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.
Because of vaccines, the prevalence of diseases that used to kill hundreds of thousands every year is extremely low. Because these diseases have been all but eradicated, the majority of parents have seen neither these diseases, nor their devastating symptoms. As stated by William Schaffner, chair of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University, “We’ve become prisoners of our own success. Nobody knows what measles is (Parker).” In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a group of 315 people were surveyed on their attitudes toward vaccines. After the survey, the subjects were divided into three groups. One group was given the most recent research showing no link between vaccines and autism; another was read a paragraph written in a mother’s voice, describing her child’s contraction of measles, shown three pictures of children with measles, mumps, rubella, and read warnings about the dangers of not vaccinating. The third group, as a control, was given an unrelated science article to read. After the experiment, the subjects were tested again on their attitudes toward vaccines. The group who was shown the diseases’ approval rates jumped five times higher than the