In addition, studies show that spacing out vaccines reduces the likelihood that children will complete the full schedule of immunizations,” according to Aaron Carroll, author of the article “Not Up for Debate: The Science Behind Vaccination.” The article also points out that we should not even be debating vaccines at this point, as there is solid scientific evidence that vaccines are safe and effective medical advancements that have saved millions of people from horrific diseases and death, and there needs to be better patient/physician communication in order to iron out the confusion and fear associated with vaccines. Ultimately what this debate boils down to is the question of: why are parents still so afraid
Further downsides to receiving exemptions are that parents may have a hard time getting their child into certain schools, and pediatricians have been known to deny care to an unvaccinated child (Null and Feldman). One argument in support of vaccines is that once received, the child’s immune system is strengthened, and the next time the child comes into contact with that particular disease he/she will be able to fight against it. However, studies have shown that disease outbreaks still occur in fully vaccinated areas. Dr. William Atkinson, an epidemiologist for the CDC, when examining a large measles outbreak, admi... ... middle of paper ... ...e this potentially risky decision after weighing the pros and cons. Parents, not the state, are the ones who will have to live with the consequences of this decision.
Fatal diseases such as Measles, Polio, and Tetanus are preventable through vaccination, but manage to run rampant when parents subject their children to these illnesses by failing to have them vaccinated. One of the primary reasons that parents refuse to have their children immunized is their conclusion that these vaccinations propose serious risks, from serious side effects to the chance that their child may contract the injected disease. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “when a large majority of children have been vaccinated, it is expected that most who get the disease will have been vaccinated. And if a vaccinated child does get the disease, the symptoms are usually milder with less serious side effects or complications than in a child who hasn’t been vaccinated” (American Academy of Pediatrics). This means that even in the rare case that a vaccinated child contracts a disease for which they have been inoculated, they will still be better off than if they had never received the vaccination in the first place.
It seems clear that, even though there are some relative risks, the HPV vaccine is a necessary addition to a child’s vaccine schedule. In an in-person interview with a family practice nurse practitioner, she expressed the following as her medical advice to unsure and unnerved parents. “When faced with a concerned parent, I explain to them this about his or her decision. Even if your child is a virgin until they get married, their partner might not be and your child would then be at the same risk in adulthood as they are now as a teenager. If someone could then tell you that a vaccine could prevent a majority of cervical cancer for your child later on in life, then that is a pretty big deal.
That’s right, absolutely none. Zip, nada, do-da. The primary problem, however, does not stem from a lack of reliable information. It stems from an abundance of misinformation and ineffective persuasion. Researchers have discovered that the persuasive tactics employed by childhood vaccination proponents in attempts to combat misinformation are actually counterintuitive, in that they routinely cause parents to object to vaccinating their children even more so.
Since they were first created, vaccines have been the center of many controversies. Fighting for the health of children, on one side their are worried parents not wanting their children to experience harmful side effects, while the government wants the overall well being and eradication of illnesses no matter the cost. Although there are testaments to both sides of the argument, looking at scientific evidence proves the point that vaccines do more good than harm. Over the years, many concerned parents have begun to believe that vaccines can cause autism due to a research paper written in the 1990’s by Andrew Wakefield. As stated on Sciencemag.org, “Such claims prompted a slew of studies finding no evidence that MMR causes autism.
Nurses and doctors disagree with that view because by making vaccination rates in children incomplete, the risk of exposing children to contracting the vaccine-preventable diseases is higher. If this is a risk some parents are willing to take, but others face unwillingly, there is something to be dabated. Every parent is concerned with their child’s health. However, this concern can take several directions. While some parents are convinced that vaccines have been invented to prevent the human-to-human transmitted diseases, which otherwise can have serious health consequences on children and adults, other parents are certain that it is the vaccines themselves that pose a risk to their children’s health.
Some vaccine-preventable diseases can result in lifel... ... middle of paper ... ...etracted. Since this infamous scandal there was not been a scientific study that proves a positive correlation between Autism and vaccinations. The onset of Autism and the schedule of vaccines share the same age, which causes anti-vaccine advocates to believe that this is proof of causation when it is merely a coincidence. There are side effects of vaccinations, although minimal, they far outweigh the alternative. A world without disease seems like nothing but a dream or an unanswered prayer.
Price, Cristofer S., William W. Thompson, Barbara Goodson, Eric S. Weintraub, Lisa A. Croen, Virginia L. Hinrichsen, Michael Marcy, Anne Robertson, Eileen Eriksen, Edwin Lewis, Pilar Bernal, David Shay, Robert L. Davis, and Frank DeStefano. "Prenatal and Infant Exposure to Thimerosal From Vaccines and Immunoglobulins and Risk of Autism." AAPublications.org. American Academy of Pediatrics, 9 Jan. 2010. Web.
Every parent must decide whether or not they will vaccinate their child. The medical community advocates for vaccinating children, which will contribute to herd immunity, and help in the eradication of preventable diseases. However there are arguments to be made against vaccinating as well. People are finding that vaccines are not providing long term protection, and are less effective than developing immunity through a natural defense process. Vaccines provide unnecessary exposure to toxins which may be linked to developmental delays.