The Risks of Vaccinating Children

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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. Also some of the side effects and complications associated with various vaccines are proving to be more detrimental than the disease processes they are designed to fight against. Many parents are weighing the cost vs. benefits of vaccinations, and deciding that it isn't worth the risk.

The public is becoming increasingly aware of the potential for vaccination to cause reactions that range from swelling and pain at the injection site to life threatening anaphylactic shock, to brain and immune system injuries resulting in lifelong disabilities. " Since the illnesses that vaccines combat are no longer major killers in the United States, far greater attention is paid instead to the risks that immunizations present." (Calandrillo, 2004, p. 14)

Vaccines are said to work by triggering the body’s natural immunity. By injecting weak or dead infectious agents through the skin the body will recognize the invading pathogens and create the necessary immune defense. While this idea is over two hundred years old, it’s not nearly as effective as we are lead to believe. Vaccines boost our defenses only temporarily. Research has shown that the historical decline in infectious diseases were not the result of inocu...

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Briss, P. A. (1994). SUSTAINED TRANSMISSION OF MUMPS IN A HIGHLY VACCINATED POPULATION: ASSESSMENT OF PRIMARY VACCINE FAILURE AND WANING VACCINE-INDUCED IMMUNITY. Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. doi:10.1097/00006454-199409000-00031

Calandrillo, S. P. (2004). Vanishing Vaccinations: Why Are So Many Americans Opting Out of Vaccinating Their Children? University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, 37(353), 1-78.

Chemist Gives 3 Reasons He Doesn't Vaccinate and gives vaccine exemption forms for all states | ThePeoplesChemist.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://thepeopleschemist.com/reasons-dont-vaccinate-children-vaccine-supporters-shouldnt-give

Shannon, US National Institutes of Health, J. A. (2004). Vaccination: What you Need to Know; The Only Safe Vaccine Is a Vaccine That's Never Used. Vaccination Risk Awarness Network Inc, 1-12. Retrieved from www.vran.org

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