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The disadvantages of vaccines
An inquiry into the causes and effects of the various vaccines
Merits and demerits of vaccine
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Around America, there has been a resurgence of preventable disease which is mostly due to the lack of vaccinations. Americans are inundated with pseudoscience, outdated information, or propagated internet myths that instill fear of vaccines. All too often, people believe that what they read on the internet is the absolute the truth without considering the lack of credibility. Parents hastily jump to a conclusion without acknowledging the repercussion they are choosing for their child and loved ones; unnecessary disease, unforeseen medical costs, and threatening communities. Modern medicine has gifted Americans with vaccinations, but has lead us to be unable to comprehend the economic and social impact of disease. The average American has not seen the damage of a serious disease can cause. Not vaccinating makes someone unnecessarily susceptible to serious illnesses and diseases that most of the population has only seen in history books. Moreover, common vaccines include immunity against diseases that most U.S. citizens have not even heard of. Diphtheria, a cause of premature death in children, has been virtually eliminated from America for ten years, but people fail to analyze the cause of this success.Vaccines are attributed to the disappearance of Diphtheria and many other diseases. Vaccinations not only save lives, reduce pain, suffering and disability; they save money. When an unvaccinated child becomes sick, they are rushed to the Emergency Department where doctors are required to run a slew of tests; urine, blood, chest x-ray and the most extreme, a lumbar puncture. These medical procedures turn into piles of bills is not usually considered when choosing not to vaccinate. 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. We have started making strides toward public health, but we will not be successful until we have eradicated all diseases. I would challenge anti-vaccine advocates to look past their blogs and seek advice and evidence from scientific studies and medical professionals. Understanding the effects of making this personal decision has effects that influence communities and nations.
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.
“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.
Offit, P. (2011). Deadly choices: how the anti-vaccine movement threatens us all. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Mumps, Measles, Whooping Cough, Smallpox, Polio and, Diphtheria are all deadly diseases that were once a death sentence to children and adults around the world, but there is something that can help combat these fatal diseases. Vaccinations can change the course of these lethal diseases, but some families are still refusing to vaccinate the future of the world. Vaccinations can not only be beneficial to the child itself but to rest of humanity as well. There is evidence that goes against false claims bashing vaccination and the positive effects of vaccination overrule all of the negative. Vaccination can have a positive effect on the world due to its life-saving properties, effects on humanity and the extensive amount of safety and care that
Disease has been known to humankind as the invisible killer for centuries. Plagues destroying towns, people dying for unexplainable reasons, and children dying all too soon. The miracle of modern medicine has permitted society to to have significant control over these terrifying invisible killer outbreaks. The vaccine is one of the greatest miracles of modern medicine. For example, the vaccine for the polio virus has virtually eliminated the incidences of polio in humans. “Vaccines represent a low-risk intervention administer according to a schedule in which there are currently no known acceptable alternatives.” (Opel et al. 2013). Vaccines protect the person who has been vaccinated from viruses and the more persons vaccinated the more
The correlation exists because some children developed signs of autism shortly after being vaccinated. However, the only real relationship between the two is the timing of early childhood vaccinations and the first appearance of symptoms of autism (“Top 20 Questions”). Unfortunately, because of this many parents choose not to get their children vaccinated. This leads to many children facing serious illnesses and possibly infecting others, because parents believe the illness is less of a risk compared to ASD even though there is no proof. A 2013 CDC study added to the research showing that vaccines do not cause autism spectrum disorder. The study looked at the number of antigens from vaccines during the first two years of life. The results showed that the total amount of antigen from vaccines received was the same between children with ASD and those that did not have ASD (Knopf). This shows that although it is not a proven fact that vaccines cause autism it is very unlikely. Therefore, parents should ensure that their children are vaccinated because they have nothing to fear. Vaccines are only beneficial to the child's
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.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has listed immunizations as the number one greatest public health achievement in the 20th century. This attainment towards the goal of health and safety is a huge success for not only our country but from the global perspective as well. Immunizations help to prevent illness and death from vaccine-preventable diseases. The World Health Organization states that global vaccination coverage has remained consistent for the past few years; for example, the percentage of infants fully vaccinated against diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis has held secure at 83%. Programs for population-wide vaccinations have helped with the annihilation of polio in America since the late 1970’s, the eradication of smallpox, and the control of numerous other infectious diseases in the United States and other parts of the world.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that 732,000 children were saved and 322 million cases of childhood illnesses were prevented between 1994 and 2014 due to parents preventative vaccinations. (Vaccines 1). With 732,00 children saved from death and illness there should be no question on whether parents should vaccinate their children. Vaccines are an important part of saving children’s lives, all parents should get their children vaccinated, this prevents their child from catching diseases and passing it on to other children and adults, some parents fear that vaccinations can cause autism when there is no scientific evidence; vaccines are safe in the amount used.
Currently, one cannot explore the news without coming across the topic of the swine flu, scientifically known as H1N1. Swine flu is a respiratory infection derived from the influenza virus. The virus contains genetic materials from human, swine, and avian flu viruses. It was first identified in spring 2009, and since then has spread rapidly across the globe. The infection’s spread has been verified as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. As soon as the swine flu virus was isolated, scientists quickly developed a swine flu vaccine. Four vaccines have been approved by the FDA for the prevention of the swine flu. The vaccines will be ready for distribution in October 2009. Now the question is: To vaccinate, or not to vaccinate? Millions of people are now preparing to answer this question.
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...
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.
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
Recently the number of parents who are intentionally delaying their children’s general vaccinations is increasing. The controversy that is causing the number of delayed vaccinations to go up is based on the fact that there are negative articles connecting them to autism and other similar diseases. When parents are researching vaccinations and they read those negative articles, those articles make them believe that vaccines cause autism. Vaccines are important because they protect humans from preventable diseases and getting them could save human lives. Vaccines are important throughout life no matter what some research suggests. Parents are now more likely to intentionally delay vaccines because of negative press, even though vaccines