Why Not To Vaccinate Children Essay

Vaccines have and always will be a huge topic. There are different reasons why people do become vaccinated, and there are also reasons of why some people do not believe in being vaccinated. As a medical assistant, we need to be respectful to all our patients. We are not to argue with our patients because of something we think they should have done. We can provide the patient with facts about what has been found about certain diseases and if there is a vaccine available for that disease.

In today’s day and age, vaccines have come against immense pressure, but the fact still remains - vaccinations are one of the best ways to protect your children. Vaccines were a breakthrough in science and medicine, and over the years vaccines have saved thousands of lives across the world. Ever since Edward Jenner first discovered the Smallpox vaccine, this incredible technology has been used to cure disease and even eradicate viruses across the globe. However, today, in this world that wages war against truth and science, some scorn at the prospect of these lifesaving protections, calling them poison. Opponents of vaccines argue that vaccines can cause cancer, is a hoax to eliminate the population, or even claim they cause autism.

A source that I could have used to make my research paper stronger is the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID). The NFID gives many reasons to get vaccinated, such as vaccine preventable diseases haven’t gone away, vaccines will help keep you healthy, vaccines are as important to your overall health as diet and exercise, and vaccination can mean the difference between life and death. The NFID gives many logical reasons of why to get vaccinated, this would have helped my essay because this would have backed up my argument. The NFID also gives their recommendations of when and where children should get vaccinated, I believe if parents that are scared to vaccinate their children would read over these recommendations and the FAQs

In the United States there was a goal to vaccinate all of the children before they reached the age of one (Graham, 20), this main goal was wished for the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine. However, the United States never truly had a proper approach when it came to vaccinating (Graham, 20). With the goal straying further and further from reality the United States had decided to completely stop keeping track of how many children were being vaccinated in 1985 (Graham, 20). Once the government gave up then so did the people, more and more parents took the courageous step and stopped vaccinating their children.

While only they are putting their children at great risk with no shots (Hay). Immunizations have prevented 90% of diseases in the world these days are from spreading (CDC). Parents need to see specialized people for any type of misinformed questions that they have on vaccinations. Today, even though people think that vaccinations are required at a certain age in school, as they should be there are exemptions from them (CDC). People do use religious and opinionated excuses to prevent their children from becoming vaccinated.

In 1796 Edward Jenner, a local doctor in Gloucestershire, England, became obsessed with milkmaids. He started observing them, he said it was for medical research but we’ve all heard that one before. But after a while he started to notice something peculiar, all the milkmaids were immune to smallpox, a highly virulent and common, killer disease at the time. He suspected this was because milkmaids often contracted the relatively mild disease of cowpox first, which somehow made them immune to smallpox.

Parents who don’t vaccinate their children put them and others at risk because it allows normally preventable disease to continue to spread. Vaccinations have been around since 1796 and have since helped

Vaccinations are a type of treatment using vaccines to become immune to a disease. They were created in 1796 by Edward Jenner when he gave a 13 year old boy a tiny dose of dead cowpox. Shortly after the boy was immune to the disease smallpox. Vaccines are beneficial to society by reason they save money in medical costs, they save people’s lives, and they are effective in stopping diseases from spreading and existing.

Vaccinations have been around for generations and were first developed in the 1800’s. They have helped eradicate severe diseases and protect the general public from devastating infectious diseases. Immunizations have helped reduce severe infections like polio and the measles and have greatly reduced the death toll. Vaccinations are one the medical professional’s most powerful tool in preventing illness and disease. Yet, with all the success immunizations have had on improved health conditions they continue to be a controversial issue as many Americans still refuse them.

How likely is it for a child to get a disease? “Statistically, the chance of your child getting a vaccine-preventable disease may be relatively low. You are making a wager” (Childhood 1). Mainly, parents don’t want their children to be vaccinated in order to attend public school or tend to lack taking them on time to get the shots. A vaccination is being introduced to the body which will then produce an immunity to a specific disease.

Modern medicine provides people with the ability to protect themselves from the world’s most fatal diseases. Merely a century ago, it was not uncommon for a child to die as a result of diseases such as polio, pertussis, and tuberculosis. Today, it is highly unlikely for a person to contract these diseases, let alone die from them. However, refusal of vaccinations has been increasing throughout the years due to the anti-vaccination movement. This movement declares mandatory vaccines unconstitutional and vaccinations overall as the cause of autism.

Vaccinations are vital to the safety of the human race. People who do not vaccinate, called anti-vaxxers, are putting public health in danger. While vaccines may cause an allergic reaction, they are safe and should be used because children recover from vaccine induced reactions with no lasting effects, autisms link to vaccines lacks consistent evidence for association, anti-vaxxers put those who cannot receive vaccines because medical reasons at risk, and vaccines save hundreds of thousands of lives. Reactions caused by vaccines have not shown any negative lasting effects. Anti-vaxxers claim that vaccines are not worth the risk, but the risks of vaccines are the same as an aspirin (Vaccine Myths).

According to World Economic Forum cases of diphtheria, a deadly disease that affects a person’s breathing, has been reduced 100% following the introduction of the vaccine. Also according to World Economic Forum polio which is a life-threatening virus that can cause temporary or permanent paralysis, has also been wiped out in the US as a result of vaccination. Smallpox is also among the diseases that have been completely wiped out due to vaccination, and not only that measles, rubella, and mumps have been reduced by 98%. Of course though the other side always has something that completely contradicts cold hard facts, and they sure did not come up short this time. This time the other side claims that vaccine-preventable diseases had already begun to disappear before the introduction of vaccines, because of better hygiene and sanitation.

Introduction Vaccines are known to be a crucial means of maintaining population health, although many people are against being and/or getting their children vaccinated. A vaccination typically consists of a low-dose or synthetic virus strains injected into the body such that one will develop an immune response to that specific pathogen. In the case that a person contracts the virus in the future, their immune system will be able to recognize it and act faster, thus killing the invader. The war on vaccines escalated in 1998 when a false claim was made that the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine was linked to colitis (inflammation of the colon) and autism spectrum disorders.

Enter-The Vaccine Controversy. First of all, what is a vaccine and how does it work to prevent diseases? A vaccine is a “product that produces immunity by using a killed or weakened organism from a disease and can be administered through needle injections, by mouth, or by aerosol” (“Basics”). Immunization is not new; it’s actually been around for years. The two most well-known pioneers in the advancement of vaccines are Edward Jenner and Louis Pasteur.