Are Vaccines Necessary

Vaccines are one of the best inventions of our time. Vaccines’ abilities to fight infection and prevent deaths are incredible. According to the CDC, vaccination programs remain strong, with the US having the highest vaccination rate of 95 percent (CDC, 2004). However, despite the many benefits to not only the US, but also globally, these disease-fighting vaccines have caused many controversies over the years. This paper will help outline the history of vaccines and the anti-vaccine movement.

Vaccines are one of most successful and cost effective public health preventive tool in current century for preventing communicable diseases. According to UK Health Protection Agency (HPA), vaccination is the second most effective public health intervention worldwide. Immunization protects the individual as well the community from serious diseases. Since the implementation of immunization there has been a 95% reduction in the cases 4. According to WHO immunization prevented 2million deaths worldwide.

Significance: The topic is very significant to my audience because unvaccinated children are becoming a rising problem and old diseases thought to have been eradicated have resurfaced and new and soon to become parents need to be educated.

Vaccines have been used to prevent diseases for centuries, and have saved countless lives of children and adults. The smallpox vaccine was invented as early as 1796, and since then the use of vaccines has continued to protect us from countless life threatening diseases such as polio, measles, and pertussis. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2010) assures that vaccines are extensively tested by scientist to make sure they are effective and safe, and must receive the approval of the Food and Drug Administration before being used. “Perhaps the greatest success story in public health is the reduction of infectious diseases due to the use of vaccines” (CDC, 2010). Routine immunization has eliminated smallpox from the globe and

There was a time in history when nearly all children in America had contracted the measles virus before the age of 16. This was in the decade before 1963. During this time, each year an estimated three to four million people in the United States were infected, with 48,000 hospitalized, and 400-500 fatalities. In 1963 the measles virus vaccine was licensed in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Today, the notoriously rampant measles virus is almost unheard of. Measles is one of many diseases that have been prevented, or eradicated by the use of vaccines. Today many of America’s most infamous diseases such as Measles, Hepatitis A, Mumps, and Pertussis have seen a greater than 85% decrease in reported contractions since the pre-vaccine era, and the Smallpox virus has been completely eradicated (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Despite all of the remarkable statistics proving the effectiveness of vaccines, today’s anti-vaccine movement is making strong waves upon society.

Vaccines were created to protect us from diseases. Most diseases associated with vaccines were highly contagious and are spread from person to person. Before vaccines were created, hundreds of thousands of people were affected by diseases, thousands of people died, and sometimes people were left with debilitating injuries or side effects. After the creation of vaccines, the people affected by diseases dropped and death from these diseases were rarely seen (Why). The vaccines that scientist have created have proven to protect us from diseases.

Vaccines protect not only individuals but entire communities. As an article in The Economist noted, “A large vaccinated population forms a fence around those who are susceptible, keeping diseases away. -To help keep them safe, it is important to get vaccinated. This not only protects your family, but also helps prevent the spread of these diseases to your friends and loved ones.

The issue of whether or not children should be vaccinated against disease is a recent controversial topic that has dominated social media. While vaccines are proven to be effective in the prevention of many diseases, some parents have concerns about side effects and risks that make them object to their child receiving vaccines. There are cases of children dying from vaccines, a study that suggest certain vaccines can cause autism, and concerns that the substances within vaccines are harmful. On the other side, a number of diseases have been eradicated because of vaccination, immunocompromised people are safer surrounded by vaccinated people, and vaccines are required to be thoroughly tested before being made available. While both sides present

Getting vaccinated helps tremendously to avoid getting life-threatening diseases. Immunizations not only spare children from horrible life-threatening diseases but also save lives. “In 1963 more than 400,000 Americans fell ill every year and thousands died” (Hand 1). When vaccines weren’t available at the time many as 100, 1 thousand and or 1 million people were very sick and dying. When vaccines arrived in 1967 Americans saw a tremendous change in the death toll, they saw 57,000 cases annually

Vaccination is the process of creating immunity to a disease by intentionally infecting an individual with a weakened form of that disease. This triggers the immune system to develop anti-bodies that remain to fight off future attacks. Vaccines hold the same germs that cause disease, but the disease has already

There has recently been a lot of controversy regarding vaccinations and whether or not they are safe and necessary. I am writing to inform you and the readers that being properly vaccinated is crucial to the health of society. Being vaccinated protects the person receiving the vaccination and their family members, helps to prevent the start and spread of an epidemic, and can aid in protecting future generations.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines immunization as “the process whereby a person is made immune or resistant to an infectious disease, typically by the administration of a vaccine” (Immunization, 2014). The purpose of the vaccine is to use the body’s own immune system to protect the individual against a possible disease or infection later on. Immunizations have been proven to control and even eliminated life-threatening infectious diseases. It has been proven to be a very cost-effective investment, they are accessible to all populations including those who are at risk populations, and they do not require any major lifestyle changes. Immunizations have prevented between two million and three million deaths each year

To the average individual, the word ‘vaccination’ means to prevent illness. Vaccinations have many advantages; they allow us to be less susceptible to a variety of illnesses and diseases. Many individuals believe that vaccinations should not be mandatory. However, the benefits from vaccinations greatly outweigh the risks from side effects. The judgments are factual and ethical and are supported by testing and research findings from multiple sources.

As stated by Dr. James A. Shannon of the National Institutes of Health, “The only safe vaccine is a vaccine that is never used” (Shannon). In order to stay safe, vaccinations for children should not be a requirement because it diminishes the values and beliefs of various religions, is used for profit only, and the risks associated with vaccinations are life threatening. However, these reasons do not outweigh the benefits of being vaccinated. As stated by William Foege, “Vaccines are the tugboats of preventative health”. In regards to preventative health, vaccinations should be given to children to prevent them from diseases that could potentially inhibit their future and the generations beyond.Vaccinations do more good than harm, prevent

According to the CDC about 2.5 million of the 10.5 million deaths worldwide per year among children (age < 5yrs) are caused by diseases for which vaccines are available [1]. Before the middle of the last century, diseases like whooping cough, polio, measles, haemophilus influenzae, and rubella struck hundreds of thousands of infants, children and adults in the U.S. [1,2]. Thousands died every year from them [1]. As vaccines were developed and became widely used,