"Baby Immunizations - The Vaccination Dilemma." Loving-Attachment-Parenting.Com.

The reason I found this topic interesting is because of the many conflicting views regarding childhood vaccines. It is probably one of the most controversial discussions regarding the health of children. The central theme to be discussed is vaccines, vaccinations, and immunizations. According to Basics (2008), there is a difference between the three. A vaccine produces immunity from a disease, vaccinations is the injection that produces immunity and immunization is the actual process by which a person is protected from a disease. For many years, there have been myths and untruths circulating regarding the safety of childhood vaccines. Among many, a few concerns consist of the use of animals to prepare and test vaccines, invasion of privacy, religious beliefs and it can cause Autism. Conversely, many believe it to be the best ways to

Controversy concerning the risks of vaccinations will always exist. As is the nature of a preventative intervention, it is difficult to rationalize giving a completely healthy child an injection that is known to have varying degrees of sides affects5. Additionally, these injections are to provide immunity to children for diseases that have an extremely low risk of circulating within a population. Since these vaccines have been able to protect so many individuals from experiencing these dangerous infections, most parents do not even have personal experiences regarding the impact of these diseases. As such, many parents do not see the vaccine-preventable disease as a threat to their child. This often causes parents to not fully understand the risk their child has for contracting a disease and the subsequent danger of a vaccine-preventable disease infection verses the potential side effect of a vaccine which is normally only mild to moderate discomfort for their child15.

Countless deem that the definite reason for autism is not the dead or live virus found in vaccines but the derivatives’ within them. “Exposure to thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative that is used in vaccines and immunoglobulin preparations, has been hypothesized to be associated with increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD)” (Price, et al., 2010). This continues to remain merely speculation. The Centers for Disease Control research analysis’ do not corroborate toxicity of these preservatives. Mercury produces verified detrimental effects on children when absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. Vaccinations are not absorbed in the GI tract and are instead absorbed in the muscles or subcutaneous tissues, depending on the route of injection.

There appears to be an alarmingly large group of people that don’t mind exposing their children to serious harm; in recent years, many adults have decided against vaccinating their children. This is unusual, as vaccines are non-lethal, very safe protection for children; they are even cost-effective for their parents and are considerably safer for the entire family when these children are vaccinated routinely (Prosser, 1548). Jennifer Hamborsky of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention essentially describes vaccination as the administration of antigenic material to stimulate an individual 's immune system to develop adaptive immunity to a pathogen- and vaccination

The issues of vaccination controversy is about parents making the choice for their children whether it’s the best for them to associate with the medical procedure. Today every child born are expected to receive with some 30 vaccines by the age of 18 months and and also by the age of five years old with the total up to 38 shots. Even though the parents are unaware that the vaccines can contain ingredients that are safe in the amounts used, but some of the ingredients may be harmful. Some parents might second guess themselves by thinking about the certainty of side effects caused by the vaccine.

Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical Controversy. New York: St. Martin's, 2005.

“Vaccines teach your immune system by working in the same way and mimicking a natural infection” (“Vaccines Save Lives…”). If vaccines were brought to a halt due to fear of what could happen by taking them, then as the Centers for Disease Control has stated, “Diseases that are almost unknown would stage a comeback” (“What Would Happen…”). By protecting oneself from infectious diseases, each person is lessening the chances of spreading it to others and lessening the chance for an epidemic (“What Would

The recent measles outbreak occurring at Disneyland in December 2014 became widespread news and rekindled an ongoing debate of childhood vaccination. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is the United States government agency responsible for the protection of Americans from health threats, there were 159 incidents of measles arising from this outbreak (“Morbidity and Mortality” 373). Considering this outbreak, it is not unexpected that the role of vaccination would come to the forefront. The CDC presently advocates 29 vaccinations for children from birth through the age of six years old (“2016 Recommended Immunizations” 1). However, each state respectively establishes the laws for vaccination and corresponding vaccine medical, religious, and philosophical exemptions. For comparison purposes, in the early 1970’s, only three vaccinations were recommended (The Merck Manual 1462). This growth is a 314% surge in the number of vaccinations encouraged by the CDC. Thus, the subject of vaccinations and corresponding exemptions is contentious, divisive, and widely debated. Indeed, some believe that childhood vaccinations should be mandatory in order to protect every individual from preventable diseases (Gostin 1100). Instead, vaccination should be an informed parental choice, not mandated by the federal government, because vaccine safety is questionable, diseases being vaccinated against have fundamentally

When it comes to vaccinations, people should be more educated on the positives of those vaccinations. Pregnant mothers in their second trimester of pregnancy were evaluated on their perception of vaccines. People who believed in giving their child all the vaccines, known as accepters, knew most if not all about the importance of getting the vaccine. They believed that it was effective, safe, and valuable to get the childhood vaccinations. However, some pregnant women weren’t so educated when it came to how the vaccines could protect their children. So a lot of the women didn’t know how much these vaccinations protected us. I believe when it comes to improving or preventing the transmission of disease, people should be more informed or educated

Some People have expressed concern about vaccine safety. The fact is that vaccines save lives by limiting the spread of diseases. If you choose not to immunize, you are not only putting your kid at risk who has a high chance of getting it cause you don’t have the protection that the vaccine provides you are putting others at risk also. Getting vaccinated is a smart choice because it blocks out a lot of the diseases that try to enter your body so therefore you stay safer than if you didn’t have it. Most of the deadliest diseases that have affected children have been greatly reduced thanks to the help of the vaccines. Today we vaccinate 16 different diseases so that kids don’t have lifetime effects from getting all of these diseases. Through

Vaccination safety and necessity has been debated for years. Vaccine supporters claim they are completely safe and necessary for everyone. People against vaccines question their safety and feel it should be a personal choice. While some vaccines are for personal safety, others are for the safety of society and should be given to the majority of people to avoid previously eradicated diseases from coming back and killing off thousands, even millions of people. Vaccinations are an asset to our healthcare and help to keep us safe from many deadly diseases, including polio, measles, tetanus and meningitis.

For many years, there has been a controversy about whether or not vaccinations should be mandated for everyone. In the United States, many diseases such as polio, diphtheria, measles, and whooping cough used to be extremely common, until vaccinations came around and started preventing these diseases. The main point for vaccines is to prepare a person’s immune system for any possible attack of a disease that comes in the future; a person’s body will be prepared to fight off the disease with the vaccine (“Basics”). Vaccines have the ability to prevent many cases of these diseases in advanced, but there are people who think vaccines are unnatural and should not be required for their children. It is said that immunity in child vaccines are about 90%-100%, which is an increase over the past few years (“Childhood”). Although many Americans believe that vaccines are unsafe and cause autism in children, vaccinations for children should be mandatory because they can save a child’s life, create herd immunity in a community, and they have been proven safe/cost-effective.

“Prevention is better than cure.” This common statement could not relate any better than it does with the controversy surrounding the morality, effectiveness, and safety of childhood immunizations. The major argument is whether or not laws should be established to declare vaccination mandatory for all children. “The US food and Drug administration (FDA) regulates all vaccines to ensure safety and effectiveness,” (ProCon.org, 2012) therefor there should not be any reason to risk the health of any child. Vaccinating our children not only ensures their safety but also that of their future to come.

“Proponents argue that vaccination is safe and one of the greatest health developments of the 20th century. They point out that illnesses, including rubella, diphtheria, and whooping cough, which once killed thousands of infants annually are now prevented by vaccination” (“Vaccines”). Many deaths occur simply because children, along with adults, do not get the required shots needed. Medical treatments are not given to do a person any harm, but to keep a person and environment safe. Kids being vaccinated will give them less of a possibility to obtain a disease that could lead to death. Benefits outweigh any possibility of risking accumulating a disease. When people say that vaccinations are harmful, does not necessarily mean to develop a deadly disease, simply means some small risks. “Vaccines are not entirely harmless, but the small risks are outweighed by the benefits of a disease prevention” (Offit). Indeed flu shots must be tested in order to be able to give anyone the shot. Receiving vaccinations is only meant to help people prevent many illnesses and deaths. Although some small risks could be accumulated, those small risks are very small possibilities of anything happening to anyone. Getting immunized is not a one-time thing; people must follow up on required dates to receive them.

Vaccinations have been proven safe for consumer use time and time again, yet people are still wary or hesitant to have their children receive vaccinations. Often times, people who argue against vaccinations are undereducated or miseducated about the real advantages and dangers of vaccinations, and many times these concerns are due to widely spread misconceptions. However, these have been proven wrong by a plethora of reputable pharmaceutical companies. Proven by many , vaccinations prevent epidemics, save money for the nation, and protect the future.