As a doctor, I need to help her learn why vaccinations are given. First, is that I believe that they are a safe and effective way to prevent a disease that could potentially cause harm to her child and those around him. Second, vaccinating him curtails epidemics so that he doesn’t become ill and transmit a disease when coming into contact with others. Once your child is inoculated, he never has to take it again because it creates a lifelong immunity. According to Dr. David Satcher, “Vaccines not only save lives, reduce pain, suffering and disability, they save money.”(Satcher MD., PH.D., 2016). Take Rubella for instance, without being vaccinated, it could cause permanent blindness, heart disease, deafness, or mental retardation. Imagine …show more content…
With your car, you check the tires for proper inflation perform regular tune-ups, change the oil, etc. to ensure that each time you get in it, it performs optimally. The same hold true for our bodies, we need to keep them running at peak performance and vaccines are an easy way to accomplish that.
• What are specific reasons a child should NOT receive vaccines?
The most important reasons to not give a child a vaccine would be moral or religious beliefs.
Some religions don’t allow the introduction of any foreign substances to our bodies. Some people believe that they should not have to be made to do be vaccinated just because the government says we have to.
I read an article that states that natural immunity is longer lasting since our bodies are allowed to develop antibodies (New Health Advisor, 2016).
• How will you approach the pediatrician about this matter? As a medical insurance biller and coder, do you feel you can offer credible advice? Why or Why
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Maybe he could give the mother handouts with “medical” information to compare with the articles that she read to give her more information on this very important matter.
As a medical biller and coder, I cannot offer any advice to the mother with regard to medical treatments or non-treatments. I can recommend that the mother speak to the doctor and then decide what she wants to do for her child.
I would love to be able to tell the mother that my mother had Diptheria as a child in Germany during the war and almost died because she wasn’t inoculated. Another story I can’t tell her is of a friend of mine that contracted Polio in the service and had to wear uncomfortable braces the rest of his shortened life time.
All I can do is have her speak to the doctor and then make an educated decision based on medical information.
References:
New Health Advisor. (2016, September 29). Pros and cons of vaccines. Retrieved from http://www.newhealthadvisor.com/pros-and-cons-of-vaccinations.html
Satcher, MD., PH.D, D. (1999, August 3). Statement on risk vs. benefit of vaccinations. Retrieved from
Considering what specialist help would be beneficial to the child and discuss options with parents/carers
American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians. [Clinical practice guideline:]. (2004).
This is further supported by the removal of several vaccines from the pharmaceutical market such as the recall of the rhesus rotavirus vaccine-tetravalent (RRV-TV) in 1999 due to a correlation between this immunisation and a possible bowel obstruction (Cdc.gov, 1999). There are people who deem vaccinations as “unnatural” and thus refuse them, and some may be averse due to religious reasons (Abc.net.au, 2013).
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.
I agree with Lantos, Jackson and Harrison (2012) that personal belief exemptions should not be allowed when it comes to vaccinating children. However, Opel and Diekema do make a good point about changing the way exemptions are made and could be a possibility in the future before completely. I do, however still believe that all parents try to make a choice based on the best interest of their child but in this circumstance they are not only choosing for their own child but are putting other children at risk in the process. This is what I don’t agree with. Many parents have said that it goes against their religious freedoms, or they don’t want to be forced to do something but I believe those are not good enough reasons unless the risks are outweighing the benefits through allergy or medical condition.
“As healthy as my lifestyle seemed, I contracted measles, mumps, rubella, a type of viral meningitis, scarlatina, whooping cough, yearly tonsillitis, and chickenpox, some of which are vaccine preventable” (Parker 1). This quote by vaccine advocate Amy Parker, a woman who was not vaccinated as a child, shows just a glimpse into the life of an unvaccinated individual. Parents who do not vaccinate their children claim many different reasons for their decision. Three of the most popular reasons are: religious grounds, health problems as a result from vaccines, and the belief that the illnesses are rare. Each of these reasons can be proven as nonessential in the anti-vaccine argument.
Many people refuse the vaccination process simply because of their religious views. In the article, Vaccinations and Parental Rights written by Sam Blumefeld, he talks about religions and belief systems that promote different perspectives towards objections to vaccines. An example is the belief that the body is sacred, and should not receive certain chemicals or blood tissue from animals, and should be healed by god or natural means. One of the most prominent views is, the Church of Christ also known as Christian Science. It’s believed that they can heal all things through prayer rather than through medicine. Therefore, many of these worshipers strongly oppose vaccinations. The article, Vaccines: A Religious Contentions states the different
The refusal of vaccinations is simply when a person does not take their child to get shots that could prevent diseases such as Hib, polio, hepatitis B, whooping cough, and several others. There are many reasons why parents skip the vaccinations. Religion is a major one. Vaccines have evolved from the cell lines of an aborted fetus. It is because of the opposition of abortion that these religious organizations feel the need to refuse vaccines. Yet, the abortions did not take place solely on the purpose of creating vaccines. In the published journal Annals of Pharmacotherapy, John Grabenstein stated, “In a moral sense, benefiting from a vaccine with historical ties to an abortion that need not be repeated is akin to benefiting from an organ
And third, vaccines actually can help boost your whole immune system, because it creates antibodies. Your body responds to the antigens in the pathogens from the vaccine, which creates antibodies. The antibodies are then in your immune system keeping you strong and healthy, and are “ready to fight” any disease, you might say.
Why do some parents not vaccinate their children? Many children aren’t vaccinated because of some religious beliefs. Many religions believe in home remedies verses medication. Although some home
Another good reason to allow your child to receive a vaccination would be so that disease does not become an epidemic illness. It could possibly spread and hurt the ones around you. Even though the vaccinations have a part of the disease, it allows your body to fight that small part of the virus. Some people might have strong values and are deeply passionate about them to the point where it can cause damage. Being too passionate about their values it may lead to judgmental attitudes during tough times (Potter & Perry, 2013).
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.
Ragan & Duffy (2012, p.23) have also shown high immunization rates have resulted in a substantial decline in vaccine preventable diseases, particularly vaccination has eliminated smallpox worldwide. In addition, in a study by Bawah, Phillips, Adjuik & smith et al (2010, p.95) found that vaccination has resulted in a large and statistically significant reduction child mortality. The risk of dying for children younger than five who are fully immunized is reduced by more than 70% compared with those who are not immunized or partially immunized. Moreover, research by Dawson (2011, p.1032) also suggests that vaccination is a vital intervention in reducing illness and death rates in children and he estimated approximately 2.5 million deaths could be prevented each year by vaccination. In addition to personal immunity Vaccination programs also bring herd immunity which ensures even greater protection for the community from communicable diseases. The level of vaccination required to provide herd immunity varies with virulence and transmissibility as well as vaccine efficacy. While vaccinating
“Standard immunization currently averts an estimated two to three million deaths every year in all age groups” (“General Information”). Children along with adults should be vaccinated because these Inoculations prevent diseases, even deaths, from going around, along with keeping the environment a safer place. As people know, kids get vaccinated from the time born to about the time the child reaches teen years, although getting immunized does not precisely stop at any age. In fact, required vaccinations continue throughout the years. Of course these medical treatments must be tested in order to be given to anyone. In spite of the fact many people themselves argue that inoculations are not safe for children, others are thoroughly certain in
Vaccination is another form of keeping our children healthy, especially when they are in school or daycare center. They are exposed to all kinds of illnesses and diseases, by getting them vaccinated their immune system will eventually starts