Chickenpox Vaccination

Vaccination was first introduced globally for small pox and later on extended to other communicable diseases which are now known as vaccine preventable disease. Vaccination is beneficial both for individuals and community. This bring us to the ethical dilemma - Vaccination of a healthy child with the intention of protecting both the individual child and the community at the same time exposing the child to the theoretical risk of exposure to disease products whether live, attenuated or killed. There was a time when people never questioned the government or their physicians. Now because of more public awareness and accessibility to medical information, they are questioning the safety aspects of vaccines.

Protecting a child’s health is very important to parents! That is why they should vaccinate them as young children. All children should be required to have vaccinations in order to start school in every state. Each year, about 85% of the world’s youth receive vaccines that protect them against several diseases such as tuberculosis, pneumococcus, and many more. Even with great success and improvements with vaccinations, more than 3 million people die each year from vaccine-preventable diseases. An estimate of about 1.5 million of these deaths are in children less than five years old. Of the top ten reported cases of those deaths, several are infectious. (Global Immunizations: Worldwide Disease Incidence, 2017). However, some parents feel vaccines are not safe because they are convinced vaccines are the cause of autism. Nevertheless, Vaccinations are very much necessary. There are many benefits to vaccinating children early. Immunizations should be mandatory because they can save a child’s life, save families time and money, and eliminate diseases forever.

Many infectious diseases that once quickly spread and easily killed have been controlled or eradicated due to vaccinations. The efficacy of vaccines in reducing morbidity and mortality, particularly in children, is undeniable. Per the World Health Organization, childhood vaccinations prevent approximately 2-3 million deaths per year worldwide (WHO, 2016). In the United States, the value of immunizations is clearly displayed by comparing pre-vaccine era morbidity/mortality rates to post-vaccine era in regards to vaccine-preventable diseases. For example, prior to the diphtheria vaccine in the 1920’s, 206,000 people annually contracted the disease resulting in 15,520 deaths (History of Vaccines, 2009). However, between 2004 and 2014, only

Despite significant progress in the fight against preventable disease, millions still die needlessly each year. According to UNICEF, originally known as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, a vaccine preventable disease is responsible for 2 million fatal infections worldwide each year. About 75% of these deaths occur in children under five years of age. (N) In more vivid terms, UNICEF notes that vaccine-preventable diseases kill a child every 20 seconds. (D) Due to high rates of childhood vaccination, the United States has experienced a dramatic reduction in such deaths. A comparison of the years 1950 and 2010 clearly illustrates the benefits of vaccinations. During this 60-year period, deaths from diphtheria reduced from 410 to 0, tetanus from 336 to 3, pertussis from 1,118 to 26, and polio from 1,904 to 0. Measles deaths dropped from 468 in 1950 to 0 in 2008, the last year a United States death rate was recorded. It’s not surprising that vaccinations have been touted as one of the top ten health achievements of the 20th century by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The reason for making this law in the United States is because of the serious outbreaks that still happen in schools. When this happens, some students are not able to go to school and are not getting the important education they need. An elementary school in Denver, Colorado had a chickenpox outbreak, just recently, that came from children who were not vaccinated being at school. The school allowed the children not to be vaccinated because the parents of the children didn’t want them to be. The school said there was two unvaccinated children in the school that were experiencing symptoms of chickenpox. (Kovaleski, 2016). Because of this, the school, along with some health officials told the parents of the unvaccinated children, who are also at the school, that their children should not go to school so they did not get exposed to the chickenpox. The children that were vaccinated were able to stay in school. The parents chose not to get their children vaccinated because of religious reasons. So because of this, these unvaccinated children were not at school for about twenty-one days. The chickenpox vaccine, varicella, is 99% effective at preventing the chickenpox infection in children (Kovaleski,2016). The parents of these children knew this but chose to ignore it. With the vaccination requirement law put in place, chickenpox outbreaks would not be an issue because the children that were not vaccinated would not be going to school. The fact is, if a child is not vaccinated they

Vaccines have saved many children from sickness, death and have terminated a large part of infectious diseases in the world. That being said, whether to immunize or not is the ongoing question parents face each day. On one hand, questions are raised about the safety of some vaccines because of rare but serious adverse effects that have been attributed to them. On the other hand, vaccines are known to help prevent death and serious illnesses. Hence, this paper explores the pros and cons of children's vaccines.

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

Mandatory vaccination continues to be a contentious subject in the United States, even though extensive evidence proves inoculation prevents certain diseases. According to A. Plotkin & L. Plotkin (2011), the evolution of the first vaccine commenced in the 1700’s when a physician named Edwards Jenner discovered that cowpox protected individuals from one of the deadliest diseases termed smallpox. The precise virus Jenner used is unclear; however, it was espoused in the extermination of smallpox worldwide. The researchers further explained, the unearthing of the subsequent vaccine known as chicken cholera occurred approximately 80 years later by Louise Pasteur. Ever since, copious vaccines such as rabies, yellow fever, varicella, pneumococcal, mumps and recently HPV have been introduced.

The first calculated benefit is the savings in forgone treatment costs due to the eradication of the disease. In fact, some economists estimate that every 26 days the US recovers the initial investment costs of the small pox vaccination (Aylward 2011). This estimation is based on an increase in productivity benefits originating from decreases in death rates, bed confinement, and restricted activity (Willems 1982, 497). Additional benefits include retained parental wages from not missing work to care for their ill child. For diphtheria alone, this equates to a $200,000,000 combined yearly savings for parents when considering lost wages and nursing costs (Colgrove 2006, 89). Vaccination also benefits children. Healthy children attend school, which increases cognitive abilities and educational success, thereby resulting in an increased lifetime productivity (Luyten 2016, 214). Finally, vaccinations provide “cross protection” (Newton 2013, 136). This cross protection enables the vaccinated child to produce antibodies in response to the vaccine which allows them to resist similar infections in the

The seasonal influenza vaccine has been in existence for a numerous amount of decades, therefore so has the gradual implementation of the vaccination. Through recent studies, the break through knowledge of the importance of enforcing the requirement of this vaccine for children has acquired increasing acceptance statistics. During the many outbreaks of different classified strands of avian influenza, the health care community has been unable to retain the virus and alleviate patients efficiently. However current tallies have shown that the system for controlling these outbreaks have improved lowering the mortality rate profoundly. (BioScience Trends, 2013).

Immunizations were created to keep children and adults healthy and safe. Edward Jenner administered the world’s first vaccination known as the smallpox vaccine, which had killed millions of people over the centuries (). Jenner administered the vaccine on an eight year old boy who he exposed to the fluid of a cowpox blisters, the boy developed a blister which eventually went away. Jenner then exposed the boy to the smallpox disease and the boy did not get sick, this led to the smallpox vaccine and the drastic decline in the smallpox disease. Fast-forward three centuries later and the small pox diseases is eradicated do to people receiving the vaccine. Immunizations are extremely important to the world’s overall health. Babies and children are most vulnerable to disease because they are son young and their organs and bodies are growing at a rapid rate. It is important for children to be immunized against vaccine preventable diseases such as: rubella, diphtheria, and pertussis (whooping cough), and a host of other diseases. High vaccination coverage has significantly reduced vaccine-preventable disease morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially among children (Baggs et. al., 2011). While some people focus on the cons of vaccinations, there are many pros to children receiving vaccinations.

The Center for Disease Control describes vaccines as the greatest development in public health since clean drinking water. For several decades, vaccines have saved countless lives and helped eradicate some fatal diseases. The push to do away with vaccines will not only endanger our youth, but our society as a whole. Vaccination is needed to maintain a healthy balance within our country. Vaccines provide the immunity that comes from a natural infection without the consequences of a natural infection. Vaccinations save an ever-growing amount of lives every year. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that 732,000 American children were saved from death and 322 million cases of childhood illnesses were prevented between 1994 and 2014 due to vaccination (“Vaccine ProCon”).

Before vaccines were introduced, varicella was endemic in the United States, and virtually all persons acquired varicella at some point before adulthood (cdc.gov, 2006). It is reported that 4 million cases of chickenpox were recorded in the U.S. each year before the vaccine was introduced. Although some states reported cases of varicella to the CDC, it was eliminated from the list of nationally notifiable conditions in 1981. Children under 10 years of age make up between 75 – 90 % of chickenpox cases. In 1995, due to the availability of the vaccine in the U.S., hospitalizations due to chickenpox has declined by nearly 90% (Hambleton, & Gershon, 2005).

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

Chickenpox can best be prevented by given the dose of varicella vaccine to children, adolescents, adults and the herpes zoster vaccine for people age 60 and above (Maurer & Smith 2013). Generally, people who get the vaccine will not get chickenpox, however, if the vaccinated person get chickenpox, the symptoms is usually mild fever or no fever, fewer red spots or blisters.