My heart breaks in pieces when I witness my aunt taking care of her autistic child. I can only imagine how difficult it is for her to see her child like that every day that can’t communicate with others, that doesn’t socialize with his peers, can’t eat by himself, still plays with toys ages 0 to 5 when he is 15 years of age. It is more difficult to explain to her second son, why is his older brother acting certain ways. Her first child started to develop serious symptoms of autism right after MMR vaccine and that put her second child at very high risk. Is children vaccination even necessary? Do children really need vaccines? Is autism linked to vaccination? Question regardless vaccination of a child has been controversy for centuries. The role of childhood vaccination in prevention of diseases in the population is still very open subject of debate. In addition, the prospect of expanding vaccination programs to include healthy children has received increased attention in the past few years. Based on the researched studies I formed an opinion that children vaccination save lives, protect against serious disabilities, reduce suffering for children and their families who deal with low immune system and are sick a lot. Studies also show that vaccination does not cause autism.
In order to further understand the debate, I will briefly explain how vaccines affect the immune system and aim to defend the body. The immune system has many different cells and one of the cells are memory
The researchers looked over the health records of 95,727 children, including more than 15,000 children unvaccinated at age 2 and more than 8,000 still unvaccinated at age 5. 2,000 of these children were considered at risk for autism because they were born into families that already had a child with the disorder.The study looked at the autism rates and MMR vaccination at ages 2, 3, 4 and 5 years olds. It showed no increase in Autism in any age. Autism rates we surprisingly lower in vaccinated
Children come into the world defenseless and vulnerable. The lifelong health of a child begins with what type of defense can be built up. Childhood vaccine schedules are the first step in healthcare for children. A vaccine schedule is a calendar with a combination of vaccines at set intervals and ages for children to receive from birth to six years old *******. The recommended combination of vaccines on the schedule minimizes the amount of times a child needs to get vaccines. Maximizing the number of vaccines a child receives at a time guarantees by school age, the child will meet requirements for enrolling in school. The childhood vaccination schedule was created to be beneficial for children.
There is much debate and controversy about child vaccinations being safe or not. Parents wonder should they get
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
There are many arguments that people have developed and built upon that are convincing me of the importance of the vaccinations. The benefits of vaccinations really were shown when “The Centers 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” (Huffington). This is proof right in front of our eyes that vaccinations are working for some children. Something that saves 732,000 lives is a very important asset. Also, I think that it is critical to take into account the 322 million children that were saved from sickness. These 322 million children were kept from getting an illness that could be life threatening or even just uncomfortable. No matter the severity of the sickness there is an importance in the prevention of these diseases. Another intriguing argument for the continued use and importance of vaccines is that “most childhood vaccines are 90%-99% effective in preventing disease” (AAP). With a 90%-99% success rate it shows that it is so important to receive a vaccination because of the dangers of the diseases. In fact the 90%-99% effectiveness has “save[ed] 2.5 million children from preventable diseases every year” (Shot@Life). This direct correlation between these two arguments makes this side of the topic even more compelling. Another statistic that creates a realization that there may be more to vaccinations than we see on the
Throughout history people have seen many public health innovations. Numerous advancements were made between 2001 and 2010. These advancements include “tobacco control, motor vehicle safety, public health preparedness and response, and occupational safety.” (Ten Great Public Health Achievements --- United States, 2001—2010) One of the most important innovations was vaccine preventable diseases. Many people believe that it is right for the government to necessitate children to be vaccinated. Others think it is wrong and that the parents should decide what is best for their children’s health. It is beneficial for the United States government to require young children in the United States to get vaccinations including hepatitis A and B,
People in the United States are urged from day one that vaccinations are important for the well being of their children and for everyone that your child may come in contact with. Recently, childhood vaccinations have been stigmatized as a negative process. Parents have become increasingly concerned about the effects and side effects of vaccinations. The problem being, that the infectious diseases that are being prevented for, are being forgotten about. Vaccinations have been doing their job in protecting us for so long that the infectious diseases are less scary than vaccination process itself (Austvoll-Dahlgren & Helseth, 2012, p. 271). Vaccinations are a preventative measure and one that will continue to be implemented in children for their individual safety and for the safety of the public. However, it is still the families’ choice whether or not they want to proceed with the vaccination process or not. Most vaccinations are going to be administered by a registered nurse, therefore, it is the role of the nurse to supply information, and answer questions when counseling families through this process. The goal is to make people feel as comfortable and as informed as possible so that they can make a decision on whether to submit to the vaccination process or not.
“Today one in every 150 children has been diagnosed on the autism spectrum; 20 years ago that statistic was one in 10,000” (Mooney, 2009, p. 58). There are many vaccines that are administered to children today that protect them from measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, tetanus, invasive Haemophilus influenza type B (Hib) infections, etc. (Miller & Reynolds, 2009, p. 167). Among these and many other diseases children are currently being vaccinated against 14 diseases, and these take place from infancy until the start of kindergarten. These childhood vaccinations are given as early as they can be to make sure the children are protected against any diseases that can occur in their
The topic of childhood vaccinations and the dangers that accompany them has been a topic of controversy in contemporary times. At the near edge of the twenty-first century, a man named Doctor Andrew Wakefield released a study which created a mass uproar in both parents and health professionals alike. Parents were panicked as to whether or not they should have their young child vaccinated (in fear of their acquiring autism), and health professionals fearful that the population percentage of people acquiring measles, mumps, or rubella (for it was the M.M.R. vaccination that the parents feared in particular) would rise to a number which would lead to a mass risk of disease. Despite Wakefields’ study, the truth persists in all types of experiments related to vaccination. Whether being tested in a replication of Wakefields’ study or in any other, vaccines have been proven to work at preventing disease and display no causation of autism.
Hendrix, Kristin S., et al. "Ethics and Childhood Vaccination Policy in the United States." American Journal of Public Health, vol. 106, no. 2, Feb. 2016, pp. 273-278. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2015.302952.
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
One of the many arguments about vaccines is that they don’t work because the majority of people who get sick are vaccinated. This argument is actually correct, but in many developed countries the majority of the population is vaccinated making the statistic true. Also we know today that 85%-95% of childhood vaccines are effective as stated by WHO. Many people also argue that the side effects outweigh the benefits. The most discussed side effect from a vaccine is autism from the MMR vaccine. This was proven false in multiple scientific studies all across the world. Discussed in a scientific paper published in the oxford journals stated that to this day every study that was performed to support an association between the MMR vaccine and autism have failed to support it. Vaccines save lives every day protecting the world from an epidemic every day. If a child isn’t vaccinated for a disease and they go to school, they can start spreading a new strain of a virus because it would mutate to get transferred to a vaccinated patient. People that don’t get vaccinations have the potential to make a super “bug’ without even knowing it just because of the mutations the organism will have to go through to infect other
Providing immunization to human beings by vaccination is one of the greatest achievements in the public health field. It is responsible for a significant increase in the quality of life for children in 21st century compared to the previous era. Childhood vaccination is usually provided at a young age as a routine service in specific clinics or other health facilities. Children are required to receive specific scheduled vaccinations shortly after they are born. Vaccinations can also be received in specific public campaigns where a specialized trained team provide vaccines to people in a targeted area for a few days or even weeks. The purpose of these is to provide maximum protection to the population in a short amount of time. Despite this,
published a controversial study in British journal Lancet where he linked MMR vaccination to autism. (Should I include what his study was based on and results?) Years later, many other studies proved it wrong but mistrust of science and mistrust of government is still there (2011). For example, Phea Paul study stated that there is no evidence that autism is cause by any vaccine and therefore no reason for parents to deny a child protection in today’s vaccines offered (2009). His study shows that if comparing risks mathematically of death or disability as a result of not vaccination a child which are small, to the risks of causing an autism spectrum disorder by immunizing it increases significantly.
As I was reading your post, I recall reading something about free immunization program for children. During my research, I found this information. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2014), there is a federal funded program call Vaccines for Children (VFC). It was established due to thousands of death from the measles epidemic during 1989-1991. Funding for the VFC program is approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) while CDC and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) allocate resources to state health departments and certain local and territorial public health agencies who convey them at no charge to private doctors' offices and public health clinics registered as VFC providers. While