Childhood Vaccination

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.

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 is much debate and controversy about child vaccinations being safe or not. Parents wonder should they get

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.

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.

For years, universal childhood vaccinations have been a deliberated and debated topic among much of the population. Those who are in support of vaccination, including healthcare providers, believe that vaccinations are not only in the best interest of each child’s health, but also in the best interest of the public’s health as a whole. Many vaccine supporters also believe that the benefit of vaccinations outweigh the risks associated with them (Song, 2014, p. 542). Those who are not in support of vaccinations, or display hesitancy regarding them, may not perceive the continuing need for them or may decline them for various other reasons. Anti-vaccinators are also typically concerned with the safety of vaccinations and believe that the risks associated with them may be greater than their benefit (Song, 2014, p. 542). This paper will focus on discussing some of the ethical issues arising from childhood vaccinations, it will apply ethical principles such as autonomy and beneficence to the issue, and it will explore the role of the nursing profession and ethical standards by which they abide.

The means of dealing with infectious diseases that endanger individual and public health have evolved over the years. In 1789, however, the most protective technology used to prevent epidemics was introduced by physician Edward Jenner; vaccination. Vaccine efficiency continues to develop and become more advanced, producing immunity to infectious diseases from 90 to 100 percent of the time today. Because of inoculation, millions of people worldwide are immunized from fatal epidemics. However, because of unsubstantiated fears, many parents have been withholding vaccines from their children. Despite this, parents should not have the right to withhold vaccines from their children for philosophical reasons. Vaccines are the best way to prevent disease, vaccine exemptions endanger individual and public health, and without widespread inoculation, controlled diseases will rebound.

There is a division in the medical community about the benefits of getting vaccinated against the flu. Some medical professionals insist that vaccination against the flu can decrease death by fifty percent, while others provide evidence against such a claim. It is difficult to determine how many people die from the flu, who has the flu, and which strain of the flu someone has. There are over 200 viruses that cause flu like systems. In reality, researchers believe that only 7 or 8 percent of cases of people actually contract the flu that report systems associated with the flu such as, headache, fever, coughing, etc. The flu can mutate very quickly causing the virus to differ every flu season if only slightly. Thus, members of the World Health

Vaccinations have been widely discussed and debated about whether or not people should vaccinate their children. “Childhood vaccines offer protection from serious or potentially fatal diseases” (The Mayo Clinic, 2014)”. Vaccinations prevent diseases that can affect a child with symptoms of a cold or in some cases, the disease can be much more serious and can cause disability and death. The problem is that parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children against them. With choosing against vaccinating a child becoming a common occurrence, diseases that have been eradicated from the United States, are now starting to show back up in society. If there are no strict requirements on vaccinations, then diseases that have been dormant for decades from the U.S. will become into an epidemic. There are many reasons why parents state that they choose not to vaccinate their children. Some include religion, philosophical, and the possible connection to autism. These reasons have been proven to not be strong enough against the threat of the serious disease that vaccinations protect against. There are new regulations going into place, making it an educational and training process to the parents if they choose to not vaccinate their children. In addition to this, there are laws and regulations regarding who is liable in these situations. A child could possibly sue their parents or a third party could sue because they or someone in their family was affected from an infected

Prevention is better than finding a cure. This statement relates to the controversy surrounding the effectiveness and safety of childhood immunization. Every year many children and babies get sick and die from illnesses that could have been prevented with vaccinations such as; the Flu, Meningitis and Whooping Cough. The biggest argument here is whether or not there should be laws established declaring mandatory vaccinations for all children. Vaccinations should be mandatory because the benefits outweigh the potential risks. In the United States some states have actually enacted laws that require proof of specific vaccinations before allowing a child to go to school. Some states also allow exemptions. These exemptions could be due to

The article in the textbook concerning child vaccinations touches on the importance of vaccines and some of the reasons why children aren’t vaccinated. Vaccinations are very important to prevent diseases; the injection is a small dose of inactive virus to allow the body to guard itself against the disease. Some common beliefs are that children who are vaccinated are at risk of chronic illnesses which the textbook reveals that these illnesses have no correlation to the vaccinations. Another reason why children aren’t vaccinated is due to income, poverty levels affect the children who are not vaccinated because the families cannot afford them.

Childhood vaccinations are important because it creates an immunity among an entire community. Known as ‘herd immunity’ or ‘community immunity,’ there lies an indirect protection of unvaccinated people when a large group of people is vaccinated against a certain disease. Therefore, if children are vaccinated against a disease, they are also protecting their family and friends. According to Vaccines.gov, if enough people are vaccinated against a disease, about 80% of a population or less, the entire community has a lesser chance of getting the disease (Page 3). In different terms, when a large age group of people, children, are vaccinated and therefore immune to disease, everyone else is protected as well indirectly. As well as unintentionally

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