Childhood Vaccinations In America

Children should be required to have certain vaccinations in order to help prevent them from contracting life threatening diseases. In the past, thousands of children were paralyzed by polio or killed by diphtheria, but now, thanks to vaccinations, these diseases are no longer a major threat in the United States (“The Success of Vaccines.”) Although many diseases have become less of a threat, there are still those that are still those that pose a danger to people in today’s world. One of these diseases is measles. Measles is a viral disease that kills hundreds of people a

The vaccinations of children are a cornerstone of the United States public health measures to protect people from a host of infectious diseases and possible death. Vaccines are beneficial to the greater good of the public health including your own as well as being a cost effective way to manage infectious diseases. Diseases that used to be common throughout this country and around the world can now be prevented by vaccination. These diseases include polio, measles, diphtheria, pertussis, rubella, mumps, tetanus, rotavirus, and haemophilus influenza type b (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014).

The federal and state governments do not require vaccination of adult citizens. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend certain vaccinations for adults. An employee may require immunizations as a condition of employment (i.e. US military and healthcare workers).

Would you ever take away a prime defense from your child? Some parents are doing so without even knowing it. Per Glanz and Daley, “Last year 10 children died in California in the worst whooping cough outbreak to sweep the state since 1947.” (Daley, Glanz, N.p.) These are illnesses that are preventable with vaccinations. Childhood vaccinations are key for the protection of children, the people around them and the prevention of widespread disease.

Unvaccinated people can cause outbreaks of viruses that have been eradicated. In late 2014 a measles outbreak occurred when an unvaccinated child who was a carrier of the disease visited Disneyland. This caused 173 people from seventeen different states to contract the virus that was eradicated from the United States in 2002. In order for measles to be under control 94-99% of the population must be vaccinated. With the recent trend of not vaccinating, measles, along with other once eradicated, or nearly eradicated diseases are making a come-back.

Over many years there have been parents that are very resistant to giving their children vaccines for the most complex to simplest diseases. Getting your children vaccinated could potentially save your child’s life and wipe out the disease for good. All children should be vaccinated when they are old enough to get the medication because if they do not get vaccinated it could put their health and others’ at risk. The disease-prevention benefits of getting vaccines are much greater than the possible side effects for almost all children.

I am writing to you today to stress the importance of people having themselves and their children properly vaccinated against various communicable diseases. Being properly vaccinated helps a person protect themselves, protect those around them, and can help wipe out dangerous diseases. Some people think it is not important to be vaccinated against certain diseases because the disease does not seem to exist anymore. The reason for this is because the vaccine is doing its job. Being vaccinated against diseases like small pox, measles, or meningitis helps a person protect themselves against contracting the disease.

Immunizations recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are important in helping to protect individuals from potentially harmful, and even fatal, vaccine-preventable diseases. The CDC recommends routine vaccination to prevent 17 vaccine-preventable diseases that can occur in infants, children, adolescents, and adults (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). Adhering to vaccine schedules and completing vaccine series according to state specific age requirements may help with decreasing disease outbreaks, decrease missed school days for school age children due to illness, and decrease socioeconomic loss that may happen secondary to parents missing work to stay home to care for a sick child. According to the CDC (2011), vaccines are administered consistent with age-specific risks for disease, age-specific risks for complications and age-specific responses to vaccination. Within a primary care clinic setting, especially a pediatric practice, completing vaccines as scheduled by the CDC recommendations is ideal.

Vaccinations are very safe and affective. There are many vaccines you can receive with out a doctors content, like a flu shot for example, most people get them around the start of winter to help people stay away from getting the flu through out the weather changes.

Parents need to realize that the risks of not being vaccinated greatly compensate the minimal risks associated with vaccination. Diseases such as measles and mumps are entirely preventable, and if are not prevented can cause permanent disability and death. A little over a decade ago a measles outbreak amongst unvaccinated children in Philadelphia resulted in seven deaths. It is also known that children who become infected with mumps become permanently deaf. What many parents do not realize is that an outbreak can be totally

In the United States of America, children receive more vaccinations than any other developed country. It is recommended that 26 shots be received by the time a child reaches the age of one year old (CDC). In comparison, Sweden and Japan require only 12 vaccinations. In the 1960’s, there were several new immunizations introduced to the general public for protection against infectious diseases such as DPT, polio, measles, mumps and rubella. Today, vaccines have become far more commonplace, with many being funded

Vaccines will keep you healthy. The CDC recommends vaccinations from birth through adulthood. Protection from a few include influenza, human papillomavirus, and hepatitis A and B. Not being vaccinated leaves these people vulnerable to illness and long-term suffering. Vaccines are one of the most

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”).

Since this vaccine debate, “about 40 percent of American parents today has chosen to delay certain vaccines or outright refuse to allow their children’s physicians to vaccinate their children with one or more of the recommended or mandated vaccines” (Largent). As the rates of being vaccinated go down, it is putting not only that child in danger but also the whole community. Diseases that were once gone are on the rise.” A 2013 study published in the journal Pediatrics reports that California’s worst whooping-cough outbreak, which infected more than 9,000 people (Rothstein)”. Also “the CDC reports that from Jan. 1 to Feb. 28, 2014, 54 people in the U.S. have reported being infected with measles” (Sifferlin).

Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/vaccines/features/why-adults-need-vaccines This article discusses the reasons it is important for adults to get vaccinations, such as the fact that adults need boosters for some childhood vaccines to continue to be effective. Also, some countries require different types of vaccines, and adults being vaccinated better helps protect their children against disease. It further explains that adults with chronic disease may need a boost to their immune system, how new vaccines are being developed and released all the time, and it is especially important for people who work in the healthcare industry to be