Childhood Vaccines: A Case Study

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

As humans we have a tendency to make decisions before completely rationalizing them thoroughly. Through science we now know that our frontal lobe, which is responsible for motor function, problem solving, memory, judgment, impulse control and much more does not fully mature until our late twenties. The average age to start having children is in our early twenties, (25 years of age or younger) not to mention the teen parents. Throughout childbirth, one question that needs proper judgment and consideration to make is, whether to have their children vaccinated. One barrier that can affect parent when making solid decisions about childhood vaccinations is the scientific terminology doctor and other people use. For example, when comparing the word vaccination to immunization sometimes people will use the terms interchangeably not realizing that they have two distant meanings. Vaccination is just that, a vaccine that that is administered to develop immunity, or immunization, to a specific disease. Childhood vaccinations are a crucial part to the development of children and their health, despite the barriers that are present. By introducing research to the community regarding possible risk factor, myths that are commonly associated with childhood vaccinations, and possible laws, the goal is to help people understand why all children should be vaccinated.

Many trustworthy facilities have confirmed that vaccines are safe to use. es are extremely safe to administer. These are trustworthy resources, since they all have very strong data and evidence, Research foundations, such as the CDC (Center for Disease Control) and AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics), agree that vaccine. The CDC claims, “The vaccine safety system ensures that vaccines are as safe as possible.” AAP proclaims, “ Vaccines are safe. All vaccines must be tested by the FDA. The FDA will not let a vaccine be given unless it has been proved to be safe and work well with children.” The US Department of Health and Human Services adds,”Vaccines are some of the safest medical products available.” Extremely reliable sources have conducted experiments to prove that children would not be harmed in any way through these vaccines. If children

Vaccines have to pass many tests to prove their safety. The Vaccine ProCon website (2016) reported, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires up to ten or more years of testing for all vaccines before they are licensed and then they are monitored by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the FDA to make sure the vaccines and the ingredients are safe. Major medical organizations also state vaccines are safe. Some of those organizations are Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Institute of Medicine (IOM), American Medical Association (AMA), United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and World Health Organization (WHO) (ProCon.org, 2016). The ProCon website (2016), also found that The US Department of Health and Human Services states, “Vaccines are some of the safest medical products available.” The only time a vaccine has caused problems is if an individual is allergic to it or something in it. The most severe allergic reaction called anaphylaxis, which only occurs in one per several hundred thousand to one per million vaccinations (ProCon.org, 2016). Offit and Moser (2011), wrote doctors often ask patients to stick around fifteen minutes to make sure they do not shows signs of the allergic reactions. The risks are very small and someone is more likely to die on the way to get the vaccine rather than the vaccine itself. Sanjay Gupta, Chief Medical Correspondent for CNN and practicing neurosurgeon said “you are 100

They go through years of studies to verify how safe it is for a human being. According to healthychildren.org they state,” Before a vaccine is ever approved or licensed, it goes through years of testing for safety and effectiveness.” Therefore every vaccine injected in someone's body is proven to be safe. No doctor would recommend a vaccine that is harmful and hasn't passed the test. Many people could just be paranoid of the vaccine making things worse but by doing research and finding a trusted doctor the problem can be resolved. The role of a doctor is to protect someone not to harm them. On the other hand, some Studies have said there's a link to measles, mumps, rubella, seizures, and even autism to vaccines.Is it worth risking someone's life, many people ask themselves? Yes, vaccines prevent 33000 children in the U.S, and prevent 2 and 3 million deaths worldwide, prevent 8500 child hospitalization in Colorado. Vaccines are an important part to health, today many diseases can travel easily. Anyone can carry disease and pass it to an unvaccinated person. This is the first of many reasons that getting vaccinated is safe

The Institute of Medicine concludes in an extensive study, the last one being done in 1994, that vaccines are very safe and that it is a rarity for serious adverse reactions to occur. The Institute of Medicine reports the following: “Vaccines are among the most effective and safe public health interventions to prevent serious disease and death,” said Lainie Friedman Ross, M.D., Ph.D., FAAP, a member of the AAP Committee on Bioethics and the 14-person committee which developed the IOM report, touted as a comprehensive overview of the nation’s vaccine guidelines.” Source:

Can a simple vaccination, something thought to keep people in good health, cause autism and possibly have other worse side effects? There has been quite a number of quarrels about vaccines and their part in causing autism. Some people believe that vaccines are absolutely harmless and that it’s your parental responsibility to keep your kid vaccinated, others believe that vaccines are extremely detrimental to children and cause autism. Because of this controversy there has been people who will not get their children vaccinated causing even more controversy. I believe at this time, given our information collected by scientists, it’s clear that thimerosal is a harmful preservative and may onset autism in those whom are already predisposed to it.

The goals of compliant vaccination rates for children in the pediatric department represent a performance gap when the number of actual vaccinations do not meet the desired targets which are a measure of performance expectations. Targets within this microsystem are set by regional Kaiser Permanente quality goals, in addition to The American Academy of Pediatrics according to a standard schedule for childhood immunizations. When families choose to vaccinate off-schedule, or not at all, they run the risk of medication errors when they do immunize as catch-up schedules are complex, not to mention the risk of their children acquiring diseases that can be prevented through vaccinations. However, this performance gap should not undermine the opportunity