The Ethical Dilemma Behind Vaccine Refusal

Although there is no scientific proof that vaccines cause autism, proponents still believe that they do. The theory that vaccines cause autism were based on unproven facts and falsified information (DeStefano 81). In an article called CNS Drugs, the author writes about how a man named AJ Wakefield stun the public with a theory that the MMR vaccine may cause autism and how enterocolitis (bowel dysfunction) and MMR vaccine may be linked to autism (DeStefano 831). Even though Wakefield falsified information and his theories were proven to be discredited many people still

The controversy over the MMR vaccine started in the late 1990’s when Andrew Wakefield suggested that there was a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism in a scientific paper which he had published with several other co-authors. Although there has not been a proven fact that the MMR vaccine is the causation to autism it has brought concerns to parents and has caused a major drop in immunization rates. For example, Dannetun et al., 2005 states that, “Fear of side effects and beliefs

The most commonly cited reason why parents decide to not vaccinate their children is due to their belief that vaccines cause harm11. In a survey that looked at risk perception with vaccines, researches found that while 94% of individuals surveyed had vaccinated or plan on vaccinating their children, only 23% of participants had no concerns about the vaccines16. This reiterates the point that even though there are high rates of vaccination in the United States,

Wakefield had lied about the medical histories of the children and the duration between symptoms and vaccination (Deer, 2011). Child number two had shown symptoms six months after being vaccinated, but Wakefield’s paper claimed that child number two showed symptoms two weeks after being vaccinated. The child’s medical history stated that symptoms had been shown six months after vaccination. Actually, only child number two had “regressive autism.” Furthermore “regressive autism” is where the child seems to normally develop, but they start to lose skills like speech. The paper stated that all of the children had autism, but three out of the twelve did not have autism at all (Deer, 2011). To strengthen his claim, Wakefield lied about the amount of children with autism. Two of the three children, who did not have autism, were siblings (Deer, 2011). Both of these siblings had bowel problems before getting vaccinated. Wakefield stated that the bowel problems were linked to the autism. The siblings did not even have autism and their bowel problems started before even getting vaccinated. The effects of this are quite dangerous. In the UK, vaccination rates dropped below 85%, and in some areas below 75% (Kolodziejski, 2014, p.165). In Londen England, vaccination rates were as low as 58% (Burgess, Burgess, & Leask, 2006, p.3921). Parents felt that they would rather have their child get mumps, measles, or

This led to the support of various unproven vaccine-autism theories by parents in both the UK and America. After findings of intestinal disease in children with autism, Wakefield claimed that separating the MMR into three different vaccinations would be safer. Since then, Wakefield’s research has been discredited, he was charged with serious professional misconduct by the General Medical Council for violating several ethical practices, and he was investigated for failing to disclose conflict of interest – a pending patent on a rival measles vaccine (Gross, 2009). Although false, many still believe wholeheartedly that vaccines are harmful.

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.

Vaccinations are safe and they work. There are many parents who choose for their own reasons to ignore Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations to vaccinate and exercise their right to not do so. They run the risk of having their child suffer or even possibly die when they opt-out to having their child vaccinated. Today in the United States, outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease are often traced to susceptible children whose parents have claimed an exemption from school or child care immunization regulations (CDC, 2014).

“Sustaining high vaccination coverage among school-age children is vital to prevent outbreaks and avoid reestablishment of diseases that have been eliminated in the United States” (Zangger, 2017). Most of the articles found, stated a variety of issues involved with noncompliant parental decisions made about not vaccinating their children. Of these issues, to my attention, the main problem with compliance of vaccines comes from the lack of knowledge about adverse effects and contraindications. What parents are missing is the fact that these childhood diseases are totally preventable diseases. We also are seeing a lot of parents choose to use an alternative vaccination schedule (AVS) instead of what is recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that leads to the same kind of issue (Committee on Practice and Ambulatory Medicine and council on the community, 2011). The studies show that parents have an increased likelihood of refusing to vaccinate due to the lack of education provided on the subject itself.

One such factor helping to manifest these large-scale epidemics is a study from 1998 by Andrew Wakefield, which claimed that there was a direct link between autism and the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine (Smith 1). As a result, many parents refused to vaccinate their children out of fear, and vaccine-preventable diseases like measles began reappearing more in both America and Britain, the place where Wakefield conducted his study (Cohen 2). Although a later investigation by the British Medical Journal discovered that Wakefield had distorted or altered the medical records of all twelve of the study’s participants and that he had been paid $674,000 USD by lawyers attempting to sue vaccine manufacturers, the atmosphere of apprehension surrounding vaccines is still strong among many individuals, and especially parents (Cohen 1-2). But despite all the controversy and the scientifically unsupported arguments of anti-vaccine sympathizers,

This controversy started when “The Lancet” published a research made by Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who suggested the vaccine can cause autism. After investigation the British medical journal published an article criticizing Dr.Wakefield and accusing him of fraud. As a result “The Lancet” retracted the research. The dishonest research and violation of ethic caused Dr. Wakefield to lose his medical license. However, Dr. Wakefield’s research made a big impact in the way some American parents view vaccines. These parents now refuse to have their children vaccinate and blame the vaccine for their developmental

Vaccinating children has become an issue many parents are taking personally and debating on a regular basis. Several parents vaccinate their children, but do they really know what they are vaccinating for? Most vaccines are necessary for children to gain immunity. Immunity from severe diseases that are part of our history, such as: Measles, Polio, Pertussis, and Diphtheria are essential to everyone. Vaccinating for these serious diseases is a must to keep children healthy. However, history of the vaccine issue has been an ongoing topic for many years. But, most parents have not questioned vaccines until recently. The issue has changed over time since people have become more easily persuaded against vaccines. This has parents wondering how effective they really are, and if they are safe enough to distribute to children. Not to mention, the childhood diseases in question have not been around in decades. Parents want to understand the importance of prevention in something thought to be long gone. Above all, the importance of vaccines is significant in this country, and to all who live here. Furthermore, avoiding vaccines will leave the United States vulnerable to serious diseases, in which were once eradicated. Vaccinations are crucial to the regulation and the annihilation of fatal infectious diseases, not to just the child receiving the vaccine, but to all in the community. Thus, vaccinations should be mandated for all children in the U.S.

During the past few years a large amount of attention has been brought to the issue of childhood vaccinations and if parents should be forced to have his or her child vaccinated. Attention was brought to this issue in 2014, when a measles outbreak occurred at Disneyland (Glanz, Kraus, & Daily, 2015). This outbreak was contributed to children not being vaccinated because of their parents’ choice to not have his or her child vaccinated (Glanz, et al., 2015). This issue is an ethical dilemma in healthcare. One side of this dilemma is for healthcare providers to vaccinate all children, who do not have a medical reason not to be vaccinated, to protect the health of the entire population, which causes patients parents autonomy to be ignored. Side two of this dilemma is for healthcare providers to not vaccinate children due to his or her parents’ concern, which could cause a disease outbreak.

Over the years, there has been much controversy surrounding the subject of childhood vaccinations. With differing opinions, many are in favor about childhood vaccinations being required for children. Children vaccinations have been proven to be an effective means of preventing serious effects, including fatalities, from childhood illnesses yet there is still controversy over whether the risk of side effects from the vaccines outweighs the risk of contracting diseases. The belief behind mandatory vaccinations has been linked to people wanting vaccinations to be required for children because it will prevent the spread of childhood diseases, but there are still questions and concerns around why childhood vaccinations should be required. Questions surrounding this topic are: why should vaccines be required, are there any serious risks involved in vaccinating your child, and should children be turned away from school if they do not have vaccinations? There is also the question of should these vaccinations be mandatory or should this solely be a choice that the parents of the child should make? In order for us to be able to take our stance on the subject, we need to examine the answers to the question.

Some of the most important things in life is our health and family. Individuals cherish their family and try to provide the best life afforded to them. When their family’s safety or health is in jeopardy, the individuals will try to protect and ensure the proper measures are taken to safeguard their recovery to a healthy state. When this effects the child, the parents will do anything to ensure these beliefs by any means necessary. This can be a productive attitude, but also can be destructive to the parent’s goal of maintaining the child’s safety and health. In addition, this also evokes ethical dilemmas in pediatric health care. One dilemma that has been on the rise in the last decade, is parents refuting vaccinations for their children from reports of a link to vaccines causing autism. From December 2014 to February 2015 a 110 individuals acquired measles associated to the Disney Land® theme park. During the outbreak, 49% of the victims were unvaccinated and the rest were in different stages in the MMR vaccination process (i.e., only received one to two doses) (Zipprich, J., Winter, K., Hacker, J., Xia, D., Watt, J., & Harriman, K., 2015).

Although I am not a parent, I cannot imagine anything being more important to a parent than the health of their child. The recent outbreaks of childhood diseases like measles, whooping cough, and mumps, are serious enough to scare any parent. These diseases are vaccine-preventable, and are very rare thanks to successful vaccination programs. However, the number of parents refusing to vaccinate their children is on the rise, and is most likely the cause of the resurgence of these diseases (Phadke, Bednarcyzk, Salmon, & Omer, 2016).