Flawed Protection Essay

My cousin recently became a mother, and has expressed with me her concerns to vaccinate her child. Her main concern is that vaccines have been linked to autism and other health problems. There are multiple articles circulating the internet alerting parents of possible side effects of vaccinations; some even claiming to have scientific proof to support their claims.

Fombonne, E. (2000,November, 20). Is there an epidemic of autism? Pediatrics, Retrieved January 20, 2008, from http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/107/2/411?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=eric+fombonne&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT

Many parents are skeptical about getting their children vaccinated because of the fear that it may cause autism. The question of whether vaccines cause autism is still a controversial subject among many citizens today especially parents. Some citizens argue that vaccines are not safe and could potentially cause autism. Parents believe that vaccine caused their child to develop autism because autism symptoms become apparent around the same time that children were getting their routine vaccinations (WebMD). Many people believe that vaccines are completely safe and do not cause autism in fact some citizens argue that all children should be vaccinated to prevent sickness and serious diseases in fact there have been many studies conducted to prove that vaccines do not cause autism. Despite controversial claims, there is no scientific evidence that links vaccines to autism.

One of the most controversial stories in today’s medicine is between autism and vaccinations. Autism is a disorder that makes it difficult for people to communicate with others and form relationships with them. It has been thought that vaccinations that children receive at an early age cause autism. Autism has become more prevalent over the years and scientists are still unsure how the disorder has come about. Some parents have taken it upon themselves to not vaccinate their children because they believe it will cause their child to become autistic. The real question is do vaccines really cause autism and if so which vaccine is it?

The relevant theory of why parents are not vaccinating their children would be cognitive dissonance. The parents choose not to vaccinate their children due to other cases that may or may not have been linked to autism. Once the immunization has been given, it doesn’t mean that the child is unable to get it. The disease could be dormant and the immune system hasn’t picked up on it. You can still possibly contract anything contagious even with the shot, so why expose a child with a fragile immune system to massive dose of chemicals.

Do vaccines cause autism is a question that has been bouncing around for over twenty years. The increase in the number of diagnosed cases of Autism Spectrum Disorder has increased significantly and due to the impact this has in people’s lives several studies have been done in an effort to determine the cause. More specifically the MMR, Measles, Mumps, and Rubella, vaccination has been accused of being the cause of autism. This accusation then contributed to families not vaccinating their children. Even though science disproves the link between vaccines and autism in several studies done in the United Kingdom, California, and Canada, many people cling to the vaccination-autism connection (Gerber, 2009).

Vaccines are designed to put foreign antigens into the body so the body will produce antibodies to fight it off. When an antigen is

Autism shouldn’t be the reason as to why parents do not want their child vaccinated. By not vaccinating children, it puts the individual and community at risk. According to The Center of Diseases and Control research, it suggests that the benefits of receiving vaccines definitely over power the risk of receiving any vaccination problems. There has been evidence that proves that vaccination is not the cause of

"Despite overwhelming propaganda in the mainstream media that vaccines do not cause autism, one poll found that one out of every four parents now believe that vaccines cause autism" (Vaccines Cause Autism). Parents who listen to the media rather than the doctors don't want to accept the fact that there is no connection between autism and getting vaccinated. As one doctor explains in viewpoint, "There is more likely a coincidental link between immunization schedules and diagnoses of autism because the disease tends to arise when children are young, around the same ages that they are receiving vaccinations" (Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism). Children get vaccinated against 14 diseases by the age of two, along with annual flu vaccinations. Even though many doctors have mounting evidence proving the safety and value of vaccination, many parents are still passionately opposed to them. "Many people believe that the increased number of vaccines children now get twice as many as they did in 1980 and can receive up to 20 injections by their first birthday are to blame for the rise in kids with autism spectrum disorders (ASD)" (Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism). It's completely coincidental that autism comes out around the same time that many of the vaccines are given to the children. Parents blame the vaccines because they don't want to accept that their child developed

vaccinations are said to cause autism and other mental disorders for the children later on

Another pro of vaccinations are that they protect others too. Imagine a child coming to school who has an active case of Whooping Cough. (By the way, a school nearby recently closed for a few days due to an outbreak of Whooping Cough.) The infected child, (whose parents did not vaccinate) comes to school and infects other students in his/her class. The teacher is also infected by the student. The students go home and infect their parents and their younger siblings. The teacher goes home and infects her children and her aging parents that she cares for. It’s a domino effect. When we vaccinate our children, we are protecting others that we love and care for. We protect others in the community that has not been vaccinated themselves. It protects babies who are too young to be vaccinated, the elderly, pregnant women, and persons in the community with weakened immune systems for reasons such as chronic illnesses.

First, studies and research have shown that vaccinations are not connected to autism. The only connection between vaccines and autism is age. Parents naturally think vaccinations have something to do with their child developing autism, and they tend to look towards recent events that happened in their child’s life as the cause. Vaccines are usually seen as the cause of autism because vaccinations are received at the age when children develop autism, so many parents wrongly connect the two. One of the main reasons parents are scared to give their children vaccinations is because of a false statement made by Dr. Andrew Wakefield. It was about the vaccination given to prevent measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR). In 1988, it was falsely stated by Dr. Wakefield in the Lancet that the

According to Vaccines Pros and Cons, Vaccines can protect future generations. In order to decrease or prevent diseases, we must vaccinate our family and ourselves. Vaccinating is saving parents time and money that would be wasted if people were to contract a disease. When mothers are vaccinated, they are protecting their baby from birth defects.

Foremost, parents worldwide need to realize there has been no link found between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and vaccinations. One of the leading causes behind parents not wanting to vaccinate their children is simply out of fear that

Tens of millions of people have been diagnosed with Autism worldwide, effecting both genders, all races, ethnicities and people from all socioeconomic classes. In 2010 a Surveillance Summary was conducted in the United States, where it identified that one in 68 children are diagnosed with Autism (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). It has been recognised