Negative Effects Of Vaccinations

Vaccinations have been repeatedly demonstrated to be one of the most effective interventions to prevent disease worldwide. It was voted by readers of the British Medical Journal in 2007 as one of the four most important developments in medicine of the past 150 years, alongside sanitation, antibiotics and anaesthesia. However, vaccination currently saves an estimated three million lives per year throughout the world and so topped the list in terms of lives saved, making it one of the most cost-effective health interventions available. Modern vaccines provide high levels of protection against an increasing number of diseases and the symptoms, disability and death that can occur from them.

Recently an anti-vaccination movement has sparked a worldwide discussion about both the safety of vaccines and the responsibility of people to vaccinate. Recent outbreaks of preventable diseases have caused both fear and anger from people on both sides of the issue. These same outbreaks have also served to cause significant political tension between those against vaccines, who do not want their right to choose compromised, and many proponents of vaccines, who are calling for mandatory vaccinations.

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.

Opposition to vaccinations has been around as long as the vaccinations themselves, as early as the 1800s (History of Vaccines). Major anti-vaccination movements began around 1815 during the smallpox epidemic in England (History of Vaccines). Doctor Edward Jenner conducted an experiment where he tested the vaccine first on cows, and later proved it effective on children (History of Vaccines). Jenner’s experiment consisted of taking a lymph from a cowpox blister and inserting it into the blood stream of the patient (History of Vaccines). News

This is not to say that the conflict between the anti-vaccine movement (once again more of a set of ideologies) and the state mandated vaccinations did not cease. The 1922 case of Zucht v. King saw the expansion of compulsory vaccination to schoolchildren attending public school (a distinction that would come to the fore later in the 20th century (Colgrove & Bayer, 2005). Even as education took the front seat, public health still held the tools of quarantine

However, these parents are underestimating how many other parents have the same idea. An increasing problem is that people assume that everyone else vaccinated their children. In reality, a minority large enough to start an epidemic are not vaccinating their children. Park estimates if all children received the recommended vaccinations from the time they were born to adolescence $10 billion in medical bills would be saved, 14 million infections would be avoided, and 33,000 lives would be saved (Park). The issue is, critics believe these numbers do not apply to them. Critics believe their child’s infection could not have been avoided, and, potentially, life could not have been saved if they did vaccinate their child.

Vaccines save lives; fear endangers them. Vaccinations have been used since the 18th century to cure various deadly diseases, from smallpox to the influenza virus. On a global level, vaccination is one of the few cost-effective medical measures that result in universal benefit. Yet there have always been those opposed to vaccinations because of possible side effects. With the increase in technology and the ability to share ideas in modern society the anti vaccine movement has flourished making the eradication of disease and safety of the public a difficult task. The anti-vaccine movement in the United States is one which brings about a very serious issue of safety. Vaccinations are put in place to protect people; they are administered by trained professionals who weigh the costs and benefits of vaccines. Yet there are still people out there who refuse to be vaccinated out of fear and therefore decide for themselves the effectiveness of vaccines. In order to ensure a safe society the public needs to be educated about vaccine in order to make a truly informed decision.

While the anti-vaccination movement appears to be a present issue, it has roots in 1866 England. Immediately following the formation of The Parliament of England Compulsory Vaccination Act, anti-smallpox propaganda spread. The argument against mandatory vaccination was it was a way, “to steal away our medical liberties one by one,” (Cawkwell). To have a more unified message, they formed the Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League. In four years it had about 10,000 members (Cawkwell). Pamphlets and periodicals were published throughout Britain to illuminate the issue of mandatory vaccination.

Throughout history, it has been shown that vaccines make a significant impact on the health of our communities and “administration of these vaccines led to dramatic reduction in the number of cases of, as well as deaths from smallpox, polio, diphtheria, pertussis, measles, mumps and preventable diseases” (Jacobson, 2012, p.36). Generally, those involved in campaigns for and research in these preventable diseases attribute vaccines for children as the main contributing factor to the overall decline in diseases such as measles, mumps, smallpox and pertussis (Jacobson, 2012). In the public health setting, there are many issues that threaten the health and safety of the public, not just in the local community but the nation and world-wide. One such issue, surfacing in public health, is the issue of vaccinations; those who choose to vaccinate, those who choose not to vaccinate and those who do not

In other ways, the stigmatization takes the form of a feeling of embarrassment, especially by imposing some nosy questions about a woman pregnancy that some people spontaneously ask, “How are you and your children?” Because a woman looks older and is anticipated to have children, people who meet them for the first time ask the same question, unexpectedly. This is embarrassing in case of childlessness. Children are also involved in embarrassing and stigmatizing these women. A child can ask a woman, “Where are your children?” e.g., to play with them. In another circulated a story that there is a woman who is about 47-year-old and who mothered one daughter and never conceived again. During one of the movement of vaccination team across districts

I also said that children are usually diagnosed with autism at the same time that they go received vaccines. I think that there is way more research that needs to be done to see what actually causes autism. There are many more things in this world that have bad effects on children than vaccines. I agree 100 percent with your position on the

Despite vaccinations being credited for the control and elimination of several childhood diseases, there are still many critics who raise concerns about the necessity of vaccination. In a national study of parents performed in 2000, 19% indicated they had “concerns about vaccines” whereas in a subsequent survey performed in 2009 this number had risen to 50%. There has also been a rise in non-medical vaccine exemptions that has occurred over the last several years. In a 2010 national survey of physicians, 89% of respondents reported at least one vaccine refusal by a parent each month (Dempsey & Gowda, 2013). Opposers argue that making school vaccination mandatory is against their right to make personal medical decisions. They feel that the government has no place to force parents to vaccinate their children if the parents decide it is not in their child’s best interest. Many parents are disagreeable about the multiple vaccinations received at one time, which results in possible pain and discomfort for the child. Another argument against vaccination is the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Critics are concerned about the unknown risks vaccines pose to children. Some parents noted their child acquiring a “high fever” or beginning to “act different” after the administration of a vaccine. There is a belief that there is a connection between the measles vaccination and autism. Another theory is that the influenza

Vaccinations have been proven safe for consumer use time and time again, yet people are still wary or hesitant to have their children receive vaccinations. Often times, people who argue against vaccinations are undereducated or miseducated about the real advantages and dangers of vaccinations, and many times these concerns are due to widely spread misconceptions. However, these have been proven wrong by a plethora of reputable pharmaceutical companies. Proven by many , vaccinations prevent epidemics, save money for the nation, and protect the future.

Vaccination is a biological preparation that builds immunity to a particular disease. Getting shots are vital in getting prepared in epidemics. If more than half the population is vaccinated, it can block further outbreaks. Although it may prevent future outbreaks of viruses, vaccinations has side effects that prompts many families to avoid getting vaccination. Anti-vaccination movement has become huge issue where many people are blaming medical practices of vaccination for the cause of wide range of health problems. Many families with newborn babies eschew vaccination because of many controversial issue of vaccines resulting in health problems, the ineffectiveness, and the inhumane ingredients used in vaccines.

During the 20th century, the infectious disease death rate decreased from 800/1000 deaths to less than 100/1000 deaths. This is mainly due to the introduction of immunisation. Vaccination has clearly prevented millions of deaths over the last century; nevertheless, the anti-vaccination movement has grown significantly in recent years. Some of the reasons why people join this movement include the belief that vaccines don’t actually work, the belief that vaccines are unnatural and therefore unhealthy and the belief that vaccines contain toxins that cause bodily damage and neuropsychiatric problems (eg. Autism). This essay will discredit the beliefs associated with the anti vaccination movement through infectious disease statistics,