Parental Vaccination Compliance Is More Prevalent Than Ever Before Essay

“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.

Choosing to vaccinate or not vaccinate children has become a large topic of contention between parents and medical personnel. Rates of non-medical vaccine exemptions for children entering public school continue to increase across the country. This increase has coincided with a resurgence in outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, or VPDs (Lynfield, 2014, p.1). There are a variety of reasons why a family might apply for a non-medical exemption and the validity of these exemptions varies from state to state. Regardless of the justifiability of an exemption, growing numbers of non-vaccinated children entering school will increase the prevalence and mortality from VPDs (Lynfield, 2014, p.2).

Implementing childhood vaccination policy in the United States has sparked controversy among parents and public health officials in determining the ethical implications of immunization mandates. The arguments of parents who refuse vaccinations for their children are multidimensional and tend to include a lack of clear understanding of safety measures and how their decisions affect society. In order to effectively communicate with parents with opposing perspectives while respecting their personal autonomy, it is important to intensify informational sessions that include the dangers of viruses that are preventable.

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate? Parents with infants and young children have been tussling with this proverbial question for several decades now. With the advent of the internet and the World Wide Web, parents have been bombarded with a plethora of information about pros and cons of vaccines from all kinds of sources, some creditable, and some are not. To the non-scientific community, these conflicting information can create problems in the decision making process; thus, forcing parents to make the wrong choices and putting their offspring and others at risk. However, this article will attempt to address the importance of vaccinations, how vaccines work, why we should vaccinate, and why parents should not be afraid to vaccinate their offspring.

Parents should have the exclusive authority to make medical decisions on behalf of their minor children. Informed parents have the responsibility to refuse or discontinue treatments, even those that may be life-sustaining. This right extends to opting-out of vaccinations when in the best interests of the child. Although, these rights are being challenged. In addition, those parents choosing to opt-out of the vaccination program for their children are facing sanctions, ridicule as well as ostracized. A published article in, Pediatrics, confirm what other studies have suggested: “Anti-vaccine sentiment in the United States appears strongest among educated, wealthier white families. All 50 states have legislation requiring specified vaccines for students. Although exemptions vary from state to state, all school immunization laws grant exemptions to children for medical reasons.”

Many parents today have been suggesting that they don't want their child to get vaccinations. Which is the case for most children today. But are they in school?

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.

Due to the attention the anti-vaccination movement has received, many researchers have attempted to determine who is participating in the anti-vaccination movement. I am not the first to call for distinctions in children who were not fully-up-to-date (FUTD) on vaccines from those who are. Previous research on vaccination status has considered the children of “non vaccinators” as two distinct groups: undervaccinated and unvaccinated. Unlike selectively-vaccinated children, who intentionally were spared a particular vaccine, in much of this research undervaccinated children are identified as those who have inconsistent access to medical care (Reich 2014). Undervaccinated children are more likely to share particular demographic characteristics such as being below the poverty line, having a mother who is younger, unmarried, and has not attended college (Reich 2014; Smith 2004). This group is perceived to be unable, in most circumstances, to obtain the recommended vaccinations due to a wide variety of external factors. Undervaccinated children, in this sense, have been of particular interest to public health officials as they have attempted to implement programs to remove the cost of vaccines to increase availability (Smith et al. 2008). Undervaccination, like discussed earlier, has been reduced with the enactment of the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program by the United States government (Whitney et al. 2014).

This dilemma started when parents started to be allowed to not have his or her child vaccinated due to religious beliefs (Glanz, et al., 2015). Then, as information started to become available online and through handouts given at doctor appointments, parents started learning more about the risks of vaccinations (Block, 2015). Parents started expressing concerns about vaccinations, which led to twenty states allowing parents to refuse to have his or her child vaccinated due to personal beliefs (Glanz, et al., 2015). The main reasons parents have used for not having his or her child

Vaccines are important for preventing deadly diseases. If a child is not vaccinated against preventable diseases, not only is the child at risk but also the entire community is at risk. This would include newborns in the community who are too young to have been vaccinated, people who cannot receive vaccines due to medical reasons, and people who may not have responded to a vaccine. With more people opting not to vaccinate their children, there has been a rise in the outbreak of preventable childhood diseases such as measles in certain communities. The reason most parents decide not to vaccinate is due to being misled by the media and the internet (Daley, 2011). Our healthcare professionals must do a better job at communicating the counterarguments. Physicians must begin having a discussion with parents at a much earlier time than what the recent norm has been which is usually at the two-month check-up. If a discussion over

Daley and Glanz (2011) talk about how parents should be spoken regarding vaccinations prior to giving birth, if possible. Dannetun, Tegnell, Hermansson, and Giesecke (2005) attempt to add to the literature regarding why parents choose to not vaccinate their children for MMR. Using the four criteria stated above, I will evaluate how credible each of these three sources are. The author of an article should be knowledgeable in the subject they are writing about.

When it comes to getting, your kids vaccinated many parents must get it due to the school’s policies. Many schools will not let the student back to school until vaccinated or will kick out a student if they do not get the vaccine. On the other hand, some parents do not believe in getting their kids vaccinated so they do what it takes to not get their kids shots. There’s two sides to this issue that people have opinions on. There is many pros and cons When it comes to getting your kid vaccinated. This topic is very important because it’s a subject that all parents need to know about before doing so. Being a parent is hard and there is no way to go around it. Being that person who will decide their medical

This topic is extremely significant to my audience because a growing number of parents do not vaccinate their children due to fear of side effects. Parents today have lost confidence in in the vaccination industry as a consequence of sensationalism brought about by false evidence published and the celebrities that latched onto that claim. Sadly, some people have taken to considering the strong opinions and may not research vaccinations before making decisions

Many parents stress over the choice of deciding whether or not to vaccinate their children. The reason why deciding to vaccinate children is so difficult is due to the wide range of myths and side effects that are connected with vaccinations. Myths spread to parents all over the United States that the diseases don’t even exist anymore, rumors of vaccinations weakening a child’s immune system, and the risk of a child becoming autistic due to thimerisol in vaccinations. Side effects also scare parents out of getting their children vaccinated like brain damage, seizures, or allergic reactions, but then parents are pulled back to the thought of the possibility of

Millions of lives have been saved thanks to a global effort to vaccinate for deadly diseases. Peter Yeo reports “Immunizations have saved more children than any other medical intervention in the last 50 years” (Reforming the U.N. 118). Yet, a new trend for parents is opting out of vaccinating their children for personal beliefs or religious exemptions. Although, the majority of Americans believe vaccines protect children, and conclusive evidence has proven vaccines can prevent the spread of deadly diseases. Still, a few parents believe vaccinating children is not essential for their health, additionally, they believe an increase in mandatory vaccines has insufficient scientific research to prevent serious medical side effects.