Public Health Issues At The World Right Now

The argument encompassing whether or not parents should vaccinate their children is ongoing. It is a very interesting matter to learn about and I possess some strong feelings about the case. This issue interests me because there are parents who don’t have their children vaccinated, and there are parents who do have them vaccinated. But all these parents share one particular quality: they all would like for their kids to be safe.

Although the negative claims behind anti-immunization stances are deceptive and discredited, some parents find it difficult to accept that vaccines are necessary and safe. Many of these reasons are due to personal or religious beliefs that have persuaded parents to bypass immunizations for their children. Consequently, health officials are seeing disquieting rises of diseases that are easily preventable. The CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) has reported hundreds of measles cases in the United States in 2011, the largest number in 15 years (Ben-Joseph, Elana). Essentially, almost all of these cases were in individuals who had not received a vaccine shot. Also found in the article was that a great amount of the quarrel over the shots comes from a 1998 study that tried to connect autism to a type of vaccine that defends against measles. However, there has been no scientific evidence that a vaccine or a combination of any of the shots induces autism. Undoubtedly, the doctor that wrote the article, calling vaccines a “deliberate fraud” ,lost his license for not submitting any evidence of his claim and causing people to neglect shots for that year. Sadly, due to that article, 1 in 4 parents still believe that vaccines are

The attention coming from the Disneyland measles outbreak has brought up a controversial issue, something as preventable as measles spreading throughout the country because parents are uneasy about vaccinating their children from childhood diseases. The issue has many parents debating each other on what is right and wrong when it comes to vaccines and children. This hot topic has been all over the news in the last few months and has many parents standing their ground. Some parents feel doctors and the government pressure them to vaccinate, they believe vaccines are unnatural and can cause harm to a child later on. Others put faith in their child’s doctor and in vaccines without question, they were vaccinated so why

Vaccinations are something that is none around the world. It is supported in many countries but in others it is not. In the United States there is a constant controversy as to whether to vaccinate or not. Most parents in our society opt for the vaccination process to protect their children in any way they can. Although, many parents do not see it that way. The controversy of childhood vaccination spans back more than just a few years it goes back as far as the 18th century (Nelson) but the fact of the matter is childhood vaccinations have very few side effects, there have been very few lines between autism and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) (“Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and Vaccines”; Shea, Diekema), and when children come in to contact with diseases they are not vaccinated for it can cause nationwide pandemic (Nelson; “Should Any Vaccines Be Required for Children?”).

"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

In the world today, there are many diseases and other illnesses that there are vaccinations for. Some having minor side effects, but others preventing of any other serious diseases from happening, or even death. There has been a debate about whether or not parents should vaccinate their children. Those parents that do not think this is a good idea, mostly believe that these vaccinations can cause autism in their children from being so young and being vaccinated. Other parents are for it, so that their child can be healthy, stay away from any other diseases, and are helping those children who can’t be vaccinated. Those children who can’t be vaccinated are usually those that are too young, or are too ill, such as those with leukemia for example. If a child who has the option of getting vaccinated but doesn’t, it can severely harm that child who is too ill. All children, if they are able to, should, and need, to be vaccinated to keep these diseases from spreading any further.

Vaccinations are promoted to be the best thing since sliced bread. People today know them as a cure to help eliminate childhood diseases and protect us from possible pandemics. So hypothetically what is the major issue with vaccines? Vaccinations contain ingredients used by funeral directors to preserve bodies (Scheibner p. 255). Children in the United States receive more vaccines and antibiotics than any other children around the globe (O’ Shea p. 54).Also, reports have shown that American children are becoming more and more sick. Finally, vaccinations are a multibillion dollar per year business, making 33.8 billion in 2012 alone (“’Vaccines Market Will Reach 33.8 Billion dollars in 2012’ Visiongain Report Predict.”). Anything involving that much money should be looked at and examined skeptically because is it about receiving a paycheck or the patient’s health? Government has threatened to block admission to schools if the vaccinations are not complete. As well as, Pediatricians are now refusing to see children not fully vaccinated due to vaccination tracking. Parents are responsible for guiding and protecting their children to adulthood and parents should have the right to choose what vaccinations their children should get, at which point in their life or if they should get any.

Now, as stated above, misinformation fuels the anti-vaccination movement. The largest source of said misinformation is the abundance of zany conspiracy theories that pervade the Internet. Although there are many stories vaccination opponents cling to, the primary source of modern falsehoods is a fraudulent article published in 1998 by Dr. Andrew Wakefield in The Lancet, a renowned peer-reviewed medical journal. In his article, Wakefield described how his research showed a correlation between the onset of autism symptoms in children and the injection of the mumps, measles, and rubella vaccine. However, as Wakefield was found to have a slew of undeclared conflicts of interest and heavily manipulated results, The Lancet fully retracted his article in 2010, and his medical license was revoked (Douglas et al, 2014). At this point, however, the damage had already been done. The media carelessly circulated stories about Wakefield’s now-discredited article using sensationalist, fear-mongering headlines. The remnants of this massive reporting blunder now float in cyberspace like asteroids, colliding with parents worried about the safety of their children. These “asteroids” often convince naïve parents that childhood vaccinations are dangerous by implementing vicious scare tactics. Needless to say, nobody

Reading about the consequences of vaccinations in the literature made me confused. Both sides of immunizing and not, had positive, compelling points. I decided to interview one of my former classmates Dr. John Burns. He is a doctorate of chiropractic and father of ten children. He and his wife decided not vaccinate the majority of their children. During the interview I asked him what his fear was about vaccination. He answered, “Mohammad, most of my fear is from personal experience. In my life, I have witnessed so many of my family members and my patients who had perfectly fine children until fifteen months. After vaccinations, the same child started developing neurological problems; most often autism.” I further asked, “Do you think preservatives such as thimerosal in the vaccines are causing the neurological damage?” He responded “Although I think that thimerosal-containing vaccines play a major role in causing neurological damage, the numbers of vaccines and the frequent

In less than fifteen weeks, I am going to be an aunt of a beautiful baby girl. I have many dreams for her, none of which include her becoming ill from a deadly disease just because she or others around her are not properly vaccinated. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), a vaccine is “a product that stimulates a person’s immune system to produce immunity to a specific disease, protecting the person from that disease” (“Immunization: The Basics”). Vaccination has been a controversial issue for many decades in the United States. Some people support mandatory vaccination of children because they believe that it is necessary to keep the entire population safe from preventable diseases, while others oppose it because they think it should be the parents’ choice whether or not to vaccinate their children. Although certain religious groups may have objections to vaccinations, requiring parents to vaccinate their children is in the best interest of the lives of the American civic society because vaccines are safe, economic benefits would accrue to society, and they save the lives of many people both in present and future generations.

Growing up, vaccinations were a normal part of childhood along with a loose tooth and a scraped knee. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that vaccinations will prevent more than 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths among children born in the last 20 years (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). However, in recent years, vaccinations have become a controversial issue among parents, with many choosing not to vaccinate their children. This dangerous trend has emerged largely due to a discredited link between vaccines and Autism, and caused a resurgence of several life-threatening diseases which had been all but eradicated. With the safety of all people in mind, as well as easing the financial strain on our health care system from treating preventable diseases, vaccines for children should be mandatory.

Pro-vaccine parents and doctors use research conducted on vaccinations to support their reasoning for why vaccines are safe for children and do not cause developmental problems. There needs to be a better response because of the “rise of the anti vaccination movement,reduced incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases, increased consumerism and interest in alternative therapies, public health workers will be increasingly compelled to respond to community concerns about vaccines” (Leask and McInTyre, 4701). They believe the debate against vaccines are “fueled by parents’ fears that vaccines are not safe for every child…Some worry that the measles vaccine causes autism – a theory that has been thoroughly discredited by numerous scientific studies” and that these are not legitimate reasons for the fear and rejection of vaccines (Foxhall, 1). Those who are pro vaccines also note that “Opposition to vaccination occurs through organized lobbying to ups of mainly parents or individual spokespersons who medical or scientific background lends credibility to their claims” (Leask and McIntyre, 1).This side of the argument for vaccines does not have as much media attention because it has been the accepted way of child healthcare for many people. We know that vaccines do help children stay healthy from very deadly diseases. Our rate of these deadly diseases occurring has decreased because the health care field has been able to find ways to keep us all healthy through vaccines. The wonderful thing about having the majority of the population in the United States vaccinated is that it protects young children or very sick children who cannot get vaccinated yet from contracting a disease. Those individuals who are not getting vaccinated can still be kept safe because everyone else is getting vaccinated, which is known as the herd affect.

There is a plethora of reliable data supporting the safety of vaccines. No amount of information will convince an individual who has already decided or who is desperate to support a foregone conclusion. In an interview with scholastic.com and Child and Parent Magazine, Daniel A. Salmon, Ph.D., says, "You have to look at it from a parent's perspective. If you have an autistic child, you naturally want to know what caused it." I can imagine that the questions surrounding such a difficult diagnosis would potentially drive loving parents mad. To witness a person you love dearly slip through your fingers all the while continuing to live and breathe is a significant weight to bare. However, this does not relieve us from having reliable data to inform our intellect and potential decision making. One other cause of the rise of this myth is the accessibility to inaccurate information through the internet. Most parents have access to incredibly accurate information, but that information is smeared with the experiences of others relaying information as facts which have no basis in reality. A Facebook post that could be read by hundreds of people expressing an opinion, will carry more weight than a peer-reviewed scientific journal due to the fact the audience will most like never read a scientific journal. Furthermore, the Facebook post is filtered through a relationship or a connection and the information seems authentic. This trend is literally putting our children's lives in

The use of vaccines has saved countless lives throughout history and will continue to do so for years to come. The benefits of vaccines are exponentially greater than the drawbacks. There are hardly any side effects to vaccines, and almost all of the side effects are petty conditions, such as soreness or stiffness. Not getting your vaccines puts society at risk. It could harm your family, children, the elderly, and people that are immunocompromised. The stakeholders of the MMR vaccine causes autism issue are Jenny McCarthy with Generation Rescue and the scientific community. The “scientific research” that McCarthy was drawing her evidence from was published by Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues in 1998. This study claimed that vaccines were linked to the onset of autism. This research was almost immediately refuted by subsequently conducted studies. Wakefield’s papers were later discredited for fraudulent research and unethical

Vaccinations are a much-debated topic whether they are necessary or even safe for our children. There is a great amount of evidence that suggests, vaccinations are not only safe for children but are lifesaving. Even though it is reported that vaccines are the surest, most effective treatment for reducing and preventing diseases, some researchers dispute vaccine safety. It is reported that vaccines can cause serious side effects that may be associated with ADHD, autism, and other chronic illnesses. There is supported facts that claim, those who choose not to vaccinate their children are not only risking the health of their children but jeopardizing the lives of other individuals that are unable to receive vaccines, such as those with a weakened immune system due to cancer or other diseases that affects the immune.