Reasons To Vaccinate Children

Parents face many different decisions when raising a child; some decisions are trivial, and others can be controversial. Whether or not to vaccinate a child is one of the most controversial choices. So controversial, in fact, that there is a political conversation of making immunizations a requirement. Many people support the movement of making vaccinations mandatory. Proponents argue that vaccines save lives, vaccine-preventable diseases have not been eradicated, and vaccines protect herd immunity. Many people also disagree with the possibility of required vaccinations. Opponents argue that vaccines cause harm, immunity by vaccinations is inferior to natural immunity, and government policies should not dictate personal medical choices.

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.

There is approximately 1,000 infants die each year as a direct result of the DTP vaccine. Approximately 35,000 acute neurological reactions occur within 48 hours of the shot. (www.tuberose.com). Doctors, FDA, and CDC are all telling us the vaccines are safe, but are they really. I visited a site called the Tragedy of Vaccinations and in this site it had pictures and a list of names of children who had a severe reaction to vaccinations, first on the list was a boy name Chris- Christopher died 21 hours after receiving his first DPT and OPV vaccination at two months of age. Second, Ashley- 72 hours after receiving her 4th DPT and OPV and HIB, she was hospitalized with encephalitis and kidney failure, she is severely mentally and physically handicapped. Third Richell- 10 hours after her 3rd DPT and OPV she suffered a grand mal seizure, she is now mentally and physically handicapped (www.yourlifesource.com) and the list went on. These are only a few of the thousands of children who suffer from mental and physical handicaps and who have died from these so called routine vaccinations. I would guarantee you that the parents of these children would argue that vaccinations are not safe by any means.

[Vaccinations have lowered the death rates of Americans over the years. According to McNeil “in November 2007, death rates for 13 diseases that can be prevented by childhood vaccinations were at all-time lows…nine of the diseases, rates of hospitalization or death had declined more than 90 percent. For three…death rates had dropped by 100 percent” (Paragraph 3). This study shows that vaccinations are beneficial to children. With these vaccinations, children will be less exposed to these diseases, which will prevent them from spending time in the hospital or in some cases dying.

When most people are babies they go to the doctor and get immunizations or vaccines. People get vaccines to protect they from harmful diseases like polio, smallpox, and the measles. Now parents are starting not to vaccinate their children because they fear the vaccines. When vaccines first came out parents took their children right away to be vaccinated because they knew the terrible things those diseases can bring. Now those diseases are gone and parents do not know what they can do to a child. Although some may argue that vaccinating babies and young children is a bad idea it is actually good because it protects others, prevents outbreaks, and they are not harmful to most children.

“In 2011 alone, 1.5 million children died [worldwide] from diseases preventable by currently recommended vaccines” (“Immunization” 2). The magnitude of this tragedy is in part caused by the fact that some of those children simply weren’t reached by organizations like UNICEF, which aim to vaccinate children (“Immunization” 2). However, there are other reasons for the recent deaths and epidemics—such as the whooping cough epidemic of 2012, with 48,000 cases nationally in the United States—involving vaccine preventable diseases (McClay 1).

Chronic illnesses such as autism are said to have a relationship with these vaccinations, however,

Vaccinating does not only keep your child from getting sick, but also any one else’s child that they come in contact with whether the other child is an infant too young to get a vaccination, or children whose parent chooses not to vaccinate. The risks of not vaccinating are not only that your child may get a virus that could have been prevented but also that they will spread that virus to people who are also not vaccinated or are too young to vaccinate. People may think that certain vaccines are not needed because no one has had measles in the U.S. for a long time but that’s only due to the high vaccination rates we previously had. People might also say that vaccines can cause Guillain Barré Syndrome, or anaphylaxis. The Gullain Barré Syndrom

A reason your child should get vaccinated is that it ensures that your child won’t get sick. 96% of doctors recommend getting a vaccine for your everyday illnesses such as the flu, DTap, MMR, etc. Most often these illnesses focus on physical growth and metabolism growth. These vaccines ensures healthy start to a child's life. All parents want their children to grow up to be nice and strong. 99.9% of the vaccines any doctors give babies or children is to keep the child healthy and strong.

Lets look at what a vaccination is first: “a vaccine introduces a antigen (a foreign substance that triggers an immune system response) into the body, and the person produces antibodies and develops active immunity to a disease without having the clinical disease” (Ball, Bindler and Cowen 370). Research reports of vaccination progress show supporting data of the decline in morbidity from nine vaccine-preventable diseases and their complications. The diseases being: smallpox, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, poliomyelitis, measles, mumps, rubella and haemophilus type B (cdc.gov). Vaccinations have proven their benefits over time, they improve the quality of life and allow the parents to have a piece of mind in this area concerning their child's

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

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.

I wanted to talk to you about vaccinations and why they are so important. There are multiple reasons why someone should get vaccinated but, here are three. One reason someone should get vaccinated is because it will protect them from disease. Another reason is because it will protect them from spreading diseases to other people. Lastly it will prevent less outbreaks.

Children should be required to get vaccines because it saves money. According to Kevin Loria, “Take, for example, that same group of 4.1 million kids born in the U.S. in 2009. Researchers estimate that the vaccines they receive will save $13.5 billion in health treatment costs and almost $70 billion when measuring other costs to society, like lost productivity”(par.16). Experts estimated that treating the 4.1 million children born in the U.S. in 2009 will save the U.S. about $13.5 billion in health care and if other costs to society are also deliberately looked at, then the U.S. will be able to save about $70 billion. According to Vincent Iannelli, “Saving all of those lives comes with a price. A net savings of $13.5 billion in direct costs and $68.8 billion in total societal costs.

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