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Should Parents Be Allowed To Vaccinate Children

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Fear plays a large part of influence for both parties whether they support of oppose. Buyuktiryaki et al. (2014) revealed from a survey where they asked the parents of asthmatic children to participate, that many parents chose to vaccinate their child (specifically H1N1 in this scenario) because of their asthma, fearing that their pre-existing condition would make them more prone to the H1N1 virus. A little over half of the parents who chose to vaccinate did so because of the encouraging influence of their loved ones, friends and health care providers. At the same time, almost ninety percent of parents who chose not to vaccinate their children, made the decision based on their fear of “adverse side effects” (pg. 2277). Other prevalent factors …show more content…

Mrozek-Budzyn, Kiełtyka, Majewska & Augustyniak (2013) expresses that their investigation and analysis concluded that “No significant differences of cognitive and intelligence tests results were observed between children vaccinated with MMR and unvaccinated" (2553). A standard mumps, measles and rubella vaccination will not cause a child to fall behind in their early learning and it will not reduce their mental capacity. Another large concern that many anti-vaccination parents have, comes from a study published around a decade ago. DeStefano, Price &Weintraub (2013) explains that the researchers focused on “a link between the measles, mumps and reubella vaccine, thimerosal-containing vaccines and the development of autism” (561). Even though the study made it clear that vaccines contributing to autism development are very unlikely, many parents still use their interpretation of these results to halt their child's immunizations. DeStefano et al. (2013) continues by revealing that additional research on the amount of immunologic stimulation shows that there is “no evidence that the association between exposure to antibody-stimulating proteins and polysaccharides contained in vaccines during the first 2 years of life and an increased risk of autism” (563). In the article, “Safety of Vaccines...”, Maglione (2014) also acknowledges that more …show more content…

The mandatory vaccination laws are not strictly enforced but it is a change that should happen. It is not about the government imposing on a parent's choice to keep their child from being vaccinated. It is about the safety of that child, if they are negligently exposed to harmful diseases that their body is not prepared to fight off without the help of an immune booster. It is about the safety of those around a contagious, unvaccinated child. A child who has not received immunizations may catch a infectious disease and pass it onto another child while they are in school or to anyone, anywhere in public. Though immunizations provide a high level of preventative protection, they are not foolproof. Younger children especially, are more susceptible to becoming ill, even if they have had their shots. Why should another epidemic occur because someone has decided to risk their child's safety by refusing mandatory vaccines then exposing that child to the public? It is fine to have religious and philosophical reasons behind the rejection of immunizations but it is not fair to the well-being of others. Why should otherwise eradicated diseases come back because of the choice of many, based on lack of factual knowledge or research? An abundance of research has been done to prove that vaccinations do more good than

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