The Anti Vaccine Movement And The Vaccine

Although there is no scientific proof that vaccines cause autism, proponents still believe that they do. The theory that vaccines cause autism were based on unproven facts and falsified information (DeStefano 81). In an article called CNS Drugs, the author writes about how a man named AJ Wakefield stun the public with a theory that the MMR vaccine may cause autism and how enterocolitis (bowel dysfunction) and MMR vaccine may be linked to autism (DeStefano 831). Even though Wakefield falsified information and his theories were proven to be discredited many people still

The controversy over the MMR vaccine started in the late 1990’s when Andrew Wakefield suggested that there was a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism in a scientific paper which he had published with several other co-authors. Although there has not been a proven fact that the MMR vaccine is the causation to autism it has brought concerns to parents and has caused a major drop in immunization rates. For example, Dannetun et al., 2005 states that, “Fear of side effects and beliefs

With the movement leaning towards being healthy and avoiding putting chemicals into our body another controversy decision is being discussed among parents, to vaccinate your children or to not vaccinate 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 the article is the connection (or lack of) between childhood vaccines (MMR) and autism. Contrary to popular opinion, vaccines are not linked to autism in any shape or form and there is no scientific evidence to support it.

“As healthy as my lifestyle seemed, I contracted measles, mumps, rubella, a type of viral meningitis, scarlatina, whooping cough, yearly tonsillitis, and chickenpox, some of which are vaccine preventable” (Parker 1). This quote by vaccine advocate Amy Parker, a woman who was not vaccinated as a child, shows just a glimpse into the life of an unvaccinated individual. Parents who do not vaccinate their children claim many different reasons for their decision. Three of the most popular reasons are: religious grounds, health problems as a result from vaccines, and the belief that the illnesses are rare. Each of these reasons can be proven as nonessential in the anti-vaccine argument.

One subject that has been very controversial for many years is the role of vaccinations causing Autism spectrum disorder in children. Since Eric Gallup was a healthy baby until he received was his first measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination in 1986. His parent noticed his behavior and ability to communicate after took the vaccinated. Eric had a serious reaction to the vaccine, according to his parent. In the year of 1989, he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Eric Gallup’s parents developed a hypothesis that childhood vaccine was responsible for Eric's autism spectrum disorder.

Through the rise of technological advances in medicine, the vaccine has changed the world for the greater good of the human race. Making a great triumph and virtually eliminating an array of life-threatening diseases, from smallpox to diphtheria, thus adding approximately thirty years to many humans’ life spans. Although, a new complication has arisen, possibly linking neurological digression with this rise of new vaccines. Such a digression has forced parents to exempt their children from receiving vaccinations and brought forth mental anguish affecting the minds of many.

One such factor helping to manifest these large-scale epidemics is a study from 1998 by Andrew Wakefield, which claimed that there was a direct link between autism and the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine (Smith 1). As a result, many parents refused to vaccinate their children out of fear, and vaccine-preventable diseases like measles began reappearing more in both America and Britain, the place where Wakefield conducted his study (Cohen 2). Although a later investigation by the British Medical Journal discovered that Wakefield had distorted or altered the medical records of all twelve of the study’s participants and that he had been paid $674,000 USD by lawyers attempting to sue vaccine manufacturers, the atmosphere of apprehension surrounding vaccines is still strong among many individuals, and especially parents (Cohen 1-2). But despite all the controversy and the scientifically unsupported arguments of anti-vaccine sympathizers,

originate from a medical professionals mishandling of a study. This impacts the reputation of the whole medical community. Discovering

In conclusion, studies show that there is no relationship between the MMR vaccination and autism. The reasoning behind individuals not trusting these scientific studies, comes from the untrue propaganda of anti-vaccine extremists who believe and support Andrew Wakefield, even though his work has been discredited. Although there have been hundreds of studies surrounding the link between this a vaccination and autism, none have ever proved Andrew Wakefield's

The autism scare started 17 years ago, in the year 1998, when a paper was published in the British medical journal called The Lancet. Andrew Wakefield, M.D., a British gastroenterologist, and his colleagues were the authors of this paper which started the scare of immunizations causing autism. "Wakefield had a case study of eight children who had received the MMR and then developed symptoms of autism, says Paul Offit, M.D., chief of infectious diseases at the Children 's Hospital of Philadelphia. He also believed they had abnormal intestinal tracts and proposed a syndrome -- linking intestinal inflammation from receiving the MMR with the development of autism.” (Rope)

On April 19, 1982, a televised documentary titled Vaccine Roulette aired showing the world the severe side effects DTP was causing on children and scientists opinions against the vaccine. What Vaccine Roulette purposely forgot to mention to nations of concerned, watchful parents was that the DTP vaccine nearly extinct the pertussis virus and that they had taken the answers of scientists and cropped their answers to best fit their case. As a British epidemiologist previously stated, “Once again the media have succeeded in denting parents confidence in childhood immunization” (Conis 209). Shortly after this documentary aired, vaccine compensation programs were established to protect those who unfortunately had a severe reaction to a vaccine and new and improved vaccines were formulated, tested, and released for administration to the

Should children’s health be at risk for the greater good of community health? The news today is full of tragic stories about complications of vaccine use and there have been injuries from the beginning of vaccine use due to incomplete data on the side effects. The injuries have also brought about changes in the way vaccines are manufactured. The Georgia State Government requires citizens to receive vaccines in order to attend day care, go to school, and work at certain jobs and each state has its own mandates as well. The only way to get around the vaccine is to claim religious or medical exception. For either of these exceptions, one has to have a notarized affidavit for religious exception or a

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.