The Controversy Of Vaccines : Controversy Regarding The Risks Of Vaccinations

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 are bombarded with information when it comes to their children and their children’s health and it happens the moment they are born. One main question they face off the bat is whether to immunize or not. For children ages 0-18, the CDC recommends vaccinations against 16 diseases, many of which could result in devastating illnesses and even death. Several injections coupled with several possibilities of severe reactions, pain, irritation, itching, ect. But through extensive, heavily monitored research and effectiveness, and evidence-based science illustrating the improvements and protection of the community it is clear that their benefits outweigh their risks. This paper will outline why the decision to immunize is one less

“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.

The controversy over vaccination has two sides, the one side believes that vaccines are a crucial part in saving lives. The other side, believes that vaccination do more harm then good. This controversy over vaccination has been going on since the introduction of vaccine. Vaccines were introduced to the medical community in the 1800’s by a physician named Edward Jenner. The controversy really started with the Vaccination Act of 1840, which made vaccines free for the poor. In 1853 the Compulsory vaccination Act was passed, that made all infants under three months of life, and if not done you were to pay a fine. The anti-vaccination league challenged the law, because they felt that the compulsory vaccination act challenged there basic rights

My topic will be about the controversy of vaccinations. I am going to research its usage, the effect on your body, advantages and disadvantages. I am also interested in the reasons behind not getting vaccinations for your children, even when the parents could be willingly risking their child’s health and other children’s health. Furthermore, I wonder how doctors and professors view vaccinations and if they believe vaccinating your children is mandatory. The reason why I chose this topic is because recently, I watched an episode of Private Practice where a parent objected her child to be vaccinated for measles because she believed it caused her other son’s autism. To me, it seemed absurd that anyone thought that vaccinations, a precaution used against viruses, could be causing harm. So, instead of going off a T.V. show to understand vaccinations, I wanted to do in-depth research on it and become well-informed on this topic.

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

Personally, before doing any research and participating in this debate I was pro vaccines. Mainly due to my mom who is a nurse; she made sure my siblings and I received every vaccination needed for school and those not required for school. Her reason for why she made us get them when questioned by my brothers and I was that “you never know what anyone has and it will help protect you and keep you strong”. This was one of the viewpoints brought up in the debate alongside many other viewpoints that helped to solidify my view of vaccines.

There has been much controversy over the topic of children receiving vaccines. Many believe vaccines are dangerous and do more harm than good, regardless of what they hear or read about. Many are misled about the information they learn about injections from the internet or the opinion of others. Vaccines affect people in different ways, mainly depending how your body responds to it. When a vaccine is being administered, a synthetic substitute is injected into your body, and is acting as an antigen without giving you the disease. This topic is contentious because part of the disease is injected so your body becomes immune to it. This is one reason parents do not want their children to receive vaccines because they think they will develop and produce the disease.

Vaccinations occurs when a health provider purposefully administer a virus or a bacteria into the body through injections. Vaccines only contain a small amount of weakened virus. This procedure gets done in order to prepare the bodies immune system for future infections. The immune system can recognize the virus and determine the right tactic to destroy it, before it takes a toll on the body. Exposing the body to a virus can potentially save it from getting harmed from diseases like the whooping cough, chickenpox, influenza, polio, and many more life threatening illnesses. Even with the minor and infrequent side effects from vaccinations, several parents refrain from vaccinating their children. They do not want to put their children’s lives at risk and would rather take the chance with the diseases that may occur without the proper vaccinations. The negative effects of vaccinations are simply too risky for

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.

There has been a lot of controversy about vaccines today. There was once thought that there was a link between vaccines and autism in children but there is absolutely no proof out there that this is true. Although there is proof out there that vaccines do provide many benefits to those who do receive them. Vaccine preventable diseases are still around, yes they are down because of the vaccines but they are still around. Vaccines help children and adults stay healthy by protecting them from these preventable diseases. Vaccines can actually make the difference between life and death, sounds scary, but it is the truth. There are many other benefits to receiving vaccines as well but I am going to just start with these three.

Living in an environment where we are prone to many viruses, it’s very important that one take the proper precautions or considerations to control the risk of getting affected. However, when utilizing the ability of not becoming infected, one may question the fact weather there’s an actual effective form of prevention or not. To clarify the uncertainty, over many years one of the most strategic methods that have been used for the control and preventions of viruses are vaccinations. A vaccination takes advantage of one’s body natural ability to primarily learn how to eliminate almost any disease causing germ or microbe that affects it. Therefore vaccinations are considered one of the most effective ways to prevent severe outcomes initiated by viruses.

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 healthcare professionals have taken a stand against this belief stating that a life threatening disease staring a child right in the face is much more scary that the thought of being poked by a needle. The percentage of children who contract the disease from a vaccination is much lower than the percentage of children who have contracted diseases they have not been immunized for. Many doctors are making efforts to have children feel more

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