The Importance Of Vaccination

Many people from the time they were babies get their vaccinations to prevent them from getting diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, measles, and many more. There are some who have decided against vaccinations due to their religion, or even the fear of what side effects their child could suffer due to the vaccinations. What happens if you decide against vaccinations? Could you not only endanger your child’s health, but others as well? Would people still refuse to vaccinate their child if they had seen the effects of these diseases first hand? I have decided to look into this a little further to see wether unvaccinated children pose a health risk to themselves and others. The text below will explain why some view the importance of immunizations, a description of a few of the diseases that we have vaccinations for, and the fear some have either for or against them or their loved one getting immunizations.

Vaccines are widely known to help and save lives on this earth. Immunization of humans have saved an estimated 25 million children from dying each year (Wilson, 2010). An estimated 85% of the world’s children also receive vaccines (Offit, 2014), meaning 15% of children in the world have not received vaccination. The threat of diseases is still out there, and it is a prominent threat.

Diseases have been around since the beginning of time. In response of disease, vaccinations were developed. Since the 1800’s, vaccines have been protecting adults and children from fatal diseases by building up immunity within the human body against such communicable diseases like smallpox, measles, and tuberculosis. Throughout history, vaccines have been widely accepted as mandatory for life events such as travel and school. While most of the world population welcomed vaccines enthusiastically, there are groups of people that believe the vaccines are more harmful than helpful.

Today, children in the United States routinely get vaccines that help protect them from more than a dozen diseases. Most of these diseases have settled down due to many years of immunization. Children must get at least some vaccines before attending grade school. Immunizations can save your child’s life; they are safe and effective, and immunizations can save your family time and money. There are a few other reasons why you should get your child vaccinated such as, protecting the people you care about and protecting our future generations.

Vaccination is necessary to prevent human health from viruses and bacterias around us. There was some disease that once killed or injured thousand of people, but had been eliminated because of the existing of vaccines. Polio is a great example of that. This disease had been a most feared disease, was the cause of deaths of many people. But thanks to vaccines, right now there isn’t any report about Polio in United States. Vaccination is a must for all of people in order to prevent yourself stay away from disease, illness, and death.

Although many believe the anti-vaccination movement is a fairly new trend, it has actually been an on-going debate since the early 1860’s, starting in America and Northwestern Europe. Many parents believe these vaccinations will do more harm than help to their children, but health care professionals have confidence that vaccination is the best chance of preventing the spread of sickness. This will be proven by looking at the different views, scientific facts and debunking myths and complications. Though there have been some complications with vaccinations in the past, they still have the highest success rate in preventing contagious diseases, therefore the decision to refuse to vaccinate a child is unethical and impacts more than just the individual or family.

Immunizations play an important role in not only a child’s life, but in a parent’s life. Parents have to decide, depending on their religious beliefs or a personal belief if they are going to vaccinate their child. As a child I was vaccinated and have done the same with my child. It’s the way the United States has approached the use of vaccines that people now have to have considerations about their children and getting vaccinated. Vaccinations started to be created and administered in the late 1790’s to the early 1800’s. I at first went into this exploration venture with a negative perspective of vaccines, however as the project continues on, my view has adopted a more center ground strategy. Numerous people around the world that swear off vaccines, regardless of whether it be religious or absence of resources, see many pessimistic wellbeing outcomes accordingly. It has additionally been archived that nations with vaccine programs see huge decreases in cases of immunization preventable disease. Then again there have also been recorded cases of extreme reactions to these immunizations, the Center for Disease Control trusts that these cases are uncommon, while people that advocate against vaccinations believe these cases happen enough to pose serious wellbeing impacts and should not be administered. The implementation of vaccinations has helped to eradicate many deadly diseases within many communities and countries around the world, some exceptions to this would be found in

The human body is characterized by multiple systems that contribute to its overall well-being. The defense of the body from pathogens and foreign materials is regulated through the immune system. A failure in this system can result in the contraction of an infection that can generate negative side effects such as decreased function of the system, injured organs, or death. Children’s immune systems are often still developing during common times of infection, so the likelihood of contraction increases. To combat the increasing number of contractions, the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) manufacture products that build children’s immune systems through specific immunity: vaccines. When a pathogen is encountered by the immune system, the body recognizes the threat and eliminates the harmful agent. Vaccinations promote the overall health of the body by assisting the immune system. Vaccines allow a child’s immune system to recognize harmful agents and defend itself if it encounters the agent again. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration should require all children to receive vaccinations for life-threatening infections because a regulated vaccination schedule will allow the general population to obtain a better state of health.

The article, Religious Exemptions to Immunization Statutes, state that “unvaccinated children under the age of five make up a significant portion of the victims of vaccine-preventable diseases” (Ross 204). By considering the decreased risk of disease vaccinations bring, the government must regulate and mandate vaccinations for all children under the age of twelve because they have compelling interest to interfere in order to prevent illness for a child and for the community.

For many, the subject of vaccinations is a controversial topic in which everyone’s beliefs and experiences differ greatly from person to person. Some people believe naturally developed immunity is a better alternative than vaccinations; whereas others are adamant that vaccinations should be mandatory.

Health inequalities substantiate a higher moral high ground compared to income inequalities: It is irrefutable to deny that since the inception of scientific breakthroughs in vaccination, the quality of life of millions of individuals, through many different time periods and regions of the world, has been positively impacted. The disease profile of a majority of these vaccine-preventable diseases have been shown to severely impair the daily lives of infected people, often having deadly consequences. It would be extremely hard to argue that preventing parents who object to vaccination access to government payouts, would be more objectionable than the possibility of their children getting extremely sick and risking death. Indeed, on a more moral level, it would severely impair their equality of opportunity should they be infected, preventing them from performing their daily activities on the simple basis that they would be incredibly unwell and in most cases be isolated from others in society (2). Should parents continue to refuse vaccinating their children even with the implementation of the ‘No Jab, No Pay’ scheme, this could potentially widen the income gap between those individuals who decide to get vaccinated as a result of the policy and those who do not. It can be inferred that families who are reliant on such payments from the government would be on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum, delving them deeper into poverty. However, this

Vaccinations have been improving the lives of humans for over 200 years. In the 18th century, an English scientist

For Americans vaccinations have become the standard for living a healthy, longer, and more enjoyable life. In the era of modern medical technology vaccines continue to be created to improved lives, in turn the guidelines that the government imposees on them should also improve. The ultimate goal of governing a society is to help benefit as many individuals it possibly can and in the case of vaccinations it is to create the optimal system of rules to achieve that goal. Such protocol needs to prevent the spread of disease by restricting privileges such as not allowing children without vaccinations to attend school, giving religious groups who do not support vaccinations the ability to override vaccine policy, regulations for employers or companies that require up to date vaccinations for employees or applicants, and lastly what type of test are performed to ensure users that it is a product that one wouldn't feel uncomfortable not take.

Immunizations prevent millions of deaths not only in the United States, but also throughout the World. Nesson (2016) explains that “vaccines now protect people from diseases that once killed in masses.” Even if certain diseases are on the decline, immunization is still necessary since there is a possibility for it to spread. In 1974, due to Japan’s successful pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination program, there was a large decline of pertussis cases with no deaths (Otsuka, 2012). Rumors spread that the pertussis vaccine was no longer needed which led to only 10% of infants vaccinated and created a major pertussis epidemic with more than 13,000 cases of whooping cough and 41 deaths (Otsuka, 2012).

The decision of whether or not to vaccinate children has been a debated topic since the 1800s, beginning with the small pox vaccination. The “Anti-Vaccination Movement” arose from the fear these vaccinations did more harm than good to children. From causing autism to frightening side-effects, the anti-vaccination and pro-vaccination movements have spread rapidly over the last few hundred years. Researching this topic, a word that appears many times is evidence. In the context of the anti-vaccination movement, evidence does not mean research and studies, but rather personal experience and accounts of other’s; while in the context of the pro-vaccination movement, evidence means an idea or theory is proven by research and/or studies.