The Nature Of Vaccination

Current vaccination rates in Queensland and Australia have dropped as parents have become more and more confused as to the real benefits and risks of vaccinations due to a plethora of information and misformation found on the internet. This essay will provide scientific information in support of immunization and include what a vaccination is, benefits of vaccinations, risks of not vaccinating, vaccine side effects and common misconceptions regarding vaccinations.

In today’s society, we believe that everything is up for debate, and that every topic can be opinionated. We like to have the power to make our own choices regardless of facts, just because we feel the pressure of being told what to do. We are lazy to learn the truth, but yet we are ready to choose sides and strongly argue about it. We see it every day on the news, in politics, sports, social media, online forums, school, etc. In his article, “Not Up for Debate: The Science Behind Vaccination”, published in September of 2015, Professor Aaron E. Carroll argues that the issue with vaccinations is more than just choosing to do it or not. Carroll jumps right into his discussion of the “Not up for debate” regarding people’s claims tying vaccines to autism, the choice not to, and officials backing them up. He explains how this argument stems from incorrect information, inadequate studies and research, and poor education about the facts and data about the vaccines, which leads to the stubborn belief that vaccinations should be banned.

Vaccination is widely considered one of the greatest medical achievements of modern civilization (Harvard Law School, 2007). Childhood deaths from infectious diseases were commonplace less than a generation ago; however they’re now increasingly rare due to vaccines. In order to be effective at eliminating communicable diseases, vaccines must be administrated to a sufficient level of people in the community. However, there has been plenty of controversy over the morality, ethics, effectiveness and safety of immunization. It has been argued in the past whether laws should be introduced that render some vaccines obligatory for all children (Singer, 2009). These objections may lead to an unacceptably high number of exemptions, which can compromise vaccination programs and leave the population susceptible to outbreaks. Parents argue that it is they who should have the ultimate decision-making right on whether or not to vaccinate their children. Whereas nurses and health care officials oppose that view on the grounds that by making vaccination rates in children incomplete, we expose all children to contracting the vaccine-preventable diseases. The most recent Australian Childhood Immunization Register coverage report illustrates that 92.1% of children aged 12 to 15 months have been fully immunized in Australia (ACIR, 2014). A survey was conducted for the Mansfield community to analyze and identify the factors which prevents them from vaccinating their children.The

What is a vaccine? Vaccines have been defined as the development of depleted or killed microscopic organisms and once given that energizes antibody formulations. ("Vaccine," 2010) 23 various types of immunizations exist today. Vaccines have been reported to cause reactions that have gone under-reported and certain public health officials have been tracked

Vaccines are administered to prevent the contraction of detrimental epidemic diseases, the scientific evidence that proves the effectivity of vaccination is abundant, and so why is there an adverse opposition to inoculations? Australia currently has no laws mandating the compulsory vaccination of children, despite the Federal Government’s decision to implement a mandatory registration of child vaccination records: enabling financial rebates. Inoculations provide immunity to a plethora of diseases, subsequently eradicating the disease whilst ultimately saving children’s lives. Comparatively, vaccines

In Australia there has been a significant debate arising around the topic of why should parents/guardians have to vaccinate their chid. It should be mandatory for all children and pregnant mothers to receive the necessary vaccinations to prevent harmful illnesses, avoid having Child Care Benefits withheld from the Governments ‘No Jab, No Pay’ scheme and increase the potential of such diseases to be eradicated.

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.

Vaccination: Vaccination or Immunization is a treatment that makes the body stronger against a particular infection. It involves administering the body immune system with a concoction of killed micro-organisms or mild virulent disease causing microbes, which stimulate the body immune system to produce anti – bodies to destroy or disable them. This would cause the body to be better prepared if the actual infection attacks it. The average child receives 14 vaccines against life threatening diseases till the age of 6.

"In the United States, the childhood immunization schedule recommends that children receive approximately 15 vaccinations by 19 months of age, and it specifies ages for administration of each vaccination dose" (Luman, Barker, McCauley, & Drews-Botsch, 2005, p. 1367). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a vaccine is "a product that produces immunity therefore protecting the body from the disease" (Vaccines and Immunizations, 2015). Currently, there are many individuals advocating for and opposing the effects of the administration of vaccinations and immunizations in the United States. There are both legal and ethical issues surrounding the controversy, which include both deliberate and exogenous reasons not to vaccinate, and the mandatory nature that is required by many schooling districts and places of employment. Within this paper, I will discuss some legal implications surrounding vaccination, ethical debates that are current in the topic, as well as my point of view regarding immunizations and vaccinations.

Vaccination programs in Australia aim to increase national immunisation rates to protect children against highly contagious illnesses such as whooping cough, rubella, chicken pox and measles. (Australian Government Department of Health, 2015) Infants younger than 5 years of age receive vaccines under the National Immunisation Schedule, whilst high-school students across the state are also currently required to obtain vaccinations in years 8 and 10 to create improve health outcomes. (The Sunday Mail, 2008) From a biological point of view, it is scientifically proven that failure to implement this policy will result in future consequences to the health of community members.

When one is given a vaccine, the body’s immune system fights the disease or virus causing the body to become immune to the disease. Before vaccines, the only way to become immune to a disease was too simply contract the disease and hopefully live with no serious side effects or passing on the potentially deadly illness or dangers in a wide-spread epidemic. Vaccinations have been saving lives for over 200 years now. Below is a chart showing the successful impact vaccinations have had in the United States.

Before the major vaccination campaigns of the 1960s and ’70s, diseases like tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough (pertussis) killed thousands of young children every year. Today, deaths from these diseases are extraordinarily rare in Australia, and the remainder of the developed world("health.gov.au", 2015). Even with the knowledge of the reality that vaccinations have greatly reduced the diagnosis of many deadly diseases, there is still a group of individuals who refuse to vaccinate their children out of fear. Despite the long history of safety and effectiveness, vaccines have had their fair share of criticism, some parents and a small fringe of doctors question whether or not vaccinating kids are worth what they perceive as the risks. In recent years, the anti-vaccination movement, largely based on poor science and fear-mongering, has become more vocal and even hostile (Hughes 2015). Thanks to a reduction in parental willingness to immunize children, vaccine-preventable diseases are on the rise. Last year, the

Vaccinating children has become increasingly unpopular among certain demographics of society. These people claim that vaccinations are hazardous to children's health and as such are not needed. this essay will argue why vaccinating against spreadable diseases is entirely necessary despite some potential risks.

Every day, someone is saved because of a vaccination. A vaccine is a preventive drug that uses a small ratio of a dead or weakened virus and is designed to improve a person’s immunity and chances of survival. A vaccine is administered in one of three ways: (1) via syringe and needle injected into a muscle, (2) a nasal spray though the sinus canals, or (3) a liquid that is ingested via mouth. If a person is getting a polio vaccine, for example, then the vaccine would be made up of the the weakened or dead virus of polio and administered as mentioned above. The body then reacts to the virus creating an antibody to be produced and used by your immune system; the antibody’s job is to identify and neutralize the virus if the body is ever exposed to again. While no vaccine is 100% effective, most routine childhood vaccinations are approximately 85% to 95% effective (CDC). This means that if two people were introduced to a virus, and one person received a vaccination against the virus as a child and the other person did not, there would be a 5% chance the vaccinated person would contract the virus while the person that did not take the vaccine would have close to a 100% guarantee of becoming infected.

What is a vaccination? Why are they so important ? A vaccination is a live virus administered into the body to build immunity against deadly diseases. When a child is little and is exposed to a disease their bodies are not strong enough to fight it off and can make them very sick. Before vaccination came into play children would get diseases such as pertussis(whooping cough),polio,diphtheria, and tetanus, all of these being extremely deadly.Why would someone want to give a young child these deadly viruses? Studies have shown that no medicine is perfect but most childhood vaccines produce immunity about 90 - 100% of the time.(vaccines) Before vaccinations were invented people were only living 50-60 years, they now are living 20-25 years longer. How does this protect those who physically can not have vaccinations? Vaccinations protect those who can not be vaccinated, whether is be from a disease they are already fighting, chemo / radiation, and being allergic. All of those being reasons to hope others get their vaccinations. Vaccinations not only protect children from harmful diseases, but also those who can not be vaccinated.