The Pros And Cons Of Vaccines

If you had the choice, would you prefer a child with autism or a deceased child because you refused to vaccinate? Chances are, you would prefer to have a child with autism. There are parents who have read articles falsely linking vaccines to autism causing them to make the decision to deny vaccinations. Their refusal not only puts their child at risk, but other children surrounding them. Their denial erases the long-standing history of saving lives and the eradication of deadly diseases around the world. This also undermines the research and testing scientists have done in order to protect people. It is vital to the health of human life that we keep researching and finding new information about vaccines.

Vaccinations and their side effects are a popular debate among society today. Some parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children, but vaccinations play an important role in keeping people healthy. A common misconception among parents is that vaccines are harmful and can cause autism, but in reality immunization prevents deadly diseases keeps many from becoming ill. Due to vaccinations, many popular diseases from the past 200 years have almost completely disappeared.

It is important for everyone to become aware of their own values and beliefs, especially those who are part of the medical field. As a nurse there will be times when others ethics don’t match up with yours. I have looked into what professional issues may create a potential conflict with my own personal values and beliefs while in nursing practice. I would like to work with pediatrics at some point in my nursing career, so the question of whether or not you should vaccinate your child is a common dilemma among parents, or guardians. Based on my personal values and beliefs, I think the answer to that question should be an easy yes.

In America, before vaccines, an average of 29,005 people died annually of smallpox, 16,316 died of polio, and 21,053 died of diphtheria. Thanks to vaccines, these diseases are thought to have been eliminated from America, yet people are still unconvinced that vaccines are helpful. However, in order to properly analyze whether vaccines are helpful or harmful, information must be gathered, such as the definition and origin of vaccines, the positive effects of vaccines, and the negative effects of vaccines.

Since the introduction of vaccines in 1790, “millions of lives have been saved and microbes stopped in their tracks before they could have a chance to wreak havoc,” as stated in

Live mice brains, aborted human fetus cells, canine fetus cells, and beef extract are just a few disturbing items one may find in a vaccine ingredient list (“Vaccines ProCon”). These irksome items are accompanied by harmful chemicals such as thimerosal and formaldehyde, both of which, can be toxic towards humans when exposed in copious amounts and can even trigger leukemia and brain cancer; leading an individual to death. Likewise, the ingredient lists alone should be enough to make any pro-vaccine individual or vegan alike, distance themselves from a cold, metal needle.

Diphtheria, whooping cough, measles, yellow fever, small pox, and mumps are several diseases that have become unfamiliar to many nowadays. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, these illnesses struck and killed thousands of people worldwide, targeting mostly children. Today, these diseases remain forgotten due to vaccines. A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity against a type of disease. Vaccinations are beneficial because they train the immune system to resist a new pathogenic without exposing us to the disease by producing antibodies to fight it. Whereas before vaccinations, in order to be fully immune from an illness you had to catch the disease, and hopefully survive it. However, despite the positivity that comes out of being vaccinated, their are still certain individuals who do not believe vaccines are as beneficial as they are said to be. This indeed is a false accusation because vaccines can save a child’s life, the ingredients in the vaccine are proven to be safe in the amount used, vaccines saves time and money , and they are proven to protect future generations.

One of the greatest products that humans have ever created are vaccines. Vaccines are created to protect us from infectious and life threaten diseases. In today’s world, vaccines play a major role in enhancing our immunity and expanding our life span. The use of vaccines can be found in Chinese ancient medicine, where early Chinese doctor used an early version of smallpox vaccine to inoculate their citizens. This method of early vaccination moved from Asia through European and Africa continent. It wasn’t until in the late 1700’s when Edward Jenner discovered how to manipulate small pox and turn it into a vaccine and thus creating an immunity for millions of people. Jenner’s early use of the small pox vaccination lead to many more vaccines such as Hep B, MMR and the all-important polio which has completed wipe the disease from many develop countries. Although vaccines have played a crucial role in our human growth and development, there are people who still refuse to give vaccines to their children. Many debates and controversies have popped up in recent concerning vaccines and how much and how often they are received.

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.

Unfortunately, many diseases kill millions of children every year. These pathogens, whether bacteria or viruses can invade the body, increase rapidly, and deny the body vital resources to function properly. Consequently, children are more susceptible to becoming ill because of their developing immune system. In what capacity would children be able to be protected by the repulsions of these pathogens? The answer is by vaccinations. After much research and findings, it has been proven that vaccines help to prevent diseases, saves lives, and kept the spread of diseases at an all-time low. However, in recent years, there has been a rise in parents against vaccines and vaccine hesitancy. Thus, the term vaccine hesitancy is gaining recognition. According to Professor Elizabeth Miller (2015), there is an interrelationship between those who are accepting of vaccines and the ones who refuse them and it is not beneficial to characterize either as “anti-vaxxers” (p. 2). If the risks of a child receiving vaccines do not outweigh the benefits of being vaccinated and therefore vaccines should be made mandatory.

Everyone wants to be a good parent to their child. So, what are ways to keep your child safe? According to World Health Organization immunization prevent up to 2-3 million deaths per year (Tedros) and there are many things that parents can do to protect their child. One way to protect them is to get them vaccinated. Children’s vaccines are extremely beneficial because vaccines prevent infection, they decrease the spread of disease and they do not cause harm like people may think.

Imagine a world where people aren’t dying from preventable diseases, this ideal world is possible with the use of vaccines. Many people think vaccines are bad for you, and that vaccines cause long term illness, birth defects, and mental illnesses; however, these opinions are not backed up with scientific evidence and are faulty generalizations. These arise from false information spread over the internet. In reality, vaccines are much more beneficial than harmful to our bodies. Vaccines are an essential part of maintaining a healthy, happy life, and getting vaccinated is a necessity.

from being miserable. If you get this vaccine you wouldn’t have to watch your child suffer and constantly clean them because of this disease for up to nine days. Also, you could develop symptoms of rotavirus which could seriously affect your health and daily life. Getting this immunization that is completely safe could keep you, and most importantly, your child’s health at a good state and save you from a few miserable weeks of cleaning up diarrhea.

Most parents of this generation never had to experience what life was like before vaccines were used. Public health officials credit the mandating of mass vaccination to the almost extinct instances of the communicable disease vaccines help prevent. So why are routine vaccinations such a hot parenting debate? Could the reason be financial, religious, personal, fear, or just plain ignorance?

Many wonder if children should have mandatory vaccines. Currently children are not mandated to receive all vaccines, however since schools require that children have certain vaccines are necessary to enroll children in school. Shots like the flu vaccine are not required for enrollment, but they are recommended.