The Vaccination Of Children And Their Children 's Immune System

The argument encompassing whether or not parents should vaccinate their children is ongoing. It is a very interesting matter to learn about and I possess some strong feelings about the case. This issue interests me because there are parents who don’t have their children vaccinated, and there are parents who do have them vaccinated. But all these parents share one particular quality: they all would like for their kids to be safe.

Between 1924 and 2013, vaccinations prevented 103 million cases of polio, measles, rubella, mumps, hepatitis A, diphtheria, and pertussis (Bailey). Vaccinating is “the process by which pathogenic cells are injected into a healthy person in an attempt to cause the body to develop antibodies to a particular virus or bacterium—successful creation of antibodies is referred to as immunity to the disease caused by the particular pathogen” (Introduction to Should Vaccinations be Mandatory). Popular conflicts regarding vaccination include the worry that this form of immunization isn’t natural, the idea that vaccination schedule for children in the U.S. takes away parents’ rights to make decisions for their children, and the concern that vaccinations aren’t safe for all children. Most doctors and scientists advocate for vaccinations in the name of herd immunity, protection against foreign diseases and prevention against pockets of disease outbreaks. Vaccinations should be mandatory for all children in the United States for who they are deemed safe and effective.

Whether or not to vaccinate yourself/ your child has become a very important question to ask yourself. With recent news of vaccinations having a possible link to autism and many other negative side effects, it has become increasingly more important to weigh the risks and the rewards of vaccinations. While this may be a risk, the risk of zero vaccinations worldwide would have an exponentially larger and more negative effect on the majority of the world. Vacinations are the key to achieving longevity in life not only for one person but for the whole of the human species. This leads one to ask “if everyone is vaccinated, what is the difference if I decide not to vaccinate due to inherit risks?”

There is much debate and controversy about child vaccinations being safe or not. Parents wonder should they get

Unfortunately, little progress has been made since then, as reports from 2015 show only 72.2 percent of U.S. children are fully vaccinated (KFF, 2017). Healthy People 2020 recommends a national goal of 80 percent to maintain herd immunity (Child Trends Databank, 2015). Despite the life-saving importance of immunization, these stagnant rates show that many mothers of U.S. children do not adhere to vaccination recommendations. These critics and skeptics of vaccines are a part of the anti-vaccination movement. Originating upon the discovery of the first vaccine in 1796, this movement has progressed for hundreds of years. Currently, through media and prominent anti-vax social figures, the public can easily be relayed messages of vaccine controversies rather than scientific facts. Falsehoods include perceived low risk of contracting vaccine-preventable diseases, “overloading” the child’s immune system, mercury in vaccines, reports of negative reactions after vaccination, and the infamously popular myth that vaccines cause autism (Mittenzwei, Morrison, & Williams,

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.

There are many arguments that people have developed and built upon that are convincing me of the importance of the vaccinations. The benefits of vaccinations really were shown when “The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that 732,000 American children were saved from death and 322 million cases of childhood illnesses were prevented between 1994 and 2014 due to vaccination” (Huffington). This is proof right in front of our eyes that vaccinations are working for some children. Something that saves 732,000 lives is a very important asset. Also, I think that it is critical to take into account the 322 million children that were saved from sickness. These 322 million children were kept from getting an illness that could be life threatening or even just uncomfortable. No matter the severity of the sickness there is an importance in the prevention of these diseases. Another intriguing argument for the continued use and importance of vaccines is that “most childhood vaccines are 90%-99% effective in preventing disease” (AAP). With a 90%-99% success rate it shows that it is so important to receive a vaccination because of the dangers of the diseases. In fact the 90%-99% effectiveness has “save[ed] 2.5 million children from preventable diseases every year” (Shot@Life). This direct correlation between these two arguments makes this side of the topic even more compelling. Another statistic that creates a realization that there may be more to vaccinations than we see on the

Due to the attention the anti-vaccination movement has received, many researchers have attempted to determine who is participating in the anti-vaccination movement. I am not the first to call for distinctions in children who were not fully-up-to-date (FUTD) on vaccines from those who are. Previous research on vaccination status has considered the children of “non vaccinators” as two distinct groups: undervaccinated and unvaccinated. Unlike selectively-vaccinated children, who intentionally were spared a particular vaccine, in much of this research undervaccinated children are identified as those who have inconsistent access to medical care (Reich 2014). Undervaccinated children are more likely to share particular demographic characteristics such as being below the poverty line, having a mother who is younger, unmarried, and has not attended college (Reich 2014; Smith 2004). This group is perceived to be unable, in most circumstances, to obtain the recommended vaccinations due to a wide variety of external factors. Undervaccinated children, in this sense, have been of particular interest to public health officials as they have attempted to implement programs to remove the cost of vaccines to increase availability (Smith et al. 2008). Undervaccination, like discussed earlier, has been reduced with the enactment of the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program by the United States government (Whitney et al. 2014).

Often debated, with strong convictions on each side, timely immunizations for children do more good then harm. Over the last few years, a phenomenon has come to our door steps. It used to be that all parents would immunize their children, without fail, because doctors told them to. In the past, the only non-immunized children were the children with health deficiencies. These children depended on the “herd” mentality. However, times are changing and parents are choosing to not immunize their children mainly based on these reasons: the possibility of them getting autism, parental lack of education about immunizations and lastly they believe that the illnesses that children are being immunized against are gone and immunizations are no longer needed.

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

My heart breaks in pieces when I witness my aunt taking care of her autistic child. I can only imagine how difficult it is for her to see her child like that every day that can’t communicate with others, that doesn’t socialize with his peers, can’t eat by himself, still plays with toys ages 0 to 5 when he is 15 years of age. It is more difficult to explain to her second son, why is his older brother acting certain ways. Her first child started to develop serious symptoms of autism right after MMR vaccine and that put her second child at very high risk. Is children vaccination even necessary? Do children really need vaccines? Is autism linked to vaccination? Question regardless vaccination of a child has been controversy for centuries. The role of childhood vaccination in prevention of diseases in the population is still very open subject of debate. In addition, the prospect of expanding vaccination programs to include healthy children has received increased attention in the past few years. Based on the researched studies I formed an opinion that children vaccination save lives, protect against serious disabilities, reduce suffering for children and their families who deal with low immune system and are sick a lot. Studies also show that vaccination does not cause autism.

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.

For those interested in the world-wide dispute of the correlation between the MMR vaccine and Autism, it would be equitable to allow the performance of the vaccination upon children. Autism is a mental condition, which is present from early childhood and is characterized by difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts. According to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Autism statistics ranges from 1 in 68 American children as on the autism spectrum. The MMR vaccine is an immunization vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella. It is administered through a subcutaneous injection, commonly into the outer aspect of the upper arm. The recommended age for primary

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

published a controversial study in British journal Lancet where he linked MMR vaccination to autism. (Should I include what his study was based on and results?) Years later, many other studies proved it wrong but mistrust of science and mistrust of government is still there (2011). For example, Phea Paul study stated that there is no evidence that autism is cause by any vaccine and therefore no reason for parents to deny a child protection in today’s vaccines offered (2009). His study shows that if comparing risks mathematically of death or disability as a result of not vaccination a child which are small, to the risks of causing an autism spectrum disorder by immunizing it increases significantly.