The Vaccine War Analysis

Although the negative claims behind anti-immunization stances are deceptive and discredited, some parents find it difficult to accept that vaccines are necessary and safe. Many of these reasons are due to personal or religious beliefs that have persuaded parents to bypass immunizations for their children. Consequently, health officials are seeing disquieting rises of diseases that are easily preventable. The CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) has reported hundreds of measles cases in the United States in 2011, the largest number in 15 years (Ben-Joseph, Elana). Essentially, almost all of these cases were in individuals who had not received a vaccine shot. Also found in the article was that a great amount of the quarrel over the shots comes from a 1998 study that tried to connect autism to a type of vaccine that defends against measles. However, there has been no scientific evidence that a vaccine or a combination of any of the shots induces autism. Undoubtedly, the doctor that wrote the article, calling vaccines a “deliberate fraud” ,lost his license for not submitting any evidence of his claim and causing people to neglect shots for that year. Sadly, due to that article, 1 in 4 parents still believe that vaccines are

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,

After watching The Vaccine War, the main concerns of vaccines are public safety, the aftermath of injecting harmful chemicals into ones’ body and the parents that choose not to vaccinate their children. In the beginning of the documentary, a mother, Jennifer Margulis, states she felt like it was not needed for her newborn child to be vaccinated for a sexual transmitted disease. She feels like the ingredients are scary for a young child to take in with an immature immune system. The other issue is a massive outbreak of disease that could have been prevented. The Center of Disease Control is carefully watching the town that Ms. Margulis lives, Ashland, Oregon, because it’s the least vaccinated places in America due to parents

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 a complex topic that has proven to be so contentious that most people have decided that they either support vaccination or oppose it, with neither side willing to even entertain the idea of meeting in the middle or finding common ground. On one side, those who oppose vaccinations do so for a variety of reasons, but most of all they do so because they think vaccines are dangerous or ineffective. Many of the opposed defend their anti-vaccination position by citing studies linking vaccines to autism and other debilitating side effects, or by voicing concerns over vaccines containing unsafe ingredients that may harm vaccinated children. Also questioned is the effectiveness of vaccines, if they are even needed, or even why vaccinating matters if those who are vaccinated are so confident that vaccinations work. On the other side of the fence, the people who support vaccinations believe that, due to the benefits of vaccines far outweighing any associated risks,

The topic of childhood vaccinations and the dangers that accompany them has been a topic of controversy in contemporary times. At the near edge of the twenty-first century, a man named Doctor Andrew Wakefield released a study which created a mass uproar in both parents and health professionals alike. Parents were panicked as to whether or not they should have their young child vaccinated (in fear of their acquiring autism), and health professionals fearful that the population percentage of people acquiring measles, mumps, or rubella (for it was the M.M.R. vaccination that the parents feared in particular) would rise to a number which would lead to a mass risk of disease. Despite Wakefields’ study, the truth persists in all types of experiments related to vaccination. Whether being tested in a replication of Wakefields’ study or in any other, vaccines have been proven to work at preventing disease and display no causation of autism.

After reading and hearing about multiple news reports about parents refusing to vaccinate their children over the years, it might come as a surprise that American children actually receive more vaccinations than ever before due to government policies. Less than 0.5 percent of children receive no vaccines at all. In Vaccine Nation, Elena Conis argues that the widespread adherence to vaccination is as important of a study as vaccine resistance is. She turns her perspective on to the spread of vaccines in the postwar era when new vaccines targeted the “milder” diseases of childhood such as measles, mumps, and whopping cough. More recently, vaccines have been developed and promoted that protect against diseases that largely affect adults. Elena

“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.

This article largely appeals to pathos to make us feel compelled to vaccinate our children. Parker compares her perfectly healthy childhood with no vaccines to her children’s very healthy childhood with vaccines. which her children have rarely been sick. She uses her illnesses such as developing penicillin-resistant quinsy, the same disease that killed Queen Elizabeth, to appeal to the audience’s emotions. She then uses the children of anti-vaxxers to appear helpless for not having the choice to be

Through the rise of technological advances in medicine, the vaccine has changed the world for the greater good of the human race. Making a great triumph and virtually eliminating an array of life-threatening diseases, from smallpox to diphtheria, thus adding approximately thirty years to many humans’ life spans. Although, a new complication has arisen, possibly linking neurological digression with this rise of new vaccines. Such a digression has forced parents to exempt their children from receiving vaccinations and brought forth mental anguish affecting the minds of many.

One such factor helping to manifest these large-scale epidemics is a study from 1998 by Andrew Wakefield, which claimed that there was a direct link between autism and the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine (Smith 1). As a result, many parents refused to vaccinate their children out of fear, and vaccine-preventable diseases like measles began reappearing more in both America and Britain, the place where Wakefield conducted his study (Cohen 2). Although a later investigation by the British Medical Journal discovered that Wakefield had distorted or altered the medical records of all twelve of the study’s participants and that he had been paid $674,000 USD by lawyers attempting to sue vaccine manufacturers, the atmosphere of apprehension surrounding vaccines is still strong among many individuals, and especially parents (Cohen 1-2). But despite all the controversy and the scientifically unsupported arguments of anti-vaccine sympathizers,

The current issue I have selected to discuss is vaccinations. In particular, I will be addressing the anti-vaccination movement that has gained popularity in recent years and the contributing biases that influenced its emergence. One event stands out at as a major contributing factor to the growth of the anti-vaccination movement, the 1998 study by Andrew Wakefield that was published by the English medical journal, Lancet. This study claimed to show a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism. Even though it was just one small study, the media picked it up and it became hugely publicized.

disease to occur with numerous antigens entering the body at once and that their child will not be able to properly metabolize and excrete the mercury from their body.

Should children’s health be at risk for the greater good of community health? The news today is full of tragic stories about complications of vaccine use and there have been injuries from the beginning of vaccine use due to incomplete data on the side effects. The injuries have also brought about changes in the way vaccines are manufactured. The Georgia State Government requires citizens to receive vaccines in order to attend day care, go to school, and work at certain jobs and each state has its own mandates as well. The only way to get around the vaccine is to claim religious or medical exception. For either of these exceptions, one has to have a notarized affidavit for religious exception or a

Vaccines save lives; fear endangers them. Vaccinations have been used since the 18th century to cure various deadly diseases, from smallpox to the influenza virus. On a global level, vaccination is one of the few cost-effective medical measures that result in universal benefit. Yet there have always been those opposed to vaccinations because of possible side effects. With the increase in technology and the ability to share ideas in modern society the anti vaccine movement has flourished making the eradication of disease and safety of the public a difficult task. The anti-vaccine movement in the United States is one which brings about a very serious issue of safety. Vaccinations are put in place to protect people; they are administered by trained professionals who weigh the costs and benefits of vaccines. Yet there are still people out there who refuse to be vaccinated out of fear and therefore decide for themselves the effectiveness of vaccines. In order to ensure a safe society the public needs to be educated about vaccine in order to make a truly informed decision.