Vaccinating Children Research Paper

​Over the past decade, the concern among parents regarding the safety and effectiveness of childhood vaccinations has become a concern in the United States and other countries around the world. A survey of physicians showed that 89% of the physicians who were surveyed reported at least one refusal of childhood vaccinations by parents each month (Gowda & Dempsey, 2013). Other researchers have noted that as many as 77% of parents have concerned about one or more of the childhood vaccinations that are recommended for children (McKee & Bohannon, 2016). However, organizations such as the World Health Organization (2017) note that not only are childhood vaccinations safe, the reduction in children receiving childhood vaccinations has brought back diseases such as measles that had been completely wiped out in the United States. It is clear that there are opposing viewpoints about childhood vaccinations that need to be understood and examined to determine which side has a better argument.

There have been more than 1000 of journal articles pointing out the dangerous immunological responses and other infections from the vaccine. Poor immunological response prevents the ability of a person to prevent the diseases that the vaccine is supposed to fight against.

When you have a child you have a list of decisions to make, from what to name your baby, to what kind of stroller you want. You also have major decisions to make, like whether to vaccinate your baby or not. This has been a controversial topic for many years now. As with any vaccination or even medication, there is always a risk involved. So why would any parent take that risk? The truth is, vaccinations work, and they save lives.

Autism is being linked to early vaccinations to illnesses, and by doing so may cause children as their body is developing serious complications. Though the topic is still up to debate there have been numerous accounts of children obtaining autistic effects shorty after being immunized from illnesses such as the meals, mumps, and chicken pox. One such account Came Parsippany New Jersey, the parents of a 15 month year old toddler had just been to the clinic to vaccinate their child against the illness of the measles. Following the weeks after the child though fine before the vaccination in the year of 1986 started to show signs of different behavior and was having trouble communicating, by 1989 three years after his treatment he was diagnosed with autism. Now this may be just another short story to stop vaccinations but it’s backed by many of the same cases. Where autism comes from is unknown and many believe it to be a genetic defect

Some people face these risks when not exposing themselves or their children to diseases by not getting immunized. People shouldn’t have to suffer if there is a way for them to save themselves and immunizations help with that. The American Academy of Pediatrics by Margaret Maglione suggests that there are several reasons why parents choose to not expose their children to these vaccinations. She asserts concerns about vaccines for various reasons that led some parents to decline recommended vaccinations and it has led to the progression of the illnesses to the population. Therefore, more people will become stricken with sickness. Being able to take care of themselves by allowing family members, children, and whoever to vaccinated can save lives. The histories of deadly diseases and their effect on the in the U.S. population have proven to be an example of why people should be immune to such avoidable

Almost all American citizens had previously contracted Measles before a vaccination was available for the general public; these days, doctors rarely see any cases of Measles due to the vaccine. Before vaccines, many died from the disease they had been infected with. It is important to vaccinate children, otherwise they could contract an illness and suffer the terrible consequences, even death. With vaccines, fewer and fewer people get diseases that could essentially kill them. Without vaccination, many more would be afflicted. Hundreds of thousands of children are saved by harmless vaccines each year, hence it is crucial to vaccinate all children to protect whole communities.

In 2013 it was reported that over 90 percent of children had received vaccinations, and

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, most childhood vaccines are 90-99% effective in preventing disease. Under some circumstances the children that have been vaccinated do get the disease; they usually have milder symptoms with less serious complications than a child who has not had the same vaccination. This proves that there are more risks with not being vaccinated than being vaccinated.

Parents are worried about the safety of vaccines. Parent are worried their child will have an allergic reaction, health problems or even death from the vaccines. Despite parent concerns, vaccinating children has been successfully for decades. It is always better to prevent a disease than to treat it. ” In fact, there has never been a single credible study linking vaccines to long term health conditions” (Who). Controversy over vaccines has scared parents into not vaccinating their children, but vaccines have been proven to be safe.

My viewpoint for childhood inoculations supports inoculations because scientific history of vaccine success, current statistics of morbidity rates, and research on vaccine safety. Documentation of the history of Jenner’s achievement with the vaccine to prevent smallpox provides information for vaccination success. (Riedel, 2005) The comparison of the annual morbidity rate of the twentieth century and the morbidity rate of 2000, shows a dramatic decrease. (Malone & Hinman, n.d.) These numbers demonstrate the success of childhood immunizations with improved survival rate in the United States. (Malone & Hinman, n.d.) Extensive research has been conducted to determine the safety of vaccinations. Thimerosal is accused of possibly causing autism. The CDC has concluded that the “exposure to ethylmercury from thimerosal-containing immunizations during pregnancy or as a young child, was not associated with any of the ASD (autism) outcomes.” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011)

Children come into the world defenseless and vulnerable. The lifelong health of a child begins with what type of defense can be built up. Childhood vaccine schedules are the first step in healthcare for children. A vaccine schedule is a calendar with a combination of vaccines at set intervals and ages for children to receive from birth to six years old *******. The recommended combination of vaccines on the schedule minimizes the amount of times a child needs to get vaccines. Maximizing the number of vaccines a child receives at a time guarantees by school age, the child will meet requirements for enrolling in school. The childhood vaccination schedule was created to be beneficial for children.

Most parents trust the government with the health of their children without doing their due diligence regarding childhood vaccinations. For the sake of their children, they need to take advantage of the informative and reliable sources that are available on the Internet and in public libraries regarding this topic. They will find that kids are being vaccine injured and even killed because of the toxins that are being pumped into their tiny bodies. Parents have been ill-informed, even misled, when it comes to the safety and effectiveness of childhood vaccinations.

When children who have been vaccinated do contract a disease, despite being vaccinated against it, they usually have milder symptoms with less serious complications than an un-vaccinated child that gets the same disease. It is true that some children who receive vaccinations may still become ill when exposed to other disease-ridden children. Research shows that 70-90% of the entire population must be vaccinated to attain “herd immunity”, “the resistance of a group to attack by a disease to which a large proportion of the members are immune.” (Farlex, 2012) When herd immunity is accomplished the spread of the disease can be averted throughout. If all parents were to take proper responsibilities and keep their children’s immunizations up-to-date, herd immunity would be achieved against all 16 of the major life threatening diseases.

“Standard immunization currently averts an estimated two to three million deaths every year in all age groups” (“General Information”). Children along with adults should be vaccinated because these Inoculations prevent diseases, even deaths, from going around, along with keeping the environment a safer place. As people know, kids get vaccinated from the time born to about the time the child reaches teen years, although getting immunized does not precisely stop at any age. In fact, required vaccinations continue throughout the years. Of course these medical treatments must be tested in order to be given to anyone. In spite of the fact many people themselves argue that inoculations are not safe for children, others are thoroughly certain in

Furthermore, they believe that these illnesses are not serious. Not only parents, but also advocates for anti-vaccination are a huge voice in this heated debate. Whether the public understands and accepts important information in the debate will depend on both the communication skills, and the credibility, of the source. Vaccines are as safe as humans can presently make them. Yet as in any health intervention, some level of uncertainty will always remain (Clements). It is now the responsibility of the parents of these young children to make the pivotal decision in their young child’s life. To vaccinate or not to vaccinate is a question that many parents find extremely difficult to answer. However, once faced with the research and safety statistics surrounding the MMR vaccine, the answer may be clearer than once believed. Starting with the controversy of the presence of thimerosal, once further research is done the speculation over its presence and lack of safety can be dismissed entirely.