Vaccination Public Health

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.

Electronic health records (EHR) are health records that are generated by health care professionals when a patient is seen at a medical facility such as a hospital, mental health clinic, or pharmacy. The EHR contains the same information as paper based medical records like demographics, medical complaints and prescriptions. There are so many more benefits to the EHR than paper based medical records. Accuracy of diagnosis, quality and convenience of patient care, and patient participation are a few examples of the

An Electronic Health Record is a computerized form of a patient’s medical chart. These records allow information to be readily available to authorized providers during a patient’s encounter with the healthcare system. These systems do not only contain medical histories, current medications and insurance information, they also track patients’ diagnoses, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images and lab tests/results (source). The fundamental aspect of EHRs is that they are able to share a patient’s information quickly across service lines and even between different healthcare organizations. Information is at the fingertips of lab techs, primary care physicians, pharmacies, clinics, etc. The

The recent measles outbreak occurring at Disneyland in December 2014 became widespread news and rekindled an ongoing debate of childhood vaccination. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is the United States government agency responsible for the protection of Americans from health threats, there were 159 incidents of measles arising from this outbreak (“Morbidity and Mortality” 373). Considering this outbreak, it is not unexpected that the role of vaccination would come to the forefront. The CDC presently advocates 29 vaccinations for children from birth through the age of six years old (“2016 Recommended Immunizations” 1). However, each state respectively establishes the laws for vaccination and corresponding vaccine medical, religious, and philosophical exemptions. For comparison purposes, in the early 1970’s, only three vaccinations were recommended (The Merck Manual 1462). This growth is a 314% surge in the number of vaccinations encouraged by the CDC. Thus, the subject of vaccinations and corresponding exemptions is contentious, divisive, and widely debated. Indeed, some believe that childhood vaccinations should be mandatory in order to protect every individual from preventable diseases (Gostin 1100). Instead, vaccination should be an informed parental choice, not mandated by the federal government, because vaccine safety is questionable, diseases being vaccinated against have fundamentally

The recent measles outbreak occurring at Disneyland in December 2014 became widespread news and rekindled an ongoing debate of childhood vaccination. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is the United States government agency responsible for the protection of Americans from health threats, there were 159 measles incidents arising from this occurrence (“Measles” 373). Considering this outbreak, it is not unexpected that the role of vaccination would come to the forefront. The CDC is presently advocating 29 vaccinations for children through the age of six years old (“2016 Recommended Immunizations” 1). However, each state respectively establishes the laws for vaccination and corresponding exemptions. For comparison purposes, in the early 1970’s, only three vaccinations were recommended (The Merck Manual 1462). This growth is a 314% surge in the number of vaccinations encouraged by the CDC. Thus, the subject of vaccinations and exemptions is contentious, divisive, and widely debated. Indeed, some believe that childhood vaccinations should be mandatory in order to protect every individual from preventable diseases (Gostin 1100). Instead, vaccination should be an informed parental choice, not mandated by the federal government, because vaccine safety is questionable, diseases being vaccinated against have fundamentally disappeared, and parents should have the right and freedom to nurture their children.

Parents, health care specialists, nurses, teachers and children all have an important stake in this issue. Parents argue that it is they who should have the ultimate decision-making right on whether or not to vaccinate their children. 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. If this is a risk some parents are willing to take, but others face unwillingly, there is obviously a

According to the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (2009), 31% of parents agreed that they should have the power to refuse from having their children from being vaccinated in order to enter the public school system (654-659). A reason is many parents still believe that vaccines can lead to other serious

Parents need to realize that the risks of not being vaccinated greatly compensate the minimal risks associated with vaccination. Diseases such as measles and mumps are entirely preventable, and if are not prevented can cause permanent disability and death. A little over a decade ago a measles outbreak amongst unvaccinated children in Philadelphia resulted in seven deaths. It is also known that children who become infected with mumps become permanently deaf. What many parents do not realize is that an outbreak can be totally

Vaccination has made a tremendous contribution in global health and has drastically improved the health conditions of children across India. Going by medical data and health reports, it can be seen that a major health issue which is small pox has been eradicated completely. Polio has been uprooted completely and measles have been controlled to a large extent. This only goes on to show the improvements that medical science has brought into the lives of our children. It is completely our responsibility to give our kids a good life free from infections and other health issues. What better way to start work on that path than vaccination that has helped in removing health infections completely. Let us trace down the changes that vaccination in India has witnessed over the years.

Vaccination has and is continuing to have a huge impact on public health in society today. Programmes implemented around the world have led to a decline in mortality and morbidity of infectious diseases, and are foreseen to eliminate yet more (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). Beginning from the eradication of smallpox in 1980, there has been significant reductions in the occurrences of other debilitating diseases such as poliomyelitis and measles worldwide (World Health Organisation, 2011). Despite the upward trend towards immunisation, there still remains much debate about the use of vaccines (Larson et al, 2013; Dubé et al, 2014), with many concerned largely by their safety and effectiveness, brought about by the confluence of various sociocultural factors. There have also been arguments centred upon economic, ethical and religious grounds. All these have served to delay and derail global immunisation efforts considerably. In this essay, I will explore the reasons as to why people object to vaccination programmes and evaluate future measures that can be put in place to ameliorate the problem.

Across the United States, state policies determine which vaccination a child will need in order to attend school. Each state will also have different ways in which a parent can obtain exception from the vaccine requirements. The issue at hand is that as the exception climbs, so do the outbreak of vaccine preventable diseases which threaten children health. Parents need to understand that vaccinating or not, can have a tremendous effect of public health.

There are quite some reasons why parents refuse to get their children vaccinated. According to Tarrant and Gregory (2001), parents refused to immunize their children because they have influenced by other’s stories of sequelae about immunization side effects. The adverse impact of injections and immunizations like fever, irritability and rashes actually, did not stop parents to have their children immunized. This kind of conversation can impact on parents, and reluctant to immunization, if it is being spread around the communities repeatedly. The researchers further explain that mothers have the unique ideas about immunization because they think, vaccinating their children will free, kids from diseases. The study supported, by other two researchers Angelillo et.al (1999) and White (1995), where they share similar results, that parents stopped immunizing their children because they 've heard negative implications of the vaccinations in their communities by other parents. In brief, the reason behind these objections

It is however pertinent to mention, that such vaccine preventable diseases such as polio are making a comeback which is recognizable by the actuating fact that more people today are refusing to be compliant with vaccination recommendations and requirements. The fewer people that receive vaccinations, the higher the chances of the virus spreading because of the opportunistic environment that it creates (Makielski, 2014). In as much as vaccinations have proven to be effective at reducing mortality rates in children, there is approximately 18.7 million children globally that are not getting the required vaccinations needed to eradicate and prevent the spreading of these diseases. Vaccines today are becoming victims of their success in countries where many people have never had to bear witness of these diseases’ devastating effects for which the vaccines are to prevent.

According to the World Health Organization, immunizations currently prevent between two to three million deaths every single year among all age groups. Vaccinations are one of the most cost-effective and successful public health interventions. As human beings, our natural instincts are to survive. If vaccinations have the ability to increase one’s probability of survival and overall quality of life, then why are some individuals choosing to not vaccinate themselves or their children? Their decision may be linked to the false, misleading information that is linked to vaccinations. A few decades ago, vaccinations were assumed to be a normal part of childhood, along with learning how to ride a bike and tie shoes. However, recently some parents have decided to not vaccinate their children. While the group of parents that choose to not vaccinate their children may be small, they put a significant amount of the population at risk while furthermore having a significant impact on public health. Many states in the America have regulations and rules regarding vaccinations, however, rules and regulations tend to vary by state which makes it difficult to abolish certain diseases. In order to eliminate deadly-life threatening diseases, parents need to be informed and educated on vaccinations. Vaccinations are a crucial element needed to guarantee public health and safety.

Parents hesitant to vaccinate their children may seek exemptions from state vaccine mandates. Recent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States have drawn attention to this epidemic. While vaccine acceptance remains high in general, fear of vaccines has grown dramatically in many developed countries. In some communities, this fear has led to significantly increased rates of vaccine refusal which are associated with increases in illness and death from vaccine-preventable diseases. Given the risk to the public health these perceptions produce, and consistent with well-established legal principles supporting government action to protect the common good, society has the right and responsibility to establish