Group Introduction
Vaccines are one of the most effective tools in maintaining the health of a country. Vaccines are extremely diverse in the sense they have the potential to prevent fatal diseases such as polio as well as smaller illnesses such as the flu. With vaccines, the costs stay relatively low and the benefits are high. Vaccines in the most basic terms, introduce a weakened or dead disease into your body, so your body can produce antibodies which are specialized in fighting that disease cell (How Vaccines Work, 2016). Through this, if your body encounters the disease again, the body can quickly produce the antibodies to kill the disease before it has the chance to spread. While the benefits of vaccines are great, the risks are relatively small. Because of this, most major health organizations recommend vaccination, at least for deadly diseases such as polio and rubella virus (WHO, 2009). While scientific research tells us the risks of vaccinations are very small, there are still groups of anti-vaccinators who claim there is a link between vaccinations and autism. Those claims have repeatedly been disproven in numerous complete studies, which have shown no connection between autism and vaccination (Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism, 2015). When focusing more specifically on the effectiveness of immunizations, they have been so successful that diseases such as smallpox and measles are essentially extinct outside of a laboratory. Despite vaccines being generally effective,
Throughout history, vaccinations have been used to help the prevention of infectious diseases; some of which can produce serious illnesses, crippling disabilities, and ultimately be the cause of death. There is evidence of ancient culture’s attempting to treat transmittable diseases with various forms of inoculations. Developments in the research of vaccinations increased during the mid-twentieth century because of the established of more advanced laboratories, improved equipment, and new innovations. The progression of medicine during history has helped further the development of research into vaccinations. Several cultural, ethical, and religious issues have resulted from the development and use of vaccinations in our society. The topic of vaccinations has caused a strong debate amongst our culture about the safety and danger of treating infectious diseases with such methods.
Millions upon millions of people would die everyday form deadly disease and there was nothing anyone could do about it. As a result, vaccinations were created to stop the sickness and mass tragedy that came along with them. The measles, mumps and rubella vaccinations (MMR), that are supposed to help are being questioned by people believing they are linked to Autism. Numerous studies have shown that there is no connection between the two. The holes and lies in this theory are prevalent when looking in depth at how this theory was established, whom it benefits if it's true, and the facts that disprove it.
Vaccinations are something that is none around the world. It is supported in many countries but in others it is not. In the United States there is a constant controversy as to whether to vaccinate or not. Most parents in our society opt for the vaccination process to protect their children in any way they can. Although, many parents do not see it that way. The controversy of childhood vaccination spans back more than just a few years it goes back as far as the 18th century (Nelson) but the fact of the matter is childhood vaccinations have very few side effects, there have been very few lines between autism and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) (“Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and Vaccines”; Shea, Diekema), and when children come in to contact with diseases they are not vaccinated for it can cause nationwide pandemic (Nelson; “Should Any Vaccines Be Required for Children?”).
Some people today think getting vaccinated is dangerous and choose not to do so. Some people also worry about getting autism when being vaccine, yes it could happen but it is a very small risk. When people decide not to get vaccinated they are taking a risk catching diseases that can be life threatening. People should be vaccinated in order to try to eliminate disease. People should be vaccinated to prevent disease from spreading, possibly extending one person’s life, and to protect from being infected. Even if people get vaccinated they can still become ill, but the illness may not be as bad compared to not being vaccinated. (Martinuk).
In the world today, there are many diseases and other illnesses that there are vaccinations for. Some having minor side effects, but others preventing of any other serious diseases from happening, or even death. There has been a debate about whether or not parents should vaccinate their children. Those parents that do not think this is a good idea, mostly believe that these vaccinations can cause autism in their children from being so young and being vaccinated. Other parents are for it, so that their child can be healthy, stay away from any other diseases, and are helping those children who can’t be vaccinated. Those children who can’t be vaccinated are usually those that are too young, or are too ill, such as those with leukemia for example. If a child who has the option of getting vaccinated but doesn’t, it can severely harm that child who is too ill. All children, if they are able to, should, and need, to be vaccinated to keep these diseases from spreading any further.
Due to the advances in medical science, individuals can be protected against more diseases than ever before. Some diseases that once injured or killed thousands of children have been eliminated completely due to safe and effective vaccines (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Individuals who do not receive vaccination pose dangers to those who are unable to receive vaccines due to medical conditions, there are no links that vaccine causes Autism, and vaccines cost less money than the financial burden of choosing not to receive a vaccine. Therefore, vaccines are the most effective way of protecting ourselves from vaccine-preventable diseases.
There are many rumors and much misinformation that surrounds vaccines, questioning their safety. These claims, however, are not credible. The most common worry is that there is a link between autism- a mental illness that inhibits social interaction- and vaccinations. This is due to research done by a british surgeon named Andrew Wakefield. Following studies, it was proven that, “there is no link between vaccines and autism.”(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, October 27, 2015) and Andrew Wakefield was discredited. There are many historical examples of vaccinations wrongly being accused of being unsafe. Inspection of vaccines before public consumption is mandated by the government. It is tested on animals, and in the 1960s, some animals
On the side of defending vaccinations, many people, as well as myself, stand firm in our beliefs, that vaccinations are good. The fact of the matter is there wouldn’t be such thing as vaccinations if they didn’t work. I believe a lot of the troubles come from the Autism scare, which I do understand is a frightening thought for a lot of parents, but with countless studies conducted and all pointing to a negative correlation of the two, I think its time to stop using that as an excuse, with Steven Salzberg a writer for Forbes saying, “Most of the anti-vax crowd have no scientific training or expertise, which might explain (but doesn’t excuse) their complete ignorance of the science. Over the past 15 years, dozens of studies involving hundreds of thousands of people have shown convincingly that neither vaccines nor any of the ingredients in them are linked to autism. Vaccines are not only safe, but they are perhaps the greatest public health success in the history of civilization” (Forbes 2015). It is due to the many people who believe they are smarter than science and medical research that we are having the measles and whooping cough scares that are occurring today. Without the use of vaccines many of the diseases that were under control, or completely depleted are now slowly starting to reappear. Measles being the biggest offender, with it said to have been fully eradicated in 2000, we had over 600 cases of measles in 2014. For all of the measles cases you read about, as
Vaccination has been brought up again in recent years even when vaccines have been around for about one thousand years. However, with recent outbreaks of measles, some see as preventable disease through vaccines, the main controversy of vaccination has once again been brought up due to parents concerns of safety of their children. Parents now are wondering if vaccinations are the best thing for their children due to reports that vaccines cause autism and other brain disabilities. Although, the link between vaccines and autism has been discredited, the issue is still a hot topic throughout the safety of kids and refusal of vaccines. The link between autism and vaccines has caused a scare which lead to more parents refusing to vaccinate
It’s hard to imagine a world without vaccines—a world where “getting sick” had the potential to be fatal (or at least cause irreparable damage to one’s body). In this world, diseases robbed millions of bright-eyed children of their lives. Thankfully, though, with the development of vaccines, populations have grown larger and healthier over the past century. Sadly, despite the improved longevity of our species, many people are still undecided about—or vehemently against—childhood vaccination. They claim that vaccinations are dangerous and responsible for autism and other conditions. Medical experts, however, refute these claims by citing both the safety and effectiveness of vaccinations. In fact, according to Centers for Disease Control and
Vaccines have been around for many years and I am sure they have saved many lives, but there are many precautions that come along with getting vaccinated some being life threatening. Vaccines have also been proven to cause long term seizures,comas, and brain damage. Not only can there be many risks in getting vaccinated, but vaccines contain harmful ingredients. For example some vaccines contain Aluminum and an excess amount of Aluminum in the human body can cause neurological problems. Formaldehyde is also found in vaccines, studies have shown that Formaldehyde may be a leading cause to cancer. Children who attend a public
For many years, there has been a controversy about whether or not vaccinations should be mandated for everyone. In the United States, many diseases such as polio, diphtheria, measles, and whooping cough used to be extremely common, until vaccinations came around and started preventing these diseases. The main point for vaccines is to prepare a person’s immune system for any possible attack of a disease that comes in the future; a person’s body will be prepared to fight off the disease with the vaccine (“Basics”). Vaccines have the ability to prevent many cases of these diseases in advanced, but there are people who think vaccines are unnatural and should not be required for their children. It is said that immunity in child vaccines are about 90%-100%, which is an increase over the past few years (“Childhood”). Although many Americans believe that vaccines are unsafe and cause autism in children, vaccinations for children should be mandatory because they can save a child’s life, create herd immunity in a community, and they have been proven safe/cost-effective.
Immunizations and vaccines have been around since the 1800s (Historic Dates). The idea of immunizing the population from deadly and unpleasant diseases is not a new idea. Yet many Americans, and people all around the world are beginning to question the effects of these vaccines, mainly on children and infants. It has been in more recent years that doctors have been recommending for children to start receiving vaccines as soon as they are born. The most common misconceptions of vaccines are that they cause autism, or that they cause the person being immunized to be a carrier of the disease. This causes a lot of new parents to rethink and hesitate to get their children vaccinated. However, the effects
Vaccinations are considered to be one of the greatest medical advancements of our time. The first vaccine was created in 1796 and many more have been created since. These deadly diseases such as smallpox, polio, and diphtheria are now being prevented. Since vaccines have been doing their job, we do not see them around anymore. The media is now displaying vaccines in a negative way and people are listening to the misconstrued knowledge. Parents are worried about the risks associated with the vaccines instead of the diseases they are preventing. They believe there may be a link between vaccines and the development of autism. Parents also believe there is an issue with the current immunization schedule. They believe that the children are getting too many vaccines at one time and this might cause other health related problems. This does not only affect the child who is not being vaccinated, it is a danger to children who cannot receive the vaccine due to weakened immune systems or other health related problems. The CDC states that there is no connection between vaccinations and autism. They also state that the immunization schedule is safe. Since more and more children are not being vaccinated, this might cause a global health epidemic in the future. These deadly diseases that were prevented from vaccines may reappear. It is important for health care workers to be up to date on the scientific facts regarding vaccinations so they can provide parents with accurate knowledge.
In light of the recent resurgence and spread of diseases such as measles and whooping cough, the argument of mandatory childhood vaccinations has arisen. These outbreaks have been caused mainly by unvaccinated children. Parents’ fears of immunizations and the effects of their ingredients has compelled the parents to refuse to give the vaccines to their children. Yet, the inoculations are there to protect their children and people around them from contracting or spreading diseases. Even though there is a fear that vaccinations could cause autism, child vaccinations should not be a choice because vaccines are proven to very rarely have adverse effects, they stop diseases and/or possible epidemics, and an unvaccinated child is at risk of obtaining and spreading disease.