Vaccines are one of the most important medical achievements in the history of mankind. Their importance cannot be downplayed; previously, entire civilizations fell to diseases that the populace had no immunity to. However, fears among the general public about vaccines can lead to reduced immunization rates. Declining or deferring on these inoculations can lead to resurgences in sicknesses that we think of as well managed or even eradicated.
The modern history of vaccines starts with Edward Jenner, an English doctor who developed the vaccine for smallpox. He did this by way of inoculating a young boy with fluid from a woman who had cowpox, a similar disease. When the boy was later exposed to smallpox, the antibodies that his system produced
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Soon after Edward Jenner’s experiments with inoculating against smallpox, there were newspaper pictorials of patients “degenerating into beasts” (Fulford). Some parents are afraid that the vaccine will affect their child adversely, making them even sicker than the illness it was meant to prevent. However, having this kind of negative reaction is very rare. According to the CDC, the DTaP vaccine, which protects against the illnesses Diphtheria, Tetanus, and acellular Pertussis, has a rate of serious allergic reactions of about 1 in a million. This rate is so low that “it is hard to tell if they are caused by the vaccine.” (NCIRD) There is also a fear by some that there may be a risk of developing autism after vaccinating children with the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine or those containing thimerosal, even though studies have found no link between either of these types of vaccine and developing autism. These fears are simply unfounded and based on assumptions and flawed understandings of the science behind these …show more content…
In Nigeria, politicians and religious leaders campaigned against the polio vaccine with claims that it could cause HIV, sterilize patients, and cause cancer. In only one year, the number of reported cases of polio jumped from 355 to 782. Similar fears about the supposed autism link are spread by some high profile celebrities and news networks in the US. Scientists talk about a concept called “community immunity”, more commonly known as herd immunity. This is where so much of the population is immunized, that even those who have not been inoculated, or whose immunity is not as strong as others get some protection by way of the whole of the population having such strong resistance to the contagion. This limits the amount of people that the disease can spread to. However, if immunization rates drop then it jeopardizes this system by creating weak links in this chain, creating a public health problem for the community at large. This is part of why mandatory vaccinations are so important; our society is dependent on most people being vaccinated for this kind of protection to
The use of vaccinations have helped to eradicate small pox, measles and polio. Although recently vaccinations have become controversy once again it is important to keep updated on vaccinations, because one person could lead to a new outbreak of old diseases that have been irrelevant for hundreds of years. Vaccines are a great preventative measure to ensure that epidemics of the past don’t come back and haunt us in the future. If everyone remains vaccinated old diseases and new ones have less of a chance of becoming a wide spread epidemic which would cause chaos in the
The lack of a new, prosperous vaccination against the disease would alternatively cause further intensification of the disease. Ergo a choice to not vaccinate would result in the world having to “watch children suffer” ultimately proving the importance of his research. Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) would more recently agree to state, “The idea of not vaccinating their child is based on the misperception that the risk of the vaccine is greater than the risk of the disease.” He adds “that is not good for the child, and it is not good for the community. So, it really is unfortunate that some people have this misperception about vaccines” (“Vaccines: What You Need to Know,”
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,
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
In "Public Fear of Vaccination: Separating Fact From Fiction" by Amanna, I., and M.K. Slifka, the authors argue that the real reason for people opting for vaccines is due to the spread of misleading information portrayed by the media. The rise of people refusing to get vaccinated is the issue addressed in "Public Fear of Vaccination: Separating Fact From Fiction" by Amanna, I. and M.K. Slifka. The thesis of this article is “Here, we will discuss some of the elements associated with public perceptions and fear of vaccination and place these into the context of how deadly several vaccine-preventable childhood diseases can be if vaccination coverage is insufficient.” The authors’ main claim is that people are more concerned about the possible
Recently an anti-vaccination movement has sparked a worldwide discussion about both the safety of vaccines and the responsibility of people to vaccinate. Recent outbreaks of preventable diseases have caused both fear and anger from people on both sides of the issue. These same outbreaks have also served to cause significant political tension between those against vaccines, who do not want their right to choose compromised, and many proponents of vaccines, who are calling for mandatory vaccinations.
Vaccinations have been by far one of the most important medical practices in history. At one time, some of the most lethal diseases in the world were common place. With the initiation of vaccines, these diseases have been mostly eradicated. Unfortunately, there are some parents who are now refusing to vaccinate their children due to worries of a possible link between vaccinations and autism. All children should be vaccinated because there has been no verified proof of a link between vaccinations and autism.
“In 2011 alone, 1.5 million children died [worldwide] from diseases preventable by currently recommended vaccines” (“Immunization” 2). The magnitude of this tragedy is in part caused by the fact that some of those children simply weren’t reached by organizations like UNICEF, which aim to vaccinate children (“Immunization” 2). However, there are other reasons for the recent deaths and epidemics—such as the whooping cough epidemic of 2012, with 48,000 cases nationally in the United States—involving vaccine preventable diseases (McClay 1).
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.
The number of individuals who are unvaccinated or infected in the United States has increased (Sun). Vaccines recommended for children are crucial and result in fewer health risks and greater healthy lifestyles. Proponents agree that vaccines are safe and effective, while opponents disagree and believe that vaccines create more negative outcomes than positive ("Should Any Vaccines..."). Opponents attempt to influence and persuade the majority of individuals to stray away from their viewpoints relating to the encouragement of vaccinating children. The rising percentage of children and parents who reject immunization and protest safe vaccines indicate less triumph for sufficient immunization for the population. There are many detrimental risks that affect unvaccinated children, and supporting childhood vaccinations profoundly benefits each parent and child.
Despite significant progress in the fight against preventable disease, millions still die needlessly each year. According to UNICEF, originally known as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, a vaccine preventable disease is responsible for 2 million fatal infections worldwide each year. About 75% of these deaths occur in children under five years of age. (N) In more vivid terms, UNICEF notes that vaccine-preventable diseases kill a child every 20 seconds. (D) Due to high rates of childhood vaccination, the United States has experienced a dramatic reduction in such deaths. A comparison of the years 1950 and 2010 clearly illustrates the benefits of vaccinations. During this 60-year period, deaths from diphtheria reduced from 410 to 0, tetanus from 336 to 3, pertussis from 1,118 to 26, and polio from 1,904 to 0. Measles deaths dropped from 468 in 1950 to 0 in 2008, the last year a United States death rate was recorded. It’s not surprising that vaccinations have been touted as one of the top ten health achievements of the 20th century by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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.
During the 20th century, the infectious disease death rate decreased from 800/1000 deaths to less than 100/1000 deaths. This is mainly due to the introduction of immunisation. Vaccination has clearly prevented millions of deaths over the last century; nevertheless, the anti-vaccination movement has grown significantly in recent years. Some of the reasons why people join this movement include the belief that vaccines don’t actually work, the belief that vaccines are unnatural and therefore unhealthy and the belief that vaccines contain toxins that cause bodily damage and neuropsychiatric problems (eg. Autism). This essay will discredit the beliefs associated with the anti vaccination movement through infectious disease statistics,
During the last ten years or so, there has been a debate on childhood vaccinations. This debate all started from the acquisition that vaccines cause autism. Since the debate, many parents have been skeptical on whether or not they will get their children vaccinated. From the negative comments that are going around from highly respected people new parents doubt vaccines importance to the world. Parents are concerned, which they should be, about if vaccines are beneficial or harmful to their kid’s health? Some claim that vaccinations are needless and unsafe. With the misleading information in parent’s ears they are stuck with the big question. Should I vaccinate my child?
Vaccines have always been a controversial topic, to whether they are required all the way down to what they are composed of. It has been an ongoing battle since the 1970s and continues to make headlines even in this year of 2015 with the measles outbreak from Disneyland. Even now, many still believe that vaccinations can cause autism and choose not to vaccinate their children for that reason or another. Vaccinations are critical and need to be required for children before entering public schools.