Why Some Parents Choose Not To Vaccinate Children

This poses the question that if vaccinations can protect a child from a major illness why are parents choosing not to vaccinate their children?

This explains the theory of why parents choose the non-vaccinated route for their children’s lives and explains it why it’s a social issue and not just a personal choice.

The most commonly cited reason why parents decide to not vaccinate their children is due to their belief that vaccines cause harm11. In a survey that looked at risk perception with vaccines, researches found that while 94% of individuals surveyed had vaccinated or plan on vaccinating their children, only 23% of participants had no concerns about the vaccines16. This reiterates the point that even though there are high rates of vaccination in the United States,

The challenges with this policy issues is that many parents disagree with the mandated vaccination laws for children. Parent’s want to make their own decisions about whether to vaccinate their children. Many parents have concerns about the safety of the vaccines or religious reasons for choosing not to vaccinate.

Since the outbreak of measles in 2000, an increasing number of parents have refuse to get their child vaccinated. The majority of parents refuse to follow the vaccination schedule and requesting to receive a schedule differ than that of the American Academy of Pediatric. Only a small number of parents refuse to allow their children to receive all vaccinations. Some even want their children to only receive a certain number of vaccination (Hendrix, 2015).

Central Idea: Reason of groups parents in US. That may be not choose vaccinate to child as is believed to want to live closer to nature than science.

“Sustaining high vaccination coverage among school-age children is vital to prevent outbreaks and avoid reestablishment of diseases that have been eliminated in the United States” (Zangger, 2017). Most of the articles found, stated a variety of issues involved with noncompliant parental decisions made about not vaccinating their children. Of these issues, to my attention, the main problem with compliance of vaccines comes from the lack of knowledge about adverse effects and contraindications. What parents are missing is the fact that these childhood diseases are totally preventable diseases. We also are seeing a lot of parents choose to use an alternative vaccination schedule (AVS) instead of what is recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that leads to the same kind of issue (Committee on Practice and Ambulatory Medicine and council on the community, 2011). The studies show that parents have an increased likelihood of refusing to vaccinate due to the lack of education provided on the subject itself.

Cappello also says that “unfounded concerns related to vaccine safety and toxicity” (Cappello 2). He is also saying that one of the main reasons the parents do not vaccinate is because of they believe it could cause health problems, like SIDS, Autism, and Asperger Syndrome. While that may be one of the reasons parents don’t vaccinate, religious beliefs, philosophical reasons, and several different ideals also play a role in a parent deciding whether to vaccinate their child. As stated in “Immunizations: Victims of Their Own Success”, “People often don’t fear what they do not see,” (Cappello. 2). Once again Cappello is making assumptions about what other people fear but only just as an observation of a small group of people.

There is a culture among us, in life and in healthcare, that seems to be growing rapidly. Many parents are choosing to not vaccinate their kids against potentially fatal or life-altering illnesses. But, why? What is the reasoning for something that could be so detrimental to the well-being of their child(ren)?

The source I located is entitled Calling the Shots: Why Parents Reject Vaccines. This book begins with an introduction that recounts a story of a little girl suffering from cancer who almost passed away from contracting a virus that could have been prevented had others who were able to receive immunization did so. This story focuses on the danger that unimmunized children bring to children with compromised health. It goes on to speak about where parental rights end and government rights begin and all the immunization laws that have ever been in place in America. Further in the book, the idea of rights is explored and how mandatory vaccinations would infringe upon the inherent authority parents have over decisions involving their children. Topics

Many parents stress over the choice of deciding whether or not to vaccinate their children. The reason why deciding to vaccinate children is so difficult is due to the wide range of myths and side effects that are connected with vaccinations. Myths spread to parents all over the United States that the diseases don’t even exist anymore, rumors of vaccinations weakening a child’s immune system, and the risk of a child becoming autistic due to thimerisol in vaccinations. Side effects also scare parents out of getting their children vaccinated like brain damage, seizures, or allergic reactions, but then parents are pulled back to the thought of the possibility of

Millions of lives have been saved thanks to a global effort to vaccinate for deadly diseases. Peter Yeo reports “Immunizations have saved more children than any other medical intervention in the last 50 years” (Reforming the U.N. 118). Yet, a new trend for parents is opting out of vaccinating their children for personal beliefs or religious exemptions. Although, the majority of Americans believe vaccines protect children, and conclusive evidence has proven vaccines can prevent the spread of deadly diseases. Still, a few parents believe vaccinating children is not essential for their health, additionally, they believe an increase in mandatory vaccines has insufficient scientific research to prevent serious medical side effects.

The first question we need to examine is why should vaccinations be required? There are strong beliefs that children should be vaccinated surrounding public health and mortality. In the article, Understanding Public Perceptions of

This topic is extremely significant to my audience because a growing number of parents do not vaccinate their children due to fear of side effects. Parents today have lost confidence in in the vaccination industry as a consequence of sensationalism brought about by false evidence published and the celebrities that latched onto that claim. Sadly, some people have taken to considering the strong opinions and may not research vaccinations before making decisions

Despite vaccinations being credited for the control and elimination of several childhood diseases, there are still many critics who raise concerns about the necessity of vaccination. In a national study of parents performed in 2000, 19% indicated they had “concerns about vaccines” whereas in a subsequent survey performed in 2009 this number had risen to 50%. There has also been a rise in non-medical vaccine exemptions that has occurred over the last several years. In a 2010 national survey of physicians, 89% of respondents reported at least one vaccine refusal by a parent each month (Dempsey & Gowda, 2013). Opposers argue that making school vaccination mandatory is against their right to make personal medical decisions. They feel that the government has no place to force parents to vaccinate their children if the parents decide it is not in their child’s best interest. Many parents are disagreeable about the multiple vaccinations received at one time, which results in possible pain and discomfort for the child. Another argument against vaccination is the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Critics are concerned about the unknown risks vaccines pose to children. Some parents noted their child acquiring a “high fever” or beginning to “act different” after the administration of a vaccine. There is a belief that there is a connection between the measles vaccination and autism. Another theory is that the influenza