Should Children Be Vaccinated?
THESIS One of the greatest public health interventions that has had an impact on fighting diseases is vaccination. According to Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, a vaccine is any suspension containing antigenic molecules derived from a microorganism, given to stimulate an immune response to an infectious disease. The 19th century and the 20th century were known for the great achievements of great vaccine scientists such as Louis Pasteur and Edward Jenner. A substantial amount of vaccines prevent illnesses or death caused by infectious diseases for millions of individuals every year.
Without vaccinations, infectious diseases would have taken over the world. Childhood vaccinations are important. Why? “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” quoted by Benjamin Franklin-one of our founding forefathers. It is important that your child receive their scheduled vaccinations or as we most commonly use “get their shots”. Childhood vaccinations do start at birth. A childhood vaccination protects the child from diseases, helps contain disease outbreaks, and is the law.
Vaccinations protect from life threatening disease such as diphtheria, polio, measles, chickenpox, or pneumococcal. Vaccines are necessary even if we think that the chance of our getting one of these diseases is minimal. A couple of years ago a child in California had just started school, he caught diphtheria and he died. Guess What! He was the only child in his class that had not been vaccinated. If children are not vaccinated against polio, it would leave to more susceptible to infection with the polio virus. Measles is one of the most infectious diseases in the world.
From the years 1997-2000, measles were brought here into the United States by international visitors. Those persons that were not immunized were most likely to get measles if they were exposed to the virus. Chickenpox is a highly contagious disease and infants and CHILDHOOD VACCINATIONS3 young children are at a higher risk for bacterial infections, dehydration, and nervous system impairments. Childhood vaccinations protect those around you as well. There are a small number of people who cannot be vaccinated because of severe allergies to various vaccine components.
These people are susceptible to disease and their only protection is that people around them are immune and cannot pass diseases along to them. The bacteria that cause these serious diseases are still out here and children who have not been vaccinated still suffer. Measles is no longer common in this country due to a high immunization level within the community. If the immunization levels decrease, outbreaks of these infectious diseases would occur. Childhood vaccinations have become both federal and state immunization laws that are consistent with a basis tenet of American citizenship.
The government has mandated that millions of children receive specific vaccinations for day care and school entry. There are immunization laws in all 50 states that specify what types of vaccinations children must have. What would happen if we stopped vaccinating here in the United States? The diseases that are unknown and no longer commonly acquired would come back and we would see an epidemic of diseases. More children would get sick. Some children may even die. CHILDHOOD VACCINATIONS4 ANTI-THESIS Vaccines cause SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and Autism.
Some parents and medical providers within society have developed that there is a relationship between government mandated shots and allergies, autism, and mental retardation. According to CST News, Don Boys, PhD, the vaccine of MMR (mumps, measles and rubella), DPT (diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus are especially dangerous. According to www. timesonline. co. uk, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, doctor of gastroenterology, believes that the combination of the three virus (MMR) strains may overload a child’s immune system and cause the bowel disorder to develop. Another reason why to avoid childhood vaccinations are because of their content of mercury.
Don Boys, PhD, states that “most childhood vaccines are made with a preservative called thimerosal, which is basically mercury, a poison as recognized by all health officials and is the second most toxic element on Earth. ” According to Dr. Andy Cutler and Dr Amy Holmes, CST News, Thimerosal is 50% mercury by weight. In October 1998, the FDA banned the use of thimerosal in over the counter medications, but it is still used in most vaccines. Since multiple vaccines are often given on the same day, the amount of mercury injected into a typical infant exceeds the EPA’s safe” limits. Many vaccinations are given on the same day and mercury stays in the body for a long time; the toxins from the mercury may bind together in the organs of the body if the child is not able to get rid of the mercury quickly. A reader writing to Organic Consumer Report (June 13, 1968) mentions an article which appeared in Medical World which stated that about 3,000 children each year suffer varying degrees of brain damage as the result of smallpox vaccination. This same writer mentions CHILDHOOD VACCINATIONS5 another medical journal in which Dr. G. Kittel, M. D. reported that in the previous year, smallpox vaccination damaged the hearing of 3,296 children in West Germany and 71 became totally deaf. “—W. James, Immunization: Reality Behind the Myth, 1988, p. 18. A lot of parents are against the immunizations that are mandated for their children because of religious and philosophical reasons. It may be within one’s culture and background not to immunize their children. According to Hinman, Orenstein, Williamson, & Darrington (2002), “Forty-eight states currently allow religious exemptions, and sixteen permit philosophical exemptions.
Additionally, Arizona and Missouri allow philosophical exemptions in some settings. The criteria used for allowing these exemptions vary greatly. Some states require membership in a recognized religion, whereas others merely require an affirmation of religious (or philosophical) opposition. ” SYNTHESIS Stratton & Howe (1993), “Not only have deaths from the most common childhood infections been almost eliminated, but so have the devastating morbidities of diseases like measles, paralytic polio, and congenital rubella.
This has led to major savings in medical costs and gains in work productivity, as well as reductions in death and suffering. ” Vaccines are safe and very effective. There has been no scientific study that found a link between vaccinations and autism. The risks of allergic reactions and severe side effects are so small the protection that vaccines provide is much greater. Vaccines protect against deadly diseases. The polio virus causes paralysis and can lead to permanent physical disabilities and CHILDHOOD VACCINATIONS6 ven death. According to the www. cdc. gov website, before the polio vaccine became available, there were epidemics among children resulting in them having to use braces, crutches, or wheelchairs. According to the www. pkids. org, three of every 1, 000 persons with measles will die. However, the current widespread use of the measles vaccine has led to a high percent reduction in measles compared to the early 1940’s when the vaccine was not available. Immunizations help contain disease outbreaks because more people are protected.
In May 2011, I spoke with MAJ Jason Coleman, Chief of Pediatrics, at Dewitt Army Hospital, when asked why children should be immunized, his response was, “Immunizations provide a herd immunity. ” Dr Coleman also states that, “The leading causes of deaths prior to the standard immunizations are polio, smallpox and diphtheria. ” He further begins to tell about a story when he was stationed over in Europe; there was an outbreak of measles of the years 2003-2004; a large immigrant population from the Midwest thought that immunizations were not necessary.
Immunizations protect your child and other children as well from a host of diseases. Vaccines also can prevent infections that could easily re-appear. State governments require immunizations to protect the health of their citizens, both individually and as a population, Butts & Rich (2007). According to Virginia’s State Board of Health Regulations Title 32. 1-46, no student may be admitted to school prior to the immunization record being reviewed to ensure the immunization requirements have been fulfilled. These requirements are supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
CHILDHOOD VACCINATIONS7 Hinman, Orenstein, Williamson, & Darrington (2002), “The general experience of allowing children to enter school without complete immunization and then following up to try to monitor and ensure that they have been immunized has proven to be a much greater burden on the school system than requiring children to be immunized before they enter school (“No shots, No School”). ” “Infant and childhood mortality in Africa has fallen because of the role of the vaccination programmes” (Desgrees & Pison 1996). This conclusion was as a result of a case study in Senegal, West Africa.
Desgrees & Pison (1996), “The relatively rapid reduction of rural child mortality beginning in the late 1970’s can, however be linked in large part to infrastructure decentralization and to the new health policy that brought health services to most of the previously deprived rural populations. Health programmes targeting malaria and measles by immunization have succeeded in elimination the related rise in mortality beyond the sixth month. The timing of this reduction suggests that the immunization programme has played a central role. ”
Vaccine Safety Forum (1997), “the fact the large numbers of children in the US receive vaccinations during childhood presents problems in detecting adverse events following vaccination. It is difficult to find a comparable control population that has not received the vaccine to help assess potential casualty and to determine how often adverse events occur in the absence of vaccination”. CHILDHOOD VACCINATIONS 8 CONCLUSION Childhood vaccinations are very important in order to protect the safety of your child and prevention of others around your children. Vaccinations protect children from life threatening diseases.
Chances are much greater for a child who has not had immunizations will get sick or even die from diseases that can be stopped with vaccines. The vaccines do help contain disease outbreaks within our communities. Here in the United States and other countries as well we have the public and private health care workers that are dedicated to providing the administering of the mandated vaccines. You must have your child vaccinated to protect our future. Having your child vaccinated is the best way to put an end to the serious effects of infectious diseases. Disease prevention is the key to public health.
It is always better to prevent a disease than to treat it. References Butts, Janie B. , & Rich, Karen L. , Nursing Ethics: Across the Curriculum and Into Practice. (November 2007). Publisher: Jones and Bartlett Conway, J. , & Green, T… (2011). Childhood Immunization Policies and the Prevention of Communicable Disease. Pediatric Annals, 40(3), 136-143. Retrieved May 30, 2011, from ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source. (Document ID: 2298778631). Desgrees, Annabel Du Lou & Pison, Gilles. The Role of Vaccination in the Reduction of Childhood Mortality in Senegal. Population: An English Selection Vol. , (1996), pp. 95-121 Published by: Institut National d’Etudes Demographiques. Article Stable URL: http://www. jstor. org/stable/2949158 Hinman, Alan R. , Orenstein, Walter A. , Williamson, Don E. , & Darrington, Denton. (2002). Childhood immunization: Laws that work. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics: The Public’s Health and the Law in the 21st Century: A… , 30(3), 122-127. Retrieved June 1, 2011, from ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source. (Document ID: 269263171). Stratton, Kathleen R. , & Howe, Cynthia J. Adverse Events Associated with Childhood Vaccines: Evidence Bearing on Causality.
Institute of Medicine Staff. Pages: 480 Publisher: National Academies Press Location: Washington, DC, USA Date Published: 10/1993 vaccine. (2009). In Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www. credoreference. com/entry/tcmd/vaccine, May 30, 2011 Vaccine Safety Forum: Summaries of Two Workshops. Author: Board on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Publisher: National Academies Press Orginal Publication Date: 07/1997 http://www. cdc. gov/vaccines/vac-gen/safety/default. htm, Retrieved May 30, 2011 www. CST News. com. Copyright Don Boys, Ph. D. , Published March 22, 2006
