Reasons of Vaccinations

Vaccinations or immunizations are medicines that are injected into someone to expose the body to

germs to make the body immune to specific diseases. They accomplish this by stopping

the germs before they have a chance to multiply and make someone sick (Starnbach

2007). Vaccinations were first developed by a medical student, Edward Jenner,

in 1796. A theory was spreading that if someone was infected with cowpox, they would be immune to smallpox. He decided to put

this theory to the test by performing an experiment. He collected fluid from a

cowpox sore on the hand of a dairymaid, Sarah Nelms, who had been infected with

cowpox from one of her master’s cows through a scratch on her hand. Jenner took

the fluid from her hand and put it on a scratch on the arm of James Phipps, an

8-year-old boy. After further exposures and vaccinations, the boy proved to be

immune to smallpox, and the vaccination proved to be successful (Brooks and Brooks 1983, 384). In

this day and age, Parents are refusing to vaccinate their children because they

believe they could harm their child or cause autism in their child. Although

vaccinations are thought of as being dangerous, vaccines should be required for

children because they protect children from dangerous diseases, they prevent the

spread of diseases to others, and they are safe and effective.

One reason vaccinations should be mandatory for children is because they protect them from several

deadly diseases. Some common childhood diseases are Diphtheria, Hepatitis B, Hib

disease, Mumps, Rubella, Rubeola, Pertussis, Polio, and Tetanus. A child who contracts

one of these diseases could face serious consequences, possibly even death. For

example, If a child contracts Diphtheria it can make them choke so badly that

they stop breathing. Diphtheria can also cause heart failure or pneumonia. Another

example is hepatitis B, which can cause meningitis and pneumonia. Likewise, Hib

disease also causes meningitis. Mumps is another serious disease which can

cause deafness, diabetes, meningitis, encephalitis (inflamed brain), and brain

damage. Another deadly disease is rubella which could cause serious problems

with pregnant women and babies. Rubella in a pregnant woman could cause a

miscarriage or birth defects in the baby. Another disease with serious side

effects is Rubeola, which can cause pneumonia, blindness, ear infections, deafness,

encephalitis, and brain damage. As well as Pertussis, which often causes

pneumonia, and could cause convulsions and brain damage. Tetanus is another

deadly disease which causes a high fever, convulsions, pain, and possibly

death. Another disease with serious effects is Polio, which often cripples children,

and sometimes even kills them. If a child contracts Polio, very little can be

done for them. (Floyd, Mimms and Yelding-Howard 1995).

These diseases are not something to take lightly. They come with serious side

effects that could either permanently affect a child’s life, or result in their

death. This is why vaccinations are so important for children to receive.

History is proof that vaccinations protect people from deadly diseases. According to the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention, “More than 15,000 Americans died from

diphtheria in 1921, before there was a vaccine. Only two cases of diphtheria

have been reported to CDC between 2004 and 2014” (2017). This statistic shows

the power of vaccinations; diphtheria went from 15,000 deaths in one year to

just two deaths within a span of ten years. This is no coincidence, this is the

result of vaccinations. The CDC also said, “An epidemic of rubella (German

measles) in 1964-65 infected 12½ million Americans, killed 2,000 babies, and caused

11,000 miscarriages. Since 2012, 15 cases of rubella were reported to CDC” (Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention 2017). Again, this is a massive drop in the

amount of deaths from this disease. German measles dropped from 12½ million

cases within one year, to just 15 cases within 5 years.

In addition to preventing diseases, vaccinations have controlled several diseases and even

eradicated some diseases. Smallpox was officially eliminated in 1977, after the

vaccination came into effect. As well as smallpox, polio is on the verge of eradication.

In 1988, there was approximately 350,000 cases of polio across the world. In

2005, this number decreased to 1,951 cases. In 2006, there were outbreaks in

only four countries, whereas there was outbreaks in 125 different countries in

1988 (Starnbach 2007). Without

vaccinations, we would still be battling Smallpox, and we would be dealing with

a lot more cases of Polio worldwide than we are currently. Experts are also

hopeful for the eradication of Guinea worm disease. Guinea worm has only had 30

reported cases in 2017, and these cases have only been reported from only two

countries. Some further diseases that the Carter Task Force for Disease

Eradication listed for possible eradication are lymphatic filariasis, measles,

mumps, rubella, and pork tapeworm (historyofvaccines.org 2018). As more

vaccinations are created, it is possible diseases could continue being

eliminated from the earth. This will never be possible if parents stop

vaccinating their children.

Another reason child immunizations should be required is because they prevent the spread of diseases

to others. Certain diseases that people thought were no longer a threat are

reappearing due to the lack of vaccinations. Measles, for example, has been on

the rise since the anti-vaccination movement started. In 1989, there were

55,000 cases of measles reported in the United States. Out of this 55,000 there

were 136 deaths. This outbreak was due to low vaccination rates that year (Starnbach

2007). In 1974, the Japanese government suspended the pertussis vaccination

program. Five years later, there was a major pertussis epidemic. 13,000 people contracted

the disease and 41 people died because of the disease (Starnbach 2007). If they

had not suspended the vaccination program that probably would never have

occurred, and several lives would have been spared. Over 100 years ago, Thomas

Huxley, a biologist, when talking about one of his neighbors said “ If he is to

be allowed to let his children go unvaccinated, he might as well be allowed to

leave strychnine (poison) lozenges about in the way of mine” (Eisenburg and Eisenburg 1979, 191).

This quote still has truth to it 100 years later. Parents who allow their

children to go unvaccinated are not only risking the lives of their children,

but also the lives of the children around them.

Preventing the spread of diseases is becoming more of a challenge as “herd immunity” or

“community immunity” is rapidly disappearing. Vaccinations not only protect the

person receiving the vaccination, but also the community around them. The more

people who are vaccinated, the more safe the community will be from diseases (Starnbach

2007). According to Alive and Well: Decisions in Health, “Unless 85 percent of

susceptible persons are protected by immunization, there is risk of epidemic.

Thus the effort to achieve total immunization coverage is a major public thrust”

(Eisenburg and Eisenburg 1979, 191).  With the percentage of people who vaccinate

their children rapidly dropping due to the antivaccine movement, more children

are at risk of catching diseases. This also means that the diseases which

people thought were already under control have a chance of coming back, and the

children who are unvaccinated will be at the most risk as herd immunity

disappears (Starnbach 2007). The Center for Disease Control (CDC) warns, with

international travel growing in popularity, even if a certain disease is uncommon

in your country, it might be common in another country. If someone travels to

another country and brings back a disease, someone who is unvaccinated will be

at more risk of getting that disease (PublicHealth.org 2017). If a parent skips

out on a certain vaccination because that disease is uncommon, they risk their

child contracting the disease from a frequent traveler. Skipping out on

vaccinating children could potentially harm the entire community around them.

The final reason vaccinations should be required is because they are safe and effective. It is believed that

vaccinations are the cause for autism. This theory began after an experiment

performed by a man named Andrew Wakefield. He did a research project on twelve

children who have received their mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR) vaccination.

He said that nine out of the twelve had autism, and proclaimed this was because

of the MMR vaccination. They later found out that these were fraudulent results

and the evidence was not accurate. Even if the evidence had been accurate, that

was much too small a sample size to use as evidence. There have been several

other studies done that were inspired by Wakefield and so far none of these

have successfully found a scientific link between vaccinations and autism. In

fact, several of these studies have actually been debunked by scientific

research (Foster and Ortiz 2017). If vaccinations are the cause for autism,

then there would be more cases of vaccinated children with autism then non-vaccinated

children, which there is no scientific evidence of this pattern being true

(Foster and Ortiz 2017). Several recent studies provide evidence that children

have symptoms of autism in while still in the uterus, way before they are

vaccinated with the MMR vaccination (PublicHealth.org 2017). If a parent’s

reason for letting their children go unvaccinated is because they fear their

child will become autistic, they need to realize there has been no scientific

evidence proving this to be true.

Although parents believe vaccinations are dangerous, skipping vaccinations comes with much more

risk than the risk that comes with receiving them. According to

PublicHealth.org, there is less than 1 in 1 million cases of someone actually

getting symptoms from a vaccination. Out of those cases, there is only one

recorded case of a vaccination causing a disease. It was a Oral Polio Vaccine

(OPV) and this vaccine is no longer used in the United States. The other cases

of getting symptoms from a vaccination were just a immune response, not the

actual disease itself (PublicHealth.org 2017). Some people believe they would be safer with

natural immunity. Natural immunity may work well in some cases, but it’s not

worth the risk. For example, if you were to try gaining immunity from measles

by getting the disease, there would be a 1 in 500 chance of dying from the

disease. Whereas, the chance of facing an allergic reaction from the MMR

vaccination is less than one in one million (PublicHealth.org 2017). The choice

is either a 1 in 1 million chance of contracting symptoms from a vaccination,

or a 1 in 500 chance of death from actually contracting the disease. The 1 in 1

million chance comes with less risk, also the consequence is symptoms, whereas with the 1 in 500 chance, the consequence is

death. Parents are concerned that vaccinations will harm their children more than they will help, and that

vaccinations just aren’t worth the risk. Parents can ease their minds because

vaccinations have been successfully used on children for decades. The safety

and effectiveness of vaccinations are extensively tested before ever being used

on a child (Rettner 2017). They do not just come out with a new vaccination and

start using it on the general population. Vaccinations are tested and monitored

extensively to assure the safety of the children who receive them.

In conclusion, children should be required to receive vaccinations because they protect them from

deadly diseases, they prevent unvaccinated children from spreading diseases to

others, and they are proven to be safe and effective. The death rate from

diseases has significantly dropped since vaccinations were introduced. Parents

in this day and age, are risking their children’s lives through the

antivaccination movement. The antivaccination movement needs to end immediately

because if it continues the death rate will rise again, and diseases that were

nearly forgotten will return and cause an epidemic.