Essay Against Vaccination

Unvaccinated Amish missionaries who traveled to the Philippines brought measles back to Ohio in May 2014, resulting in 155 infected people as of June 5, 2014. There were 9,149 confirmed and 31,508 suspected cases of measles in the Philippines between Jan. 1 and May 20, 2013. In 2004, there were 37 cases of measles in the United States; in 2014, by May 30, there were 16 measles outbreaks in the United States resulting in at least 334 cases in 18 states. UNICEF reported that, globally, 453,000 children die from rotavirus, 476,000 die from pneumococcus (the virus that causes pneumonia, meningitis, and blood infections), 199,000 die from Hib (a virus that causes pneumonia and meningitis), 195,000 die from pertussis (whooping cough), 118,000 die from the measles, and 60,000 die from tetanus each year, all vaccine-preventable

Vaccinations go through a series of testing to ensure that the shots are safe and effective; majority of the time, the side effects of the shot are minimal compared to the damage an illness can do to the individual. Vaccinations save time and money because if an individual does not get vaccinated, they are at great risk for acquiring an illness that will lead to more intense medical bills (USDHHS, n.d). Lastly, vaccinations help future generations. Shots have been given to people for so long now in order to fight different illnesses that some have completely vanished and others have become very rare. Like previously stated, Polio used to be a terrified illness and now there are no known cases in America at all (USDHHS,

(A.Offit). Some children, who contract a deadly disease, usually don’t have enough time to complete their wish list. By allowing your children to be vaccinated, you are giving them an opportunity to live out their life without the threat of an infectious disease. Children who are the ages of five and under are the ones who are commonly infected by a disease. A vaccination is just a shot containing the dead or weak germ of the disease.

Today, young children receive vaccines to protect them against 14 different diseases. Because some vaccines require more than one dose, children can receive as many as 26 inoculations by 2 years of age and up to five shots at one time. For this reason, some parents now ask their doctors to space out, separate or withhold vaccines. If the parent(s) decided to not vaccinate their child, the child may not have the necessary antibodies to fight off infection. That is why to protect the child, the vaccine needs to be not enforced on the child, but strongly suggested by the doctor.

Outbreaks of dangerous childhood diseases like the measles is one of the many reasons every child should be vaccinated. Vaccinations also protect the community, defend future generations, and are safe and effective. The first reason every child who can should be vaccinated is that vaccinations protect the community with herd immunity. When most of a community is vaccinated against a contagious disease, most members are protected from it because there is little chance of an outbreak. Even those who cannot be vaccinated, such as infants, pregnant women, or immunocompromised people are protected because the spread of a contagious disease is contained.

The history of infectious diseases in America predates the establishment of the United States. Colonial children were afflicted by many epidemic contagious diseases, and a number of very graphic descriptions have been recorded.1 As research and medical advances have increased, more vaccinations have been developed to prevent and eliminate some of these once deadly diseases. The pace of progress regarding infectious diseases of children accelerated during the 18th Century, particularly with respect to prevention of smallpox by inoculation or variolation. Smallpox was an almost inevitable illness of childhood and was one of the most common causes of death because of its high mortality rate. It was reported, for example, to kill 10% of Swedish

Thanks to technology and research, vaccines have kept serious diseases from becoming epidemic illnesses, unlike many years ago. When children are vaccinated, the chances of contracting the disease being vaccinated for are decreased drastically. Every child should be immunized to protect themselves and the people around them from these deadly diseases. The best way to prevent preventable diseases is to have an immune population. We can achieve this by simply vaccinating our children.

Required Immunity Mandatory vaccinations for children in public schools have been the center of much debate since laws were first developed to regulate immunization. Fears from parents about side effects and adverse reactions have steered many away from wanting to vaccinate their children despite the numerous infectious diseases they prevent. These debates have gotten in the way of progression in schools for preventing the spread of disease. To me, the risks of not vaccinating children are far greater than the risks of adverse reactions.

Vaccines are like traffic lights; they ensure the safety of the public, be in heavily crowded areas, like schools, or densely trafficked roads. Traffic lights only work when all people follow the rules. If a car runs a red light, the car runs the risk of killing innocent pedestrians who are complying with the prescribed rules. Vaccines, if not utilized by most people, are ineffective. Even though some parents are concerned over the safety of vaccines, children who go to public schools should not be granted exemptions because vaccines are necessary to prevent outbreaks, children who do not receive vaccines are at risk of disease, and medically compromised children rely on vaccines to prevent disease.

Many people may think that vaccination is a bad thing, that instead of preventing it causes illness, that is not natural. Natural or not, there are many reasons as to why we should vaccinate us and the younger generation. Most of the time children don’t like vaccination because it hurt, but is the responsibility of a parent to seek the wellbeing of his or her child. Vaccination it’s a preventive measure of various diseases. Unfortunately, things like the anti-vaccination movement, the misinformation on the Internet, and the believe that vaccination causes more damage than is worth, have led our society to think that it’s right not to vaccinate.

How likely is it for a child to get a disease? “Statistically, the chance of your child getting a vaccine-preventable disease may be relatively low. You are making a wager” (Childhood 1). Mainly, parents don’t want their children to be vaccinated in order to attend public school or tend to lack taking them on time to get the shots. A vaccination is being introduced to the body which will then produce an immunity to a specific disease.

Modern medicine provides people with the ability to protect themselves from the world’s most fatal diseases. Merely a century ago, it was not uncommon for a child to die as a result of diseases such as polio, pertussis, and tuberculosis. Today, it is highly unlikely for a person to contract these diseases, let alone die from them. However, refusal of vaccinations has been increasing throughout the years due to the anti-vaccination movement. This movement declares mandatory vaccines unconstitutional and vaccinations overall as the cause of autism.

Globally, vaccination has proved as a tremendous asset in curbing the spread of communicable diseases. Communicable disease such as smallpox, which is highly infectious, was thoroughly eradicated in the 20th century with the help of vaccines. Other notorious contagious diseases, such as measles, polio and rubella are also in the brink of eradication in this modern age through the widespread application of vaccines. By implementing mandatory vaccination, it’s not impossible to achieve that due to vaccination preventing new human carriers of disease from appearing. As vaccination prevents an individual from contracting a particular disease, the individual will not be a carrier for that disease, thus limiting the spread of the disease to others.

Vaccinations can simply save lives. It gets the immune system stronger to prevent viruses to affect our body. Vaccines do not make the body sick. Although, they do put a tiny dose of the disease in the person to strengthen the immune system to prevent an attack of a stronger dose of the disease. It is better to not have to deal with the disease at all than trying to deal with it after you

Vaccinations can help prevent future diseases or viruses in the upcoming life of a child. According to an article from vaccines.gov, “Because of advances in medical science, your child can be protected against more diseases than ever before. Some diseases that once injured or killed thousands of children, have been eliminated completely and others are close to extinction- primarily due to stay safe and effective vaccinations.” Throughout the years more viruses have been prevented due to vaccinations in children. There has also been an increase in the amount of children that get vaccinations at a young age.