Vaccination Risks

Learning about vaccinations and their correlations this past week reminded me of a high school class I had long ago. There was a unit on eugenetics in the eighth grade where my teacher Mr. Howk showed us the movie Gattaca. Gattaca exists in a fictional world where parents can choose what traits they want their children to have and scientists can alter the zygote so that can happen. Mr. Howk explained that this would be the greatest thing scientists could achieve, if this were to become real. “We could get rid of mental and physical disorders while children are still in the womb!

People who are not vaccinated can spread diseases to people who cannot receive immunizations such as infants, people with medical conditions that are unable to tolerate the vaccine, and people with religious beliefs against them. Unvaccinated people threaten the people in this population because of their personal choice. Safety of vaccines

Vaccinations eradicated smallpox worldwide and now children don’t have to receive vaccinations for smallpox because of the work the vaccines did. Vaccines also played an important role in ending the polio virus. If we continue vaccinating now and completely we can trust that some diseases will no longer be around. This almost happened with measles, but the increase of people going unvaccinated prevented a deadly childhood disease from being eliminated from the U.S. Vaccinations are also very safe and

Each year in the U.S., 50,000 adults die from a disease that could have easily been prevented if they simply got vaccinated. Also, most vaccines are for deadly diseases; if someone neglects getting vaccinated, that makes them very vulnerable. Vaccines are a very safe way to prevent illness. In fact, each vaccine has to pass through a major inspection to make

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.

Vaccines are able to prevent disease in a single child, but their usefulness to society lies in their ability to prevent outbreaks. Vaccines prevent disease through the concept of herd immunity. Herd immunity is the idea that a disease will have a harder time spreading if the majority of the population is unable to contract it (Martinez). For example, if more than 90 percent of people are vaccinated against measles, an outbreak is unlikely to happen even if a person in the community is infected (Oster).

If children are continually vaccinated, eventually that could lead to the complete eradication of the disease. By continuing to vaccinate now, eventually the upcoming generations could be at no risk of contracting the dangerous diseases. While there may be some speculation surrounding certain vaccinations, the vast majority of vaccination have been proven safe and effective. We are fortunate that in that the United States has the safest and the most effective vaccinations; all extensively tested. Whenever needed, the vaccinations are updated to make sure that they are still as safe as possible.

Let’s begin with how vaccinations have decreased the annual rates of our diseased, dead, and disabled. When an individual gets vaccinated, they not only protect themselves from getting sick, but they protect the people around them as well. Take measles for instance. The measles vaccine was introduced in 1963. According to the CDC, “Measles incidence and deaths began to decline in 1965 and continued a 33-year downward trend” (CDC, 2010, para. 11).

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.

But that 5% can still cause a major outbreak. Those children whose parents have decided to not vaccinate them increase the risk of them acquiring and transmitting any vaccine-preventable diseases. Vaccines are recommended only after a long and careful review by scientists and health care professionals. Immunizations can help save not only your own child’s life but helps end the spread of these diseases to other loved ones as well. Some diseases that in one time wiped out thousands of children have now been completely eliminated or close to extinction due to our safe and effective vaccinations.

A vaccine preventable disease, that an adult may contract, may be deadly for younger children, infants, and the elderly, if it should spread to them. Although, the very young and elderly are at greater risk for serious infections and complications, vaccine preventable diseases can strike anyone. Regardless of whether you are young, elderly, or middle aged and are healthy, vaccination can help you to stay that way. When you become ill, besides the possibility of spreading the disease, you may also let down those who depend upon you. You may miss work or not be able to care for those who depend upon you like small children or elderly family members.

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

Not only can vaccinated mothers prevent their offspring from developing disease, but making vaccines mandatory can help eradicate them from our future generations. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the leading national public health institute of the United States, Pertussis, Hepatitis B, and Flu vaccines are all vaccines available to pregnant women to prevent their unborn baby from developing these diseases. If these Vaccines were to be made mandatory, there would not be any more babies born with damaging diseases. Beginning the future generations off without disease will prevent deaths and save millions of people. To further this argument, if everyone were to be vaccinated, certain viruses could be eradicated and no longer pose a threat.

Estimations say that vaccines prevent between 2 and 3 million deaths each year. "It is one of the most cost-effective health investments"says World Health Organization (WHO). There are little to no dangers to your health that are caused by vaccinations. Vaccinations stimulating your body 's immune system and build up anti-bodies to a disease. These are the same anti-bodies that would form if you caught and survived a disease.

Pregnant women help protect their unborn babies from birth defects by vaccinating their selves. That immunity is carried into the first few months of the infant’s