It is better to prevent a disease than to fight it later. There have been many diseases that have swirled around this county and the world in recent years. These include but are not limited to are, polio, diphtheria, pertussis or a whooping cough, rubella, mumps, tetanus, rotavirus, and Haemophilus influenza type b- commonly referred to as Hib. These diseases have become preventable due to vaccines (Vaccines). Thanks to the vaccination process, one of the most terrible diseases in history-smallpox only exists in labs now. So why are so many people fighting for no more vaccines? Today I will be looking into this issue and examining both sides of this argument, how the pro-vaccines are for protecting the child themselves, protections children who can’t receive that vaccine, and overall eradication of the diseases, as well, as the anti-vaccine supporters that stand for, vaccinations containing toxins, to many shots in short time, and side effects of the initial shot.
Why should you personally vaccinate your child? Many reasons, some include, protecting the child, protection for children who aren’t old enough to receive the vaccines and eradication of the disease. An example of one of the serious diseases that are preventable is whooping cough. In 2016, more than 17,000 cases of a whooping cough were reported to the Center for Disease and Prevention. The peak in the last 10 years, was in 2012 when there were 48,000 cases reported to the CDC. A recent study conducted showed that many whooping cough deaths in babies could be preventable if they got the vaccinations on the current vaccine schedule (CDC Features) If you follow the current schedule for childhood vaccinations your child should be protected 14 potentially deadly diseases by the time they are two years of age. We will now discuss how when you get vaccinations you are helping with herd immunity and protecting those who cannot receive the vaccines.
In order to protect babies from getting disease right when they are taken out of the hospital, parents rely on the concept of herd immunity or community immunity. Herd immunity is when most-not all- of the population has been vaccinated against the disease and therefore it protects those who haven’t got vaccinated or can’t. However, in order for this to work the way it is intended, only five percent of the population cannot receive the vaccines. (Ktmoelle) Vaccines are made from weakened or dead bacteria of the certain disease which therefore cause your body to create antibodies so when the disease is contracted your immune system can fight it off. In order to understand how we can ultimately achieve eradication of these diseases using vaccinations, we have to understand what eradication is. With eradication, transmission of a specific pathogen is permanently interrupted, worldwide. When diseases are successfully eradicated there is no risk of it returning and therefore, prevention efforts can quit. When smallpox was eradicated, vaccinations were stopped, and it began saving the US $1 billion dollars annually. (PUBLIC HEALTH) However, what makes this hard is how many people don’t understand the difference between elimination and eradication. Elimination is the lack of transmission to a geographical region. Eradication is all over the world. Eradication is what we need to strive for, for future generations.
Approximately 29.3% of children do not receive vaccinations on the CDC schedule. In between the ages of 19-35 months (1 ½ years-almost 3 years), the schedule shows that children receive seven different vaccinations, some of which require more than one dose to make the child susceptible to the disease (National Center). There are many reasons why people do not vaccinate their children Some of these that we are going to discuss are, vaccinations containing toxins, too many shots in the short time, and side effects of the initial shot. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the initial shots, contain multiple ingredients. Some of which have caused some controversies. Some of these are aluminum, formaldehyde, monosodium glutamate, and thimerosal. However, on the CDC site, they explain why they are containing these.
Vaccines have aluminum for the reason of how they help the vaccines stimulate a better response and therefore, immunity. Aluminum helps promote a more potent response and a more persistent immune response. Formaldehyde is usually colorless; however, it is highly toxic as it can cause different forms of cancer. In vaccinations, formaldehyde is used to inactive the vaccination until it is injected. What most people do not know is that almost all of this chemical is removed before it is packaged and leaves the laboratory. Monosodium glutamate-MSG- is an ethanol-like product that helps the vaccination remain unchanged with exposer to the worldly elements, such as light, heat or humidity. MSG is considered to cause headaches and allergic reactions in many. Another controversial ingredient in vaccinations is thimerosal. Thimerosal is a preservative that is added to vials of the vaccinations to prevent contamination and bacterial growth (Vaccinations & Immunizations).
Children receive many vaccinations containing these chemicals. Children by the time they are 18 months old, they have received, or been scheduled to receive 23 shots according to the CDC, while they are getting multiple “boosters” twenty-three different shots sounds like quite a few, this is not counting the few oral vaccinations that children receive, they also frequently suffer from side effects. When children initially receive the vaccinations, as a parent, you will find yourself dealing with some common side-effects. Some general side-effects are temperature, pain at the injection site, and fussiness in children. These are normally very mild and fade away quickly, motion with the limb in which it was received helps this process. Few people experience side effects that can range from a rash to severe infection. However, the odds that you will get these are very slim to none. When the babies receive the shots, the nurses will say “this will hurt you more mom than it hurts the baby” this is a very true statement. The babies are scared by the initial prick and it clearly hurts but they quickly move on, while it is very embedded in the mother’s brain for a long time to come, until the next shots are received.
