Many views have developed over the years concerning vaccinations and the decision to vaccinate one’s child. Largent stated that “… about 40 percent of American parents today have chosen to delay certain vaccines or outright refuse …” (18) vaccinations and others concluded “… that the civic responsibility all parents was to vaccinate their children” (8). Although people have the rights to their own opinions, vaccinations are not solely purposed for only the child but also the child one’s child come in contact with. Vaccinations should become mandatory for all children due to the reason of the health and safety of children, they are UpToDate, and they are vital to ensure a healthy, long lived future.
To begin, as Dowdle and Orenstein stated, “All vaccines are given to protect individuals” (2464). Vaccinations are given to protect the body from harmful disease that can cause at times, death. Many studies have shown that when a child is vaccinated their body rejects diseases better than those who are not vaccinated. It is vital that parents are aware of the harmful diseases that their children can obtain through the interaction of other children.
Controversy, vaccines over the years have been deemed unsafe but in recent studies, “Between 1983 and 2005, the number of diseases against which children are routinely vaccinated doubled, and the number of mandated and recommended vaccinations tripled” (Largent 15). Vaccinations are updated yearly as new discoveries are found that relate towards harmful diseases to people. People today, now more than ever, long for the truth and the evidence of updated treatments can only prove the claim of safety. Sickness has always been and will forever be a common fight person will have to fight and denying this right of immunity can be detrimental to one’s life. Parents should exploit the resources that reveal the up-to-date vaccines and utilize these immunizations for their children to ensure the safety of their children.
Furthermore, with developing research and medicine Dowdle states, “The most effective means of providing life-long protection through vaccination is elimination of the infectious agent. (2466) “Life-long protection” is obtainable but the only way it is achievable is through its constant use of the various available resources with vaccinations. (Dowdle Orenstein 2466) Medicine has developed far beyond what doctors could have imagined when vaccines were first discovered, and it is for the benefit of the people health that these discoveries are utilized. Doctors have now provided age appropriate vaccines that are essential to a healthy development of a child. It is important that parents who are against such treatments would begin to develop the growth-mindset of treatment for a great cause.
Opposing, it has been claimed vaccinations lead to, what is now classified as, symptoms of “autistic enterocolitis” (Largent 95). Wakefield stated that, “… the term autistic enterocolitis to describe the form of IBD he believed was in some way caused by the MMR vaccine, which he believed in turn caused neurological problems that are consistent with autism” (95). This claim is quite bold and convinces many people to deny vaccinations essential to a healthy life.
After much research Wakefield found that MMR did not cause autism but is related to Chron’s disease. Largent supports this opposition by stating, “By 2002, the scientific and medical communities in Britain and the United States concluded that Wakefield’s hypothesis was incorrect— in fact, there was no causal association between the MMR vaccine and autism” (95). Hotez addresses the rumor of autism cause by vaccinations stated, “The brains of children with autism spectrum disorders are inherently different, he reasons, so it doesn’t make sense for autism to result from childhood vaccination”.
Concluding, although vaccines have developed a controversial reputation through the past recent years, vaccinations are needed now more than ever. When one views a treatment to receive a vaccine, a closed, mindset is looked through and view can often lead people do deny treatment. A person that receives a vaccination is not just helping their own immune system but is protecting everyone he/she comes in contact to. Although through the years, many people have denied the treatment for vaccinations due to various claims of vaccination being more hazardous than helpful. Although altering students have advised against vaccines many creditable researchers have proven those claims to be wrong; assuring parents that vaccines are a vital part for their child to develop into a healthy adult-life.
Works Cited
- Largent, Mark A. Vaccine: The Debate in Modern America. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012, https://lacollegelibrary.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=601070&site=eds-live. eBook. Accessed 13 Feb. 2019.
- Foster, Rebecca. Foreword. Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism; My Journey as a Vaccine Scientist, Pediatrician, and Autism Dad, by Rebecca Foster, Literature Resource Center, 2018. https://lacollegelibrary.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsglr&AN=edsgcl.551889954&site=eds-live. Accessed 13 Feb. 2019.
- Dowdle, R. Walter., and Walter A. Orenstein. Quest for Life-Long Protection by Vaccination. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 91, no. 7, 1994, p. 2464. EBSCOhost, https://lacollegelibrary.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.2364254&site=eds-live. Accessed 13 Feb. 2019
