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Vaccines have been questioned for a substantial amount of time by both parents and certain health professionals in the media regarding their effects on a maturing child; however, these claims are quick to be proven incorrect as vaccines are deemed necessary considering they are the true reason that diseases, such as polio, no longer exist in the United States. The simple role of vaccines is to teach the body how to defend itself from diseases, sicknesses, and infections. Blatantly, many more children would be dying if it were not for the powerful, positive effects of vaccinations. While it does simulate an infection, it is not actually inducing an illness. People who are against getting vaccinations also referred to as anti-vaxxers are dangerous to society because everyone is at risk of being exposed to diseases that have otherwise been almost completely eliminated. Parents are selfishly and negligently not getting vaccines for their children and themselves in fear of acquiring psychological conditions, such as autism, despite this claim being proven false since gaining popularity.
In order to understand why vaccines are important, it is crucial to first understand what vaccines are evidently doing when they enter the body and why natural immunity is not necessarily better. The overall purpose of vaccines is to help the body recognize a virus or bacterium when it tries to attack the immune system by injecting antibodies that are able to defend the body from certain pathogens. Vaccines only need to be administered at certain times or on several occasions depending on the body’s immune memory which is when the body continuously produces antibodies for years after receiving a vaccine and are ready to attack the virus when it reenters the body (Feemster 1). While a natural immune response can be stronger, the body does not automatically gain eternal immunity from these fatal illnesses. For example, chicken pox is a pathogen that a person is unable to get more than once; however, for an illness such as whooping cough, children’s immunity actually decreases and they are able to easily re-accumulate the same virus. Many vaccines even inject more antibodies than the body would ever be able to produce on its own. For example, for human papillomavirus (HPV) and tetanus, those “who receive the vaccine have more antibodies than those who survive infection” (Feemster 4). Conversely, anti-vaxxers are contingent on the body’s natural ability to fight a disease regardless of having to “endure a disease or infection, which depending on the illness, can result in disability or death” (Feemster 4). One shot to potentially protect the body from accumulating harsh illnesses seems much more reasonable than taking the dangerous risk of spreading an illness and making the immune system fend for itself. After all, scientists are constantly doing research on if the vaccines are working correctly and if they are being appropriately tolerated (Feemster 70).
Misconceptions are a main contributing factor in the anti-vaccine movement as well as in the measles outbreaks across the country. Jeffrey Gerber and Paul Offit acknowledge the several hypotheses suggested by anti-vaxxers such as: “the combination measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine causes autism by damaging the intestinal lining, which allows the entrance of encephalopathic proteins, thimerosal, an ethylmercury-containing preservative in some vaccines, is toxic to the central nervous system, and the simultaneous administration of multiple vaccines overwhelms or weakens the immune system” (Gerber and Offit 1). Aside from these hypotheses, there are also several anti-vaxxers that suspect the link of vaccines to autism and death which are just a couple of the many “misperceptions about the safety and importance of vaccines” (Darrah). Looking at the financial factor in the distribution of vaccines, a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that a lot of people that did not get their children vaccinated do not have health insurance coverage. Although money is an obstacle in many instances, there is a “government program (that) pays for vaccines for uninsured children” (Darrah). Despite the implausible facts to back up anti-vaccine beliefs, medical professionals are able to prove the falsity of accumulating disease from vaccines through several tests, experiments, and general scientific knowledge.
The diseases that vaccines are protecting against have much worse side effects than vaccine side effect and actually jeopardizes public health as a whole. Measles, for example, is a serious virus that can have several complications such as an ear infection, bronchitis, croup, pneumonia, or encephalitis (“Measles”). Measles is spread very easily by getting into contact with a person’s saliva which can be spread by simply sneezing. Even if a person is anti-vaccine, the risk of giving the disease to peers is likely since it “can linger in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves the area, and causes fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, and a rash” (Galvin). While no vaccine is guaranteed to prevent disease, the measles vaccine is “93 percent effective at preventing illness,” said Dr. Alan Melnick, a Clark County health officer (Galvin), and two doses raise that percentage to 97 percent. These vaccinations increase the likelihood of herd immunity so that a whole population is not at risk. Herd immunity is when individuals are protected from diseases due to the fact that almost everyone in a community is vaccinated and the disease is, therefore, unable to spread (Feemster 5). Furthermore, it can be easy to make the assumption that diseases are never that serious, but it is better to be safe than sorry, as one might say.
In Kristen Feemster’s Vaccines: What Everyone Needs To Know, she appeals to those against vaccinations by recognizing that all medications have somewhat of a risk; however, she uses plenty of credible data to support her claim that vaccines are always worth that small risk. People take medications such as birth control and Adderall to prevent certain conditions knowing that there could be side effects such as fatigue or severe weight gain or loss in order to get the desired outcome. Also, not all side effects are necessarily from vaccines given that any illness occurring after the injection is easy to blame on the vaccine. When a vaccine is tested and there are no differences in the outcomes of a placebo group and a vaccine group, then it is unreasonable to assume that the vaccine is the problem. While vaccines sometimes do result in a small bump on the arm or redness, every vaccine’s purpose is to help the body fight pathogens rather than cause harm and they are tested for this exact reason. Each test is actually sent to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which decides if a vaccine is reliable and safe to administer to the public. Even after vaccines are approved by the FDA, they are constantly being supervised and inspected to ensure the safety of all individuals receiving the drug. As a matter of fact, the 2007 Drug and Administration Act is a law that was put into place to ensure that every vaccine has constant monitoring and that every company has an active plan of surveillance going forward (Feemster 71). The FDA is in charge of overseeing hundreds of drugs and vaccinations and they surely reject medications that do not meet their safety standards (Feemster 71).
Although it may seem like Feemster simply focuses on the importance of vaccinations, she acknowledges that there are indeed people who are not meant to receive vaccines given their past medical history presenting that vaccines may cause an adverse effect. Similar to chemotherapy, vaccines can cause negative side effects on those with a weak immune system. Although the author of “Age of Autism,” Cathy Jameson, claims that side effects “last a long time after a vaccine is administered,” (Jameson) it is crucial to realize that there can be side effects of anything put in the body that usually is not originally created inside the body. Looking at commercials for even minor drugs, there is a long list of possible side effects and it is no different for vaccines. A study actually proves that the side effects are “90% mild, self-resolving events such as fever and swelling and pain around the vaccine’s injection site” and these are not nearly as bad as the outcome of serious illnesses such as measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, or polio (Gerber and Offit).
One main focus for anti-vaxxers in this debate is the claim that autism can be caused by vaccines. There have been several studies proving the absent link between vaccines and autism and vaccine research and data prove that they indeed do not cause the severe side effects that many people claim to be true. In Cathy Jameson’s article, “The Age of Autism,” she makes the bold claim that vaccines cause autism; however, there is an extensive amount of data and research available that contradicts this forceful opinion. Jameson asserts that there are several dangerous side effects of vaccines, such as autism, and even goes as far as saying that death is one of these effects and the main reason she identifies as anti-vaccine. While missing scientific data with statistics proving the link, she continues to use phrases to convert her readers such as declaring the “lingering pain and the secondary illnesses” that will occur because of these vaccines (Jameson). Throughout her article, she has the tendency to just talk about her intense fear of children dying from vaccines or acquiring autism without having any numbers that support the statistic that children are indeed dying or acquiring autism from vaccines. It would appear that most articles claiming that vaccines cause autism lack how many children have gotten autism after getting a vaccine which can be unconvincing for parents trying to make the best decision for their children. For example, Jameson simply claims that once a child gets autism from vaccines, it “will rob [them] of [their] abilities, [their] health, [their] time and [their] money as [they] try to reverse the effects” (Jameson). It is indeed saddening to know that people look upon autism as being worse than a potentially fatal illness. Unfortunately, Jameson seems to believe that persuading the general public into avoiding vaccines with little proof is more effective than backing up her information with scientific evidence and data.
Contrary to this belief, Jeffrey Gerber and Paul Offit go against this claim using scientific studies done by international researchers vouching against the link between autism and vaccines. Using the United Kingdom as an example, they included this information in their study: “Although a trend toward increasing autism diagnoses by year of birth was confirmed, no change in the rates of autism diagnoses after the 1987 introduction of MMR vaccine was observed” (6). Similarly, a test in California compared the MMR vaccinations with autism rates and there was no reciprocity. Gerber and Offit include several countries such as the United Kingdom and Denmark in their study in order to prove the disconnection between vaccines and autism everywhere instead of just in the States. Their use of logos, rather than pathos, is a logical way of appealing to readers while Jameson’s argument relates to people on a more emotional level as she uses children to appeal to the public.
While it seems to be unlikely for the vaccine debate to come to an end any time soon, it is crucial for everyone to receive vaccines so that the safety of society remains of top importance and the United States is able to possess herd immunity once and for all. With such a technologically and scientifically advanced society, there is no reason for anyone, specifically parents, to be misinformed on topics such as vaccines. While there are countless statistics proving misconceptions to be false—such as the link between vaccines and autism—it may never be enough for anti-vaxxers to realize the importance and safety of vaccinations. It is absolutely necessary to raise future generations in a safe and healthy environment before America becomes infested with major diseases again. Ultimately, vaccines should be viewed as serious medical interventions that can be the fine line between life and death.
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