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If you had been born in the U.S. around the year 1900s, the three leading causes of death were infectious diseases, such as pneumonia and flu, tuberculosis, and gastrointestinal infections. The influence of such diseases exponentially shortened human life expectancy during that time period. Approaching the year 2010, the leading cause of death ameliorates to chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease, and stroke. For such advancement in the world, the medical field sheds light on improved sanitation practices and medical advances. For instance, vaccines were implemented for a substantial reduction in the impact of infectious diseases and increased life expectancy.
In Mercury, Vaccines, and Autism One Controversy, Three Histories written by Jeffrey P. Baker, MD, PhD, discusses the argument regarding the usage of dangerous components of vaccine manufacturing: mercury, which contains thimerosal as a preservative that affects childhood vaccines. The article examines the origins of the thimerosal controversy and explores how vaccine preservatives, mercury poisoning, and Austin are in relation to one another. This article presents the issue surrounding vaccination in children and how it can potentially affect their lives. Further research is conducted to deduce the advantages and disadvantages of vaccines to investigate the controversy. Other academic research will also be utilized to conduct an investigation on the issue revolving around the statement that vaccines cause autism in healthy children.
When foreign microbes invade the immune system, the immune system stimulates a series of responses in an attempt to identify and extract them from our bodies. The signs that the immune response is functioning are coughing, sneezing, and inflammation. These innate immune responses also trigger the second line of defense called adaptive immunity. The body takes time to learn how to respond to pathogens, but despite this immediate response, there is still risk involved with the defense. When the body is too weak or young to fight back, the individual might face serious risks if the pathogen is particularly severe. This is where vaccines come in.
The vaccine is a suspension of microorganisms that induces antibody production to protect against disease. It helps your body fight off harmful diseases by inducing our immunity to raise the infection in our body through the microorganisms. The sickening germs called pathogens and antigens will attack the immune system so the human body can be familiar with them and prevent future infections (Lambert & Siegrist, 1997). This prepares the leukocytes, white blood cells, for “eating” the bacteria in a process called phagocytosis.
Scientists use vaccines to match the body’s adaptive immune system without exposing humans to the maximum strength of the disease. This has resulted in numerous vaccines that function differently. The first type of vaccine is the inactivated vaccine, in which the microorganisms are killed and present no risk of getting the disease. For instance, Hepatitis A, and rabies are protected through the injection of inactivated vaccines to get ongoing immunity against diseases (Djurisic, Jakobsen, Peterson, Kenfelt, Klingenberg, & Gludd, 2018). The second type of vaccine is live attenuated. It contains DNA mutations that have accumulated during long-term cell culture but there is a risk of getting the disease. For example, the MMR vaccine is a live attenuated vaccine because the microorganisms are not totally killed, which can be revised to a living pathogen causing infection in your body as a possibility. The third type of vaccine is called the subunit vaccine. These vaccines are used on specific germs and the microorganisms that use adjuvants will increase the effectiveness of the vaccine. Subunit vaccines are safer than attenuated vaccines, and they can be used on people with weakened immune systems and chronic health problems (Plotkin, Robinson, Cunningham, Iqbal, & Larsen, 2017). The limitation of these vaccines is that it requires boosters, multiple doses, for protection. For example, Hepatitis B, shingles, and Haemophilus influenzae type b. The last type of vaccine is the toxoid vaccine. Toxins are taken from microorganisms that cause disease but exclude the toxicity part which turns into inactivated toxins. The toxins are treated with formaldehyde and a high-temperature 6t that turns toxin and toxoid. Toxoid vaccines protect against diphtheria and tetanus.
Vaccine manufacture and composition are complex. The safety of the individual components and the vaccine itself is tightly regulated to maximize safety. The components that are in a vaccine are antigens, adjuvants, and excipients (Rappuilo, 2014).
All vaccines contain antigen that activates the immune response system. The adjuvant is then added to help retain the active antigen and attract inflammatory factors and immune system cells to the injection site to improve the immune response to the vaccine. “Some vaccines contain a tiny amount of aluminum salts, such as aluminum hydroxide, aluminum phosphate, and potassium aluminum sulfate, to act as an adjuvant” (Rappuilo, 2014).
Aluminum is prevalent in vaccines because it is the third most common element present in the earth’s crust and found in soil (quote). We are also born with aluminum in our body and we continue to collect the element through oral ingestion of food and drinks throughout our lifetime. However, only a small amount of aluminum enters our body and the rest comes out in feces. After years of aluminum usage in vaccines, there is no evidence that aluminum in vaccines causes any long-term health issues.
The excipients are the substances in the finished product of vaccines, other than the active ingredients, in order to maintain the quality of the vaccine. There are preservatives, antibiotics, stabilizers, buffers, surfactants, solvents, residuals, and diluents in these vaccines (quotes). Within the components of the excipients, the preservatives are the relevant factor that should be discussed.
The preservatives used in vaccines are 2-phenoxyethanol (C8H10O2), phenol (C6H5OH), and thimerosal (C9H9HgNaO2S). The usage of 2-phenoxyethanol is used in a wide range of products, such as baby care products, eye and ear drops, and vaccines (quote). This compound can be removed from the body through exhaling, urination, and it is not toxic to humans. Phenol is used to keep bacteria from growing and contaminating the product. Thimerosal is a mercury compound used in some vaccines. It is used to prevent the growth of dangerous microbes. The presence of mercy is stirring up a controversy promoted by the anti-vaccination activists claiming that vaccination causes autism and have asserted that mercury in thimerosal is the cause.
Vaccine saves lives. An effective vaccine should protect an individual against any infectious diseases and other complications. In the short term, it should reduce major health problems, such as tissue damage and death. In the long term, an individual should be prevented from the gradual development of cancer. For example, viruses are known to cause cancer. However, subunit Hepatitis B vaccines and human papillomavirus (HPV) are available to prevent possible long-term liver cancer and damage. In addition, adults who had chickenpox in their childhood could be given a chickenpox vaccine to strengthen their immunity, hence reducing their future risk of developing shingles. Aside from having short and long-term protections for the individuals, a vaccinated person can benefit the community by offering indirect protection for people who are susceptible to diseases. Vaccination makes others less vulnerable to coming into contact with others who are carrying the pathogen. For instance, with a highly infectious disease like measles, it is adequate when more than 95% of the population is vaccinated to achieve sufficient herd immunity to stop transmission (quote). With vaccines, it can control and eliminate diseases.
When unvaccinated travelers or other species as a pathogen carrier, vaccinated herds can be protected from transmission of unvaccinated carriers. Also, vaccination can bring economic benefits because the quality of life increases when people have stable health conditions. Therefore, less money will be spent to treat patients when a pandemic strikes. Vaccinating has effectively reduced the number of deaths resulting from preventable diseases to benefit the world. The decrease in disease rates is a result of vaccination, aside from sanitation or improved hygiene. As a result, vaccines protect the people you care about and increase the overall health of the world.
Highlights the impact in the United States of immunization against nine vaccine-preventable diseases. All of the diseases have been reduced by more than 90% in the 2016 reported cases.
There are many benefits to vaccination, but there are also potential downsides. Vaccines can cause serious and sometimes fatal side effects. According to CDC, all vaccines carry a risk of having a life-threatening allergic reaction. These allergic reactions can cause The components of vaccines might contain harmful ingredients, such as aluminum and formaldehyde. This raises the probability of an individual having an allergic reaction to the harmful ingredients and the excess aluminum and formaldehyde can cause neurological harm. There are claims that vaccines are unnatural and that natural immunity is more efficient than vaccination, but that is debatable because people are born differently, so their bodies’ chemical balances are different.
Despite the controversial claims stating that autism can be caused by vaccination, researchers have conducted a test to assess the credibility of that claim. The story of how vaccines were put into doubt as a cause of autism dates back to the 1990s. Through many years of experimenting and researching, the Centers for Disease Control firmly states that there’s no link between vaccines and autism. The CDC also stated that vaccine ingredients do not cause autism. Between 1999 and 2001, thimerosal was removed or reduced to trace amounts in all childhood vaccines except some flu vaccines (quote). Thimerosal is a compound that contains mercury and mercury is a metal that is found on earth but is detrimental to human health.
While thinking about mercury and thimerosal it is important to consider the distinction between two separate mercury- compounds: ethylmercury and methylmercury. They are all entirely different materials. Methylmercury is formed in the atmosphere. When present in the body, this substance is typically the product of consuming certain forms of fish or other food. High amounts of methylmercury can damage the nervous system due to long-term exposures. In comparison to ethylmercury, which is formed when the body breaks down thimerosal. Due to low levels of exposure to ethylmercury and it is clear out of your blood and system faster in a short period of time; it proves that thimerosal should not be the cause of bodily harm in early childhood and eliminates the cause of lifelong problems. As a result, long-term exposure to methylmercury is more likely to cause mercury poisoning than short-term exposure to ethylmercury.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was mandated by legislation in 1999 to determine the level of mercury in all the products that the agency supervises, not just vaccines. Today, the childhood vaccines that used to contain thimerosal as a preservative are manufactured into a single-dose vial, cutting the need for preservatives in comparison to multi-dose vials back then. Although thimerosal was removed in 1999 across the United States and other nations, the number of children diagnosed with autism has not decreased. Even though thimerosal and other preservatives were used in some vaccines, it was never used in vaccines such as the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR) that people claimed to cause autism in children. However, the choice of whether or not to be vaccinated depends on the individual. They can opt out of vaccination if they feel like vaccines can cause long-term health issues. There is no law that mandates everybody to be vaccinated to form herd immunity. Therefore, vaccination can be a blessing or a curse in different people’s perspectives and medical understandings.
In modern times with the rapid speed of vaccine production in recent decades, the historical roots of immunization are frequently overlooked, causing people to underestimate the severity of the harm that vaccine prevents. In today’s society, we use many vaccines that help prevent many different diseases. Vaccination aids in boosting the immunity of an individual and helps to eliminate the pathogens and antigens in your body before it turns into a disease, causing infection. Aside from some downsides, the practice of vaccines has several benefits for both individuals and society at large. It is the responsibility of each person to ensure that others’ wellbeing is upheld and this starts with the vaccination against dangerous diseases. The misconception that vaccines are a source of autism is debatable for each person, but everyone has the free will to get vaccinated. To achieve a world that is free of infectious diseases, it can possibly be obtained through the embrace of vaccination practice.
References
- Anderson, V. L. (2015, January). Promoting Childhood Immunizations. Retrieved from https://www.npjournal.org/article/S1555-4155(14)00743-0/pdf
- Baker, J. P. (2008, February). Mercury, vaccines, and autism: one controversy, three histories. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2376879/
- Beard, C. (2003). The Role of Vaccines and Vaccination. Avian Diseases, 47, 293-305. From www.jstor.org/stable/3298701
- Djurisic, S., Jakobsen, J. C., Petersen, S. B., Kenfelt, M., Klingenberg, S. L., & Gluud, C. (2018, July 2). Aluminum adjuvants used in vaccines. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6373706/
- Grassley, N., Kang, G., & Kampmann, B. (2015). Introduction: Biological challenges to effective vaccines in the developing world. Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences, 370(1671), 1-7. From www.jstor.org/stable/24504340
- Lambert, P., & Siegrist, C. (1997). Science, Medicine, and the Future: Vaccines and Vaccination. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 315(7122), 1595-1598. Retrieved March 23, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/25176519
- OFFIT, P., & MOSER, C. (2011). INGREDIENTS. In Vaccines and Your Child: Separating Fact from Fiction (pp. 71-88). NEW YORK: Columbia University Press. doi:10.7312/offi15306.5
- Orenstein, W. A., & Ahmed, R. (2017, April 18). Simply put: Vaccination saves lives. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5402432/
- Plotkin, S., Robinson, J. M., Cunningham, G., Iqbal, R., & Larsen, S. (2017, July 24). The complexity and cost of vaccine manufacturing – An overview. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5518734/
- Rappuoli, R. (2014). INTRODUCTION: Vaccines: Science, health, longevity, and wealth. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(34), 12282-12282. From www.jstor.org/stable/43043122
- Sutherland, A. (2013, April). The Thimerosal Controversy. Retrieved from https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/80308/media_aimee-2.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
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