Category: Vaccines

A few years back, I remember bringing home a newsletter, informing parents about mandatory vaccinations. You know, the ones they gave back when we were in grade 7. My parents weren’t really into the whole idea of letting some people poke some needles into my arm, but of course, they signed off because they wouldn’t want me to get suspended. A few weeks later, a bunch of strangers came to my school and started preparing to administer the vaccines. One by one, each student was called up to receive their needle. Some kids were scared out of their minds, fearing the needles. Some were even crying. At the time, I wondered why vaccines were mandatory. How could something that caused so much trouble be mandatory?

In recent years, the controversy surrounding vaccines has resurfaced, but their history is much longer than a few mere years. Since the first documentation of vaccines in 1798, they have reshaped human health and medicine. Accordingly, vaccines have been so influential to the point where some scientists consider them to be among the greatest successes in public health. Despite the obvious benefits, some choose to not immunize themselves or their children for whatever reason it may be. Even though it may seem like an invasion of individual rights, it is strongly advised to get vaccinated because they have been proven to save lives, be completely safe, protect everyone from exposure to diseases, and protect future generations.

Save lives

Since the creation of the first vaccine for smallpox, scientists have developed various vaccines that protect people from deadly diseases such as measles, polio, chicken pox, hepatitis, and whooping cough to name a few. Diseases that once killed thousands can now be contained. For instance, in the early 1900s, before the polio vaccine was introduced, thousands of Canadians were paralyzed or died from polio. Fortunately, because of vaccinations, Canada has been polio-free for the last 20 years.

In like manner, the Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine has been very successful in reducing infection rates as well. Before its introduction in 1988, Hib was the most common cause of bacterial meningitis, which is a serious and life-threatening infection, among young children in Canada. Before the creation of the vaccine, about 1500 cases of Hib meningitis occurred in Canada every year. Since the introduction of the vaccine, Hib infections have almost disappeared in Canada.

Ultimately, vaccines have contributed to a significant reduction in many infectious diseases. In fact, vaccines have been so successful to the point that some infectious diseases, such as smallpox, have been completely eliminated. As a result, it is now relatively rare to experience the devastating and often deadly effects of diseases that can be prevented by vaccines.

Safe

In Canada, there are many standards and processes in place to ensure that the vaccines we receive are safe. All vaccines are thoroughly tested and must be proven to be safe and effective before they are approved for administration. For instance, a vaccine is first tested in labs, which is a process that can take several years. Using the information retrieved from these tests, the FDA decides whether the vaccine is ready to be tested on people. During clinical trials, a vaccine is tested on willing volunteers, starting with 20 to 100 people but eventually building up to include thousands of volunteers. Once again, the tests conducted in clinical trials take several years to complete. It is also mandatory that all safety concerns be addressed before FDA licenses a vaccine.

Even after a vaccine is given its license, tests are still conducted on the vaccine to ensure maximum safety and effectiveness. In order to ensure such things, the company that makes the vaccine will make different batches to make sure the vaccine is potent, pure, and sterile. Afterward, FDA reviews the results of the tests as well as inspects the factories where the vaccine is produced. This helps make sure the vaccines meet standards for both quality and safety. Essentially, the FDA requires up to 10 or more years of testing for all vaccines before they are licensed, and then they are monitored by the FDA to make sure the vaccines and the ingredients used in the vaccines are safe.

Protect

Having a large percentage of the population vaccinated is crucial because vaccines not only protect the people getting vaccinated but everyone around them as well. The more immunized people in a community, the tougher it is for a disease to spread. This method of protection is called “herd immunity.” Herd immunity emphasizes the idea that many of us are protecting each other without any real intention. By having the most part of the population vaccinated, we protect the most vulnerable among us, such as babies who are too young to be fully vaccinated, people who cannot receive certain vaccines for medical reasons, and people who may not adequately respond to immunization, such as elders with poor immune systems.

With this being said, anti-vaxxers who argue that there is no apparent reason to get vaccinated because of low infection rates do not understand the concept of herd immunity and so, therefore, are the people who contribute to the return of forgotten diseases. For instance, in the early 2000s, low vaccination rates in England allowed measles to become endemic once again even though earlier vaccination rates had stopped its spread in the country. Due to this, it is important to realize that herd immunity will only be successful until a certain point, and opting out of vaccinations not only affects the person making the decision but quite possibly an entire nation.

Not only do vaccines protect the people in today’s society, but they also protect the generations to follow. Similar to the way we are no longer at risk of smallpox, in the future we may be able to eliminate other diseases, such as polio and measles. In order to do so, we need to increase the vaccination rates right now. By continuing to vaccinate people, other diseases could also be eradicated, and future generations could be protected from the diseases that nations face today.

Conclusion

Ever since the implementation of mandatory vaccines, the debate on vaccinations has been going around and had intensified with the autism scare of 1998. Due to this, anti-vaccination groups began refusing vaccines and even went as far as to encourage other parents to turn away from vaccinating their children. The consequences of such actions began to jeopardize the health of many as disease outbreaks, pandemics, and epidemics occurred. We must draw attention to the fact that opting out of vaccines does not only hurt those who make these decisions but also puts others around them in harm’s way. It is crucial to note that vaccines undergo countless research studies to prove that vaccines do in fact save lives, protect the “herd” from the spread of disease, and protect future generations by aiming to eradicate the diseases altogether. When deciding whether to vaccinate, it all boils down to asking yourself which decision will grant safety, health, and overall happiness for the general public.

Think of it as a boat with a leak. Before we even started removing the water with a bucket, the boat was already filled to the brim. But, you know, we want to survive. So we get to work, and we work hard to get all the water out. After some time of removing all that water, the boat is now almost dry. Then we’ll say, “The boat is dry now, so we can throw away the bucket and relax.” Except, the leak hasn’t stopped. Before long, we’d notice water seeping in, and soon it might be back up to the same level it was at when we first started. Unless we can fix the leak, it is important to keep removing the water. If not, the water is bound to take us by surprise and will eventually drown us.

The World health organization defines a vaccine as “ A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins, or one of its surface proteins.” (World Health Organization, 2018). Currently, in South Africa, there are no mandatory vaccines even though the tuberculosis vaccine (BCG) and the polio vaccine used to be mandatory in South Africa until 1987. Currently, the department of health provides several free vaccines in its clinics such as hepatitis B, tetanus, measles, Diptheria, tuberculosis, and polio to children under the age of 12. There are several pros to vaccines including reduced infant mortality rates and several alleged cons such as heavy metal poisoning.

The pros to vaccines can be very obvious with vaccines claimed to be the second most cost-efficient measure a government can implement after clean water by the world bank. Vaccines have saved millions of lives over the last two hundred years ever since their discovery by Edward Jenner in the eighteen hundreds. Before we talk about the actual pros of vaccines let’s discuss how vaccines work. As our immune system comes into contact with a foreign bacteria it needs to learn how to fight this bacteria by working out what kills it efficiently but this takes time and when a child who has not fully developed their immune system comes into contact with an infection that it doesn’t know how to fight it even if it is an infection that is not dangerous to a grown human it can cause serious damage to the child ranging anywhere from minor defects all the way to mental damage to paralysis and even death. This is the reason why vaccines are important as they have the ability to either prevent the infection from damaging the body all the way to preventing the damage in the first place. Vaccines are created in the lab, especially for each vaccine, and are checked by many different national (such as the CDC or center for disease control in the United States of America) or international institutions (such as the WHO or world health organization) after the vetting process, it is placed in production by various different pharmacological companies such as Glaxo Smith Kline. Once this is done it is distributed to the various clinics or other governmental or private health institutions all over the world. The vaccines are injected into the bloodstream. They are mainly made out of either attenuated/live vaccines or inactivated vaccines. The difference between the live and dead vaccines is that live vaccines are made of very weakened cells of the dangerous bacteria, it is the most effective of the two methods as the live cells are better teachers however this method is used for the less deadly diseases such as the rubella vaccine (MMR), varicella (chickenpox), measles and mumps. However, children with weakened immune systems or who are on chemotherapy can not take these as their immune systems may not even be strong enough to fight off the weakened bacteria. The second type of vaccine is the non-living vaccine which uses no living bacteria. This type is not as effective as the living type and it often requires several uses to build immunity as opposed to once or twice for the living type. More dangerous diseases are vaccinated in this way as since the bacteria is dead it can not fight back which also causes it to be less effective as previously mentioned. The types of diseases vaccinated against in this way are the polio vaccine and the rabies vaccine. These are generally safe for people as the bacteria cannot cause harm. A major pro to vaccines is obviously how they save lives, especially among children between the age of 0 to 12 they can be extremely vulnerable to many diseases which can be prevented by vaccines. Smallpox and several other diseases used to cause terror all over the world especially smallpox which is credited with the deaths of over ninety percent of native north and south Americans during the early colonialization of those continents as the Europeans brought diseases to which those people had no immunity. Now in modern society such diseases are rarely seen in hospitals due to modern medicine in which vaccines have been a major factor. Vaccines have led to major drops in child mortality rates from 43,3% in 1800 to just 3,91% in 2017 (Roser, 2017). A more tangible figure is that the average daily drop in child mortality rate is 0.0008%. Even more of a decline could be seen in the future as according to the WHO 19.9 million children did not routine life-saving vaccines (World Health Organization, 2018). This is obviously a personal and global benefit as personally, it leads to less emotional strain on families who would have lost children but due to modern medicine don’t need to suffer through that. A global benefit is that these children would grow up and contribute to society as well as have children of their own which have contributed to the exponential global population increase. Not only have children benefitted but even older people have benefitted from reported cases of Diptheria in the US before vaccinations were reduced from 175 000 to 0 in 2006. Measles from 500 000 to 55, polio from 16 000 to 0 as well as others (Weinbaum, 2007). This obviously helps the world so that fewer people are physically damaged by these dangerous diseases as well as preventing a further burden on governments who need to provide care to these people. Vaccines have not been as controversial in South Africa as in the developed world.

There are several alleged cons and myths regarding vaccines. A common myth is that vaccines contain mercury which causes autism in children. This has never been scientifically proven but it still it raises the question of why is there mercury in vaccines. The mercury in vaccines is in the form of a compound called thimerosal which contains mercury. Thimerosal is used in vaccines because it prevents the growth of dangerous bacteria, it is also used as a preservative in multi-dose vials of flu vaccines, and it is also used in two other vaccines for children. It is used in the manufacturing process. When each new needle is inserted into the multi-dose vial, it is possible for microbes to get into the vial. The preservative thus prevents contamination in the viall when individual doses are taken from it. Receiving a vaccine contaminated by bacteria can be deadly, especially for children. Today except for some multi-dose flu vials no thimerosal is given in child vaccines. Another common belief is that the use of aluminum in vaccines causes brain damage and autoimmune disorders. This has been proven incorrect by several researchers but the question that many people ask is why is aluminum in vaccines and how is it safe. Aluminium is used as an adjuvant in vaccines. An adjuvant is a vaccine component that helps to increase the immune response to the vaccine which leads to stronger immunity so lesser quantities of the vaccine as well as fewer doses are required for the same effect. Aluminium is only used in dead vaccines which as previously mentioned only contain dead bacteria. Vaccines containing adjuvants are tested extensively in trials before being licensed as if they are done incorrectly could lead to some of the conditions that some people are afraid of. The aluminum contained in vaccines is similar to that found in a liter of baby formula. While babies receive about 4.4 milligrams of aluminum in the first six months of life from vaccines, they receive more than that in their diet. Breast-fed babies consume about 7 milligrams, formula-fed infants consume about 38 milligrams, and babies who are fed soy formula consume almost 117 milligrams of aluminum during the first six months of life. Some people also believe that vaccines are not properly tested before being licensed. People believe that pharmaceutical companies get free reign when it comes to medicines especially vaccines which are believed to be some of the highest-grossing pharmaceuticals (which is not true as they don’t even fall into the top ten). Even though there have been very minor instances of manufacturing mistakes in the past pharmaceutical companies are kept by both national governments and international organizations (mainly the WHO) on a very tight leash. The testing techniques are firstly the development of the vaccine, then the extensive testing in the lab over the course of several years, then testing on certain that share certain human characteristics pertaining to the disease, if that is successful then they go through phase 1 of human trials which consists of 10-20 human volunteers, this phase they search mainly for dangerous side effects that may have not been found and may last up to three years, if non have been found then they go to phase 2 human tests in which they use hundreds of volunteers which would last several years, in this phase the scientists work out doses and quantity of doses to be effective, in phase three which uses thousands of volunteers and can last up to a decade the researchers compare their vaccine to other already licensed vaccines to see if there are any adverse side effects compared to the already licensed vaccine. If all the tests are reliable then the researchers license it to the national vaccine controller of whichever country they are in who then extensively tests the vaccine to make sure it actually works and then they scrutinize the manufacturing processes. Once the vaccine is properly licensed then they are still required to submit samples of each batch to the regulator. Another belief is that pharmaceutical companies are not required to compensate people who have been adversely affected by their vaccines which is false as in countries where vaccines are mandatory the government is generally required to pay compensation to the victims as well as if it is the manufacturer’s fault they may lose their license to produce the vaccine. It is known that sometimes mistakes do happen that have unfortunate consequences and even though governments, organizations, and companies all try their best to treat every adverse effect that happens there are still some that do happen. According to the CDC (Weinbaum, 2007), the yearly quantity of now vaccine-able diseases before vaccines in the USA was 1 060 000 and now the quantity of those diseases is 22 500 and the amount of adverse vaccine-related effects is 15 400. Making it 1 060 000 to 37 900.

So as you can see just by the numbers above alone vaccines are reliable, and safe and they save the lives of millions of people per year and can save millions more if people were fully aware of the whole story and not just parts.

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.