Childhood Diseases and Vaccination Issues

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Today, peoples choices could endanger your health. You may be interested to know that approximately 20% of children are not vaccinated against childhood diseases; therefore, putting others at risk (Offit, 2010, p. ix). Offits (2010) study found the following: In June 2009, a young New York boy traveled to England and caught the mumps. Once he returned home, he attended a summer camp and started a massive epidemic.

By October, 200 people had been infected; by November, 500 and by January 1500 individuals had been infected by the mumps. When it was over, mumps was found to have caused pancreatitis, meningitis, deafness or facial paralysis in 65 people and 19 were hospitalized (p. xvi). To protect communities and individuals, vaccinations need to be mandatory; society needs to be educated about the risks and to understand that there is no evidence between autism and vaccines.

One of the main reasons that lead to the discovery of vaccines was the smallpox epidemic over 160 years ago. Smallpox begins with a fever, nausea, and backache(Offit, 2010, p.105). These symptoms were not uncommon for an infectious disease. However, soon pus-filled blisters would develop all over the body and burn the skin. Smallpox was very contagious and could spread just by talking to someone (Offit, 2010, p. 105).

As a decision-maker for your child to receive vaccines or not, one must understand the history of vaccines and the dangers of non-vaccinated children. Edward Jenner, a doctor in southern England discovered the vaccine to eliminated smallpox (Offit, 2010, p. 106). He monitored a milkmaid who had smallpox blisters. Included in her daily chores, she would milk the cows and some of the cows had blisters. The milkmaid appeared to be immunized from the smallpox disease. As Dr. Jenner continued his observation, he determined that a smallpox vaccine could be developed from a cow. Vaccination is derived from the Latin word, vaccine, meaning of the cow (Offit, 2010, p. 107).

Does our current culture understand the suffering caused by childhood diseases? After all, it has been many years since an epidemic has occurred as a result of childhood diseases. Would parents be more ready to decide to protect their children against diseases if they witnessed a child with symptoms of Pertussis or Diphtheria? It is very helpful for parents to understand childhood diseases and those vaccines that protect our children.

It is easy to discount the validity of vaccines because most childhood diseases have been eradicated since immunizations. However, if vaccines are no longer used to protect individuals then certainly there is a risk of those diseases infiltrating our childrens lives once again. The diseases that cause most concern due to the claims of the ill effects on children are diphtheria, rubella, pertussis, mumps, and measles. These are also the same vaccines that parents are concerned about regarding risk and safety. In the early part of the twentieth century, diphtheria was the most common killer of young children (Offit, P. & Moser, C., 2011, p.112).

Milder symptoms would be similar to a common cold. Diphtheria produces toxins in the body, which is the result of bacteria. This disease creates thick mucus in the back of the throat causing an individual to suffocate. Diphtheria is known as the strangling angel of children (Offit, P.& Moser, C., 2011, p.113). The childhood disease that moves through the body in three stages is pertussis and it is caused by a bacterium. First symptoms are much like the common cold, and eventually, the symptoms lead to uncontrollable coughing spells. Pertussis creates toxins that move through the body. The most serious complication from pertussis is swelling of the brain and spinal cord. One important note, pertussis immunity does not last throughout ones life and adult can transmit to infants (Offit, P. & Moser, C. 2011, p. 118).

One reported childhood disease that has been on the rise in recent years is measles. The greatest group at risk would-be college students, health care workers, and international travelers (Offit, P. & Moser, C., 2011, p. 166). This virus can live on surfaces for up to two hours once a surface is exposed, leaving an area available for the next individual to have contact. The most common symptom of measles is rash and fever.

However, inflammation of the brain, neurological disorders, and death are among the serious complications. According to Vaccines and your child separating facts from fiction, about 30 % of people who suffer from measles will have complications (Offit, P. & Moser, C., 2011, p.169). Mumps is childhood diseases that are not as easily spread as measles. Swollen glands are the most common symptom, along with discomfort, children may suffer from earaches and headaches. During the mid-60s, mumps was the most common cause of meningitis, an inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord (Offit, P. & Moser, C., 2011, p.169).

Author, Paul Offit, found multiple studies of children being denied treatments that would have saved their lives due to religious and philosophical exemptions. The following is one of a study of Offits (2010): In 1977, Matthew Swan, had a high fever. His parents asked their Christian Science practitioner, Jeanne Laitner, to treat him. Sitting next to Matthews crib she said, Matthew, God is your life. God didnt make disease and disease is unreal. Matthew continued to scream in pain. On July 7, Matthew Swan was pronounced dead from bacterial meningitis. Rita Swan, Matthews mom, says the death of her son was a wake-up call. She founded Childrens Health Care Is a Legal Duty, an organization devoted to changing religious exemption laws (p. 194)

Of course media, celebrities, and politicians play a role in influencing societys choices about parents vaccinating their children. What is even more concerning is when celebrities are used to promote or endorse issues and society rarely challenges those claims. When celebrities endorse such products, they raise public awareness and they can capture an audience. Often individuals admire those celebrities or politician and think since they are successful; therefore, must be intelligent and informed.

However, society must question and research before making a final decision about vaccines. Once an individual reads and researches a topic such as childhood vaccines and vaccine safety, they can use their voices, not those of a celebrity. Probably the most powerful media coverage regarding the safety of childhood vaccines was the show, Vaccine Roulette. The documentary aired in 1982 and caused parents to begin with questions about vaccine safety (Offit, 2010, p.45). Vaccine Roulette offered many stories and heart-wrenchingly pictured children suffering from the effects of vaccines, claims of children having seizures, convulsions, and signs of retardation.

Some children cried for hours and suffered from fever (Offit, 2010, p.5). Children were disabled as a result of the DPT, (diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus) vaccine. The show also pointed blame to the medical field as well as pharmaceutical companies, explaining that the safety of testing was compromised to promote the vaccines as well as profits. The writer and producer, Lea Thompson played on every emotion of the viewer to discourage parents to not have their children vaccinated. An epidemiologist, Gordon Stewart says, I believe that the risk of damage from the vaccine is now greater than the risk of damage from the disease (Offit, 2010, p.5).

The documentary created concern in Washington among congress and led to a strong advocacy group that is still active today. The then-Senator Obama commented that the science of vaccines and autism is inconclusive (Largent, M., 2012, p.138). Anxious parents concerns about the safety of vaccines are based partly on the claim that officials allow vaccines to come to the market without adequate testing and under pressure from lobbyist (Largent, M., 2012, p.166).

McCarthy, an actress, was also responsible for bringing vaccine safety questions to the public. McCarthy claimed that the soul was gone from his eyes after her son received the MMR (mumps, measles, and rubella). Her son was later was diagnosed with autism. McCarthy was convinced that her childs illness was the result of the toxins in the vaccine serum (Offit, 2010, p.152). Another prominent figure that has raised many questions about the safety of vaccines is Robert F Kennedy, Jr. He is an attorney and is involved in environmental issues, which led him to the thimerosal debate, a preservative found in some vaccines (Largent M., 2012, p.88).

The Kennedy family has long been involved in politics and human rights. Roberts father was President John Kennedys brother. Robert Kennedy, Jr. claimed during an interview on national television that the biggest threat to our vaccine program is that these people have now been caught red-handed conspiring to hide this information from the American people (Largent, M., 2012, p.136). The media is responsible for sensationalizing many topics such as vaccine safety and creates a considerable amount of despair among parents and caregivers. Unfortunately, spokespersons in the media are influential even when they present false information or it is not evidence-based.

In addition to the media and celebrities having a strong influence on vaccine safety, some parents prefer not to have the U.S. government dictate how to care for their children or impede on their rights as a citizen. The anti-vaccine movement began in 1850, with the arrival of smallpox. This consuming disease killed more than all the wars of the twentieth century combined. The death toll was five hundred million (Offit, 2010, p. 109).

Even as families suffered the losses, they still challenged receiving the smallpox vaccine. This source indicates that individuals were more concerned about their rights and not allowing the government to rule their decisions (Offit, 2010, p. 127). Richard Gibb led the first anti-vaccine war. In 1866, he encouraged society to refuse vaccines and compared it to some savage African tribe that sacrificed to an idol children to guard against smallpox (Offit, 2010, p. 109).

He rallied citizens and made claims that the smallpox vaccine came from excretions of bats and toads and would turn people into Frankenstein. Some citizens viewed the vaccine as an act against god. We must understand at this time in history, there was little knowledge about disease and medicine, germs were not discovered until eighty years later (Offit, 2010, p. 117). Even then there were much propaganda solicited from the masses of people and fear was a driving force. Today, there are even more media outlets that contribute to false claims about vaccines. In 1915, a New York cartoonist, Johnny Gruelle lost his daughter to smallpox after receiving the vaccine. The vaccine was blamed. The cartoonist created a doll known as Raggedy Ann in her memory (Offit, 2010, p. 13).

The state and the federal government have the authority to mandate vaccines and initiate laws to protect the health of the public. Beginning in 1980, there were several safety programs implemented to ensure the safety of vaccines; Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System and Vaccine Safety Datalink (Offit, P. & Moser, C., 2011, p. 37). It is important to note that regulations for vaccines are much more stringent than those guidelines for pharmaceuticals. One argument among opponents is that vaccines are given long before there is any reasonable risk that a child could contract the disease against which they are being vaccinated (Largent, M., 2012, p.159).

For example, children are vaccinated against Hepatitis B within the first few days of life. The main reason for this required vaccine is to eventually eradicate Hepatitis B.Congress has enacted requirements regarding vaccination of immigrants seeking entry into the United States, and military regulations require American troops to be immunized against several diseases (Cole, 2014, p. 2). The medical industry is well aware of the number of children that are left at risk due to parents decisions not to vaccinate. Some pediatricians are reluctant to care for children who are not vaccinated, with a growing concern of putting other patients in the office at risk.

These individuals, as well as school systems and daycare, are in a position to educate parents about the science behind the vaccines. The paramount concern about childhood vaccines is the additives that are used in vaccines. Mercury and thimerosal are additives that persevere vaccines. Adjuvants are aluminum salt and are used to enhance the immune response (Offit, P. & Moser, C., 2011, p. 84) Anti-vaccine groups believe that these additives are the cause of autism and learning disorders. Leo Kanner discovered autism in 1943 (Allen, 2008, p. 371). Parents need to understand autism disorder and how it affects children; therefore, allowing parents to have a clearer understanding that there could be no possible relationship between autism as a result of childhood vaccines.

Autism is described as a disorder that leaves children with little human connection. Some children have incredible memories of numbers and can overcome patterns and order. Many parents believe that the mercury found in some vaccines would lead to autism. Mercury is known as a neurotoxin (Allen, 2008, p. 374). One of the breakdown products of thimerosal is ethyl mercury, which is an organic compound of mercury (Dallery, 2007 p. 1). Ethyl-mercury is not the same thing as its cousin, methyl-mercury. Cumulative and high doses of methyl-mercury can produce renal and neurological damage (Dallery, 2007, p. 2).

Several sources have indicated that doses of mercury are found in many food items that children ingest every day as well as an over-the-counter medication. These levels are much higher than those found in any vaccine. This data would indicate that it would be difficult to think that vaccine mercury could be so dangerous and would lead to autism. Thimerosal became a very important vaccine additive in 1942 after 11 people died from staphylococcal contamination that was found in tetanus vaccines (Allen, 2008, p. 379).

It was recently discovered that thimerosal might be advantageous in helping reverse some problems related to hyperactivity, conduct, and motor development. Although some experts would argue that with the increase of vaccines there has also been an increase in autism. I believe this could be the result of the autism spectrum becoming larger; mild, moderate, and severe. The rise of autism could be the result of the spectrum becoming broader; therefore, more diagnoses are being made. Jesse Dallery stated: Autism diagnosis is based on the presences of some behavioral excesses and deficits. The diagnosis is subjective and subject to great variability (Daly, 2007, p.4).

Vaccines (2015) published the most recent testing associated with the claims that vaccines with thimerosal caused autism. The testing provided by The Institute of Medicine, is an impartial group of the worlds leading experts that advises Congress on Science issues (Vaccines, 2015, p. 1). This organization completed over 1000 studies in 2011 and concluded there is no evidence of autism being the result of vaccines (Vaccines, 2015, p. 1).

A very important point made in the research is that parents often notice the behaviors of autism when their child is 18-24 months (Vaccines, 2015, p. 2). This is also the age of children when they receive many of the childhood vaccines, so it may be easy to believe that vaccines may be the result of a change in a childs behavior. However, developmental specialists can identify early signs of autism at a much younger age (Vaccines, 2015, p. 2).

As more research results that become available about autism, we can understand the disease, more diagnosis may also be the results of understanding autism. In years past, many individuals went undiagnosed. Autism disorders need to stay at the forefront of science and research, identifying the cause and offering solutions that will help individuals that are struggling lead a productive life. Several research reports published in some of the most esteemed peer-reviewed journals in the work have failed to find any relation between thimerosal and autism (Dallery, 2007, p. 2).

The research was presented in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine that also proved that vaccines, thimerosal, and autism are unrelated. The prevalence of autism-like disorders began to rise in the 1985-1989 period. However, the vaccines that contained the thimerosal increased thimerosal throughout the 1990s (Stehr-Green, P., 2003, p. 2). Based on this statistic, it would make it very difficult to correlate the connection between autism and thimerosal. Scientists now believe that autism is linked to genetics (Vaccines, 2015, p. 2).

Unfortunately, published reports claim that these additives cause developmental problems for children and many of these claims have been challenged. James Cherry, a UCLA professor of the School of Medicine, challenged research conducted by an English researcher, John Wilson. Wilson was instrumental in disclosing that the pertussis vaccine was permanently harmful and can cause death (Offit, 2010, p. 14). Cherry discovered that the documentation of the disease was not properly recorded (Offit, 2010, p. 16). It is interesting to note that even after thimerosal was removed from vaccines, autism diagnosis continues to rise.

So some parents may wonder if vaccines are not to blame for autism, then what could be the possible reasons for the mysterious syndrome. The American Psychological Society has described the reasons for the increased diagnoses of autism. Several indicators lead to the research; there is greater public awareness, as well as increased funding for research(Gernsbacher, M., Dawson, M., & Goldsmith, H., 2005, p. 55). Also, the public is unaware of changing diagnostic criteria, the lack of any challenge regarding the California-based study and lastly, the child count that is reported by the U.S. Department of Education (Gernsbacher, M., Dawson, M., & Goldsmith, H., 2005, p. 55).

Many published reports indicate an increase in autism. Individual concerns are increased when the U.S. government endorses those reports. However, the science behind those reports is not always disclosed and that causes the public to assume that vaccines must be unsafe or makes uninformed decisions (Gernsbacher, M., Dawson, M., & Goldsmith, H., 2005, p. 57). Once autism was discovered, it was another 40 years before it was published in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(Gernsbacher, M., Dawson, M., & Goldsmith, H., 2005, p. 55). There is no doubt that some of the greatest minds in our history suffered from some level of autism. Since 1980, the criteria to diagnose autism have increased(Gernsbacher, M., Dawson, M., & Goldsmith, H., 2005, p. 55).

The California based study indicated a 273% increase in children with autism (Gernsbacher, M., Dawson, M., & Goldsmith, H., 2005, p. 56). However, when this information was released, researchers did not disclose the increased criteria. The other study that caused great alarm of the increase of autism was the Child Count Data (Gernsbacher, M., Dawson, M., & Goldsmith, H., 2005, p. 57).

This study was released after the Individuals With Disabilities Educations Act was implemented in 1991. The purpose of this law was to guarantee all children with disabilities receive an education. Before this report, the school district did not track children with autism. As a result, once states begin to report the numbers were alarmingly high. The California study as well as the Child Count data that was released was flawed (Gernsbacher, M., Dawson, M., & Goldsmith, H., 2005, p. 57).

Research has proven that once vaccines were implemented the level of diseases that spread decreased (Espejo, 2014, p. 1). What is so important about vaccine medicine is that it is a preventable measure that protects children. When a child is vaccinated, the vaccine stimulates his immune system to produce antibodies, the same way if he were exposed to the disease. The child will develop immunity to that disease, and therefore he doesnt have to get sick first (Espejo, 2014, p. 2). Vaccines do offer protection, but there is also a much broader issue. There are three types of benefits to vaccinations, personal, community and future benefits (Espejo, 2014, p. 4).

By now, you should understand the benefits at the personal level. The benefits at the community level would be to understand that some children are not protected due to illness; medical reasons or they are too young if these children are exposed they will have no protection (Espejo, 2014, p. 4). The same holds for older adults, pregnant women, and those individuals with compromised immune systems. One infected traveler from another country where polio has not been eliminated could set us back 50 years if our population was not protected (Espejo, 2014, p. 5).

CDC considers one of the Ten Great Public Health Achievements for the United States of the 20th century are vaccinations (Cole, 2014, p. 4). Society indeed has choices regarding vaccinating their children. Many school districts are lenient regarding mandated vaccines due to religious and some philosophical reasons and that leaves children at risk. The risk is the dangers of contracting childhood diseases that result in unnecessary pain and suffering.

Just because vaccines control diseases, we cannot think vaccines are no longer needed. It is essential to protect our children as well as our communities and understand that our choices must be based on science and not based on the emotion of fear. Parents should rely on pediatricians, healthcare providers, and schools to learn about the importance of vaccines and use them as a resource. The World Health Organizations website is also available to help inform readers about vaccine safety.

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Childhood Diseases and Vaccination Issues

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