To be Vulnerable or Vaccinated?

Imagine you’re 25 years old and have come down with a bad case of the common cold; however, this is not the common cold, you have Measles thanks to your parents who were scared you would be autistic if you were vaccinated. Now you’re dead due to your body not producing enough working strong antigens to fight away this terrible infection, Measles. Getting children vaccinated is argumentative due to the scary accusations many parents make. Since the discovery of vaccines, it has been a controversial topic with a wide range of studies and opinions.

Three main points will be made throughout this essay. First, how people give vaccinations a bad name by saying they’re dangerous and cause illness. Followed by, how being anti-vaccine can harm others with a weakened immune system. As well as, why vaccines should be mandatory. Vaccines should be mandatory for those whose immune systems are not compromised.

Vaccines have been around since 1796 when Edward Jenner created the first immunity to smallpox; by injecting or scraping a strand of cowpox into an open wound the virus goes through the body, and antigens are produced to fight off the cowpox and smallpox virus if later exposed to.

(Vaccines) As of 2016, there have been zero cases of smallpox in the United States alone according to the Mayo Clinic. Smallpox is almost eliminated in first-world areas due to our access to vaccines. One main reason, as well as eliminating a virus, why being anti-vaccination is dangerous is many people believe the false information given to them during their mommy and me groups at daycare.

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This can be crucial to their kids’ health as they age. Some believe the MMR or measles-mumps-rubella vaccine can cause autism because the vaccine contains thimerosal, which is an ethyl mercury-based chemical compound used in vials that contain more than one dose of a vaccine which are used to prevent germs from contaminating the vaccine itself. With this being said there hasn’t been any real scientific evidence to back up this claim. “The Institute of Medicine is an impartial group of the world’s leading experts that advises Congress on science issues. After reviewing more than 200 studies in 2004 and more than 1,000 studies in 2011, the consensus report strongly stated that the evidence did not show a link between vaccines and autism.” Though scientists have not yet found the exact cause of autism the answer does not lay in vaccinations that have been saving money and lives of thousands of families for over two hundred years. (Greenhaven) Another accusation made on the topic of vaccines is that they can give the recipient the disease or illness you are vaccinating for. For example, receiving the flu shot would give the recipient the flu or flu-like symptoms. This can be caused by paranoia due to the many accusations flying around constantly or a slight case of Hypochondria, an anxiety disorder that cause you to believe you have any symptom you hear of. The third accusation that will be discussed has slight truth behind it; all vaccinations have an active virus in them causing them to be dangerous. This is slightly true because few vaccines are active however they still don’t cause the recipient to have the virus. The live vaccines are used to prevent: measles- mumps- rubella (MMR), rotavirus, smallpox, yellow fever, and chicken pox. The inactive vaccines are used to prevent: Hepatitis A, Flu shots (some strands), Polio, and rabies. (https://www.vaccines.gov/basics/types/index.htm) If everyone and their moms give into the exaggeration about how dangerous vaccines could be, we would be put in a very bad situation surrounded by disease and death. In other words, the downfall in vaccinated children has led to more death and more sickness such as the flu. “Flu season in the U.S. typically peaks in February, but this year’s outbreak is already one of the worst on record. As of January 6, 2018, twenty children have died from the flu, and overall mortality caused by the flu is already double that of last year’s” (Wendelbo) This is just one of the many cases that ended in child death attributed to being anti-vaccination. If we continue to go this way the next generations might not have as long of a lifespan as we have now.

The following reason why not vaccinating young children on time is dangerous is it can harm people who have an illness that weakens their immune system making them vulnerable to the disease. To go more in-depth, for people with infections or illnesses such as HIV, AIDs, any cancer that can affect the immune system such as leukemia, all forms of Hepatitis, and multiple myelomas, cancer in plasma cells can have a more dangerous outcome due to the weakened immune system. These all have one thing in common and that is they cause you to have a weakened immune system. People who have a weakened immune system are physically unable to receive vaccines due to their bodies not producing enough antibodies to fight off strong infections or diseases. If parents refuse to vaccinate their kids because they are scared of harming them, they are doing more damage by risking getting the disease and passing it on to someone who may not be able to fight for their life as well as a healthy child. Some people may say that people shouldn’t be scared of their unvaccinated kids being around vaccinated children, however, the few that can’t be vaccinated are at extreme risk because of this. For example, measles, one of the top contagious diseases can be spread from person to person in a matter of days. “Measles is one of the most contagious and most lethal of all human diseases. A single person infected with the virus can infect more than a dozen unvaccinated people, typically infants too young to have received their first measles shot.” (Hotez) Illnesses can be spread effortlessly spread among young children as well as the elderly who are unable to fight illness as well. Outbreaks of illnesses doctors and scientists know should be eliminated by getting a vaccine are still happening in the world today. Just a few years ago there was an outbreak of whooping cough that was spread from 39 different clusters of unvaccinated children in the same state. Ten children from the same data were recorded deceased. (Mooney) The ignorance behind vaccines is unhealthy and can cause a threatening outbreak of diseases we’ve tried so hard to eliminate from existence.

The opposing side may say mandatory vaccinations are stripping away the rights of parents and the choice to choose your child’s future. It’s natural for parents to have concerns about what we put into their young vulnerable bodies. The substances parents should be worried about would include toys that are easily swallowed along with processed foods with mixtures of chemicals and fake dyes. Doctors are also at fault for not answering parents’ questions completely and clearly.