Modern medicine provides people with the ability to protect themselves from the world’s most fatal diseases. Merely a century ago, it was not uncommon for a child to die as a result of diseases such as polio, pertussis, and tuberculosis. Today it is highly unlikely for a person to contract these diseases, let alone die from them. However, refusal of vaccinations has been increasing throughout the years. This is due to individual’s unfounded fears and imagined consequences associated with the idea of purposely inserting a disease into one’s body. Despite one’s beliefs, vaccines are essential not only to a person’s well-being, but to the health of those around them. Mandatory vaccinations do not cause autism; rather, they save lives while also …show more content…
According to John Timmer, a senior science editor, “childhood immunizations are estimated to prevent forty-two thousand deaths and twenty million infections” annually. Additionally, vaccinations save an estimated total of 14 billion dollars a year. Contrary to the blatant benefits, a greater quantity of individuals have been refusing to vaccinate their children, dropping immunization rates (Timmer 1). The recent decrease is extremely problematic as it affects herd immunity. “Herd immunity occurs when a few unvaccinated children are protected by the fact that almost everyone around is vaccinated and therefore cannot infect them.” This immunity is essential to those who cannot be vaccinated due to specific health complications. However, herd immunity is only effective if 80-90 percent of the population is vaccinated and due to the anti-vaccination movement, this percent is not only breaking down but putting lives at risk (Timmer …show more content…
It is beneficial, lawful, and does not cause autism. The belief that autism is produced by vaccines stems from falsified research and persists today due to mere coincidences. Unfortunately, society is seeing the repercussions of the anti-vaccination movement with the return of easily preventable diseases. A parent rightfully wants to do what is in the best interest of their child, and vaccination is a safe and effective way to ensure the health of a child. Protecting a child’s well being is worth a little temporary discomfort and a few
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Show MoreWhen people refuse to get sick they are allowing themselves to be vulnerable to the illness that is going around, and if they get sick they can cause the people around them who have not had a chance to get their shots yet to get sick. The herd immunity thing cannot be relied on, because what if everyone else also relies on herd immunity? Then everyone is not going to get shots, and everyone will be vulnerable to the disease. Also the shots do cause people to get ill for a while because they inject them with the disease, but they only inject them with an amount that their body can handle so that it can learn how to fight it off and become immune to it. Also it is very important for people to get vaccinated, especially if they want to travel or go places because if they do not get vaccinated their immune systems may be prone to get sick very easily.
Choosing not to get vaccinated negatively effects you and those around you, decreases our growing potential toward herd immunity, and “actually leave[s] the door open to outbreaks of diseases that have been all but eradicated by modern medicine” (Healthline). For example, “in developing countries, one in every four children born annually will not be vaccinated . . . so, each day, 4,000 – 8,000 people, mainly children, die from vaccine-preventable diseases” (Ulmer and Liu 292). However, if a law was created that made getting vaccinations mandatory, these numbers would go down and fewer children would be dying.
A subject that engenders fear and questions amongst parents all over the world. Autism and vaccines: a link that just won’t die. The debate over whether vaccines cause autism has become one of the most controversial disputes in the United States. On one hand, the medical world makes the argument that parents are either crazy or selfish not to vaccinate. Vaccines help us avoid acute illnesses and lower death rates.
The debate about vaccination amongst children continues to be an ongoing discussion for people across the United States. Many cite the discovery of vaccinations as one of the 20th centuries major successes, yet resistance and criticisms toward vaccinations still exist. Parents, doctors, and scholars acknowledge that vaccinations have plenty of benefits but they still carry a degree of risks. Existing studies have examined vaccination attitudes and beliefs of parents, but the same question still remains; why don’t some parents vaccinate their children?
It provided a US perspective on why parents should not be mandated to vaccinate their children and gives background information and the positives and negatives on vaccinating children. The author has the ability to see the negatives and positives of vaccinating children. The article was last updated in September of 2016. This means that it shows information that is not outdated, strengthening the articles credibility. The website, Procon, has the reputation of not being a credible source.
Do the benefits of getting vaccinated outweigh the risks. Although both sides of the argument have persuasive points; in the end, vaccinations should be mandatory for children. Requiring vaccinations would be beneficial because vaccines prevent disease and also keep communities safe. First we should look at what the experts have to say about vaccines, “ The Centers of Disease Control (CDC), American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Academy of physicians recommended that children be vaccinated against fifteen different common childhood illness / disease”
Vaccinations are in place to save children’s lives from life threatening diseases such as polio and etcetera. Parents should make sure that their children are receiving vaccinations to save their lives
If one looks to the USA, only three states– California, West Virginia, and Mississippi– have reasonably strict vaccination mandates, turning away both philosophical and religious exemptions. In every other state, religious exemptions are deemed sufficient in the avoidance of vaccination, with philosophical exemptions being prominent as well. The regions that have determined that exemptions to vaccines should only be made in circumstances where it is impossible medically have shown higher levels of immunity and far less outbreaks than regions that have not. From this it should be clear that there should be more regulation and legislation in place in order to promote and ensure widespread vaccination. However, as was previously mentioned, one of the main obstacles is actually the simplicity in avoiding
There are currently twenty-four vaccines for over fifty diseases (Centers). Although there are many vaccines, 1.5 million children die from a disease that could have been prevented. Not vaccinating is putting the future of humanity in danger by destroying the potential of these children. Vaccines can not only save millions of lives, but save billions of dollars. Vaccinations could save the human population billions of dollars by reducing medical costs caused by treatment of the preventable diseases
Overall, you would think that people would want to be vaccinated. Well, that is not always the
Vaccinations have saved tens of millions of lives and eradicated many deadly diseases such as Smallpox and Polio ( Over the years, a debate has ignited about whether or not schools should require students to receive vaccinations. While all fifty states have laws that require immunizations to children who attend public schools, almost all of them offer some sort of exemption. Some exemptions are valid, such as children who can not receive vaccines due to an underlying medical condition like a weakened immune system. Other exemptions are frivolous such as religious or self-choice. In some states, its as easy as checking a box on a school registration form to opt your child out of receiving these life-saving vaccines.
Vaccinations are one of the greatest achievements of medicine, by helping a human to build immunity to viruses before being exposed, immunizations have saved millions of human lives. Knowing this, a large amount of the parents choose to vaccinate their children as recommended per the United States Centers for Disease and Prevention and physicians around the world. However, several parents are refusing to vaccinate their children because of the multiple erroneous philosophies about how vaccines are the cause of very different illnesses. Today, vaccines have an outstanding safety record of being safe and effective, they prevent a vaccinated person from developing a serious disease, and they stand
Vaccines are critical in today’s society in order to maintain the public health. Vaccines don't just protect an individual person with vaccination, but everyone that they come in contact with. The greater the rate of people vaccinated, the fewer opportunities a disease has to advance. (“ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Touts Benefits of Vaccines”, 2014) Although most of these diseases are at bay, they still haven't disappeared. For example in Japan around the early 1970s about eighty percent of the children had received the pertussis vaccine, for this reason there were reportedly less than 400 cases, however the immunizations rates dropped to about only ten percent being vaccinated (“Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Touts
There is no evidence to back up this claim outside of conspiracy theories, and organizations like Autism Speaks are adamant that vaccination does not cause autism. In fact, they suggest that vaccination has decreased the risk of autism in children. The only risks that come with vaccination are some discomfort and pain, and the very rare allergic outbreak. The U.S Department of Health and Human Services assures citizens that this is “minimal compared to the pain, discomfort, and trauma of the diseases these vaccines
Because a vaccine only works 95% of the time, those people in the 5% can contract the disease from the people who did not get the vaccine. Which is why vaccinations should be controlled by the government, and not the parents. When irresponsible parents decide their child cannot and should not be vaccinated, they put all the people around them at risk of sickness and even