However, after the introduction of immunization, there has been a great debate regarding vaccination and its safety and how it could further risk people’s health with its side effects. A vaccine is a medical product. Although they are designed to protect people from certain diseases, immunizations can also cause side effects, just as any other medication can. Most side effects from vaccination are mild, such as soreness, swelling, or redness at the injection site. Some vaccines are associated with fever, rash, and achiness.
Vaccinations for Children Fewer current issues have a greater impact in the overall well-being of the human race than the debate over vaccines. This ongoing debate could potentially eradicate a strand of disease, should the future generations of children become immune to the illness. “By the age of Even though vaccines are a great thing, some people, especially parents of young children, still resist vaccinations. Claiming side effects such as autism and other developmental disorders, some parents choose to delay or even exempt their children from vaccines. Although some disorders are thought to originate from the use of immunizations, refusal to vaccinate a child will put them Some serious, but highly rare, side effects have been cited for vaccine use in children.
To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate Vaccinations are given to people to prevent diseases and other illnesses. Times have progressed to children given the vaccinations as well; however, more and more parents aren’t allowing for it to happen. From a parent’s perspective, it can be interpreted that they fear ‘fatal side effects’. On the other hand, I feel that there is not much of a risk towards the vaccinations; children should get their vaccinations in order to save them. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (ProCons.org, 2015 Page 1), most childhood vaccines are 90%-99% effecting in preventing diseases; at least 2.5 million children are saved every year.
It can also be concluded that the risks of a baby catching whooping cough, chickenpox, and influenza put that baby in far more danger than the risks associated with those vaccinations. (“Vaccines versus viruses”. 2009) The prevention of virus and disease spread is a proven benefit of vaccinations which far outweighs the associated rare risks. References Gawronski, B. (2012) Back to the Future of Dissonance Theory: Cognitive Consistency as a Core Motive.
Dr. Paul Offit, MD, FAAP, who is a noted expert on vaccines said: “Parents are bombarded with false stories about the dangers of vaccines, and the result is that some are backing away from vaccinating their children. This is tragic, because it leaves children vulnerable to deadly diseases, and it lowers the immunity of the entire community”. (Offit, M.D.) What this means is that if we, as a society, continue to break down population immunity by not vaccinating our children, it will open the door to all of those diseases that we thought were made extinct by vaccines. Population immunity is also referred to as “herd immunity”.
It is very important to prevent any alcohol consumption during all 9 months of pregnancy. We saw that drinking during pregnancy is widely connected with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome and Foetal Alcohol Effects in infancy and later life , that can be seen in brain abnormalities, poor cognitive skills, behavioural and learning difficulties. (Autti-Ramo et al, 2002., J. L. Jacobson, and S. W. Jacobson., 2002); FAS and FAE are, however, quite hard to diagnose. Many children who do not have FAS or FAE, but who were exposed to alcohol prenataly - can still suffer from one or more symptoms of FAS.
So why are more and more people worried about vaccines, especially the ones for kids? Vaccines prevent disease. It is always better to prevent disease rather than treat it- better to never get it in the first place. Vaccines prevent death. Vaccines are responsible for the control (if not eradication) of many diseases which were once common, like polio, measles, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), rubella (German measles), mumps, and tetanus.
Autism is a really wide-ranging topic. Psychologists have come up with new research to test what causes autism and if there is a possibility for a cure. A couple of years ago it was believed that autism was caused by giving too many vaccines to children. According to Norton (2013), the first worries came from a small British study in 1998 that proposed a connection between the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. A spate of research since has found no link, and the original study was eventually retracted by the Lancet, the journal that published it (Another Study Sees No Vaccine-Autism Link section, para.
If I were a parent I would give my child the vaccine, because I don’t want my child being affected by these diseases. I wouldn’t be afraid of my child getting autism from it either, because there was no link, more of an assumption. Because children are given the vaccine at the age that you start noticing the signs of autism in the
“Measles is one such disease that critics say was already in decline before the advent of an effective vaccine” (Requiring Mandatory Vaccination is Dangerous 3) For MMR and MMRV vaccines, very serious side effects have been proven to effect the body and cause severe problems. “Deafness, seizures, and permanent brain damage have all been connected to the MMR and MMRV vaccines.” (Vaccines: Vac-Gen/Side Effects 6) According to an article posted by the CDC called “Vaccines: Vac-Gen/Side Effects”, MMR has a chance of 1 in 3 million children developing Encephalitis or inflammation of the brain, which can lead to brain problems later in life. Dr. Jacques Moritz states that he is pro vaccine, but “...not pro that the physicians don’t know the risks and side effects” (Chitale 2) Doctors should be properly informed of a vaccine before they present that vaccine to the patients or parents and correctly warn the patients or parents before administering the vaccine, but sometimes they hardly scratch the surface when describing the side effects, skipping the important parts and leading the patients into a false sense of safety with a