For centuries, vaccines have been helping families by preventing diseases which has saved the lives of thousands of children and adults. As early as 1796, the smallpox vaccine was first introduced and ever since then vaccines has helped protect us from diseases such as polio and measles. The Center for Diseases Control and Prevention assures that vaccines are effective and safe to get it. Routine immunization has completely eliminated smallpox which eventually led to the near removal of wild poliovirus. Vaccines have been able to prevent infectious diseases now less people experience measles or other illnesses.
After all the approval of vaccinations and testing, people still mistakenly believe that vaccinations cause autism. Researchers have made it clear that there isn’t a link connected to autism and vaccinations whatsoever. This is a huge issue in the United States because parents are being mislead about vaccinations which is preventing them for getting vaccine shots and their child could potentially get ill.Health and medical scholars have said that vaccinations are one of the top ten achievements for the public health in the 20th century. However, the opposition of vaccinations has been around for as long as vaccinations were first introduced. There are multiple studies that has now been debunked but, there claim was that vaccinations and autism were linked. The research was cherry picked and actually ignores the scientific consensus. Anti-vaccinations movements date all the back to the 18th century.
They believed the vaccine for chickenpox violated religious principles because it claimed that it came from used parts of animals. They implied that people would become part cow if they took the chickenpox vaccine. It makes sense that back in the day citizens would even consider this being remotely true. However, over the past decades science and technology has efficiently advanced and has proven that vaccines are safe. Surely, vaccines back then could’ve been safe as well, but now in the 21st century it’s assured that it’s completely safe. The opposition continues to believe that vaccinations aren’t safe. But some schools require their students to provide proof that they have gotten specific shots or else they can’t go to school until they do (MMR Vaccination and Autism). Although the government doesn’t have a law that requires children to get vaccinations that doesn’t mean schools won’t.
Schools do this to insure the safety to their students and making sure they are healthy. Anti-vaccinationists are also scared to get their child vaccinated because they are scared of government conspiracies. If parents keep living in this fear, a large number of children’s lives could be threatened. Back in 1963, 50,000 children were hospitalized from measles and 500 children died. This is a serious ongoing issue that’s why families need to be correctly informed because measles shouldn’t make its way back. However, families can’t be informed if they don’t want to. They need to understand they are putting their child at health risks.Before getting into why vaccinations doesn’t link with autism, it’s important to understand why vaccinations are important in general.
Children’s lives are saved by immunizations. It allows children to be more protected against diseases. Those diseases that once killed thousands of children has now been completely eliminated or at least close to extinction. That’s all because vaccines are safe and effective. Polio is a good example of why vaccines matter. Polio was a terrible disease that could potentially cause death or paralysis and it spread across the globe. Luckily thanks to vaccination there became no reports of polio in the United States.
Vaccination are very safe and effective.Vaccines could result in some discomfort or cause pain, or tenderness when getting the shot but that is not compared to the pain, discomfort of the diseases that those vaccines prevent. An allergic reaction for vaccinations is very rare (Madsen and Mogens).
In the United States children can still get vaccinated to prevent diseases such as measles and whooping cough. However, since 2010 there has been between 10,000 and 50,000 cases of whooping cough. Every year in the U.S. about 10 to 20 babies, (who are too young to be vaccinated) have died every year. Unfortunately, babies that are too young may not be able to receive certain vaccinations due to specific allergies or weak immune systems.
It’s important that children who can get vaccinated are fully immunized. This helps by protecting family and friends but also helps prevent the spread of these diseases. Overall, getting vaccinated against these diseases is a good investment (Rimland, Bernard)Families that are being mislead about vaccinations are also being mislead about autism. Back in 1940’s in the United States, researchers started to use “autism” to describe children who have emotional and social problems. A common symptoms to all different types of autism is the inability to communicate and interact with others. In fact, some people who do have autism are unable to communicate at all. Some may have a difficult time interpreting body language.
There is evidence that people with autism may have certain deficiencies in vitamins and minerals but those deficiencies don’t cause autism. There are supplements that have been recommended to improve nutrition. “Researchers, health professionals, parents, and persons with ASD all have strong opinions about the direction future autism research should take. Everyone would like to find a cure for autism. However, many feel that finding a cure is unlikely. Instead, scarce resources should be devoted toward helping people with autism find better ways to live with the condition.” People who don’t understand autism believe that it’s uncomfortable lifestyle but, there are many techniques/treatments that exist now. It could possibly help relieve “the pain and suffering of autism.
” These treatments can offer different options for improving quality of life of people with autism (Taylor, Brent).The problem with people resistant to an infectious disease, it will never get a chance to establish itself and spread. This is important because there will always be a number of infants, elderly, pregnant women that have a weak immune system and they can’t receive vaccinations. But if too many people don’t vaccinate themselves or their children, they contribute to open up opportunities for viruses and bacteria to establish themselves and spread (Madsen and Mogens). The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is growing quickly, so even if a disease is not a threat in our country, it may be common elsewhere.
If someone were to carry in a disease from abroad, an unvaccinated individual will be at far greater risk of getting sick if he or she is exposed, much like ebola. Vaccines are one of the great pillars of modern medicine. Life was extremely brutal for children before vaccines like when measles, smallpox and whooping cough. Today diseases can be completely prevented just with a simple injection.
So as science continues to advance and tackle new challenges, people should not forget how many deaths and illnesses vaccines have prevented, and how they continue to protect us from potentially devastating forms of infectious disease.
