...Vaccinations are a topic of great debate in the United States. Some of this debate generates positive discussion about vaccines, their safety, and why they are an important factor in public health. However, other discussions help to spread false information. The anti-vaccination movement in particular has detracted from the public’s ability to truly understand the benefits of vaccines. It is important to be vaccinated in order to protect their own health, the health of those in their community, and to prevent potential spread of diseases internationally. Vaccines relate to personal health in that they work to protect a person from dangerous and even deadly diseases. The weakened pathogens present in vaccines provoke an immune response when...
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...Vaccinate! No do not vaccinate! In the recent years there has been a sprout in the anti-vaccination movement, more and more people are choosing to not vaccinate their kids. There are no federal laws that demand vaccination; nonetheless all states have certain vaccinations requirements for children entering public schools (procons.org). Since the start of vaccination requirements there have been anti-vaccination movements that are fighting to bring awareness to people on the affects of vaccinations. Some say it is a violation of human rights, while others put great emphasis on the harmful side effects of vaccines. As a result, many Americans have turned to medical treatments that go against mainstream medication, something know was Complementary...
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...Anti-Vaccination: An Opposition Melanie Say Kaplan University Professor Chad Walls CM220 March 13, 2015 Opposition: Anti-vaccination Despite extended benefits demonstrated through immunization programs, parents and vocal groups alike are challenging the administration of inoculations. A history of fraudulent studies introduced the concept of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism, adding fuel to the controversial fire of adverse reactions associated with immunizations. Furthermore, organizations in Maine defend philosophical exemptions in schools as their "personal freedom and parental right", disregarding the "imminent danger to others who can't take the vaccine" (Boston Globe, 2015, para. 4). Within the past two decades, opposition...
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...Here are some of the most common reasons why parents do not vaccinate their children: Autism In 1998 Andrew Wakefield, a surgeon and medical researcher, published a paper claiming that the MMR vaccine could cause autism and bowel disease, based on a study of twelve young children. The vaccine was developed in the 1960’s and protects against Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (German Measles). Although his claims have been proven false, the supposed link between MMR vaccine (or, in some cases, vaccines in general) and autism is still believed by many parents, and is commonly used as an anti-vaccination argument. Vaccines have also been linked to ADHD, severe allergies, and asthma, with the claim that vaccination increases the risk of a child developing...
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...In recent years, a wave of anti-vaccination beliefs has been sweeping the nation. However, vaccines “protect us from diseases that used to routinely kill hundreds of thousands of children in the United States and still kill hundreds of thousands globally” (University of Pennsylvania, 2012). Even with this knowledge, many parents have refused to vaccinate their children over fears of side effects, but this has created a significant health risk for the greater public and those more at risk, such as children too young for vaccines and the elderly. Much of the anti-vaccination sentiment is based on misinformation and uninformed positions. Vaccines have benefited humanity greatly and the only thing to outperform the benefits of vaccines to public health is clean water (Andre, Booy, Bock, Clemens, Datta & John et al., 2008). Vaccinations are an essential part of disease prevention as when children are not vaccinated, they can spread diseases to others and face serious health risks of their own from vaccine-preventable diseases. Vaccines rely on a herd, meaning that they are only very effective if nearly everyone receives them. This helps to eradicate the diseases from the bulk of the population, making it very unlikely that at-risk and unvaccinated individuals would be exposed to the diseases. As a result, the more unvaccinated people there are, the greater the risk of an outbreak. Therefore, “if a high number of children go intentionally unvaccinated because of personal belief...
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...Vaccinations protect from nasty diseases, but the antiimmunisation voice is getting louder. Introduction Whilst some, or all of us, hate getting needles jabbed in us, it is sometimes necessary so we don’t get sick, or worse, die. There are terrible diseases i.e. Rubella, Polio, Whooping Cough, out there which we try to avoid. Vaccinations may help prevent getting them. Though we get immunised, we still need to be careful in making a well informed decision on behalf of this we love and care about. It is still possible to contract the disease we were vaccinated against, as in the case of chicken pox, where a person can come down with a slight case of it. We will look at the pros and cons of the immunisation debate and understand the benefit of proper decision making when deciding to get immunised. Body It is thought that vaccinations can help stop, and even get rid of, nasty diseases. It is reported that “Polio, for example, was eliminated in the United States by 1979 after widespread vaccination efforts” - as quoted from historyofvaccines.org. But while some people vaccinate their children, others do not. (Research from the National Health Performance Authority has found 77,000 Australian children are not fully immunised. As reported by Amy Simmons for ABC News. April 2013) In numerous parts of the world, it is thought that people need vaccines to stop the spread of disease. While some countries aren’t plagued with deadly diseases, there are some countries that...
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...Firstly I will start on why we should vaccinate our children and ourselves in the first place and that’s simple, vaccines are one of the best ways to protect ourselves and children from some of the world’s most infectious diseases some of these are; Measles & mumps, Rubella, Chicken Pox, influenza, Hepatitis B. People vaccinating has helped Small Pox be eradicated, Polio be reduced to only a few small isolated cases If vaccinations have caused these medical break throughs then why are people starting to choose not to vaccinate their kids?, these anti-Vaxxers are rapidly appearing on social media, blogs and even the news, they take to social media to preach their views on why THEY think vaccinations are doing more harm than good, their main reason is that they believe that...
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...Vaccination is defined as any preparation used as a preventative inoculation to confer immunity against a specific disease, usually employing an innocuous form of the disease agent, as killed or weakened bacteria or viruses, to stimulate antibody production. Pharmaceutical companies tout these vaccinations as safe and effective, but like prescription drugs, these products carry risks of not working and a risk to cause harmful side effects. The harmful side effects are one of the many reasons that some families all across America choose to delay vaccinations or refuse them all together. Whether it is due to the gaps in knowledge about the risks or the lack of studies conducted in medical literature, families are more and more reluctant to vaccinate....
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...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 due to the anti-vaccination movement. This movement declares mandatory vaccines unconstitutional and vaccinations overall as the cause of autism. Unfortunately, the anti-vaccination movement is becoming increasingly popular due to individuals’ unfounded fears and imagined consequences associated with the idea of purposely inserting a disease into one’s body. However, 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 upholding values of...
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...their behavior and actions. This is especially true when a group of people or a high status citizen supports an individual’s beliefs, even when there is no valid authority contributed to their stance. Individuals raised in the modern first-world are educated to believe in the science and efficiency of vaccinations to ensure public health and decrease infant and childhood mortality rates. A wealth of evidence exists to prove that vaccinations are safe, effective, and increase public health. The scientific and medical communities, by a vast majority, support the use of vaccinations and are desperately attempting to get vaccines to third world countries and end massive generations-long death tolls attributed to preventable diseases. The diseases that these vaccines prevent had been eradicated in the United States and Western Europe for decades. Why, then, are people willing to allow their children to go unvaccinated in first world nations? Cognitive dissonance may hold the answer to this question. Ian and Linda Williams are educated parents in Auckland, New Zealand, who refused to vaccinate their son, Alijah. This decision would be life-altering. The family was caught up in the recent anti-vaccine movement, promoted heavily by celebrities like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Jim Carrey, and Jenny McCarthy - one of the most famous opponents to vaccine use. This paper will delve into the shocking story of one family’s regrettable decision to not vaccinate their child and the possible social psychological...
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...Vaccinations is a process where a person is injected with a substance to make them immune to a disease. Diseases that can make you sick, disabled or even kill you. Most vaccines contain the disease that it is trying to protect you from by building up your immune system to help you fight it if you ever come across the real thing. Many parents of an autistic child blame the condition on vaccines being the direct and only cause. Often, many of those parents have no real concrete evidence to support their claim. Those parents usually are just reading blogs of parents who are facing the same issue. Over the past decade many parents face the hard decision on whether they want to vaccine their child or not. Jenny McCarthy said, “If you ask...
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...The role of non-evidence based beliefs on anti-vaccination-Literature Review Student Name: Institution: Introduction Anti-vaccination proponents have largely embedded their energies in promoting doubt in parents, instructing forms of biomedical fear while capitalizing on their spiritual and paranormal belief naivety to enforce the same. These approaches are ensured to make it possible that even with any increase in people’s knowledge and evidence, their rational strength over anti-vaccine movements become a myriad.[Lewandowsky et al. 2013] Decision making becomes a weak thing to do because by looking at both ends, things seem to parallel each other. There those who believe in an unquestionable trust in political figures, doctors and other medical professionals. Other parents seem to look at homeopathy, nature and metaphysical tendencies to resolve their medical dilemma as regards to the vaccine.[Huntley and Peeters, 2010; Battles, 2008]. It is at this point that Lewandowski et al. [2013] and his believed that with an increase in knowledge the worldview polarization of science also doubled. Apparently, these issues are evident to point out to the fact that anti-vaccine attitudes are predicted by them. But there is very limited research in place, to depict the underlying factor beneath these forms of psychosocial behaviors against vaccines. The notion of worldview approach to anti-vaccine over vaccines is a current one and stems from paranormal, spiritual, and conspiracy beliefs...
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...Thesis question: "Do parents have a right to withhold vaccines from their children for philosophical reasons, or should parents be forced to have their children immunized for the good of society?" Thesis statement: “Since vaccines have been invented, there has been a lot of controversy regarding the belief whether parents should immunize their children for the benefit of the society or withhold vaccines for personal reasons”. Introduction: It is inevitable that media, especially tabloids and articles play a big role in shaping the beliefs, practices and norms of the society. Immunization, which is also known as vaccination is one of the most controversial debates that evokes different opinions among the general public. Since vaccines have been invented, there has been a lot of controversy regarding the belief whether parents should immunize their children for the benefit of the society or withhold vaccines for personal reasons. During the last couple of months, the Disneyland Measles outbreak has been one of the hottest and most controversial news in the nation. According to writer and news announcer Rath of National Public Relations (2015), it was reported that since December 2014, roughly 80 people in the Unites States have been confirmed to have measles. Seventy percent of the affected individuals were allegedly the ones who visited the Disneyland theme park. It was discovered that at least 28 of these victims had not received the measles vaccine. Because of this...
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...Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate Many parents stress over the choice of deciding whether or not to vaccinate their children. The reason why deciding to vaccinate children is so difficult is due to the wide range of myths and side effects that are connected with vaccinations. Myths spread to parents all over the United States that the diseases don’t even exist anymore, rumors of vaccinations weakening a child’s immune system, and the risk of a child becoming autistic due to thimerisol in vaccinations. Side effects also scare parents out of getting their children vaccinated like brain damage, seizures, or allergic reactions, but then parents are pulled back to the thought of the possibility of their child catching a very serious life threatening disease. Vaccines improve immunity to a disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-ridden microorganism or a weakened form of a microbe. Vaccines do not guarantee complete protection from a disease, and many people are beginning to question the effectiveness of vaccines. Parents wonder if vaccinations really help in the prevention of illnesses. Although vaccinations can bring adverse effects, it is necessary to provide oneself with the protection against various diseases. This is why schools make it mandatory for children to have their up to date immunizations before entering school. I know there are some cases that gets waived for religious reasons. When children...
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...Child Vaccinations Mandatory Law or Personal Choice By: Courtney Boyd Childhood vaccinations, a personal choice or mandatory law? The anti-vaccine movement created by parent complaints have made many parents and guardians question the safety and effectiveness of vaccinations. I will discuss the history of vaccines, how vaccinations work, the effects of not receiving vaccines, the exemptions of states, as well as a guide to the age a child should receive each vaccination and the vaccine required. History of the vaccine Do you know how long it usually takes for a new vaccine to become available to the public? Scientists and researchers spend many years (10-15) in science laboratories during the first stage of this extensive process. Once this process has been completed, the United States Food and Drug Administration (U.S. F.D.A.) has a series of trials that are conducted on human volunteers. These series are used to test vaccine efficiency, to determine appropriate dosage, and to monitor adverse side effects. That’s not the end though, after these series of tests, the FDA still monitors the vaccine reactions for many years. The first vaccine was not discovered until 1798 by Edward Jenner and was used for vaccination against the smallpox virus. Later on, over a 100 years, Louis Pasteur proved that a disease could be prevented by infecting a person with the weakened germs. Dr. Pasteur used a vaccine on a boy in 1885 to prevent rabies as...
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