Baby Got Vax Research Paper
Baby Got Vax In recent years, vaccines have become a hot button topic amongst parents. With Internet research becoming easier to access, coupled with studies showing an alleged correlation between vaccines and autism, it is easy to see how parents, neighborhoods, and even entire communities could become concerned about vaccines. The apparent surge in holistic treatments across America could potentially correlate with the decline in vaccinations, but why does it seem like the majority of “Anti-Vaxxers” are upper-middle class, white mothers who spend their afternoons strolling the aisles of Whole Foods with a monogrammed tumbler full of Chardonnay? Vaccines should be mandatory to ensure the health of the general public. One of the primary
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arguments used against vaccines is based on a series of articles claiming that “the evidence linking vaccines and autism continues to mount” (“Vaccines Cause Autism”). While a scare number of articles are written by medical doctors, the truth is that “more than 200 studies in 2004 and more than 1,000 studies in 2011…” have been conducted and determined that the “MMR vaccine is not associated with autism” (“Evidence Shows Vaccines”). The Anti-Vaccination movement primarily relies on the Internet as a source for their information, with Jenny McCarthy, the unofficial spokeswoman of the movement, saying, “Google is one of the most incredible breakthroughs that we have today” (“Jenny McCarthy: We’re”). McCarthy’s education on vaccines curtsey of the “University of Google” only further proves that the majority of the Anti-Vax movement does not rely mainly on doctors and scientists but instead bloggers and Wikipedia articles (“Jenny McCarthy: We’re”). With extensive research disproving erroneous claims against vaccines, it is difficult to understand why people support research without accurate evidence.
Westernized countries notoriously provide their citizens with better health care compared to third-world countries, and vaccinations are no exception. In America, “over 90 percent” of infants were given the MMR vaccine, while in the England “coverage of MMR vaccine… rose to 92.7% in 2013-14” (“U.S. Infant Vaccination”; “NHS Immunisation Statistics”). These numbers are drastically different in developing countries, an example being Nigeria, a country with a “42%” vaccination rate for the MMR vaccine (“The countries with”). This decrease in vaccinations of nearly 50% demonstrates how citizens of westernized countries often take basic healthcare for granted. While many developing countries have lower vaccination rates than westernized countries, Sierra Leone, a country where “few people… have access to health care coverage” and “there are about 0.002 physicians and 0.4 medical beds for every 1000 people,” still manages to have “89% of eligible children… fully immunized” (“The 10 Worst”; “Sierra Leone:Analytical”). This research proves countries with inferior health care still believe in the power and effectiveness of vaccinations.
While the majority of the general public is able to receive vaccinations, certain people cannot, and those people rely on herd immunity to maintain their health.
Herd immunity protects people with “many medical conditions, especially those which compromise the immune system” because “in a population of vaccinated people, infectious but preventable diseases have trouble spreading even to the immunocompromised” (“The Anti-Vaccine Movement”). While herd immunity is of critical importance to those with weakened immune systems, many Anti-Vax parents fail to realize that the health of their children is also dependent on herd immunity. A recent study estimates that “if current vaccination rates were to dip to just 98 percent of where they are now, one child in seven would be vulnerable to measles” (“Anti-Vaxxers Are Destroying”). With the estimated rate of measles increasing that significantly, there comes a point where one wonders how far Anti-Vax parents will go before they begin to see the trail of destruction they are leaving. Recently, in America, “whooping cough… hit its highest rate of infection in 50 years,” and “over 100,000 illnesses and over 1,000 deaths” were “associated with the anti-vaccine movement” (“The Anti-Vaccine Movement”). When more and more parents stop vaccinating, they endanger not only the health of their child but also the health of those who cannot be
immunized.
Since their inception, vaccines have greatly improved the health of the general public. When people refuse vaccinations for themselves and their children, they not only risk the health of their children but also the health of their community. Prior to the MMR vaccine, “measles averaged 530,000 cases and 440 deaths per year before the vaccine,” but “in 2006, there were 55 cases and no deaths” (“People Should Not”). With many articles citing the correlation between “the number of vaccines being administered” and “the percentage of our children with autism,” it is easy to see why parents have become more concerned over the dosages of vaccines given to their children but correlation does not always prove causation. In the instance of vaccines and autism, the correlation has been generally disproven, and the increase in autism rates has been determined to be due to “the change in diagnostic criteria… [accounting] for as much as 60 percent of the increase in prevalence of autism spectrum disorders” (Autism Increase Mystery). While some people may think that “mandatory vaccinations deny parents their rights,” in certain cases, the rights and health of American citizens is more important than the concerns of a small group of parents.
Vaccines are one of the most polarizing issues amongst parents today. The need to protect one’s child usually outweighs every other instinct, but in the case of vaccines, sometimes a mother’s intuition is not always the best choice for a child. When a parent’s decision puts the general public at risk, the parent should not be allowed to make such a potentially disastrous choice. Worldwide, parents in developing countries still make an effort to vaccinate their children because many of them have witnessed the harmful effects of preventable diseases. Essential vaccines should be mandatory because unvaccinated children are potentially detrimental to a population’s herd immunity.
arguments used against vaccines is based on a series of articles claiming that “the evidence linking vaccines and autism continues to mount” (“Vaccines Cause Autism”). While a scare number of articles are written by medical doctors, the truth is that “more than 200 studies in 2004 and more than 1,000 studies in 2011…” have been conducted and determined that the “MMR vaccine is not associated with autism” (“Evidence Shows Vaccines”). The Anti-Vaccination movement primarily relies on the Internet as a source for their information, with Jenny McCarthy, the unofficial spokeswoman of the movement, saying, “Google is one of the most incredible breakthroughs that we have today” (“Jenny McCarthy: We’re”). McCarthy’s education on vaccines curtsey of the “University of Google” only further proves that the majority of the Anti-Vax movement does not rely mainly on doctors and scientists but instead bloggers and Wikipedia articles (“Jenny McCarthy: We’re”). With extensive research disproving erroneous claims against vaccines, it is difficult to understand why people support research without accurate evidence.
Westernized countries notoriously provide their citizens with better health care compared to third-world countries, and vaccinations are no exception. In America, “over 90 percent” of infants were given the MMR vaccine, while in the England “coverage of MMR vaccine… rose to 92.7% in 2013-14” (“U.S. Infant Vaccination”; “NHS Immunisation Statistics”). These numbers are drastically different in developing countries, an example being Nigeria, a country with a “42%” vaccination rate for the MMR vaccine (“The countries with”). This decrease in vaccinations of nearly 50% demonstrates how citizens of westernized countries often take basic healthcare for granted. While many developing countries have lower vaccination rates than westernized countries, Sierra Leone, a country where “few people… have access to health care coverage” and “there are about 0.002 physicians and 0.4 medical beds for every 1000 people,” still manages to have “89% of eligible children… fully immunized” (“The 10 Worst”; “Sierra Leone:Analytical”). This research proves countries with inferior health care still believe in the power and effectiveness of vaccinations.
While the majority of the general public is able to receive vaccinations, certain people cannot, and those people rely on herd immunity to maintain their health.
Herd immunity protects people with “many medical conditions, especially those which compromise the immune system” because “in a population of vaccinated people, infectious but preventable diseases have trouble spreading even to the immunocompromised” (“The Anti-Vaccine Movement”). While herd immunity is of critical importance to those with weakened immune systems, many Anti-Vax parents fail to realize that the health of their children is also dependent on herd immunity. A recent study estimates that “if current vaccination rates were to dip to just 98 percent of where they are now, one child in seven would be vulnerable to measles” (“Anti-Vaxxers Are Destroying”). With the estimated rate of measles increasing that significantly, there comes a point where one wonders how far Anti-Vax parents will go before they begin to see the trail of destruction they are leaving. Recently, in America, “whooping cough… hit its highest rate of infection in 50 years,” and “over 100,000 illnesses and over 1,000 deaths” were “associated with the anti-vaccine movement” (“The Anti-Vaccine Movement”). When more and more parents stop vaccinating, they endanger not only the health of their child but also the health of those who cannot be
immunized.
Since their inception, vaccines have greatly improved the health of the general public. When people refuse vaccinations for themselves and their children, they not only risk the health of their children but also the health of their community. Prior to the MMR vaccine, “measles averaged 530,000 cases and 440 deaths per year before the vaccine,” but “in 2006, there were 55 cases and no deaths” (“People Should Not”). With many articles citing the correlation between “the number of vaccines being administered” and “the percentage of our children with autism,” it is easy to see why parents have become more concerned over the dosages of vaccines given to their children but correlation does not always prove causation. In the instance of vaccines and autism, the correlation has been generally disproven, and the increase in autism rates has been determined to be due to “the change in diagnostic criteria… [accounting] for as much as 60 percent of the increase in prevalence of autism spectrum disorders” (Autism Increase Mystery). While some people may think that “mandatory vaccinations deny parents their rights,” in certain cases, the rights and health of American citizens is more important than the concerns of a small group of parents.
Vaccines are one of the most polarizing issues amongst parents today. The need to protect one’s child usually outweighs every other instinct, but in the case of vaccines, sometimes a mother’s intuition is not always the best choice for a child. When a parent’s decision puts the general public at risk, the parent should not be allowed to make such a potentially disastrous choice. Worldwide, parents in developing countries still make an effort to vaccinate their children because many of them have witnessed the harmful effects of preventable diseases. Essential vaccines should be mandatory because unvaccinated children are potentially detrimental to a population’s herd immunity.