Childhood Vaccination Research Paper

Childhood Vaccinations
“If my kid can’t bring peanut butter to school, yours shouldn’t be able to bring preventable diseases.” A statement by a parent to other parents who chose not to vaccinate their child. Although this statement may be a bit extreme it breathes life into a very important topic about vaccinating children. Parents should be for vaccinating their child because they prevent deadly communicable disease and can save their child’s life; and the life of others. The consequences of disease are far more hazardous than the risks of vaccination.
The implementation of vaccinations in the U.S. has helped to eliminate many diseases. Vaccines can save a child’s life from disease such as measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, pertussis,
polio, diphtheria and many others. These disease can cause serious debilitating issues such as: paralysis, upper respiratory issues, disfigurement, and death. All of the problems these disease cause have a last effecting. “Thanks to a vaccine, one of the most terrible diseases in history – smallpox – no longer exists outside the laboratory” (CDC). Another example is Polio, a disease that was once the most feared communicable disease of childhood, has been eradicated in the U.S. thanks to the vaccination. Vaccines save children from lifelong debilitating diseases and death. “Immunizations can save your child’s life. It scares me to think there are parents out there who chose not to vaccinate, their child is at risk everyday of contacting a deadly virus that is one hundred percent preventable. Statistics show the benefits far outweigh the risks, parents need to research.” A statement made from Doctor Heidi Stoltenburg a specialist in pediatric and adolescent medicine. One huge concern was that vaccinations were causing autism in children. Thimerosal a preservative was thought to have caused this. The CDC has done a lot of research to confirm that there is no link between thimerosal causing autism. Although there was no link found the government removed this preservative from all vaccinations to eliminate any concerns from parents. Stoltenberg states, “If parents do the research they will find the link between autism and thimerosal is no longer. A rare occasion of an allergic reaction may happen to the child but it is 1 in 400,000 children, I’ve personally never seen it happen.” Vaccinations have been studied, trialed, proven safe and effective by the FDA.
Another benefit to vaccinating children is financially.
Medical care is extremely costly these days, treating a sick child can be expensive regardless of the insurance a family has. “Some vaccine-preventable diseases can result in prolonged disabilities and can take a financial toll because of lost time at work, medical bills or long-term disability care” (Vaccines are effective). Treatment for these preventable diseases can be costly and continue for the entire life span. Parents whose children are not vaccinated can also be denied attendance at schools and child care facilities.
Protecting others you care about can be done by receiving immunizations. The CDC states, “Immunizing individual children also helps to protect the health of our community, especially those people who cannot be immunized (children who are too young to be vaccinated, or those who can’t receive certain vaccines for medical reasons), and the small proportion of people who don’t respond to a particular vaccine.” If all parents were to immunize their children we could strive for eradicating more disease and have a future with less diseases and fewer sick children in this country.
In closing, every parent should vaccinate their child. There are a multitude of reasons why this should be done and plenty of research that supports vaccinations as well. Studies have proven the benefits of vaccinations far outweigh the risks. To keep children healthy and prevent unnecessary illness’s and death. For these
reasons all children should be vaccinated.