Preview

The Importance of Childhood Vaccinations

Best Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2728 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Importance of Childhood Vaccinations
The Importance of Childhood Vaccinations
Ivy Tech Community College

Abstract Many diseases that once plagued our world have been put to rest due to the effectiveness of vaccinating healthy children. As long as parents continue to have their children vaccinated, our population will remain untouched from the diseases that have once erased entire countries. Information and education is the only way that parents can begin to understand the importance of properly vaccinating children. Maybe, if the parents that choose not to vaccinate their children were to see statistics in black and white, they might change their minds about having their children vaccinated properly and on time. Relying on the immunity of the vaccinated children to protect their unvaccinated children is not fair to the children who have had to experience the pain of the vaccination or to the parents that take the time to educate themselves on the efficiency and safety of the vaccinations.

The Importance of Childhood Vaccinations
For most people, childhood vaccinations are thought of as general health maintenance. Taking your child in for vaccinations during the first few years of their lives has always been a customary standard in child rearing. In recent years though, childhood vaccinations have become taboo. The stigma that lingers over the link between autism, religion, and childhood vaccinations has become a hot topic amongst the media, the medical world, and parents. With the concerns over new strains of influenza and other common viruses and diseases, the option for childhood vaccinations should not be compulsory, but mandatory. If it were not for childhood vaccinations, cities and towns across the nation and around the world would be overcome by diseases that have been dormant for decades. To prevent a pandemic of this nature and to protect the health of the general population, it is in the best interest to have children vaccinated properly and on the recommended time-mandated



References: Bernier, R., & Midthun, K. (2004). Getting the science right and doing the right science in vaccine safety. American Journal of Public Health, 94(6), 914-917. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database Brown, E. W. (1997). Chickenpox isn 't just for kids!. Medical Update, 21(6), 3. Retrieved from childhood immunizations Childhood vaccinations: Understanding vaccines. (2006). Practice Nurse, 319-13. Retrived from Academic Search Premier database FDA, (2005-2012). Web MD public information from the FDA. WebMD. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com. FDA. (2005-2012). WebMD public information from the FDA. Retrieved from http://immunizationinfo.org. Khalili, D., & Caplan, A. (2007). Off the Grid: Vaccinations among homeschooled children. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 35(3), 471-477. Retrieved from EBSCO database. Liz, S., (2012, September 28). Most forgo flu shots despite push. USA Today. Retrieved from EBSCO database Luman, E., McCauley, M., Stokley, S., Chu, S.Y., & Pickering, L. K. (2002). Timelines of childhood immunizations Ryan, K.A. (2012, October). Target the super-spreaders. Scientific American, 307(4), 14. Retrieved from EBSCO database. Smith, P.J., Chu, S.Y., & Barker, L.E. (2004). Children who have received no vaccines: Who are they and where do they live? Pediatrics, 114(1), 187-195. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Best Essays

    Throughout the United States, infant vaccination continues to be a highly controversial and pressured decision that parents must face upon their child’s birth. In order to maintain complete objectivity, multiple viewpoints must be critically analyzed and explored in an unbiased manner; therefore, I will examine the positives and negatives regarding adolescent vaccinations, provide general viewpoints and solutions to the debate about which infants should receive vaccinations, and supply the data required to support the arguments relevant to each side. The first viewpoint suggests that infant vaccinations should be heavily regulated due to alleged medical ramifications and adverse side effects. Many Americans support this ideology, including parents and various physicians who firmly believe that infant vaccinations induce medical complications instead of preventing them. The second viewpoint is known as selective vaccination, which is a supported by most American parents and various doctors, who affirm that parents deserve the right of authority over their child because the child’s best interest trumps obligatory immunization. The third viewpoint suggests that some U.S. parents and medical professionals advocate mandatory vaccination in order to protect infants from illnesses; thus, ultimately striving for widespread public health.…

    • 2276 Words
    • 66 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Did you know that some childhood diseases, such as polio, whooping cough, and especially the measles, have nearly been eliminated in the United States due to the implementation of vaccination (“Lode Tot, Other Cases Prompt Call for Vaccinations” 1)? Unfortunately, these diseases and others like them are now making a comeback thanks to parents who are reluctant to have their children vaccinated. I believe children should be vaccinated because vaccination protects them against sickness, reduces the spread of common ailments, and can protect individuals who cannot be vaccinated.…

    • 546 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    One of the controversial/hot topics or issues nowadays in health care in the US and the world as a whole is vaccination. The main purpose of vaccines is to control and prevent communicable diseases. The target is to vaccinate about 99 percent of the population. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “about 1.5 million children under age 5 years continue to die annually from diseases that are preventable via the administration of vaccines, making up approximately 20 percent of overall childhood mortality” (Maternal and Child Health, n.d). The WHO continues to argue with evidence that vaccination can prevent death from pneumonia and diarrhea which are the leading cost of death among children under five years old. Although vaccination…

    • 219 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    People are current taking action against vaccinations and joining the anti-vaccination movement. Although research proves anti-immunization increases disease rates, parents stand firm in their believe that their children should not be vaccinated. This paper briefly discusses the reasoning behind their notion and the substantial fact about vaccinations. It then provides facts behind their judgment and consequences of…

    • 58 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    It helps protect children from diseases that are extremely severe. Vaccination helps prevents disease, but it is also a requirement when attending public school in Tennessee and most parts of the U.S. If children are vaccinated, there will be less deaths, amputations, and paralyses in young children. Outbreaks happen much more often when children aren’t vaccinated. If a child comes in contact with a disease, it will spread like a wild fire to other children. Who haven’t been vaccinated because of their age or parents choice! It is exceptionally important for parents to realize how not vaccinating their child can not only hurt them, but also can cause serious damage to the bodies. Immunization helps protect future…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thanks to technology and research, vaccines have kept serious diseases from becoming epidemic illnesses, unlike many years ago. When children are vaccinated, the chances of contracting the disease being vaccinated for are decreased drastically. Every child should be immunized to protect themselves and the people around them from these deadly diseases. The best way to prevent preventable diseases is to have an immune population. We can achieve this by simply vaccinating our children.…

    • 401 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The fight against vaccines has become controversial however arguments against mass immunization should be evaluated so that a good understanding of this controversy can be had. There are three main arguments against the mass immunization of children and babies. Firstly, It is argued that vaccinations can have harmful side effects on children. Secondly, it is argued that laws requiring mandatory vaccinations infringe upon an individual’s liberty and freedom of choice; and finally, mass immunizations a law, violates religious freedom. According to Omer et al (2009) approximately 69% of parents are more concerned that vaccines could cause harm to the health of their young children than they are with the other issues. The CDC does, in fact, publish that vaccines may have side effects for example a reaction to the varicella vaccine can range from a rash to a severe infection (CDC, 2010). No specific evidence exist, however, to support the claim that vaccines predispose children to other disease such as type 1…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eighty families lost children to a vicious disease that physicians had not yet developed a vaccine for immunity. Tina Albertson, a pediatric resident, recalls a young girl who had come in contact with whooping cough, “She was a six-week old girl with a sister and brother, four and six. The family had chosen not to immunize, and the week she was born, her siblings both had whooping cough. When they’re real little, the babies don’t whoop, they just stop breathing. This little girl was septic by the time they got her here” (Allen 3). Lastly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states why children need vaccines at an early age, “Children are given vaccines at a young age because this is when they are most vulnerable to certain disease” (Centers 1).…

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mandatory Vaccinations

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Parents and guardians, who believe that vaccines should not be mandatory, contend that vaccines cause health problems or they are no longer necessary. Children get their main vaccines between the ages of two months to twelve months old. Children at this age are already at a high risk for developing high fevers, seizures, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Therefore, there is no way of truly determining if any adverse effect on the child was coincidental or actually caused by the inoculation itself. Since 1990, thirty thousand cases have been reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) where the patient had an adverse reaction to the vaccine. Out of the thirty thousand cases three thousand nine hundred were reported as life threatening. That is a small percentage when compared to the 10.5 million illnesses that the same vaccines have prevented. (Zhou, 2003) Because polio is not carried in the USA, there are those who feel that not only should the vaccine not be mandatory, it is completely unnecessary. Opponents to mandatory vaccinations have forgotten one important truth. Thousands of innocent children have lost their lives due to diseases such as smallpox and polio, which could have easily been prevented through the use of vaccines. In reality, it is…

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Anti Vaccination Movement

    • 1095 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Despite the current fascination with the anti-vaccination movement, it might come as a surprise that American children actually receive more vaccinations than ever before. Only less than 0.5 percent of children receive no vaccinations at all. In Vaccine Nation, Conis argued that the widespread belief of vaccination is an important part of study on which to be educated. Conis turned her focus to the spread of vaccines in the postwar era when new vaccines targeted the more “milder” diseases of a child’s early years, including measles, mumps, and whooping cough. More recently, vaccines have been developed and promoted to protect against diseases that largely affect adults. Conis proclaimed, “Health officials were blunt in justifying the widespread…

    • 1095 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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,…

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Today many States are struck with an important question: should they make childhood vaccination mandatory. Children are a very important asset to this world future, and a child’s survival is held at the utmost importance. This is why the use of vaccines are significant in providing a higher chance of a child to live a healthier life. Immunizations are considered as devices used to assist in making this planet a healthier environment for its children. They provide many benefits, Immunizations have eliminated many major diseases, also vaccinations have prevented many pandemics and epidemics.…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The first vaccine was created in 1796, by 1969 mandatory immunization laws were in place in twelve states, and by 2014 50 states had their own regulatory requirements for school age children. Until recently parents understood that children were to receive vaccinations in order to attend public school and simply abided by this requirement, but this is no longer the case. Due to research, studies, and key opinion leaders speaking out against vaccines, parents are now faced with the difficult decision of whether to vaccinate their child or not. There is data supporting the eradication of , however many of these diseases have made an unfortunate comeback due to the decrease in vaccinations. It is possible that other factors such as increased…

    • 220 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    About fifteen percent of children in the U.S. are constantly absent from school because of illness, making them much more likely to fail and eventually drop out. If all schools would make everyone get vaccinated the number of ill children would go down. Immunization is very important for the health of all children. All children should be immunized before starting school to help prevent widespread diseases, to help fight infection, and expand the child’s immune system.…

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Mandatory Vaccination

    • 1094 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The history of vaccinations has changed drastically over the past several decades. Parents of the current generation received fewer vaccinations than their children. This has led a question to be posed by many. Do children need all of the new vaccinations? Should these vaccinations be mandatory? Today’s parents have turned out okay without the new vaccinations, so are they really necessary? Research done on both sides creates two sides to this issue. Some favor mandatory vaccinations while others do not support mandatory vaccination of children, yet both want what is best for chidren.…

    • 1094 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays