Vaccination And Immunization Report

When I was a kid, I remember going to the doctors office before the school year to get shots. I often wondered why I had to do this, and was reluctant to the idea of someone putting a needle in my arm because the school said so. As I grew older, I started to see advertisements on the television for flu vaccinations and immunizations, and it got me thinking. I did not understand how vaccines and immunizations were beneficial to people. A report done by UNICEF, “IMMUNIZATION FACTS AND FIGURES 2013”, states that immunization is one of the most successful public health initiatives. Each year, immunization averts an estimated 2-3 million deaths from diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough) and measles - life-threatening diseases that disproportionately
These side effects can include severe allergic reaction that can result in death without proper medical attention (2). In addition, another report was done by the CDC, “Possible Side Effects from Vaccines”, where they report more serious ailments succeeding the Adenovirus vaccination. In other words, “News-Medical”, characterizes the Adenovirus as a virus that often infects the airways and intestinal tract. An infection usually manifests with symptoms similar to a cold. There is sore throat, runny nose and eyes, sneezing, headaches, cough and fever (2). More serious problems following the Adenovirus vaccination have been reported by about 1 person in 100 within six months of vaccination. These problems include blood in the urine or stool, pneumonia, inflammation of the stomach or intestines (5). Furthermore, History of Vaccines’ article, “Vaccine Side Effects and Adverse Events”, illustrates more extremely serious side effects of the Smallpox Vaccine. These effects include serious eye infection, or loss of vision, due to spread of vaccine virus to the eye. Encephalitis (severe brain reaction), which can lead to permanent brain damage (as many as 1 per 83,000), can be avoided just by not receiving vaccination. A severe infection beginning at vaccination site (as many as 1 per 667,000, mostly in people with weakened immune
For example, HistoryofVaccines’ article, “Ethical Issues and Vaccines”, highlights that to be licensed, vaccines go through many years of research, and must pass rigorous safety and efficiency standards. The vaccine development and research process includes diverse experts, many scientific and social disciplines, including public health, epidemiology, immunology, and statistics, and from pharmaceutical companies. These stakeholders may have conflicting priorities and motives, which contributes to various ethical discussions (3). Many people may raise question to the stakeholders’ priorities due to the high cost of running these trails, although no evidence has proven so. Moreover, vaccine trials appear to have more benefits than detriments. In a article published by Bjorn Peters, “Comprehensive Sieve Analysis of Breakthrough HIV-1 Sequences in the RV144 Vaccine Efficacy”, Peters writes “These differences coincide with previously-studied genetic features that are relevant to the biology of HIV infection, including features involved in immune recognition of the virus. The findings presented here generate testable hypotheses about the mechanism of the partial protection seen in the Thai trial, and may ultimately lead to improved vaccines.” (3). This demonstrates the patients required with vaccine trials but also illustrates the need for these trials. As a result of these