Vaccines: Safe?
Vaccines: Safe?
Orna Izakson explains the risks and benefits of being vaccinated in an article of Your Health. She answers questions that some parents have today regarding vaccines being safe and what health problems they may cause in children. Can vaccines cause autism? What adverse side effects come with vaccines that contain thimerosal? Before reading this article I agreed with the parents and scientists that questioned the safety of vaccinating children. With all the questions and concerns that parents seem to have about vaccines, I have found that there are many articles that can either help ease their mind about vaccinating or give them the opportunity to elect not to vaccinate their children all together. Orna Izakson (Izakson, May-June 2003) stated vaccines have greatly improved the odds of human survival, but there are risks. The major concern is the Mercury-based preservative thimersol causing autism in children after being vaccinated. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the preservative thimersol does not prove to be a health risk if used in small doses. Dr. Robert Wolfe, professor of medicine at Northwestern University states “a lot of the vaccine critics feel that there are similarities between brain damage seen with mercury and…the kinds of symptoms you see with autism” (Izakson, May-June 2003). When I inquired if autism was caused by vaccines it proved to be nothing more then a myth. But Representative Dan Burton(R-IN) is one that is convinced of the connection of Autism to vaccines which caused his grandson’s autism.
With all the publicity of parents who had their healthy child vaccinated and then diagnosed with autism, linking the two together seemed to be obvious. With so many frightened parents that either read articles or heard by word of mouth some parents became reluctant to vaccinate their children. The American Academy of Pediatrics officially recommended that the country move to thimersol-free children’s vaccines.
Orna Izakson explains the risks and benefits of being vaccinated in an article of Your Health. She answers questions that some parents have today regarding vaccines being safe and what health problems they may cause in children. Can vaccines cause autism? What adverse side effects come with vaccines that contain thimerosal? Before reading this article I agreed with the parents and scientists that questioned the safety of vaccinating children. With all the questions and concerns that parents seem to have about vaccines, I have found that there are many articles that can either help ease their mind about vaccinating or give them the opportunity to elect not to vaccinate their children all together. Orna Izakson (Izakson, May-June 2003) stated vaccines have greatly improved the odds of human survival, but there are risks. The major concern is the Mercury-based preservative thimersol causing autism in children after being vaccinated. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the preservative thimersol does not prove to be a health risk if used in small doses. Dr. Robert Wolfe, professor of medicine at Northwestern University states “a lot of the vaccine critics feel that there are similarities between brain damage seen with mercury and…the kinds of symptoms you see with autism” (Izakson, May-June 2003). When I inquired if autism was caused by vaccines it proved to be nothing more then a myth. But Representative Dan Burton(R-IN) is one that is convinced of the connection of Autism to vaccines which caused his grandson’s autism.
With all the publicity of parents who had their healthy child vaccinated and then diagnosed with autism, linking the two together seemed to be obvious. With so many frightened parents that either read articles or heard by word of mouth some parents became reluctant to vaccinate their children. The American Academy of Pediatrics officially recommended that the country move to thimersol-free children’s vaccines.
References: Izakson, O. (May-June 2003). Your Health. Retrieved January 26, 2010, from General OneFile. Gale. Library of Michigan.