What Are Vaccines Why Are They Important
Vaccines: Why Are They Important?
Joshua Cambria
Northeastern University
Outbreaks of highly contagious childhood diseases like small pox, polio, measles and whooping cough have started to resurface. 50 years ago, parents and children could tell you the name of a person they knew that suffered from these diseases. That is no longer the case; most people have no direct knowledge of these diseases. Until recently, practicing doctors had not seen an active case due to immunization of children over the last several generations. Without the knowledge of these diseases, parents are wondering why they need to vaccinate their children. Some parents perceive the risk of the side-effects to be larger than the risk of the disease.
According to Nova’s Vaccines – Calling the Shots (2014), 90% of parents in the US vaccinate according …show more content…
In a study by Benin, Wisler-Scher, Colson, Sharpio, and Holmboe (2006), the primary factor for mothers deciding to vaccinate their infants was trust. Mothers that trusted the medical professional accepted the fact that the vaccination was necessary; regardless of concerns they had. Those that did not trust did not proceed with the vaccination. The study also determined that the knowledge of the why, what and when of vaccinations was very poor. For this reason, an intervention that educates parents about the health of an infant in an atmosphere of mutual trust is critically important. This should be small groups and include what the vaccine prevents, why it is important, the realism of the risks and a time of dialogue to air all concerns. This can have a powerful effect on the vaccination rate, as long as the medical professional has the trust of the parents. This intervention could be evaluated by looking at the incidence of vaccination rate in that
Joshua Cambria
Northeastern University
Outbreaks of highly contagious childhood diseases like small pox, polio, measles and whooping cough have started to resurface. 50 years ago, parents and children could tell you the name of a person they knew that suffered from these diseases. That is no longer the case; most people have no direct knowledge of these diseases. Until recently, practicing doctors had not seen an active case due to immunization of children over the last several generations. Without the knowledge of these diseases, parents are wondering why they need to vaccinate their children. Some parents perceive the risk of the side-effects to be larger than the risk of the disease.
According to Nova’s Vaccines – Calling the Shots (2014), 90% of parents in the US vaccinate according …show more content…
In a study by Benin, Wisler-Scher, Colson, Sharpio, and Holmboe (2006), the primary factor for mothers deciding to vaccinate their infants was trust. Mothers that trusted the medical professional accepted the fact that the vaccination was necessary; regardless of concerns they had. Those that did not trust did not proceed with the vaccination. The study also determined that the knowledge of the why, what and when of vaccinations was very poor. For this reason, an intervention that educates parents about the health of an infant in an atmosphere of mutual trust is critically important. This should be small groups and include what the vaccine prevents, why it is important, the realism of the risks and a time of dialogue to air all concerns. This can have a powerful effect on the vaccination rate, as long as the medical professional has the trust of the parents. This intervention could be evaluated by looking at the incidence of vaccination rate in that