Vaccines are a complex immunobiological solutions, which, in addition to the most important component – specific antigens, include stabilizers, preservatives, and adjuvants. Vaccines are primarily used for the active specific prevention of infectious diseases. In other words, immunization is the creation of active immunity in the population against a certain pathogen (Santrock). Medical professionals give many arguments for vaccinations. Firstly, vaccines protect children from viruses by producing the necessary immune bodies in the child’s body (Johnson et al., 2020). Secondly, timely immunizations prevent the outbreaks of dangerous epidemics. Thirdly, due to vaccination, children develop fewer complications of diseases.
However, some people refuse or delay immunization for their children. The main arguments of the opponents of vaccinations mainly relate to side effects. Vaccines are not one hundred percent safe – they contain alien protein and need to be handled with extreme caution. Moreover, vaccines contain toxic substances, in particular phenol, formaldehyde, aluminum phosphate and others (Hausman, 2019). Complications may be dangerous, especially if a child has an allergy to any component. However, it can be even more dangerous for a child to get in contact with an infectious decease and fall ill. Therefore, medical professionals must educate parents of the importance of immunization. It can be done by describing the diseases the child is offered vaccination against and their possible outcomes, including deaths or severe complications.
The role of a medical professional is to explain to parents why vaccinations are necessary and what risks their child runs if he or she is not immunized. On the other hand, a nurse should tell parents about possible side effects so that the parents are not afraid if their child has a temperature or rash after vaccination. It is important to respect the caregiver’s wishes and not to impose one’s opinion on people who do not vaccinate their child. However, by providing actual information on the deceases and their possible outcomes, medical professionals have a good chance to persuade caregivers of the necessity of vaccination.
References
Hausman, B. L. (2019). Anti/Vax: Reframing the vaccination controversy. Ilr Press.
Johnson, N. F., Velásquez, N., Restrepo, N. J., Leahy, R., Gabriel, N., El Oud, S.,… & Lupu, Y. (2020). The online competition between pro-and anti-vaccination views. Nature, 582(7811), 230-233.
Santrock, J. Life-span development (17th ed.) McGraw-Hill Education.