Immunization: Debunking Vaccine Myths Essay

Introduction

Parents often fail to immunize their children due to various misconceptions about vaccines. Although the misconceptions are invalid, some parents are yet to believe in the health care officials. This paper discusses the common reasons for not vaccinating children, evidence-based counter arguments, and the risks of under-immunization.

Common reasons for not vaccinating children

Vaccines cause autism: Andrew Wakefield’s article elucidated that some vaccines increase the risk of developing autism. Since the article appeared in a prestigious medical journal, some parents have always believed that Wakefield’s argument was true, and they fail to take their children for immunizations for the fear of the autism condition.

Vaccines overwhelm infants’ immune systems: Some parents have nonprofessionals’ belief that children are too weak to handle the numerous vaccines administered to them before their bodies are strong enough. Some parents revoke the vaccines because children weep in pain, and they tend to be uncomfortable after obtaining vaccinations. They feel that the vaccines bring more harm than good, and children can do without vaccination.

Natural immunity outweighs vaccine-acquired immunity: Parents believe that children that heal after becoming sick develop a stronger immunity than those vaccinated against the disease. In any case, excellent hygiene and nutrition is a natural way that would work perfectly in eliminating infections amongst infants and teenagers. Therefore, natural immunity helps greatly in eliminating the allergic reactions from the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines.

Vaccines contain harmful toxins: Many people have always doubted the vaccines because of their toxic contents of formaldehyde, mercury, and aluminum. Apparently, the toxins are harmful to adults, and their harm to children might surpass that of the adults. Therefore, the toxic vaccines might have severe harm to the children in the end.

Vaccines trigger infections: In many cases, children develop symptoms of the disease that the vaccine ought to prevent once they obtain the vaccinations. Some parents doubt if the vaccines really work towards preventing the illness. They believe that the vaccines trigger the development of the disease.

Evidence-based counter arguments

1. Health officials took Andrew Wakefield’s hypothesis seriously, and they undertook several researches to find out the eligibility of the theory. However, the article was erroneous; it had serious ethical violations, and there was no correlation between vaccination and the probability of developing autism (Haviland, Elliott, Hambarsoomian, & Lurie, 2011). Wakefield lost his credibility as a medical practitioner, as autism develops even before a baby is born to receive vaccinations. Parents should know that the true cause of autism is unclear, as the symptoms of the condition are often evident in children before they receive the MMR vaccine.
2. The numerous antibodies in infants’ blood clearly dismiss the supposition that children have a weak immune system. The antibodies provide a strong immune system to the infants, who can receive about 10,000 vaccines without any harmful reaction. Moreover, parents ought to know that the cells in the immune system multiply constantly; therefore, there is no possibility of any vaccine overwhelming the immune system.
3. While natural immunity is indeed stronger than vaccine-acquired immunity, the risks associated with natural immunity are fatal. Measles, for example, is a deadly disease, and infected children have a probability of 0.2% of dying before acquiring the supposed natural immunity. It is also worth noting that cases of severe allergy due to MMR vaccines only occur to one in a million vaccinations administered to children. Evidently, introduction of the measles vaccine in 1963 reduced measles-related deaths from 400,000 cases annually to less than 1000 cases currently (Haviland et al., 2011). It is noteworthy that the reduction in deaths was independent of the hygienic habits, as there was no major change in the sanitation or nutrition habits.
4. Although vaccines contain some traces of formaldehyde, mercury, and aluminum, the traces are minimal, and they can have no harm to the human body. In fact, highly trained personnel scrutinize the drugs before approving them as safe for human consumption. It is worth noting that the body produces the alleged toxic formaldehyde in its metabolic reactions. Therefore, the small traces of the chemicals in the vaccines are harmless to the human body. Moreover, no scientist has ever proved that the negligible traces of the three chemicals in question have ever harmed any human being, and instead, they are highly useful.
5. Indeed, the immune response to a vaccine can cause a child to develop symptoms similar to those of the disease under prevention. However, such cases are very few, and the entire scenario is an outdated misconception. The Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) was the only vaccine that caused illnesses, and apparently, medical practitioners abolished the vaccine. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations are very strict, and all pharmaceutical companies adhere to the strict regulations.

Risks of under-immunization

Under-immunized children and teenagers are always at a great risk of catching preventable diseases whenever there is an outbreak. Under-immunized infants are vulnerable to infections like influenza, and their probability of dying is very high. Moreover, parents may underestimate the effects of simple illnesses like whooping cough, but the disease can cause permanent brain disorders for infants and teenagers.

Possibility of discrimination is yet another danger of under-immunizing children. Schools or childcare centers cannot risk the life of other children by enrolling under-immunized children into their programs. Parents and educators will always advice children to stay away from people with symptoms of contagious diseases like measles and chickenpox among others. The innocent children experience loneliness due to the mistakes of their parents.

In many cases, under-immunized children become a threat to the family, friends, and the entire community. Such children can easily transmit vaccine preventable diseases, and they are always a threat to babies that are yet to undertake all the immunizations. Moreover, the under-immunized children are always a threat to people with special medical conditions like leukemia, who cannot undergo the full immunization procedures due to medical reasons.

Some parents presume that some illnesses like measles are harmless to their children. However, the bitter truth is that measles is one of the fatal diseases that can attack an enormous number of under-immunized children. Most under-immunized children are unable to fight the disease, and their probability of dying or developing disabilities is always high.

Conclusion

From the discussions, it is evident that vaccines are imperative in the contemporary world. While infection rates are very low in the United States and other developed countries, it is important for every child to receive the vaccines, as international travels are on the rise. Vaccines are great pillars to combat fatal diseases like measles, rubella, polio, and small pox among others. Vaccinations have played a great role in preventing millions of deaths, and no parent should deny a child an opportunity to live.

References

Hansen, J. (2014). Pregnant women urged to get whooping cough vaccine following death of a baby twin who was not vaccinated. The Sunday Telegraph, p. 10.

Haviland, A., Elliott, M., Hambarsoomian, K., & Lurie, N. (2011). Immunization disparities by Hispanic ethnicity and language preference. Arch Int Med, 171(2), 158-165.

Kristof, N. (2014). Myanmar’s appalling apartheid. The New York Times, p. 35.

Mahoney, R. (2014). Why do we fear the blind? The New York Times, p. 8.