Dangers of Vaccinations - Research Paper Example

Vaccinations are dangerous and can lead to autism and other conditions or illnesses. Executive Summary Vaccination is regarded by most people worldwide as the most beneficial and effective ways of protecting the health of the public. In the United States for instance, vaccination programs have wiped out diseases and conditions such as polio, smallpox, and proper control of once-common and potentially life-threatening diseases such as mumps, measles, rubella, diphtheria, and tetanus, pertussis, and Haemophilusinfuenzae Type B. As the benefits of widespread vaccination are seen not only across the United States, but also the world, concerns have also been raised about the safety of the vaccines that are used. There is no vaccine that can be said to be perfectly safe or effective. Some of them may have adverse effects that may be serious in some instances. Moreover, in the event that a serious illness is observed after administering vaccination, it is normally not clear whether such occurrences are causal or coincidental, and it is often difficult to determine the nature of the relationship if there can be any between the illness and the vaccination. The successes of vaccines in combating some of the world’s most life-threatening diseases have left the public confused as far as weighing the benefits and complications of vaccinations is concerned. This is because the diseases that are now controlled and the serious risks that were associated to them are no longer familiar. Therefore, it is important to note that while vaccinations may lead to some risks, its benefits outweigh these risks, some of which are fuelled by myths and rumors. Introduction Vaccination is defined as the injection of a killed microbe into the body as a way of stimulating the immune system against the microbe, thereby preventing a disease. Sometimes called immunization, vaccinations work to stimulate the body’s natural disease-fighting system, the immune system. When healthy, this system is able to detect invading bacteria and other viruses and respond by producing antibodies to fight and destroy them. Vaccination, therefore, prepares the immune system to keep a disease away. A killed or weakened virus is used to immunize against a viral disease, while if the intention is only to immunize against a bacterial disease, a small portion of the dead bacteria is often used to stimulate the formation of antibodies to ward off any invasion of the whole bacteria (Wakefield 949). Childhood vaccinations are common and most parents prefer them because they help in protecting the kids from a range of deadly diseases. It is, however, difficult to know whether the vaccine itself is safe. While the vaccines have been successful, there have been persistent concerns that vaccinations leads to autism and other dangerous diseases and conditions. Even with the efforts of the public health officials from the United States to shed light on the misconceptions of vaccine safety that have existed for more than twenty years, little success has been realized in the change of perception. A number of parents are becoming reluctant about taking their children for vaccination even though various studies have found no proof that vaccination leads to autism and other diseases. This study debunks the myths that surround vaccines and their safety. Literature Review From the mid-1990s, the safety of vaccines has received an increasing number of challenges that has gained attention from various settings. The US House of Representative’s Committee on Government Reform held seven hearings on the safety of vaccines between 1999 and 2000. The media also made news out of the story, with news programs such as 60mins and Nightline giving the issue an extensive coverage. There have also been related scientific symposia and conferences sponsored by consumers and professional organizations. The internet has also continued to play a crucial role in passing information about vaccine-safety to various parts of the world. The growing concerns about the safety of vaccinations led the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to see the need for an independent group that would address the various safety concerns that were being raised in a timely manner. It is from this that Immunization Safety Review Committee was formed, bringing together a team of 15 people with expertise in various medical fields such as immunology, neurology, pediatrics, epidemiology, ethics, and many more. The committee was charged with the task of assessing the scientific link between vaccinations and the various diseases, as well as discussing the significance of the issue in a broader context. Autism is a developmental disorder that is complex, severe, and often characterized by impairments of social interactions, verbal and non-verbal communication, as well as repetitive or restricted and stereotyped patterns of behaviors and interests (Mayor 642). Research has shown that the etiology of autism has a strong genetic component, and that other factors such as neurologic, infectious, immunologic, metabolic, and environmental insults, also play significant roles. According to Schopler et al (7), most cases of autism seem to result from prenatal or early prenatal insults. The diagnosis of the cases at the early-onset, however, remains unnoticed until the second birthday. This means that vaccination should come before the child loses the development milestones at the second year of life. One case that has led to growing concerns about the safety of vaccination and whether it has any relationship with autism was reported in 1998 (Wakefield 949). It involved twelve children who had a normal development history but which were followed by gastrointestinal symptoms and loss of acquired skills. They were taken to gastroenterology hospital in clinic that had interests in finding the connection between the bowel disease and measles virus. The onset of their behavioral problems was associated vaccinations. This was done through retrospective accounts by their relatives and physicians. Most of the cases that have been associating vaccination with diseases have followed this model, where the parents give their accounts of their children’s condition. This coupled with the general concerns in the US and UK that were majorly triggered by the fact that there was an increase in the number of children with autism as vaccinations became widespread. Vaccination rates in the United States have gone down, and this can be attributed to the negative notions that most parents have developed against the practice. Researchers have linked this decline to the resurgence of the diseases that are vaccine-preventable. For instance, California had the highest number of whooping cough cases in 2010 than any other year since the introduction of whooping cough vaccine in the1940s, at 9,120. In the outbreak, ten children who had not reached the vaccination died of the disease (Schopler et al 10). Analysis From the above cases, it is obvious that there are fears clouding the use of vaccines. Parents have lots of sources of information and might not have the patient to find clarification or proof of the credibility of what they get. All they care about is the safety of their kids even if it means skipping the vaccinations. It is understandable to be fearful and to always appear to be protecting the people you love. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), by the age of six, children should have received up to fourteen inoculations. Most of these vaccines were developed within the last twenty years and are not trusted by most parents. They are worried they could come with potential risks as well as side effects that might be long term. It is absurd that these parents are more worried about the potential side effects of a vaccine that can protect their kids from more dangerous diseases. Perhaps there is need for the scientists to inform the public the amount of work they do on the vaccines or any other medicine before they are taken to any hospital or a doctor’s office. As a matter of fact, vaccines are, in most cases, the safest and arguably the best ways of keeping children healthy. They can never be as dangerous as the diseases that they are made to prevent. The myth that vaccines come with several side effects that are unknown should be avoided. If anything, the most efficient way of preventing the spread of communicable diseases across a population is through the use of vaccines. What people ought to understand is that just like any other drug, vaccine can as well come with side effects, which are always mild. It goes without saying that the benefits of a vaccine are far too many than the side effects. For, instance, it would not make sense not take painkillers because you are afraid of feeling dizzy (Gwyndaf 951). The fear for vaccination has led people into thinking that only some countries need it. This is a dangerous notion because globalization is making the world a small and people are travelling. Even though those within a country may be safe from infection once a section of the society has been immunized, thanks to herd immunity, it is not a guarantee that you will always be safe. New entrants into a population may come with various diseases and the most vulnerable section to infections is those with weaker immune systems like infants, the elderly and pregnant women. These people cannot receive vaccination. It is, therefore, imperative to make use of vaccines because they have become the pillars of modern medicine. If you were to spin the wheels of time and live in the age before vaccines were invented, you would realize how brutal life was for children. You would witnessed how diseases that vaccines have now kept at bay like measles, polio and many others felled thousands of children. That makes you realize how a simple injection today has been saving millions of lives across the world (Satcher Para 4). Another argument raised by the opponents of vaccines is that they can infect children with the diseases that they are administered to ward off. This is a laughable assertion to say the least. While it is known that the vaccines may have mild symptoms that may resemble the disease, it should be noted that these are not infections. In fact, these symptoms only occur in a very negligible percentage, like one in one million of those vaccinated. Still in these few cases, the recipients’ immune systems are only responding to the vaccine, and not getting the infection itself. Throughout then history of vaccine Mayor (642) argues that there is only one instance when a vaccine caused a disease, which was the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) that is currently not used in the United States. Vaccines have been following strict regulations laid by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and have been in safe use since then. Most parents have read on tabloids and heard from rumors that the immunity of infants is too weak to handle vaccines. This is not backed by any science. As a matter of fact, an infant theoretically has the ability to respond to more than 10,000 vaccines at any given time. This is because of the number of antibodies that are present in their blood. You notice that even if the parents decided to give the baby all the 14 necessary vaccinations at once, they would only use slightly more than 0.1% of the infant’s immune capacity. For scientists, this capacity is purely theoretical. Therefore, it is not possible that the immune system can be overwhelmed as the cells within the system are constantly replenished. A practical case would be to observe the environment in which most babies grow, they are exposed to millions of bacteria and viruses and vaccination is a negligible comparison. Most critics of vaccines have also expressed concerns that they contain some dangerous toxins. Some of the chemicals that have been pointed out are mercury, formaldehyde, and aluminum that are used in vaccines. There is no contention that these are toxic chemicals to the human body when received at certain levels. It is worth noting that the FDA approved vaccines only use little amounts of these chemicals (Satcher Para 5). As a matter of fact, the CDC and the FDA suggest that human body’s metabolic systems produce higher rates of formaldehyde. Furthermore, there has not been any scientific proof that the low levels of these chemicals that are present in vaccines can be harmful. Most Americans today believe that they can do without vaccines. They think that it is better to have better sanitation and practice good hygiene to ward of infections. It is true that cleanliness can reduce infections, but this is not a reason enough to think that vaccines are not necessary. If the impacts of the various factors were compared, there is no doubt that you will find out that vaccines have played the biggest role in preventing diseases. A case in point would be when the measles vaccine was introduced in the United States in 1963 (WHO para 1). There were cases of infection that held up at 400,000 every year. During the following decade, the hygienic habits of the people did not change much, but the rates of infections dropped significantly, thanks to the vaccine. By 1970, there were only 25,000 cases. This discussion closes by debunking the myth that vaccination can lead to autism. This is perhaps the most widespread myth about vaccines. It started in the in the late 1990s after Andrew Wakefield, a British surgeon released a report from s study that linked vaccines to mumps, measles, and rubella. He argued that vaccination led to an increase in autism among the British children. The first important thing to note about Wakefield’s study is that he relied on the accounts of the children’s parents and other physicians. This means it had no scientific basis at all. Secondly, the report, which was published in The Lancet, one of the most prestigious medical journals, has since been removed from the journal. Scholars and scientists have discredited the study as having been marred by procedural errors, ethical violations, and claims of undisclosed financial conflicts of interest (Gwyndaf 951). Besides the report being retracted, Wakefield lost his medical license. More studies were conducted using his hypothesis and not a single was able to find a link between vaccines and causing autism. While the cause of autism has remained a mystery to date, the link between the disease and vaccine has been discredited unanimously. However, there are studies that have pointed out that there could be a possibility of it starting before the infants get their first vaccination. Conclusion Vaccine, just like any medicine has side effects. Most of these are mild and do not have long term effects. Therefore, it is misleading to claim that vaccination can lead to autism and other diseases or conditions. It is one of the most revolutionary innovations in the field of medicine and its usefulness and successes are in the thousands of lives it has saved across the globe. Work cited: Schopler, Eric et al. "Introduction to Preschool Issues in Autism." Preschool Issues in Autism: 3-15. Print. Mayor, S. "Study Shows No Link between MMR Vaccination and Autism." BMJ (2004): 642-0. Print. Gwyndaf, Roberts "MMR Vaccination and Autism." The Lancet (2006): 951. Print. Satcher, David. "Risk vs Benefit of Vaccinations." 3 Aug. 1999. Web. 4 Dec. 2015. WHO Myths and Facts about Vaccination." World Health Organization. 1 Apr. 2013. Web. 4 Dec. 2015.< http://www.who.int/features/qa/84/en/> Wakefield, Andrew. "MMR Vaccination and Autism." The Lancet (1998): 949-50. Print. Read More