The article by Kate Thayer, is an obvious push to persuade the idea of child vaccinations and the role that parents and doctors play in them. It follows the story of a family, who was against the idea of getting vaccinated until they developed the rotavirus and their school system started kicking out unvaccinated children. The mother states that doctors were not doing their role to inform parents and reduce their fears on vaccinations. Many health facilities have even started turning away patients who refuse to vaccinate, which is a divided issue. On one side, people say that turning away patients is okay because they are protecting their other patients. However, doctors have a better chance of convincing parents to vaccinate if they keep the…
This kind of immunization resistance is a result of the increased concern of possible negative vaccine side effects, which has been supported by anti-vaccine activists like Jenny McCarthy, who have made a career of playing into the publics fear. This study decided to use a similar strategy and use social marketing as a way to address common concerns, encourage vaccine immunization, and to help rebuild the public’s trust in the medical community. Opel, Diekema, Lee, and Marcuse explain that “In 2004, 93% of pediatricians reported that there was at least one parental refusal of a recommended vaccine in the last year, and a recent analysis of data from the 2004 National Immunization Survey found that 28% of parents were unsure about, delayed, or refused vaccines” (2009, p. 433). These statistics are undoubtedly attributed to the increased media attention gained by the anti-vaccine movement and proves that a new strategy is needed to promote behavioral change in the…
This article discusses the controversy of vaccines in American society. From the source of the ideas that caused the issues to the discredit of the person who “poisoned the well”, this article was very thorough. Ms. Lemmons has experience as a freelance writer on well documented topics and has provided her work to several well known publishers. This article was intended for the educated person exploring the rumors of vaccinations benefit being outweighed by the risk. The author is very neutral in her writing. I appreciate her stance and use of fact to support her claims. Stating only the fact that can be documented…
People are current taking action against vaccinations and joining the anti-vaccination movement. Although research proves anti-immunization increases disease rates, parents stand firm in their believe that their children should not be vaccinated. This paper briefly discusses the reasoning behind their notion and the substantial fact about vaccinations. It then provides facts behind their judgment and consequences of…
Certain things that we encounter in life, have hidden dangers, while others only look scary at first glance and turn out to be quite positive. It is because of these types of things that many people become confused when it comes to making life altering decisions, such as being vaccinated. While many think of vaccines as harmful and dangerous, they are in fact safe and essential for stopping the spread of life threatening diseases, and therefore should be mandatory.…
Largent addresses how the amount of trust the public places on researchers and program runners in the vaccine industry determines the success of immunizing children (136). Largent comments on the previously mentioned Jenny McCarthy, famous for her time as a comedian and model, whose advocacy of the anti-vaccination movement has “Solidified her position in the community of parents of autistic children, and further publicized her assertion that vaccines are one of the principal causes of autism,” (145). Although she is not medically qualified to speak on the topic, she is trusted and influential enough to spread the fear of vaccinations to parents all over America. Furthermore McCarthy, just as countless other authoritative figures in the media, blatantly disregarding the reliable scientific data proving her assertions incorrect (147). Adam Burgess compares the concept of McCarthyism, action of accusing someone or something without any evidence, to the behavior of figures in media such as Jenny McCarthy, as an “alarmist authority encouraging mass anxiety,” (334). Celebrities' influence dominates discourse online as well. While the internet's ability to spread information faster than anything else has always worried scientists, several analyzes show that despite the abundance of…
Thesis: This paper holds that, in absence of real proof that vaccinations cause Autism, parents should continue to vaccinate their children, because it is essential to prevent infectious disease outbreaks in the future.…
Vaccines are responsible for minimizing the risk of many deadly diseases and even eradicating some completely. People today are privileged enough to live during a time where the fear of dying from a disease like measles or smallpox is negligible. Even so vaccines are not without dissenters. There is a segment of humanity that believes there is a credible association between vaccines and rising autism rates. The following articles will show that there are varying ideas on the best way to disprove vaccination opponents, yet no solid solution has been reached on how to convince vaccination opponents that their fears are unfounded.…
Before the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1963, hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. contracted the disease annually; but since 1963, reported cases fell to less than a thousand a year. Things began to change in 1998 when a British physician published a study that falsely asserted a connection between autism and the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Further investigation into the work revealed the the research was unethical and full of conflicts of interest. The article was filled with false data, and the health care risks described have been discredited. However, the damage had been done. In the U.S., new measles cases have tripled as of 2013…
The general public needs to be aware of radical political ideologies that oppose vaccinations without clinical studies or proof of the dangers of vaccination. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wants to inform you of the clinical trails and the content of vaccines, which will dispel any subjective arguments against the vaccination process. The citizen must be aware of the dangers of subjective or misinformed political ideology that strays from scientific fact and clinical studies that are available to the general public in reference to vaccination.…
The fight against vaccines has become controversial however arguments against mass immunization should be evaluated so that a good understanding of this controversy can be had. There are three main arguments against the mass immunization of children and babies. Firstly, It is argued that vaccinations can have harmful side effects on children. Secondly, it is argued that laws requiring mandatory vaccinations infringe upon an individual’s liberty and freedom of choice; and finally, mass immunizations a law, violates religious freedom. According to Omer et al (2009) approximately 69% of parents are more concerned that vaccines could cause harm to the health of their young children than they are with the other issues. The CDC does, in fact, publish that vaccines may have side effects for example a reaction to the varicella vaccine can range from a rash to a severe infection (CDC, 2010). No specific evidence exist, however, to support the claim that vaccines predispose children to other disease such as type 1…
Since vaccination decisions not only affect the infant or child, but also the community, these decisions cannot be treated as individual ones. At the point where individual decisions might harm the community, the government and public health professionals should also be involved. At the same time, the procedure of vaccination should be more open, and health professionals should carefully study genetic history and reactions of kids before vaccinating them. The controversy on vaccinations significantly influenced means of delivering scientific conclusions to the…
I believe that everyone should be up to date on vaccinations. One reason I believe everyone should be vaccinated is because others do not get sick. Another reason is that the person who is not vaccinated doesn’t get sick and having to go to the hospital. One more reason why people should be vaccinated is because they should be able to go to school and not be kicked out because they don’t have their vaccines.…
Dr. Andrew Wakefield conducted an experiment in regards to vaccinations. His experiment had caused him his license and he was convicted for the misleading of people to believe that vaccinations were harmful and caused autism. “The fact that so many individuals were at risk for the disease because of their lack of vaccination is a significant threat to public health in the United States. This trend originated from parents fearing that the vaccine could cause autism. In 1998, British researcher Andrew Wakefield suggested in a published report that the MMR vaccine triggered autism. This study was determined to be fraudulent in 2011, and the article was retracted by the journal. However, its influence remains strong despite widespread press coverage and discussion. Many parents of autistic children still believe that autism is directly linked to vaccines and their preservatives, including the mercury-based thimerosal that was the original topic of the study by Wakefield. Thimerosal was removed from vaccines following the study in 1998 to try to reassure parents that the vaccines were safe. Despite this removal and the debunking of the study by Wakefield, many parents continue to fear that vaccination could cause autism in their children. (Pierce)”. “The article discusses an outbreak of measles in southwest Wales that some connect to claims made by Dr. Andrew Wakefield in the late 1990s about an alleged link between autism and immunization for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR). At the time, many parents reacted by refusing to get their children immunized. Between November 2012 and early July 2013, 1219 new cases of measles were reported in southwest Wales. (WHALEN)”. The medical board felt that the experiment made by Dr. Wakefield was not relevant and that he had to be removed for making people believe something that was not true. “The UK researcher who…
Parents and guardians, who believe that vaccines should not be mandatory, contend that vaccines cause health problems or they are no longer necessary. Children get their main vaccines between the ages of two months to twelve months old. Children at this age are already at a high risk for developing high fevers, seizures, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Therefore, there is no way of truly determining if any adverse effect on the child was coincidental or actually caused by the inoculation itself. Since 1990, thirty thousand cases have been reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) where the patient had an adverse reaction to the vaccine. Out of the thirty thousand cases three thousand nine hundred were reported as life threatening. That is a small percentage when compared to the 10.5 million illnesses that the same vaccines have prevented. (Zhou, 2003) Because polio is not carried in the USA, there are those who feel that not only should the vaccine not be mandatory, it is completely unnecessary. Opponents to mandatory vaccinations have forgotten one important truth. Thousands of innocent children have lost their lives due to diseases such as smallpox and polio, which could have easily been prevented through the use of vaccines. In reality, it is…