MMR Vaccines

As a disease previously thought to be almost completely eradicated from first world countries, the rampant comeback of the Measles has people questioning the cause of its return—and more importantly, the people behind this cause. With the number of “philosophical exemptions” from the MMR vaccine skyrocketing, it becomes clear as to why this deadly illness is making a return. Parents are no longer trusting decades of vaccine research and instead relying on their own sheltered knowledge of the medical field to make a life or death decision for other people’s children. Basing their decision off of false claims, such as the MMR vaccine causing Autism, these parents are exposing their own children and countless of other kids to a serious, potentially …show more content…
Rampant for decades, hundreds of thousands of measles cases were reported in the US alone during 1962. The emergence of a vaccine that could prevent a disease once described as, “as inevitable as death and taxes” was seen as a miracle among members of the medical community and public worldwide (Babbott). Since the original release of the vaccine over fifty years ago, there has been an estimated prevention of 52 million cases of measles, mumps, and rubella, meaning an approximate prevention of 17,400 intellectual disabilities and over 5,000 deaths (Bloch AB, Orenstein WA, Stetler HC.). The positive history of the MMR vaccine has been thoroughly studied throughout the years and it has been effectively determined the vaccine’s benefits highly outweigh the rare …show more content…
As religious/philosophical exemptions jumped to a startling percentage in 2011, the number of Measles cases in the United States also took an alarming leap. The need to crackdown on these exemptions has never been so urgent in order to preserve the health of the nation’s youth; too frequently are parents letting false internet information cloud their judgement about giving their children the vaccines their immune systems so desperately require.
Though the MMR vaccine provides peace of mind and almost guaranteed immunity from the measles, mumps, and rubella, an economic benefit is also apparent. According to a study found in the National Institute of Public Health database, an online collection of medical journal articles, the MMR vaccine has saved the United States an estimated $5.1 billion since its original introduction into the country. A study performed in 1997 involving a sample space from both the United States and Canada displayed that one person with measles and its associated complications, such as encephalitis, can cost $9,105 up front just in immediate and direct medical treatment (Rivière). This excludes the long-term costs depending on the severity of disabilities acquired, loss of money due to time spent not working, and other outside factors. Despite the countless other benefits of receiving doses of the MMR vaccine, these savings also