A vaccine is a treatment that makes the body stronger against specific infections. Common vaccines include the Polio vaccine, MMR (measles, mumps, rubella), Hepatitis B, and the Chickenpox vaccine. Vaccines contain either a weakened or dead form of the disease-causing germ. This allows the immune system to build up the immunity to the disease.
Afterwards, memory cells are also created that recognize and then fight off the same pathogen in the future. Many vaccines are administered to infants and young children and most schools require students to have certain vaccines. Immunizations required before a child enters kindergarten include Polio, DTaP (Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis), Hepatitis B, and Varicella. People have a wide variety of reasons for being anti-vaxx; including religious reasons, believing they are not effective or that the risks outweigh the benefits, and thinking pharmaceutical companies or the government is trying to control them into immunizations. A child would need to have a medical condition to be exempt from having immunizations. In most states in the U.S., a child can also be exempt from immunizations for religious reasons.
The argument many people face is if these vaccines can cause harmful effects. Immunizations, like any other medicine, do have the potential to induce a bad reaction because everyone’s body reacts to foreign substances differently. Most side effects after immunizing infants are not serious, but could include swelling, redness, or lumps where the injection occurred. These side effects are not alarming and normally pass within days after the vaccination. It is possible for a child to have an allergic reaction after receiving a vaccine, however this happens in fewer than one in a million cases. Even when this has happened, it is curable with medication. “After receiving the first shot of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination, for example, a child has roughly one in 3,000 chance of developing a fever that leads to a seizure. Such seizures do not lead to any permanent neurological damage,” (www.scientificamerican.com).
Another argument brought up is if the number of shots administered to young children dangerous. Parents are persuaded into vaccinating their kids against sixteen diseases. Many parents ask doctors to spread out the time between the immunizations even though there is no evidence to prove that spacing them out is more effective than having it done at the recommended times. The biggest argument about vaccines is that they cause autism. A study was published reporting that there were harmful substances in vaccines that can cause autism, including mercury. Since this happened, it was discredited and there were multiple studies done after to prove that the link between autism and immunizations don’t exist. Leaving children vulnerable to these diseases is more of a risk than giving the child vaccines. Diseases travel quickly and many are airborne diseases. Even though these diseases have decreased significantly in numbers, it is still possible to happen and they still can be deadly.
