Mary Lara
ENGL
1302-339CL
Professor
Hammett
24 April
2019
Anti-Vaccination: is it a problem?
Imagine this: you have a four-year-old
daughter with leukemia who loves to go over to play with her best friend. One
day as you speak to the mother, she mentions she is anti-vaccination and has
not yet vaccinated her daughter, she fears she may “develop” autism due to
recent posts made by other mothers on Facebook claiming this statement as true.
As a mother, you have taken all the precautions to avoid your daughter getting
sick with her condition. You know it is very easy for her to get in contact with
any disease and if she gets it, it will affect her more than you believe.
Remembering an article you once read, you say, “kids have a right not to be
harmed and not to be put at a deadly risk, not just harm, but deadly risk or
risk of severe disability” (Griffin).
Science is so advanced with medicine that there is a vaccine for almost any disease. Measles had been eliminated in the U.S. back in 2000 and it is now making a comeback 19 years later due to unvaccinated foreigners coming into the country (Sifferlin) or people going on vacation and neglecting to get vaccinated for possible diseases. Most deadly diseases are airborne and require no direct contact in order for a person to get infected such as the common flu. If the common flu can kill hundreds of people in a year, can you imagine what a stronger disease is able to do? Therefore, taking extra precautions is very important and getting vaccinated is the first step to prevent getting a deadly disease. But, can vaccinations really stop the spread of diseases?
Science is so advanced with medicine that there is a vaccine for almost any disease. Measles had been eliminated in the U.S. back in 2000 and it is now making a comeback 19 years later due to unvaccinated foreigners coming into the country (Sifferlin) or people going on vacation and neglecting to get vaccinated for possible diseases. Most deadly diseases are airborne and require no direct contact in order for a person to get infected such as the common flu. If the common flu can kill hundreds of people in a year, can you imagine what a stronger disease is able to do? Therefore, taking extra precautions is very important and getting vaccinated is the first step to prevent getting a deadly disease. But, can vaccinations really stop the spread of diseases?
History:
Before vaccines were developed, Asians used variolation as a form of vaccination (“Smallpox: Variolation”). Variolation was taking a sample of smallpox powder and infecting a cut to become immune to the disease (“Smallpox: Variolation”). This procedure was not completely safe; the person infected was never guaranteed immunity but they were willing to take that risk to protect their people and future generations. Variolation was also a threat to society because the disease was exposed out into to the open and could spread quickly causing an epidemic. It was not until 1796 when vaccines were first created by Edward Jenner. Jenner injected fluid from a cow into the body of an eight year-old child, the child was very ill but eventually became immune to the disease, this created the first smallpox vaccine. His achievement of immunity to cowpox became known around the world and doctors in England began using his strategy (“Jenner Tests Smallpox Vaccine”) eventually, disease rates went down. Every year the healthcare providers avert an estimated 2 to 3 million deaths that could have been prevented with a simple vaccine (“Vaccines: A Global Health Success Story That Keeps Us on Our Toes”). It has been proven that vaccinations allow children and parents to reduce the risk of disease and infection so why are people still denying this type of healthcare? Throughout the years, vaccines have developed, and they can now be administered a few at a time, infants receive different doses of vaccines throughout their first years of life and then vary as they age, they have eradicated many diseases in America such as polio and diphtheria (Herper) but just as vaccines are developing, parents are refusing to vaccinate their kids due to fear of them contracting other syndromes or for the pure joy of being able to control what goes inside the child’s body. In 1998 Andrew Wakefield, a researcher, claimed that vaccines were the main cause for autism causing chaos all around the world and decreasing vaccination rates-. Due to his neglect and faux news, his license was eventually revoked and will not be able to practice medicine (Rao). “Anti-vaxxers” as some people may call them, believe that their child does not need to be vaccinated for diseases that no longer exist in our country, but if we stop vaccinating our kids for that reason, we are exposing them to a world full of diseases searching for a vulnerable child to infect. People fail to realize that diseases are never truly gone, they disappear for a short period of time but eventually make a come back as an epidemic and cause more damage than when they first appeared.
Before vaccines were developed, Asians used variolation as a form of vaccination (“Smallpox: Variolation”). Variolation was taking a sample of smallpox powder and infecting a cut to become immune to the disease (“Smallpox: Variolation”). This procedure was not completely safe; the person infected was never guaranteed immunity but they were willing to take that risk to protect their people and future generations. Variolation was also a threat to society because the disease was exposed out into to the open and could spread quickly causing an epidemic. It was not until 1796 when vaccines were first created by Edward Jenner. Jenner injected fluid from a cow into the body of an eight year-old child, the child was very ill but eventually became immune to the disease, this created the first smallpox vaccine. His achievement of immunity to cowpox became known around the world and doctors in England began using his strategy (“Jenner Tests Smallpox Vaccine”) eventually, disease rates went down. Every year the healthcare providers avert an estimated 2 to 3 million deaths that could have been prevented with a simple vaccine (“Vaccines: A Global Health Success Story That Keeps Us on Our Toes”). It has been proven that vaccinations allow children and parents to reduce the risk of disease and infection so why are people still denying this type of healthcare? Throughout the years, vaccines have developed, and they can now be administered a few at a time, infants receive different doses of vaccines throughout their first years of life and then vary as they age, they have eradicated many diseases in America such as polio and diphtheria (Herper) but just as vaccines are developing, parents are refusing to vaccinate their kids due to fear of them contracting other syndromes or for the pure joy of being able to control what goes inside the child’s body. In 1998 Andrew Wakefield, a researcher, claimed that vaccines were the main cause for autism causing chaos all around the world and decreasing vaccination rates-. Due to his neglect and faux news, his license was eventually revoked and will not be able to practice medicine (Rao). “Anti-vaxxers” as some people may call them, believe that their child does not need to be vaccinated for diseases that no longer exist in our country, but if we stop vaccinating our kids for that reason, we are exposing them to a world full of diseases searching for a vulnerable child to infect. People fail to realize that diseases are never truly gone, they disappear for a short period of time but eventually make a come back as an epidemic and cause more damage than when they first appeared.
Effects on
society:
What would our world look like without vaccinations? If we stopped vaccinating our children, disease and death rates would increase drastically, our world would have less people everyday or mankind would be eradicated. Vaccines play an important role in our society “There are hundreds of thousands of people who can’t get vaccinated due to treatments for cancer and other conditions” (What.If - What If We Stopped Vaccinations?) these people deserve the safety they require and us, as healthy individuals should give it to them by protecting ourselves from such diseases. The World Health Organization also known as the WHO, has named vaccine hesitancy, which the organization defines as a "reluctance or refusal" to vaccinate even when vaccines are available, as one of the top 10 health threats of 2019” (Wheeling). When a child gets sick, parents expect healthcare professionals to treat the child with the best standard of care but how can a doctor treat a child with measles or tetanus? There is now “home remedy” for such diseases, the only way to treat the child is to vaccinate them but parents are so afraid they may develop autism that they’d rather watch their child die. Parents who are against vaccinations are oblivious to the fact that they are putting themselves in danger too. What is going to happen when their child infects them with the disease? What if their child comes in contact with a deadly disease and only has a few days to live? How will a parent explain that to their child?
What would our world look like without vaccinations? If we stopped vaccinating our children, disease and death rates would increase drastically, our world would have less people everyday or mankind would be eradicated. Vaccines play an important role in our society “There are hundreds of thousands of people who can’t get vaccinated due to treatments for cancer and other conditions” (What.If - What If We Stopped Vaccinations?) these people deserve the safety they require and us, as healthy individuals should give it to them by protecting ourselves from such diseases. The World Health Organization also known as the WHO, has named vaccine hesitancy, which the organization defines as a "reluctance or refusal" to vaccinate even when vaccines are available, as one of the top 10 health threats of 2019” (Wheeling). When a child gets sick, parents expect healthcare professionals to treat the child with the best standard of care but how can a doctor treat a child with measles or tetanus? There is now “home remedy” for such diseases, the only way to treat the child is to vaccinate them but parents are so afraid they may develop autism that they’d rather watch their child die. Parents who are against vaccinations are oblivious to the fact that they are putting themselves in danger too. What is going to happen when their child infects them with the disease? What if their child comes in contact with a deadly disease and only has a few days to live? How will a parent explain that to their child?
Examples of
why anti-vaccination is a problem:
Many parents do not vaccinate their kids because they believe they have the power to decide what their child needs and does not need and that is true, however, allowing your child to go out out into our monstrous world unvaccinated is ignorant and selfish. It has been proven that vaccinations decrease mortality and disease rates, “there were only 393 cases of whooping cough in the entire country, and not a single pertussis-related death. Then immunization rates began to drop, until only about 10% of children were being vaccinated. In 1979, more than 13,000 people got whooping cough and 41 died” (Vaccines & Immunizations”). An epidemic is when a disease is widespread and a lot of people get sick such as the measles outbreak, in today’s world we have the materials and knowledge needed to prevent it yet, some people decide not to. In 2011, around 350,000 cases of measles were reported all around the world and 90% of those cases in the U.S were from unvaccinated people traveling out of state (“Vaccines & Immunizations”). Many educational institutions require vaccinations in order to be admitted, so what if you are not vaccinated? Some schools may exempt you from being vaccinated for religious reasons but do require certain vaccinations, such as the meningitis vaccine, unless you can not get them due to a health condition. Children can not attend a public school without first being vaccinated “State vaccination laws include vaccination requirements for children in public and private schools and daycare settings; college/university students’ (“Public Health Professionals Gateway”) so if we do not vaccinate them, we are preventing them from getting the education that we received. How will our children “be the future” if they do not have the knowledge? Of course, they could always be home-schooled but how will they learn to socialize with others?
Many parents do not vaccinate their kids because they believe they have the power to decide what their child needs and does not need and that is true, however, allowing your child to go out out into our monstrous world unvaccinated is ignorant and selfish. It has been proven that vaccinations decrease mortality and disease rates, “there were only 393 cases of whooping cough in the entire country, and not a single pertussis-related death. Then immunization rates began to drop, until only about 10% of children were being vaccinated. In 1979, more than 13,000 people got whooping cough and 41 died” (Vaccines & Immunizations”). An epidemic is when a disease is widespread and a lot of people get sick such as the measles outbreak, in today’s world we have the materials and knowledge needed to prevent it yet, some people decide not to. In 2011, around 350,000 cases of measles were reported all around the world and 90% of those cases in the U.S were from unvaccinated people traveling out of state (“Vaccines & Immunizations”). Many educational institutions require vaccinations in order to be admitted, so what if you are not vaccinated? Some schools may exempt you from being vaccinated for religious reasons but do require certain vaccinations, such as the meningitis vaccine, unless you can not get them due to a health condition. Children can not attend a public school without first being vaccinated “State vaccination laws include vaccination requirements for children in public and private schools and daycare settings; college/university students’ (“Public Health Professionals Gateway”) so if we do not vaccinate them, we are preventing them from getting the education that we received. How will our children “be the future” if they do not have the knowledge? Of course, they could always be home-schooled but how will they learn to socialize with others?
Solutions
In today’s world, we have an advantage to stop an epidemic from occurring. As a result of parents not vaccinating their children, an increasing death rate has risen; this should be more than enough reason to require citizens to be vaccinated and if the parent denies, give them a monetary fine. With the measles making a comeback, 3 out of 1000 children diagnosed with the disease die, that is 3 too many. As stated before, vaccines are required to protect those who can not receive injections for medical reasons. A bill in California states that parents must vaccinate their children- the only exception will be medical and religious reasons “Alyssa Hernandez supported the bill, saying a high vaccination rate is necessary to protect her son, Noah, 2. He received a liver transplant and so cannot be vaccinated himself against many common but vaccination-preventable diseases. Each of them could be life-threatening for him, she said” (Thompson). Doctors are supposed to save lives, not help take them or put them at risk. Those who allow parents to exempt vaccines just for the plain enjoyment should also get their medical license revoked. A doctor who is opposed to vaccination being mandatory expressed his opinion, “ medical exemptions are up only because personal exemptions are no longer permitted” (Thompson) with this explanation, the doctor confesses to allow patients to lie about a medical condition just to avoid vaccines. This doctors statement does not abide by the hippocratic oath they swore, one of the promises within that oath is “first, do no harm” or “primum non nocere,” the Latin translation from the original Greek” (Shmerling). By not abiding to their oath, healthcare workers are supposed to be immediately fired and have their license revoked. Another form we could stop the spread of diseases would be to try to talk to those people into picking the right choice. By explaining that vaccinations cause no harm besides the small poke into the skin could change their mind. Anti-Vaxxers are very close-minded people but with the right information and knowledge they may reconsider and decide to vaccinate their kids. Teach young kids the importance of injections, vaccines, and medications so when they are older, they can make a choice of their own.
In today’s world, we have an advantage to stop an epidemic from occurring. As a result of parents not vaccinating their children, an increasing death rate has risen; this should be more than enough reason to require citizens to be vaccinated and if the parent denies, give them a monetary fine. With the measles making a comeback, 3 out of 1000 children diagnosed with the disease die, that is 3 too many. As stated before, vaccines are required to protect those who can not receive injections for medical reasons. A bill in California states that parents must vaccinate their children- the only exception will be medical and religious reasons “Alyssa Hernandez supported the bill, saying a high vaccination rate is necessary to protect her son, Noah, 2. He received a liver transplant and so cannot be vaccinated himself against many common but vaccination-preventable diseases. Each of them could be life-threatening for him, she said” (Thompson). Doctors are supposed to save lives, not help take them or put them at risk. Those who allow parents to exempt vaccines just for the plain enjoyment should also get their medical license revoked. A doctor who is opposed to vaccination being mandatory expressed his opinion, “ medical exemptions are up only because personal exemptions are no longer permitted” (Thompson) with this explanation, the doctor confesses to allow patients to lie about a medical condition just to avoid vaccines. This doctors statement does not abide by the hippocratic oath they swore, one of the promises within that oath is “first, do no harm” or “primum non nocere,” the Latin translation from the original Greek” (Shmerling). By not abiding to their oath, healthcare workers are supposed to be immediately fired and have their license revoked. Another form we could stop the spread of diseases would be to try to talk to those people into picking the right choice. By explaining that vaccinations cause no harm besides the small poke into the skin could change their mind. Anti-Vaxxers are very close-minded people but with the right information and knowledge they may reconsider and decide to vaccinate their kids. Teach young kids the importance of injections, vaccines, and medications so when they are older, they can make a choice of their own.
Camus and Absurdity
Camus’ referred to life and humans as
absurd and often questioned, “what is the meaning of life?” Having to experience the plague, Camus
would understand the importance of vaccinations and how it is very important to
do anything possible to prevent an epidemic. In his novel, The Plague,
Camus states, “the plague bacillus never dies or disappears for good” meaning
that there will ALWAYS be a strand of the disease floating around waiting for a
host. We only get one life, and we should take care of it as much as we can-
with vaccines. If Camus were to be alive today, he would find meaning in life
and think that anti-vaccinations are foolish and absurd. If we deny medical
help as such, “the day would come
when, for the bane and the enlightening of men, it would rouse up its rats
again and send them forth to die in a happy city” mankind will eradicate, and
it will be the biggest mistake ever made by humans.
Conclusion
Everyday, more people are diagnosed with a
disease that should have been eradicated. We are the future of our generation
and if we do not make a change now, soon more people are going to go
unvaccinated causing the end of mankind. Diseases will always exist, we can not
make them disappear completely but we can choose how to prevent an epidemic. As
adults, we hope to see our children and grandchildren grow up, but as Camus
once said, one day there will be a big epidemic that could have been prevented
but we will have failed, and end man.
Works Cited
Griffin, Annaliese,
and Annaliese Griffin. “How Should Parents Deal with Anti-Vax Families?” Quartzy,
Quartz, 6 Mar. 2019,
qz.com/quartzy/1561164/should-you-let-your-children-play-with-anti-vax-kids /.
Herper, Matthew. “How
Vaccines Have Changed Our World In One Graphic.” Forbes, Forbes
Magazine, 4 Mar. 2013, www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2013/02/19/a-graphic-that-drives-home-how-vaccines-have-changed-our-world/#5f0802ea3302.
“Jenner Tests Smallpox
Vaccine.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Feb. 2010,
“Public Health Professionals Gateway.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 Apr. 2017, www.cdc.gov/phlp/publications/topic/vaccinations.html.
“Public Health Professionals Gateway.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 Apr. 2017, www.cdc.gov/phlp/publications/topic/vaccinations.html.
Shmerling, Robert H. “First, Do No
Harm.” Harvard Health Blog, 14 Oct. 2015,
Sifferlin, Alexandra.
“Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Emerging Thanks to Anti-Vaxxers.” Time,
Time, 17 Mar. 2014,
time.com/27308/4-diseases-making-a-comeback-thanks-to-anti-vaxxers/.
“Smallpox: Variolation.”
U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, 30
July 2013, www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/smallpox/sp_variolation.html.
“The Vaccination Debate and Camus.” Idaho
State Journal, 13 Sept. 2018,
www.
idahostatejournal.com/arts_and _ entertainment/commentary/
the-vaccination-debate-and-camus/article_3a310e4e-7fe8-51bc-9a8b-b7a8c569212d.html.
Thompson | AP, Don. “Opponents Spar
over California Vaccine Exemption Bill.”
The
Washington Post, WP Company, 24 Apr. 2019,
www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/opponents-spar-over-california-vaccine
exemption-bill/2019/04/24/c6792b3e-66c8-11e9-a698-2a8f808c9cfb_story.html
noredirect=on&utm_term=.b8edddbb2b06.
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