Current issues
Why Vaccinate?
Star Nesbitt
For decades, people have debated whether or not it’s safe to vaccinate the children of our nations. From claims of harmful and immoral ingredients, to pharmaceutical companies not being trusted to manufacture safe vaccines, it is clear that there is a common distrust of the compounds being injected into people’s bodies on a daily basis. With this ideology, the world gets put on a track where there could be no vaccines available to the general population one day, which could have catastrophic consequences for our nation, and our planet. In order to prevent the extermination of our race, and the destruction of our planet, we must continue to vaccinate our children.
The thousands of individuals who are against the vaccination of our youth claim that the ingredients used in vaccines are harmful, causing serious, sometimes fatal side effects. Some ingredients are said to be linked to specific diseases and disabilities, whereas others cause harm to the body systems, or initiate severe allergic reactions. For instance, in 1998, Dr. Andrew Wakefield published a piece in Lancet, a UK medical journal, in which he described eight children who showed signs of Autism within days of being inoculated for measles, mumps, and rubella. Several other researchers have performed experiments, trying to confirm his claims, but none have been successful in their attempts. As a result, his claims were established as unfounded, and his license to practice medicine in the United Kingdom was revoked (Park, Alice). Due to claims like Dr. Wakefield’s, however, rumors of the insane side effects of vaccines, and their lack of safety spread through the masses. As a result, only about 75% of children between the ages of 19 and 35 months were fully immunized in 2007 (Nixon, Robin).
However, severe reactions are extremely rare. In fact, the most common comes from the Anthrax Vaccine, which protects against a serious bacterial infection (“Anthrax”). Less than one in one hundred thousand people suffer a serious allergic reaction when treated (“Possible Side-Effects from Vaccines”). Furthermore, the ingredients used in vaccinations are safe in the amounts that are used. According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the main ingredients utilized in the manufacturing of vaccinations include: antigens – parts of, or a whole virus or bacterium – known as the active ingredient to which an immune response is generated; adjuvants such as aluminum salts to enhance the immune response; stabilizers like gelatin to protect active ingredients during manufacture, storage, and transport; preservatives used to prevent contamination; and manufacturing by-products, often including small quantities of antibiotics, DNA, egg proteins, formaldehyde, and yeast (“Vaccine Ingredients”).
Some people claim that most of the diseases that are being targeted by vaccinations are “relatively harmless”, making vaccines unnecessary. Chickenpox, for example, can be treated with Acetaminophen, Calamine Lotion, and a cold compress (“Chicken Pox”).
It may be true that Chickenpox can be treated so easily. However, if children are vaccinated against it, it can be prevented from occurring at all. Furthermore, diseases like Influenza, Hepatitis, HPV, and countless others are targeted by vaccination as well. Not only can these diseases not be treated easily, but they are also not harmless to the host that they infect. Some can eventually result in death. Although some diseases and illnesses targeted by vaccinations are not that serious, there are others that can be life-threatening, and are targeted for prevention at all costs.
Others claim that the diseases vaccines target have disappeared. Therefore, there is no further reason to vaccinate against various diseases that no longer occur in the United States.
Although the diseases may not occur epidemic style in America, it is untrue that they no longer occur as a whole. In other countries, numerous infectious diseases are quite common. Due to the fact that people travel to the United States from all over the world, children and adults alike could contract these diseases from travelers. In addition, many Americans also travel outside of the country for vacations, mission trips, etc. Therefore, these infectious diseases could be contracted while abroad, brought back, and spread to others. Soon enough, there would be an epidemic similar to the one from the twentieth century. In Japan 1974, there was a successful Pertussis vaccination program implemented. At this time, nearly 80% of children were vaccinated, and only 393 cases of the illness were reported across the country. No deaths were reported. Over time, rumors spread of the vaccine being unsafe, and no longer being needed. As a result, in 1976, only 10% of children were vaccinated, resulting in a major Pertussis epidemic in 1979. More than 13,000 cases of the illness were reported, along with 41 deaths. In 1981, the government decided to implement a cellular vaccination for the disease, and cases dropped once more (“Why Immunize?”). The majority of people also believe that the Measles have been eradicated in the United States. However, in 2016, seventy people were reported to have Measles, and so far in 2017, twenty-three people have been reported to have the illness (“Measles Cases and Outbreaks”). Essentially, if vaccinations are eradicated because the diseases they treat seem to be, then there will be full scale outbreaks, epidemics, and an unprecedented number of deaths.
As previously stated, the fate of our species rests in the syringes of vaccinations throughout the world. If the human race is to survive the hundreds of thousands of fatal diseases, illnesses, infections, etc. that permeate our world, vaccinations will provide the utmost assistance to the cause.
In summation, it is evident that vaccinating America’s youth is concerning to thousands of people, but vaccinations are one way to ensure that this country’s future generation is protected. In one hundred years, when this generation has come and gone, shouldn’t there be another generation waiting to take over the legacy that was left behind?
Works Cited
“Anthrax.” National Vaccine Information Center, www.nvic.org/Vaccines-and-
Diseases/Anthrax.aspx. Accessed 9 Feb. 2017.
“Chicken Pox.” Google, www.gstatic.com/healthricherkp/pdf/chicken_pox.pdf. Accessed 9 Feb.
2017.
“Measles Cases and Outbreaks.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 9 Feb. 2017,
www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html. Accessed 19 Feb. 2017.
Nixon, Robin. “Vaccination Rates Drop, Putting More Kids at Risk.” NBC News, 21 Nov. 2010,
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/40280560/ns/health-infectious_diseases/t/vaccination-rates-drop-putting-more-kids-risk/#.WKpbr4WcHIU. Accessed 19 Feb. 2017.
Park, Alice. “Doctor Behind Vaccine – Autism Link Loses License.” Time, 24 May 2010,
healthland.time.com\2010\05\24\doctor-behind-vaccine-autism-link-loses-license/.
Accessed 19 Feb. 2017.
“Possible Side-Effects from Vaccines.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2 Dec.
2016, www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/side-effects.htm. Accessed 9 Feb. 2017.
“Vaccine Ingredients.” Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, 15 Feb. 2017,
www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-ingredients. Accessed
9 Feb. 2017.
“Why Immunize?” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 22 Sept. 2014,