Pros and cons of vaccinations

Introduction

Vaccinations are normally applied with the purpose of reducing the prevalence of diseases in children and adults. Kids are treated as the country’s valuable assets for the future of a state. It is important that this group of individuals that falls in the age bracket that receives vaccines to be provided with an opportunity to have a healthy feature. Vaccines have for long been considered as a tool that can facilitate the process of making the world a safer living place. However, vaccines have some risks. It is therefore advisable that parents consider both the advantages and risks of vaccines when deciding whether or not to a have their children vaccinated. Recommendations provided by the Centre of Disease Control (CDC) are that of receiving twenty nine doses of the nine vaccines in addition to a yearly flu short immediately 6 months after birth for children aged zero to six. There is no mandate to a vaccination by any United States federal laws though all the fifty states require certain vaccines for their kids that are starting public schools.States provide medical and religious exemptions where some  allow philosophical exemptions (Thomas, & Margulis, 2015).

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History of Vaccination

This practice can be dated back to hundreds of years. The Buddhist monks were known to drink snake venom in attempts of immunizing themselves against snake bite. They were also associated with the smearing of a skin tear using cowpox to immunize smallpox. This was a practice in the 17^th century in China. Edward Jenner is referred to as the father of vaccinology in the west in1796 through a successful inoculation of a 13 year boy with a vaccine virus and produced immunity to smallpox. The 90’s was followed by perfection of the methods leading to development of tetanus toxin, a vaccine against diphtheria and the Pertussis vaccine. Polio vaccines such as the Salk and Sabin were developed using viral tissue methods that saw mass polio immunization around the world. The past two decades has experienced the application of molecular genetics and increased studies into immunology, microbiology and genomics which are applied to development of new vaccines. This era saw the development of recombinant hepatitis B vaccine. Molecular genetics has now set a bright future for vaccinology including development of new vaccines delivery systems (Plotkin, 2011).

Pros and Cons of Vaccination

Vaccines save the life of children. Statistics from the American Academy of Pediatrics show that kids vaccinations are 97% effective in prevention of diseases. The Centre for disease Control (CDC) has estimated that 732000 kids in America have been saved from death in the year 1994-2014 due to vaccination. Vaccines have reduced the childhood deaths from measles by 74%.The ingredients used in vaccines are safe in the applied amounts (Song, 2014). These components include thimerosal aluminum and formaldehyde that can harm human system if used in large amounts. Infants are exposed to more aluminum quantities in breast milk than in the vaccines provided. Major medical organizations such as CDC, Food and Drug Administration, World Health Organization and the United States Department of Health and Human Services have stated that vaccines are safe (Pickover,2012). The severe responds to vaccines are in most cases very rare. Allergic reactions and side effects are few, according to the IOM report of 2011.Through vaccination, time and money from parents and their families is saved. Vaccines cost less and less time is used to care for the vaccinated kid (Brunette, 2012). Observing these advantages that are supported by medical experts and advance health institutions, parents have the chance to observe and make proper decision on whether to practice or not.

However, some parents argue that vaccines have ingredients that they consider immoral and objectionable. Some of the HepA and chicken pox vaccines are produced in cells originating from aborted fetuses. Pro-vaccine institutions state that natural vaccination is the best because vaccines are unnatural. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia state that natural infection cause better immunity those vaccines (Davis, 2016). Other individuals place their doubts on vaccines by associating the trust on pharmaceutical companies. Companies such as FDA and CDC should not be trusted to make and regulate safe vaccine because they are profit oriented. Parents in some areas blame the government intervenes on personal medical choices of citizens because medical decisions for kids should be made by their parents (Chatterjee, 2013). The disadvantages in this case should not be ignored because they contain support from medical institutions and provide an ethical and social background argument of the issue. My perspective on the issue is that parent’s decisions should favor the use of vaccination due to more health benefits that are acquired by the kids.

Conclusion

Medical experts and proponents advise that vaccination is safe and among the greatest development in the health sector of the twenty centuries. Illness such as rubella, diphtheria, polio, whooping cough and small pox are currently prevented through vaccination and millions of kids are offered the chance to a healthier life. The opponents in this issue describe that the immune system in kids is able to handle most of the infections naturally and vaccination processes can trigger development of ADHD conditions. Parents should review the pros make proper decisions on health matters of their kids.

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