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Syed Shahrez Zahid WRT 102.53 Dr. Stacey Suver 23 October 2014 Vaccinations: Saving Humanity One Child at a Time The World Health Organization reports that every year, over 2.1 million people die each year due to diseases such as Malaria, Tetanus, Diphtheria, Influenza, Polio and Rotavirus (WHO). This is due to the fact that a majority of these 2.1 million people fail to receive lifesaving vaccines that would not only prevent these diseases, but also eliminate the diseases from the global population in the long run (CDC). Therefore, vaccinations should be made mandatory for all children irrespective of the backgrounds or personal beliefs of their parents. A common and highly misguided argument presented by anti-vaccination propagandists is that injecting living strains of a disease into the human body makes “little to no sense”. Vaccines work by injecting weakened strains of a disease into the human body, coercing the human body to produce “antibodies” that fight against the weakened germs. This causes the body to develop an immunity army or antibodies against the disease. Therefore, the most convincing argument for vaccination lies in biology. A general understanding of the underlying mechanism of vaccination is instrumental in proving the harmlessness of vaccination. Vaccines are an essential component in the protection of people from deadly diseases irrespective of geography or quality of life. An argument often used against people pushing for vaccinations to be mandatory is that the issue of curbing diseases via vaccines is a purely thirdworld problem. This implies that vaccines are not necessary for children in the first world. The truth is far from this as the CDC reports, “Great Britain, Sweden, and Japan - cut back the use of pertussis vaccine because of fear about the vaccine. In Great Britain, a drop in pertussis vaccination in 1974 was followed by an epidemic of more than 100,000 cases of pertussis and 36

 

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deaths by 1978. In Japan, around the same time, a drop in vaccination rates from 70% to 20%40% led to a jump in pertussis from 393 cases and no deaths in 1974 to 13,000 cases and 41 deaths in 1979. In Sweden, the annual incidence rate of pertussis per 100,000 children 0-6 years of age increased from 700 cases in 1981 to 3,200 in 1985. (CDC)” These incidents are clear indicators of how a drastic lowering of vaccination rates can cause an exponential rise in cases irrespective of location, crushing the notion that vaccination and the fight against deadly diseases is meaningless in the first world. Another reason why vaccines should be made mandatory is because they not only protect individuals in the short term, they literally eliminate diseases from the world. One of the best illustrations of this is the Poliovirus. In 1988, more than 120 countries were classified as Polio-Endemic. Now, due to rigorous international Polio vaccination campaigns, only three countries, namely Pakistan, Nigeria and Afganistan are left with the disease (Rotary International). It is expected that in less than a decade, the world will be rid of polio once and for all. The American Academy of Pediatrics states that "most childhood vaccines are 90%-99% effective in preventing disease." According to Shot@Life, a United Nations Foundation partner organization, vaccines save 2.5 million children from preventable diseases every year, which equates to roughly 285 children saved every hour. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that 732,000 American children were saved from death and 322 million cases of childhood illnesses were prevented between 1994 and 2014 due to vaccination. So in order to eliminate the rest of the deadly diseases from the global population once and for all, the inclusion of vaccination into international legislature holds key importance. Another extremely important and oft under looked reason for making vaccines mandatory is that vaccines save children and their parents money. Vaccines cost less in time and money to obtain than infectious diseases cost in time off of work to care for a sick child, potential long-term disability care, and medical costs. For example, children under five with the

 

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flu are contagious for about eight days, and, according to a 2012 CDC study, cost their parents an average of 11 to 73 hours of wages (about $222 to $1,456) and $300 to $4,000 in medical expenses. Although this aspect of vaccines is good for people from any background, the impact vaccines can have on the economic pressure on most people from third world nations is unprecedented (Michael Smith, Kevin MD). Not only do vaccines alleviate economic stress on an individual level, they also provide economic benefits for society as a whole. Many factors can be taken into account when calculating the overall economic benefits such as prevention of lost productivity and savings in treatment costs of diseases, etc. The CDC estimates that children vaccinated between 1994 and 2014 have yielded net savings of $1.38 trillion in "societal costs," including money saved by preventing lost productivity due to disability and early death (Bahar Gholipour, Huffington Post). The United States saves about $27 per $1 invested in DTaP vaccination, and $13 per $1 spent on MMR vaccination (David Satcher, HHS). UNICEF estimates that $6.2 billion could be saved in treatment costs if vaccines were more prominent in the world’s poorest countries (Matthew Herper, Forbes). Therefore, in order to ensure good health and economic stability for the current and future generations irrespective of the place of residence or origin, vaccines are of extreme importance. The only way to ensure that every children is vaccinated, however, is to legislatively make vaccines mandatory for all because even in the modern world, scores of people do not believe in the preventive power of vaccines.

 

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Works Cited

CDC. Five Important Reasons to Vaccinate Your Child (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

Smith, Michael. "How Long Should Children Stay out of School after H1N1 Flu?" KevinMD.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

"Vaccine Safety: The Facts." (2008): n. pag. American Academy of Pediatrics. Web.

"The Solution: Vaccines." Shot@Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.

Gholipour, Bahar. "Vaccination Has Saved 732,000 Children's Lives Since 1994, Says Report." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 Apr. 2014. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.

Herper, Matthew. "Dear Jenny McCarthy, Here's How Many Lives Could Be Saved Cheaply By Making Vaccines More Widely Available." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

Satcher, David. "Risk vs Benefit of Vaccinations." Risk vs Benefit of Vaccinations. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

"About Polio." About Polio. Rotary International, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

 

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Syed Shahrez Zahid WRT 102 Dr. Stacey Suvor 23 October 2014 Vaccines: An Accepted Evil In popular culture, vaccines are accepted as a necessary ingredient in the fight against infectious diseases. However, an overwhelming amount of evidence shows that instead of protecting children from infectious diseases, vaccines can be the causative factor behind the occurrence of many deadly diseases in children. According to the CDC, all vaccines carry a risk of a life-threatening allergic reaction. In addition to this, the rotavirus vaccination can cause intussusception, Long-term seizures, coma, lowered consciousness, and permanent brain damage (CDC). Therefore, I believe vaccinations should not be made mandatory for children at any cost. A fundamental flaw in the argument for mandating vaccination for children lies in biology. A vaccine is a slightly weakened strain of pathogen (disease causing germs) that is injected into the human body in expectance that the human body will fight the disease to become immune to the virus. This approach seems to make little to no sense because it is paradoxical to inject a disease into a small child and at the same time in an attempt to prevent the child from contracting the disease the child is being forcefully injected with in the first place. Vaccines can also cause serious and sometimes deadly side effects to children. As mentioned earlier, according to the CDC, all vaccines carry a risk of a life-threatening allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) in about one per million children. The rotavirus vaccination can cause intussusception, a type of bowel blockage that may require hospitalization, in about one per 20,000 babies in the United States. Long-term seizures, coma, lowered consciousness, and permanent brain damage may be associated with the DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) and MMR vaccines. The CDC also reports that pneumonia can be caused by the chickenpox

 

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vaccine, and a "small possibility" exists that the flu vaccine could be associated with GuillainBarré Syndrome, a disorder in which the person’s immune system attacks parts of the peripheral nervous system... (CDC) The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) says that vaccines may be linked to learning disabilities, asthma, autism, diabetes, chronic inflammation, and other disabilities. With all the risk surrounding vaccines, the one question that we must ask ourselves when contemplating the use of vaccines is if we want our child to be that one in a million child. In many ways, making vaccines mandatory is like snatching parents’ right to protect their children. In many cases, vaccines have also been found to contain harmful ingredients that would lead to more good than bad in children. Many physicians have confirmed this, including Robert W. Sears, MD, who believes that thimerosal, an organic mercury compound found in trace amounts in some vaccines, is linked to autism. Aluminum is used in some vaccines, which can cause neurological harm. Formaldehyde, also found in some vaccines, is a carcinogen (Robert Sears, Ask Dr. Sears). Glutaraldehyde, a compound used to disinfect medical and dental equipment, is used in some vaccinations and exposure can cause asthma and other respiratory issues (vax truth). We should recognize the dangers these ingredients pose to children when contemplating the viability of a vaccine-based approach to good health. It is also important to question whether the government has the right to intervene in something as personal as the choice to make vaccination mandatory for children. Medical decisions for children should be left to the parents or caregivers. Barbara Low Fisher, Cofounder of National Vaccine Information Center, stated, "If the State can tag, track down and force citizens against their will to be injected with biological products of known and unknown toxicity today, there will be no limit on which individual freedoms the State can take away in the name of the greater good tomorrow."

 

Syed  7   Religious freedom is a fundamental human right and legislation commanding parents

and caregivers to forcefully vaccinate children regardless of their religious belief is a clear violation of this human right. Several religions oppose vaccines and mandatory vaccinations. The Church of Illumination states, "the teachings of the Church unequivocally affirm that injections of vaccines and inoculations are a violation of these biblical teachings…(Fraternitas Rosae Crucis, 2013) In the same way the freedom of practicing one’s beliefs is practiced by provaccination parties, the beliefs of people that lead them away from vaccination deserve the same level of tolerance and respect. Natural immunity is much better than artificial immunity. Since vaccines are unnatural (man made), natural immunity should be preferred over them. Even pro-vaccine organizations state that natural vaccination causes better immunity. Several renowned authorities on healthcare and medicine have proved this time and time again. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia notes, "It is true that natural infection almost always causes better immunity than vaccines. Whereas immunity from disease often follows a single natural infection, immunity from vaccines occurs only after several doses." Mayo Clinic states that natural infection "often provides more complete immunity than a series of vaccinations." Just like most large corporations, pharmaceutical companies, FDA, and CDC should not be trusted to make and regulate vaccines. The purpose of any large corporation is fundamentally the same - to grow in monetary value. There is little to no morality or sense of responsibility associated with corporations. Thus, the primary goal of pharmaceutical companies is to sell medicine and vaccines in order to make a profit. So it cannot be expected of a corporation bent on producing more and more profit that it will put children’s lives over their economic success. Thus, in the current scheme of things, the quality of vaccines simply cannot be trusted, putting children in danger rather than protecting them.

 

Syed  8   The risks associated with vaccination are simply not worth taking because most, if not

all, diseases that vaccines target have essentially disappeared from the first world. Polio, rubella, mumps and diphtheria are some of the examples of this. The CDC reported no cases or deaths from diphtheria between 2003 and 2011 in the United States. There have been fewer than 21 deaths yearly from rubella since 1971 and fewer than 25 deaths yearly from mumps since 1968. Another reason why vaccines are not worth the risk is because most of the diseases that vaccines target are harmless and can be treated with little effort. The chickenpox is often just a rash with blisters and can be treated with medicine, cool compresses, and calamine lotion. Measles is usually a rash accompanied by a fever and a runny nose that can be treated with rest and fluids. Rubella is often just a virus with a rash fever that can be treated with acetaminophen. Rotavirus can usually be treated using hydration and probiotics (CDC – WebMD). Putting children at risk in order to combat diseases that either do not exist in the current world or pose little to no threat to us is counterproductive to the main purpose of vaccines which is combatting diseases and keeping children in good health. Therefore, it is very important to understand that vaccinations should not be made mandatory for children.

 

Syed  9   Works Cited

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 19 Aug. 2014. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

Mercola, Joseph M. "U.S. Government Says Vaccines Are Dangerous." Mercola.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

"Autism Information - National Vaccine Information Center." National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC). N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

Sears, Robert W. "Vaccines | Ask Dr. Sears." Ask Dr Sears The Trusted Resource for Parents. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

Fischer, Barbara L. "Barbara Speaks Out!" National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC). N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.

"General Vaccine Safety Concerns." Welcome to the Vaccine Education Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

"Infant and Toddler Health." Childhood Vaccines: Tough Questions, Straight Answers. Mayo Clinic, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

"Keeping the U.S. Polio-Free." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 19 Mar. 2014. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

 

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"Vaccine Ingredients -- A Comprehensive Guide." VaxTruthorg. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.

"The Church of Illumination: Tenet on Vaccination and Immunization." Soul. Fraternitas Rosae Crucis, n.d. Web.

 

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