Why We Should't VaccinateOur Children - Research Paper Example

? Why We Shouldn’t Vaccinate Our Children Introduction Vaccination is one of the many different ways in which our bodies get protection against disease-causing microbes. This type of immunity is called active acquired immunity. Immunity in children may generally be classified as either active or passive. Each active and passive types of immunity can be further classified into either naturally or artificially acquired (Ross and Wilson, 2006). Passive naturally acquired immunity is acquired from the mother to the child through the passage of maternal antibodies to the fetus through the placenta. Passive artificially acquired immunity is whereby antibodies against an antigen are injected into the recipient. Active naturally acquired immunity on the other hand entails a first time encounter with the antigen and after a period of about fourteen days, antibodies against the antigen are detectable in the blood. After this, the amount of antibodies fall until there is another encounter with the antigen. The last type of immunity, which will be the major concern of this paper, is active artificially acquired immunity, also called vaccination. According to public health agency of Canada (2012), vaccination is the process of administering a vaccine, in this case, to the child. A vaccine is a dead or artificially weakened microbe of a certain disease that is introduced in the body of a child in order to provoke the child’s immune system to produce anti bodies against that microbe. Antibodies are complex proteins produced by the body lymphocytes to neutralize and fight off antigens or foreign bodies such as disease-causing microbes in the body. Vaccination is one way in which the human body acquires immunity and this kind of immunity is called active artificially acquired immunity as explained above. The dead or weakened microbe has the structure of the disease-causing microbe but it cannot cause disease. The effect is that the antibodies produced against the vaccine will last in the body for a long time enough to remember the antigen and how to go about fighting it incase in future the actual disease invades the body’s immune system. Some vaccines give our children lifelong immunity while others will require re-vaccination after a given duration of time, when the duration for its benefit for the immunity has diminished. One may however lose immunity even after vaccination in the event that the child is infected by a different strain of the microbe other than the one they were vaccinated against. Case against vaccinating our children Some benefits of vaccines include but are not limited to prevention of diseases that would have otherwise affected the child hence going through the suffering process of the disease. Some diseases that can be prevented through vaccination include small pox, whooping cough, measles, mumps, and rubella among others (Ross and Wilson, 2006). However, several thoughts exist as to whether vaccines are safe or not to children .When the case on whether or not to vaccinate the children is presented, the recipient of the information will require an open mind so that the point is delivered. This is because the status quo of the mind has for a long time suggested compulsory mass vaccination of the children and this will be disrupted. Many parents who refuse their children to be vaccinated have different reasons for their decisions. Some of the reasons have a scientific backing as will be seen later in the discussion while others are myths that the parents may have and therefore not scientifically proven. Key among the reasons includes the side effects that occur in children after some vaccines are administered to them. There is also the controversy of the morality of the vaccines for the children. Several researches are coming up criticizing the use of vaccines in children for various reasons. One of the reasons is that there is a possibility of existing microbes that have mutated and become resistant to vaccines. This means that the body will not produce the right kind of antibodies against the antigen and therefore, in the event that the disease-causing microbe invades the body’s immune system, the child will get sick. This is evidenced by the occurrence of disease outbreak in populations that were previously vaccinated. Mooi and his co-authors (2009) conducted a study that shows that the bacteria causing whooping cough (Bordetella pertussis) has increasingly become resistant to the vaccine and that new microbe mutations have occurred so that it becomes ineffective to prevent its attack to the body’s immune system through vaccine (Vactruth.com, 2012). The immunity that is developed from the administration of vaccines may diminish with time, which is the case in the vaccine against pertussis. The immunity of a child vaccinated with the vaccine diminishes after five to ten years post vaccination, which makes the child vulnerable to attack (Center for disease control and prevention, 2010). Another disadvantage of using vaccines is that the weakened microbe may mutate and worse still become more virulent than the previous strain thus becoming very dangerous to the child who is the recipient to the vaccine. This exposure to the microbe puts the child in more danger therefore putting more weight to the fact that vaccine exposes the child to more danger than he/she was originally in and therefore should be avoided. Another reason as to why children should not be vaccinated is that some vaccines contain some compounds that some children are allergic to. An example is the flu vaccine, which has some egg substances. People allergic to eggs cannot receive this vaccine and if it is accidentally administered, the allergen will trigger the allergic condition. Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine against tuberculosis is a live but weakened form of mycobacterium bovis and sets a good example as to why children should not be immunized. This is because the recipient of the vaccine will always test positive any time they are tested. This will mean that the victim will go through chest ex-rays every time they report for the test. This exposes the child to rays unnecessarily and this is not good for a child’s health. When vaccination is done in health facilities with negligent health workers, the child is more exposed to various diseases such as HIV in the event that body fluids from a HIV patient are mishandled. The child may also be exposed to air borne diseases such as tuberculosis in the event that a victim is in the same room with the child more so if the room is poorly ventilated. Exposure of the child to disease has very adverse effects since a child has an immune system that is not fully developed hence becoming very susceptible to suffer due to disease unlike in the case of an adult (Netdoctor.co.uk, 2008). The measles-mumps-rubella vaccine has an 80% chance of administration without any side effects. Nevertheless, there is the 20% of children that will develop side effects and this should raise alarm no matter the severity of the side effects. Fever is a very common side effect of this vaccination and this may last for several days even up to 12 days after administration. About 0.03% of them may experience seizures while in rare circumstances, a child receiving this vaccine may experience reduced consciousness or hypersensitivity. This may seem to be a very insignificant figure but each child should be treated specially and individually. The logic of vaccination with this vaccine is defeated for the child who may be in the population of 0.03% (National network for immunization information, 2010). Vaccination has been made to look like a compulsory procedure for every child and parents have to adhere to the system but the question that remains is whether the opinions of the parents or the child receiving the vaccination are put into consideration considered. One would want to ask himself/herself whether the introduction of the vaccine really stimulates the production of the pathogen or whether there exists more adverse and unrealized effects accompanying the vaccination. It is important to think critically and objectively regarding the effect that the vaccine has on the child in the present and in the long run rather than just picking out some few points on the benefits of vaccination and dealing with them. This will come a long way into ensuring that any parents who decide to have their child vaccinated or not will fully understand all the consequences of their decision. This is very vital because it will help the parent to be more actively involved in the health care of their child rather than take their child through routine medical procedures without full understanding of the action they are taking or its consequences to their child. Polio, for example, despite the belief that the Salk vaccine eliminated the epidemic in America in the year between 1940 and 1950, one would want to disagree since at the same period, the epidemics reduced in Europe despite the fact that vaccination hadn’t taken part there. This is a strong point showing that the polio vaccination was not necessary at all (Robert, 1984). Some vaccines have adverse side effects to some children and therefore contraindicated for them, but the question is if the children are screened on whether they should be given the vaccine or not. The truth is that vaccines are administered to children without second thought and therefore even the child for whom the vaccine is advised against receive the vaccination meaning they suffer the consequences of the decisions that a negligent parent, policy makers or health care providers made for them. Contrary to many people’s thinking, the pediatricians are also on the receiving end if mass vaccination of children is abolished. This is due to the number of malpractice lawsuits against them in the event that the vaccine administered adversely affects the children whom they vaccinate. This will benefit and caution by the fact that every parent who chooses to have their child vaccinated understands fully the process and the effect the vaccine will have on their child. This will therefore shield the practitioner from any lawsuit since there is an agreement stating that an adult in their healthy mind authorized the process hence bearing all the vaccination’s consequences. According to Nap.edu (1997), another debate in support of the campaign against mass child vaccination is the question of whether the vaccines administered are responsible for the occurrence of autoimmune infections such as cancer and leukemia in children. In this case, the body is not able to differentiate the foreign antigens and the body component, and it ends up harming itself in the process instead of the foreign body. Conclusion As seen in the above discussion, strong evidence against the vaccination of children exists. Therefore, any policy forcing the vaccination of all children with certain vaccines is not only discriminating but it also robs an innocent child a chance to live a normal healthy life without the risk and struggle of dealing with the side effects of vaccines administered to them, some of which are life threatening. Moreover, due to the many controversies surrounding mass vaccination of children, which is sometimes carried out forcefully against the will of the parent, there is need for proper parent education on both the positive and negative consequences of their vaccinating children in such a way that they get the chance of choosing freely (Rodewald and Santoli, 2001). Regardless of whether their decision will be in line with the policies in place about vaccination or not, this should not make their children be discriminated upon such a decision. An example is the schools that require the children being admitted to them be vaccinated for certain diseases therefore discriminating against the unvaccinated child or forcing them to be vaccinated against their will in order to access the services of the school. References Center for disease control and prevention (2010). Pertussis Infection in Fully Vaccinated Children in Day-Care Centers, Israel. Retrieved from http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/6/5/00-0512_article.htm Mooi, et al., (2009). Bordetella pertussis Strains with Increased Toxin Production Associated with Pertussis Resurgence. Retrieved from http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/15/8/08-1511_article.htm on April 1, 2012 Nap.edu, (1997). Immune Response to Vaccine Antigens. Retrieved from http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=5881&page=31 National network for immunization information (2010). Vaccine Safety. Retrieved from http://www.immunizationinfo.org/ Netdoctor.co.uk, (2008). Childhood Vaccinations. Retrieved from http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/facts/childhoodvaccinations.htm Public health agency of Canada, (2012).What is vaccination and how does it work? Retrieved from http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/im/vs-sv/vs-faq01-eng.php Robert, s. (1984). The Medical Time Bomb Of Immunization Against Disease. Retrieved from http://www.whale.to/vaccines/mendelsohn.html Rodewald L, Santoli, J. (2001) .Challenge of Vaccinating Vulnerable Children. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11713432 Ross and Wilson (2006). Anatomy and Physiology in Health and Illness. New York: Oxford university press. Vactruth.com (2012). Vaccine Technologies. Retrieved from http://www.zimbio.com/vaccine+technologies/articles/jh0IoQjsGt0/Warning+Vaccine+Resistant+Pathogens+Putting Read More