Abstract
Vaccination is an issue that every parent has to face. Whether to subject their child to vaccination or let them lead a natural life is a hard decision for every parent. The following article is a discussion as to why parents are reluctant to get their children inoculated. The article discusses the downsides of vaccination
Introduction
Vaccination is quoted as one of the best development of medical sciences. Inoculation of infants and individuals at a young age with vaccines has yielded great results through the ages. Occurrence rates of many diseases have fallen and many infants now survive to live long and healthy lives. But is this the complete story of vaccination? Or there are some aspects that are not yet known to or understood by the people? There have been out cries of increased side effects of vaccines with reports of some vaccines being administered unnecessarily. This article discusses the cons of vaccination and why one must think twice before getting themselves or their family members vaccinated.
Discussion
Vaccination is the process of inoculation of the human body with dead or weakened disease causing parasites or their antigen. This inoculation is done either through syringe or orally. The foreign germ material introduced this way produces a response from the immune system in the human body. The immune system then creates antibodies that bind with these disease causing agents and renders them harmless. This antibody then remains as a memory in the body and any further exposure to that particular disease creates a prompt response making the person immune from the disease.
Vaccination has been highly successful in lowering infant mortality rates and extending life expectancy. It has also curbed epidemic breaks. Certain vaccines have been instrumental in creating generation almost entirely immune to a wide spectrum of diseases. But the vaccination story is not all about success. Vaccines and vaccination have always received rejection at the hand of naturalists who believe that artificial immunization weakens the body’s immunity responses.
ProCon.org in their article (2013) describe that infants are born with innate ability to fight infections and artificially inducing immunity responses makes it difficult for these natural processes to cope with the onset of other infections. Another report by Rebecca Codey in RAAFsafe Magazine discusses about an anti-vaccination lobby formed under the name Australian Vaccination Network (AVN), an organization that asks for pro-decision making from parents of infants and children who are supposed to receive vaccination. Parents are concerned that vaccines are comprised of harmful chemicals, and AVN propounds that vaccines have never been tested before they were ever administered to the masses.
There are many reasons for objections to vaccination of infants. First and foremost is that parents object to subjecting the infant immune system to such strain of chemicals and antigens. The second objection comes with an apparent adverse side effects and reactions that happen due to administering vaccines. These reactions are listed by News-medical.com as “allergies, auto-immune disorders, autism, ADHD, multiple sclerosis, Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)”
The third reason is that most of the diseases that infants are vaccinated against are not life threatening in nature and can be coped with medication as concerned parents argue. The general natural belief asks for a natural evolution and parents support this belief as well (Dirk, n.d.).
Conclusion
Unfortunately, there is a collective disregard for the results because of the mass inoculation drive. This is so because mass inoculation has made it difficult to estimate the effects of vaccination, both in the beneficial and harmful sense.
A parent’s first concern is to protect their child and injecting weakened disease causing substance into an infant’s body is the last thing that an informed parent would like to do. But medicine enumerates benefits of such a practice. However, at the end the decision rests on the shoulder of parents and they must decide if vaccination would be the right choice for their child.
Reference
Codey, R. (n.d.) A pointed argument – The pros and cons of vaccination. Defence.gov.au. Retrieved from http://www.defence.gov.au/health/health-e-checkup/Health_Tips/RAAFsafe_111_A%20pointed%20argument.html
Dirks, R. (n.d.) Vaccinations: Pros and Cons. Northwest Center For Optimal Health. Ncoh.net. Retrieved from http://www.ncoh.net/services/education/askdrp.php?aid=52
JustMommies.com (n.d.). The Vaccination Debate: Pros and Cons of Vaccination. JustMommies.com. Retrieved from http://www.justmommies.com/family-life/family-health/the-vaccination-debate-pros-and-cons-vaccinations?page=0,0
Kam, K. (2012). What is the Alternative Vaccine Schedule? WebMD. Retrieved from http://children.webmd.com/vaccines/features/robert-sears-alternative-vaccine-schedule?page=4
News-medical.net (2010). Vaccination for children: Pros and Cons. News-medical.net. Retrieved from http://www.news-medical.net/news/20100123/Vaccination-for-children-Pros-and-cons.aspx
ProCon.org (2013). Should Any Vaccine Be Required For Children? ProCon.org. Retrieved from http://vaccines.procon.org/#background
