Anti Vaccination : A Dangerous Movement

“Don’t let any more babies die because of anti-vaccination lobby” is written by Susie O’Brien on 24 March 2015 at 12:00 am on the Herald Sun. Written as an opinion piece, O’Brien approaches her audience in a serious yet informal way. Regarding the issue of how parents are not vaccinating their children, O’Brien contends that action should be taken in order to ensure parents vaccinating their kids. O’Brien voices that anti-vaccinators are putting other kids’ lives at risk as well as their own. Furthermore, the author has provided the reader with a picture of a baby displaying how sweet and calm it looks. Lastly, O’Brien states that due to the low vaccination rates, Australia is sure to have another whooping cough epidemic.

While the anti-vaccination movement appears to be a present issue, it has roots in 1866 England. Immediately following the formation of The Parliament of England Compulsory Vaccination Act, anti-smallpox propaganda spread. The argument against mandatory vaccination was it was a way, “to steal away our medical liberties one by one,” (Cawkwell). To have a more unified message, they formed the Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League. In four years it had about 10,000 members (Cawkwell). Pamphlets and periodicals were published throughout Britain to illuminate the issue of mandatory vaccination.

Anti-vaccination movements have been happening since vaccines were created, but it has been picking up momentum again over the last decade. Vaccines began with the creation of the smallpox vaccine in the early 1800s after Edward Jenner’s experiments with cowpox. Through his experiments he found that we could save a child from smallpox by infecting them with a lymph from a cowpox blister. There were many oppositions from the public and government towards vaccinations. People claimed it was against religion, unsanitary, or there just wasn 't enough proof it would work. I don 't blame the criticism back then, because it included scoring the flesh on a child’s arm, and inserting lymph from the blister of a person who had been vaccinated about a week earlier. In 1853, the Vaccination Act of 1853 stated that vaccinations were mandatory for infants up to 3 months old. In 1867, the act extended this age requirement to 14 years. If you refused to vaccinate you would face a penalty. Citizens were upset because they felt that they had the right to control their bodies and their children’s bodies. This is when the Anti Vaccination League and the Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League formed.

Over the past year, vaccinations have sparked controversy all over America. Some parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children. I believe that all members of the community should be properly vaccinated to avoid the spread of disease, to prevent introducing eradicated diseases to other countries, and to prevent premature death.

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Although the MMR link to autism is one of the most recent anti-vaccine incidences, the anti-vaccine movement didn’t begin with the suggestion that MMR caused autism. Previous vaccine scare incidences arose prior to the 1998 study on MMR that fueled more anti-vaccine sentiments. Offit (2011) claims that the modern American anti-vaccine movement began when a documentary titled DPT: Vaccine Roulette, aired on April 19, 1982. The documentary questioned the safety and effectiveness of the diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis vaccine (DPT). It claimed that after investigating the pertussis portion of the vaccine they found that the DPT vaccine could damage to a devastating degree. Although many people believed the reports, the claim that the pertussis vaccine caused permanent brain damage was later found to be completely false (Offit, 2011).

“As healthy as my lifestyle seemed, I contracted measles, mumps, rubella, a type of viral meningitis, scarlatina, whooping cough, yearly tonsillitis, and chickenpox, some of which are vaccine preventable” (Parker 1). This quote by vaccine advocate Amy Parker, a woman who was not vaccinated as a child, shows just a glimpse into the life of an unvaccinated individual. Parents who do not vaccinate their children claim many different reasons for their decision. Three of the most popular reasons are: religious grounds, health problems as a result from vaccines, and the belief that the illnesses are rare. Each of these reasons can be proven as nonessential in the anti-vaccine argument.

The term “herd immunity” became a common phrase as the debate surrounding mandating vaccines continues to grow. The modern vaccination debate often appears to focus on the effectiveness of vaccines as many media sources affirmed or denounced a potential correlation between autism and vaccines. Although these stories about autism and vaccines became headlines, the history of mandating vaccines addresses the authority of the government to distinguish between individual concerns and the common good. The current now ultimately focuses on examining the authority of the government to distinguish between individual concerns and the common good rather than the effectiveness of vaccines.

Vaccination safety and necessity has been debated for years. Vaccine supporters claim they are completely safe and necessary for everyone. People against vaccines question their safety and feel it should be a personal choice. While some vaccines are for personal safety, others are for the safety of society and should be given to the majority of people to avoid previously eradicated diseases from coming back and killing off thousands, even millions of people. Vaccinations are an asset to our healthcare and help to keep us safe from many deadly diseases, including polio, measles, tetanus and meningitis.

originate from a medical professionals mishandling of a study. This impacts the reputation of the whole medical community. Discovering

Living in an environment where we are prone to many viruses, it’s very important that one take the proper precautions or considerations to control the risk of getting affected. However, when utilizing the ability of not becoming infected, one may question the fact weather there’s an actual effective form of prevention or not. To clarify the uncertainty, over many years one of the most strategic methods that have been used for the control and preventions of viruses are vaccinations. A vaccination takes advantage of one’s body natural ability to primarily learn how to eliminate almost any disease causing germ or microbe that affects it. Therefore vaccinations are considered one of the most effective ways to prevent severe outcomes initiated by viruses.

Should children’s health be at risk for the greater good of community health? The news today is full of tragic stories about complications of vaccine use and there have been injuries from the beginning of vaccine use due to incomplete data on the side effects. The injuries have also brought about changes in the way vaccines are manufactured. The Georgia State Government requires citizens to receive vaccines in order to attend day care, go to school, and work at certain jobs and each state has its own mandates as well. The only way to get around the vaccine is to claim religious or medical exception. For either of these exceptions, one has to have a notarized affidavit for religious exception or a

When children who have been vaccinated do contract a disease, despite being vaccinated against it, they usually have milder symptoms with less serious complications than an un-vaccinated child that gets the same disease. It is true that some children who receive vaccinations may still become ill when exposed to other disease-ridden children. Research shows that 70-90% of the entire population must be vaccinated to attain “herd immunity”, “the resistance of a group to attack by a disease to which a large proportion of the members are immune.” (Farlex, 2012) When herd immunity is accomplished the spread of the disease can be averted throughout. If all parents were to take proper responsibilities and keep their children’s immunizations up-to-date, herd immunity would be achieved against all 16 of the major life threatening diseases.

Vaccines save lives; fear endangers them. Vaccinations have been used since the 18th century to cure various deadly diseases, from smallpox to the influenza virus. On a global level, vaccination is one of the few cost-effective medical measures that result in universal benefit. Yet there have always been those opposed to vaccinations because of possible side effects. With the increase in technology and the ability to share ideas in modern society the anti vaccine movement has flourished making the eradication of disease and safety of the public a difficult task. The anti-vaccine movement in the United States is one which brings about a very serious issue of safety. Vaccinations are put in place to protect people; they are administered by trained professionals who weigh the costs and benefits of vaccines. Yet there are still people out there who refuse to be vaccinated out of fear and therefore decide for themselves the effectiveness of vaccines. In order to ensure a safe society the public needs to be educated about vaccine in order to make a truly informed decision.

The anti-vaccination movement has grown significantly in recent years. Some of the reasons why people join this movement include concerns over the use of aborted fetuses during production, the belief that vaccines do not prevent