The HPV vaccine has always been controversial. When the vaccine first debut in 2006, many parents felt that the vaccine was only for sexually active teens, and their children did not fit that mold. Others felt that the vaccine was dangerous and refused to be vaccinated. Unfortunately, the stigma around the HPV vaccine still stands.
In a study done by the Mayo Clinic, there has been a steady rise in the number of parents who do not want to vaccinate their children. In 2013, only 37.8 % of girls ages 13-17 received the full three doses of the vaccine and boys ages 13-17 had a vaccination rate of 14%. So why is it that many people refuse to get vaccinated?
Perhaps it is a lack of education surrounding both the virus and the vaccine that is contributing to the reluctance. According to Dr. Renee Eger, an OB/GYN affiliated with Women and Infants Health Care Alliance, “Parents of children need to be educated around the safety of the vaccine and the significant benefits of the vaccine.” Hence, education around the dangers of the virus and benefits of the vaccine need to be promoted.
However, It seems that parents are educated about the perceived dangers of the vaccine rather than its benefits. A quick google search can render countless articles around the risk of the vaccine. Truthaboutgardasil.org is one website dedicated to women who have faced life altering medical conditions, including paralysis, after receiving the vaccine. The organization also hopes to remove the vaccine
“Sustaining high vaccination coverage among school-age children is vital to prevent outbreaks and avoid reestablishment of diseases that have been eliminated in the United States” (Zangger, 2017). Most of the articles found, stated a variety of issues involved with noncompliant parental decisions made about not vaccinating their children. Of these issues, to my attention, the main problem with compliance of vaccines comes from the lack of knowledge about adverse effects and contraindications. What parents are missing is the fact that these childhood diseases are totally preventable diseases. We also are seeing a lot of parents choose to use an alternative vaccination schedule (AVS) instead of what is recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that leads to the same kind of issue (Committee on Practice and Ambulatory Medicine and council on the community, 2011). The studies show that parents have an increased likelihood of refusing to vaccinate due to the lack of education provided on the subject itself.
Many parents and organizations are opposed to this policy because they feel that it is an infringement on personal choice. While religious exemptions to HPV vaccination are allowed by the law, there is no built in policy for exemptions based on personal secular values. Some vegan families, for example, may feel uncomfortable vaccinating their children since animals are involved in the research and development of several vaccines, including the HPV vaccine. Individuals against animal testing, or recombinant DNA technology (Gardasil (Human Papillomavirus Vaccine) Questions and Answers, 2006) could feel uneasy about the Gardasil vaccine as well (Gardasil 9, 2014). In addition, some fear that this policy will “promot[e] promiscuity” (Marsa,
I agree great response Sarah! Very informative post. Kayley I agree with you that it's kind of dumb that parents are opting out of vaccinating their children. Vaccinations have been around for a while now and they have helped more than they have harmed. I think some parents are jumping on the fad of not vaccinating their children because in the last few years it has been in the media and there are a few celebrities who are against vaccinating and I feel like they do have some influence on people. I also don't believe vaccinations are linked to problems and people are just looking for a reason why problems happen to their children and feel like they need an explanation and why not blame it on vaccinations.
This poses the question that if vaccinations can protect a child from a major illness why are parents choosing not to vaccinate their children?
“Why should I get vaccinated? It is just a waste of time and money. I never got vaccinated before and never will.” That’s what one of my colleagues said when he was asked to get vaccinated during the outbreak of SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, few years ago in Mongolia. Then, I had reasoned him that disease comes all of a sudden and it is more serious than he thinks. As reported on CDC, Centers for Disease Control, 40 percent of all American parents were refusing one or more vaccines for their children (Willrich 3). So it is clearly one of the most significant public health issues today. There are lots of people who hold the belief against vaccination because of several reasons. Even though there is a public notion that vaccine
There is a culture among us, in life and in healthcare, that seems to be growing rapidly. Many parents are choosing to not vaccinate their kids against potentially fatal or life-altering illnesses. But, why? What is the reasoning for something that could be so detrimental to the well-being of their child(ren)?
“Another area that has been linked to vaccination status is provider’s lack of knowledge about the indications for and contraindications to immunization” (MDH, 2008 p. 18). Providers must have knowledge about vaccines before educating patients about it. Patients or parents of the child may delay vaccination due to lack of education about vaccines. A massive amount of parents have concerns about “vaccines may actually be the cause of conditions such as autism, hyperactivity, diabetes, multiple sclerosis (MS), and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)” ( MDH, 2008 p. 18). Parents still believe this even though scientist have showned that side effects are not related to these
Controversy concerning the risks of vaccinations will always exist. As is the nature of a preventative intervention, it is difficult to rationalize giving a completely healthy child an injection that is known to have varying degrees of sides affects5. Additionally, these injections are to provide immunity to children for diseases that have an extremely low risk of circulating within a population. Since these vaccines have been able to protect so many individuals from experiencing these dangerous infections, most parents do not even have personal experiences regarding the impact of these diseases. As such, many parents do not see the vaccine-preventable disease as a threat to their child. This often causes parents to not fully understand the risk their child has for contracting a disease and the subsequent danger of a vaccine-preventable disease infection verses the potential side effect of a vaccine which is normally only mild to moderate discomfort for their child15.
The reason most chose not to vaccinate themselves and there families is mostly do to lack of information on the importance of the vaccine and how it stops the spread of infection to the at risk populations.
This topic is extremely significant to my audience because a growing number of parents do not vaccinate their children due to fear of side effects. Parents today have lost confidence in in the vaccination industry as a consequence of sensationalism brought about by false evidence published and the celebrities that latched onto that claim. Sadly, some people have taken to considering the strong opinions and may not research vaccinations before making decisions
Instead, if people saw how serious this virus is, then they may be able to more clearly see how beneficial the vaccinations are. HPV is so common and prevalent in today’s society that it will infect 75% – 80% of both males and females throughout their lifetime. Those infected with specific
While personal choice concerns to those who oppose the HPV vaccine, promiscuity concerns them the most. Many parents, women support groups, and religious leaders worry that mandating the vaccine will give teenagers one less reason to abstain from sexual activities. The
The first major concern parents have when it comes to childhood vaccinations is that of the health and safety of their children. Some parents
This issue holds controversial value because of all of the parents whom refuse to vaccinate their children putting them at risk for the diseases that the vaccine is supposed to prevent. All of this is due to the one doctor who was bribed by a lawyer company four hundred thousand euros to bad-mouth vaccinations to give them a case against it in a lawsuit. This lost him his medical license and even still is believed to this very day by a large group of people. This topic is talked about on the internet quite often and it’s typically a debate between parents and doctors with little to no reasoning behind the parents’ perspective.
It used to be that vaccinations were considered a normal part of childhood, right along with loosing teeth and toilet training. However, in recent years vaccinations have become an extremely hot button issue, with many parents actually choosing not to vaccinate their children. The idea seems preposterous considering how many people were left with twisted backs, and withered limbs due to polio, or the amount of deaths as a result of measles. To see someone who has been left in an iron lung from a disease that is now preventable, and still choose not to prevent the disease seems absolutely asinine, and yet many parents are doing just that. Sadly, much of the fear of vaccines stems from Dr. Andrew Wakefield, and his fraudulent research that