Jonny Wesley
Whitney Nelson
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English 2010
December 3, 2014
Benefits of Vaccinating
We are all aware of vaccines. Since the day we were born vaccines have been a part of our lives. Growing up I can remember being deceived by my parents believing I was going to the movies or visiting a relative, but in reality I was being taken to the doctor’s office. I knew what each visit entailed. Shots. It wasn’t until I became much older that I understood the necessity of vaccines. The ultimate goal of vaccines is to stop the spread of disease, which gets passed person to person, or in other cases, develop over time. For example, vaccinations in the past eradicated diseases such as Polio in the
United States. Doesn’t this sound beneficial to all of humanity? There are some that have been led to believe otherwise. With constant access to many mediums of media, it is easy to find false postings on just about anything. Through the course of my research I have found many of these false postings or sources that are not creditable. One of the biggest debates is whether or not vaccines cause the disease Autism. A specific vaccination has been accused, the MMR Vaccination, given to children around the same time signs of
Autism begin to show. Is this just coincidence or bad timing? If the vaccine is the cause, shouldn’t the debate be what is better for the greater good? Do the few cases outweigh the benefit of the rest? The purpose of this paper is to show the benefits of vaccinations and dismantle the falsehoods that many find themselves sucked into.
Upon starting my research I wanted to show the beginning strides made by

Wesley 2 vaccinations. I came across an article written by Derek Gallagher and Kevin Connolly.
Gallagher at the time was a General Practitioner trainee, while Connolly was a consultant pediatrician. The article discusses the role of vaccines in childhood immunization, as well as giving a brief history or immunizations. What I was looking for was how immunizing effected people in its early stages. In the article it states, “Mass vaccination helped to eradicate smallpox, which once killed as many as one in seven children in Europe”
(Gallagher). This shows exactly what I was looking for, and just how effective vaccinations have been from the start. Now I wanted to have some more research to back up what I just discussed. I came across an article written by Helen Bedford and David
Elliman. Bedford being a senior research fellow and Elliman a consultant in community child health. They bring up the example that the disease Hemophilius Influenzae, a major cause of bacterial meningitis, has decreased with over 99% in the U.S. by the introduction of a vaccine in 1988. As well as fully vaccinating all U.S. children born in a given year saves 33,000 lives and prevents an estimated 14 million infections
(Bedford).
This obviously shows how vaccinations have made significant improvements in public health. So why are there still speculations saying vaccinations are unsafe or should not continue? I began to search for information on the other side of the spectrum, why would someone believe vaccinating is harmful? All vaccines have the possibility to have side effects. Unlike other treatments, vaccines are given to healthy people, which make people less willing to tolerate vaccines’ adverse side effects than other treatments. As risk to disease has decreased, the public has shifted to the risk of vaccinations, and it becomes hard for immunization programs to receive public support. Concerns about immunization

Wesley 3 safety usually follow a pattern. An article I came across went into depth describing this pattern after investigating a fraudulent study that later was retracted due to false research concerning autism and its relation to vaccines (CNN). To summarize their research and my own, first some investigators suggest that a medical condition or unknown cause is an adverse effect of vaccination. Then a poor study is taken place, soon after a premature public statement suggests that vaccination is the cause for the condition, which gains the attention of people with the condition, in addition to friends and families that have loved ones with the condition. Because of the sudden panic another study is taken place, but more thoroughly and scientific to find the real cause. This takes several years to get the public to have confidence in vaccinations again because they were once told it was unsafe, and to sway them back to the real cause means they have to try the vaccine and witness the protection it gives, not the side affects. Controversies in this area come from the question of whether the risk of adverse side effects outweigh the benefits of preventing adverse effects of common disease. Knowing this, I wanted to know why the studies that need to take place take so long, or why they don’t happen at all.
Upon my search my question was answered by Barbara L. Fischer, Co-founder of the National Vaccine Information Center, their mission is to provide education on vaccine safety. Stated in what I was read, it is said, “It is hard to perform studies on such a topic because having test groups that receive vaccination, and the other doesn’t, would be unethical” (Fischer). Essentially we would be willingly subjecting people to increased odds of acquiring diseases to try and prove that vaccines are beneficial. But doesn’t that defeat the purpose, we want to prevent disease, not make people suffer from it in the process. So what are we to do?

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Without vaccines disease would spread through communities and the world. But we do have vaccines; we are capable of containing disease and eventually eradicating the disease. Once a disease has been eradicated, immunization should not stop. It needs to continue to prevent an outbreak of the disease, and to kill whatever has survived. Renée
Jenkins, M.D., FAAP, and president of the AAP, an organization of pediatricians committed to optimal health for everyone, states, “Immunization has been the most successful public health program of the 20th century.” In addition Dr. Jenkins says, “The diseases that we used to see that killed and permanently disabled children, we just don’t see those anymore. Indeed, vaccination may be a victim of its own success. I think our problem is that many parents never saw those diseases or heard of someone who had polio or diphtheria, so they don’t have a sense of what life is like without immunity. And now we’re seeing these diseases making a comeback.” Jenkins is explaining that because of the success vaccines have had eliminating disease, we are no longer aware of the threats that still surround us. Jenkins points out that there were more than 20,000 cases of
Pertussis (whooping cough) in 2005, and eight infants died from it. “There have been multiple outbreaks of measles in three states, too,” she adds, “all coming from other countries and exposing vulnerable children” (Jenkins). NCH Healthcare System published a source that supports the statements made by Dr. Jenkins and brings up a good point. They state, “Not every nation has access to an up-to-date vaccination program”
(Weiss). So now with this information it brings up the issue of diseases still being present in some areas, while others have eliminated it. That means if someone who doesn’t have the vaccine because it is no longer necessary due to the disease no longer being present in their area, then what happens when they travel somewhere where it is still at large? To

Wesley 5 explain this more I found a magazine article published by Healthy Children Magazine.
“At a time when the world is “smaller” than ever, thanks to the ease of international travel and global trade, the importance of protecting your children with a full schedule of vaccines cannot be understated. Sick people, carriers of many of the diseases we vaccinate against, can bring exposure to these diseases from other parts of the world, or unvaccinated U.S. travelers returning from other countries can unwittingly bring diseases to the U.S., exposing schoolmates, family, and friends.” (Gaines) “Basically, you’re just a plane ride away from potentially fatal diseases,” says David Tayloe, M.D., FAAP
(Gaines). Because other areas are still afflicted with disease means that people that don’t have that worry must take responsibility and vaccinate to eventually eradicate disease entirely.
Because of the growing distrust in vaccinations, people can be easily swayed to believe outrageous accusations, for example the debate on vaccination safety and Autism.
There are a few organizations that claim to have done proper research and found that vaccinations are unsafe and continually cause unwanted side effects. These organizations are usually composed of groups of people in the same situation, so it may appear there are a great number of cases, when actually they are just gathered in one place. One organization specifically is Generation Rescue. Generation Rescue’s purpose is to draw awareness to Autism, while this is a good cause, and by any means should not be stopped; they have accused vaccines for the cause of Autism. As parents receive the information that their child has become diagnosed with autism, they want to find a reason why this has happened. Understandable, but with so many unofficial claims to the cause, people do not get the facts and become misinformed. And this creates the distrust in

Wesley 6 vaccination. As people begin to spread this false information, it causes other parents to become skeptical and not vaccinate. As this happens they are putting their own children they are trying to protect in more harms way. With how the media has such an influential role in many people’s lives, it is hard to bring trust back into medical officials, and the releasing of proper research.
Without trust in vaccines, disease could spread like wild fire. As parents are informed their child has Autism, they should receive a list of options and places where they can learn how to cope with this affliction. But, to stop the other ill advised websites and other resources they should also be informed of places to stay away from, or to keep in mind that there hasn’t been enough research to prove their accusations. This can help the medical community gain more trust from their patients and the global community, which is needed because we as people rely on doctors for every little thing, be it a sniffle, a cough, or cancer. Sources that are giving false or non-supported information are very harmful to the others that are generating reliable information. Because of all the harmful information it distracts people from the real problem at hand, finding treatments, cures for disease, or perfecting vaccines to eliminate the side effects altogether. An article by the National Network for Immunization Information, an organization the provides up to date information to health care professionals, explains why false information is circulated around about vaccines. “The timing and widespread use of vaccines make them easy scapegoats to be blamed for all sorts of serious illnesses. Of course not all vaccine safety concerns are misinformation, only those that persist despite the evidence against them”
(NNII). The question is why are there still concerns when there is already evidence to disprove them?

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To answer my question I searched for why false information continually gets posted and becomes popular. In my search I read an article published by the Huffington
Post, and written by Jeff Schweitzer. Schweitzer is a marine biologist, and he is recognized internationally as an authority in ethics. In the article titled “Vaccinations: An
Epidemic of Misinformation” Jeff says, “
Those who oppose climate change become authorities in meteorology and climatology, suddenly endowed with more expertise than a scientist who has devoted her life to the subjects. The deniers magically know more than thousands of qualified scientists from nearly 200 countries” (Schweitzer). Because of this it makes these false experts empowered. They suddenly can alter what is the truth and modify it to their own benefit, including vaccinations. The truth is vaccines save lives. To prove this I turned to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Amongst their many writings I narrowed my search to how vaccines have benefited people. One such writing points out, “Every year vaccines save 3 million lives among children younger than 5 years old by preventing diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, and measles. If adults are included, vaccines save up to 6 million lives annually” (CDC). These numbers disprove the false experts and show the benefits immunizing can bring.
Vaccinations are very important and we the public need to be more scrutinizing in our research. If the possibility of being misinformed is eliminated then trust in vaccines can be reestablished. The false experts will no longer have power to sway facts one way or another; there will be only the truth. The facts are already there, the only thing left to do is bring them out. A solution to the problem, as stated earlier, is to be sure to inform people from the get go if they become afflicted with disease. Give reliable sources of information, as well as letting them know of places that don’t have the cold hard evidence

Wesley 8 that others do. Warn them of these places and how they can sway you and explain to them how it will cause eventual harm to everyone. It is also the truth that there are potential side effects from vaccinating. Insuring that people are informed of this and understand the risk they are taking will also reinforce the true helpfulness professionals mean to give them. It shows that they have done the research and have evidence to show that there can be complications, but those are only mere fractions compared to the benefits. Immunizing is a must. If we are to conquer disease once and for all we have to start on the home front. Once we can take care of ourselves, then we can really look at the big picture and wipe out all disease across the globe. It is our duty to vaccinate, as well as passing down the understanding of why it is a necessity to future generations. We must do our part as citizens of humanity. So where do we begin?

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Works Cited
Bedford, Helen. Elliman, David.” Concerns About Immunizations.” British Medical
Journal (2000): 240-43. Print.
CNN. "Retracted Autism Study an 'elaborate Fruad'" CNN . CNN, 5 Jan. 2011. Web.
Fisher, Barbara L. “Autism & Vaccines: A New Look At An Old Story.”
National
Vaccine Information Center. NVIC, (2000). Web.
Gaines, Sam. “Immunization: Protection Against Childhood Disease.” Healthy Children
(2008): 12-15. Print.
Gallagher, Derek. Connolly, Kevin. “Vaccines A Major Part of Primary Prevention.”
Public Health (2008): 43-45. Print.
"Global Vaccines and Immunization." CDC Global Health . CDC, 29 Oct. 2014. Web.
Schweitzer, Jeff. "Vaccinations: An Epidemic of Misinformation." Huffington Post . 24
Sept. 2014. Web.
"Vaccine Misinformation." National Network for Immunization Information . NNII, 12
Feb. 2009. Web.
Weiss, Allen. “Vaccination Is the Best Protection.”
News at NCH (2012): News at NCH,
NCH Healthcare System, (2012). Web.