Claire Taylor 1

Claire Taylor

Professor Loudermilk

English Composition 11 1201.523

03 March 2019

Childhood Immunizations

In the United States immunization refusal is on a rise throughout our society. This issue

could potentially have a huge impact on our population as a whole. A decline in immunizations

could cause incurable diseases to resurface and effect the immunity of our individuals and

communities. Immunizations were created to prevent and build up immunity to protect the

population from the mass chaos of widespread disease that once took place. A variety of research

has been done to develop immunizations to prevent what happened in the past with these

diseases. The development of immunizations was not about just making money, they were

created to protect you and your loved ones from disease. Parents in our society are trying to

advocate having the right to choose if they should have to vaccinate their children from these

incurable diseases. They should not have this choice because they are not only putting their own

children at risk they are putting everyone else at risk as well. In the last few years the occurrence

of dead diseases are on the rise due to unvaccinated individuals. This week on my neighborhood

Facebook page, a community member posted that mandatory vaccines were needed in our

school system. I noticed when reading through the comments that parents were very upset and

thought they they should have the right to choose which vaccines were given to their children. I

was very interested in this when I started looking into the required vaccines needed for my health

program through Sinclair.

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A person's immune system is made to fight infections. When a child gets sick the body

relies on the immune system to heal the body and take out the infection. The white blood cells

activate the antibodies that locate the infected area of the body and create a defense against the

infectious agent. By the time all of this happens you might already have experienced a few

symptoms that were caused by this infection. These antibodies do not disappear they create

memory B cells which stay in the body and in the bloodstream in case the disease comes back.

Your body will then recognize how to fight this infection off if the exposure occurs. When you

receive a vaccination you are receiving a tiny amount of the disease so that your body can create

those memory B cells to your body will know how to fight this infection off.

Immunization administration is a controversial topic in our society. All over the world we

are struggling with the problem of parents expressing the right to refuse to vaccinate their

children. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “vaccines are carefully timed and

provide protection when children are most vulnerable, and when the vaccines will produce the

strongest response in a child’s immune system” (HealthyChildren.com). Vaccines are meant to

help provide protection to your child at certain stages in their development. In some cases

parents will choose to delay giving their children vaccinations. This can actually have a negative

impact on your child’s overall being. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “A

study published in Pediatrics surveyed more than 500 pediatricians across the country and found

93 percent of them have some parents in their practice who ask to spread out their child's

vaccines. Delaying vaccines puts these children at additional risk. The vast majority of

pediatricians reported they continue to work with these families in hopes they will agree to

timely vaccinations” (HealthyChildren.com). One of the American Academy of Pediatrics worst

fears is that people who are less fortunate will fall victim to these diseases because they are
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unable to keep up with the correct immunization schedule for the child at hand or they are unable

to afford these immunizations. They also considered children that were too young to be

vaccinated or even children that could not be vaccinated due to allergies or medical issues

(HealthyChildren.com). Immunizations are very important to a child’s health. This creates a

huge impact by receiving immunizations at specific times in a child’s growth and development.

We are not only experiencing these problems in The United States of America but, there

are people all over the world experiencing outbreaks of these horrible life altering diseases.

There are people trying to make a difference all over the world. For instance, there are

organizations traveling to these poverty stricken countries to educate and help administer

vaccines, and assist with people unable to afford these types of preventions for disease. For

example, “Hundreds of thousands of volunteers will begin going from house to house next week

to give polio immunizations to 63 million children in 10 countries in the World Health

Organization's latest effort to eliminate the disease” (Lawrence K. Altman). Immunization

refusal is takes place all over the world not just by parents but in some countries by government

officials. In some countries, Islamic leaders have discounted immunization aid for polio because

they say that it causes sterilization in young females (Lawrence K. Altman). This effects their

individuals and their population.

There are so many important reasons why vaccinations are a good thing for your child.

According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention there are five top reasons why you

should consider vaccines for your child. The first one is, immunizations can be the reason that

your child’s life will be saved. This is because with all the research that has been generated

throughout the years of experiencing these diseases, we have gained knowledgeable live saving

information about these diseases and used them to create vaccines. The second reason relates to
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the great amount of research that has been done for years. These vaccines are safe and effective

with minor side effects such as redness and swelling. The third reason, is not only do these

immunizations protect the individual receiving the vaccine, but it also protects the community

and the population. The impact of of re-occurrence of disease is not a positive effect for the

population. The fourth reason, is that getting your child vaccinated can save your family lots of

time and money. One vaccination can save thousands in hospital bills, and impact health

promotion and a healthy lifestyle. The fifth and final reason is that these important

immunizations can help protect other family members.

We as a society have virtually eliminated certain diseases because of immunizations such

as smallpox (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

As a parent, your child should receive vaccines to promote their health and decrease

their risk as an individual for disease. According to the Center for Disease Control and

Prevention, your child should have Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B, Rotavirus, DTap, Hib,

Pneumococcal, Polio, Influenza, MMR, Varicella, Meningococcal, and HPV vaccines according

to a published scheduled guideline. The vaccines are important to a child’s health. Hepatitis A

and Hepatitis B are vaccines that were created to help protect individuals from liver disease.

Rotavirus is a vaccine that was created to protect against the most common cause of diarrhea and

vomiting seen in infants and young children. Pneumococcal is a vaccine that protects the body

against bacteria and meningitis and infections of the blood. Influenza is a vaccine that was

created to protect against the common flu. Everyone who is above six months of age are

recommended to get this vaccine yearly. Varicella is a vaccine that was created to protect against

chickenpox and it’s many complications. Meningococcal is a vaccine that was created to help

protect the body against serious bacterial diseases that can have an effect on blood and important
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structures such as the brain and the spinal cord. The HPV vaccine was created to prevent

infections in teens that cause cancer and in the throat, genitals, cervix, and mouth.

As parents some believe that once their child is in the teenage years, that vaccinations

are not needed and this statement is not factual. The American Academy of Pediatrics

recommends that teens have the Tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis (Tdap) or tetanus-

diphtheria (Td) booster, Meningococcal vaccine (if not received earlier), Human Papillomavirus

or HPV vaccine, an annual Influenza or Flu shot, Hepatitis B vaccine, Measles-mumps-rubella or

an (MMR) vaccine, Chickenpox vaccine, Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, and the Hepatitis A

vaccine (HealthyChildren.com).
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Different states within the United States of America are trying to come up with their own

solutions on the best way to handle situations when parents refuse vaccines for their child. This

is a growing public health issue when it comes to children in our society today. There is a

steadily increasing rate of parents refusing to give their children the required school vaccinations.

This refusal not only is putting their own child at risk but putting other children in danger as

well. One solution that was used was to treat these vaccine refusals as neglect cases in which the

parents could not provide care and to report them to Child Protective Services or CPS. They

could report them as not supplying the child with the adequate amount of healthcare needed.

Most pediatric care givers are required by law to report any type of maltreatment of children

immediately to Child Protective Services. In the state of Michigan they created a strict policy to

not get involved in the refusal of vaccinations and it will never lead to state intervention. “A

2013 District of Columbia court held that failure to vaccinate did not constitute neglect,

regardless of whether the refusal was based on a sincere religious belief. In the 3 New York

cases, parents opposed vaccination on religious grounds, and the sincerity of their beliefs was

determinative. The courts did not find the parents’ religious beliefs to be sincere in the 1967 and

1992 cases and, therefore, determined that the children were neglected; in the 1975 case, the

court found the parents’ beliefs sincere and the child not neglected. In addition, the 1992 case

involved a parent’s refusal of the measles vaccine during a measles epidemic “ (Parasidis,

Efthimios, and Douglas J. Opel). The study completed by Parasidis, Efthimios, and Douglas J.

Opel was prove to be successful and had a lot of promising data it did show that, “First, because

so few courts have addressed whether vaccine refusal constitutes medical neglect, invoking child

welfare laws to improve compliance with vaccine recommendations deserves caution. Second, in

the absence of a clear statutory mandate, state public health officials should issue guidance for
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providers and CPS as to whether vaccine refusal constitutes medical neglect. Finally, state

lawmakers should debate whether vaccine refusal constitutes medical neglect and incorporate

their conclusions into state statutes” (Parasidis, Efthimios, and Douglas J. Opel). This was eye

opening to see that in most of the court cases the parents lost and were charged with neglect of

their children. I do agree with this statement and do believe that they should be held accountable

for their actions. It was also very eye opening that the amount of cases in the study were not

ruled as neglect as long as they could prove that they were because of strong religious beliefs. As

parents, when you refuse to vaccinate your child, you are putting not only them in danger but

you are putting every other human being they come in contact with in danger of catching a life

altering disease that could impact them forever. Immunizations play a big role in the overall

public health of our community and the imbalance of immunization refusal from parents could

potentially impact not only The United States of America but also the entire world around us.

States are starting to tighten their grip on immunization refusal from parents that they are

dealing with in their own communities. For example, Washington State is home to some of the

most famous vaccine researchers around the globe. Bill and Melinda Gates are well known and

highly respected researchers in this state, but when it comes to the children of Washington State

actually getting vaccines the state has one of the lowest rates. Dr. Maxine Hayes who is a state

officer for The Washington Department of Health, feels this low rate is related to the people’s

attitudes toward the government out west and the distrust they have for their government

(Tavernise). “The share of kindergartners whose parents opted out of state immunization

requirements more than doubled in the decade that ended in 2008, peaking at 7.6 percent in the

2008-9 school year, according to the state’s Health Department” (Tavernise). Washington State

was trying to come up with a solution to this problem fast and see what they could do to improve
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on their public’s health. The solution was that they adopted a law that makes it harder for

parents to refuse getting their children vaccinations because they must now get a doctor to sign

off on refusal with their signature. Since this law has been adopted there have been many

changes observed throughout their community. The opt-out rate has fallen fast by about 25%

(Tavernise). It doesn’t matter if there are thousands of people trying to educate people on how

vaccinations save lives, there are still thousands of parents in our society today that will choose

to opt-out of childhood vaccines for their children because some states make it so easy for them

to opt-out. “The opt-out rate increased fastest in states like Oregon and Arizona — and

Washington, before its law changed — where it was easy to get an exemption. In such states, the

rate rose by an average of 13 percent a year from 2006 to 2011, according to the study. In states

that made it harder to get an exemption from vaccinations, such as Iowa and Alabama, the opt-

out rate also risen, but more slowly, by an average of 8 percent a year. Mississippi and West

Virginia allow no exemptions” (Tavernise). Parents that refuse vaccines are normally very

educated and more affluent about the situation than others. “Jonathan Bell, a naturopathic doctor

in Washington State who encourages his patients to vaccinate their children. Those who opt out,

he said, tend to distrust the public health establishment because of what they see as its unsavory

connections with the pharmaceutical industry. “The argument is, ‘Oh no, I’m putting off

vaccines,’ ” he said. “ ‘I’m part of a group that’s smart enough to understand the government is a

pawn of big pharma ” (Tavernise). This is a growing issue that the states themselves need to take

care of individually with the correct laws in place to keep our future generations vaccinated and

protected. The internet has caused many misconceptions about vaccines and caused people to

believe the millions of false comments made about vaccinations. A concerned citizen on an

island a short ferry ride away from Seattle urged parents who easily opted out of childhood
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vaccines to go and vaccinate their children, went and stood by the school with a sign she made a

statement “A lot of it is positive,” she said. “People just don’t just want to take their doctor’s

word for it. But with vaccines, it just takes this crazy turn” (Tavernise).

Vaccine safety is one of the most important topics on the minds of most parents in

today’s society. Parents want to know that the vaccines that your child is receiving will be

healthy and benefit them in a healthy way. There are a few misconceptions about vaccines such

as the correlation of exposure to antigens through vaccines and developing a target infection

from that given vaccine. One of the most common is that vaccines are related to Autism and no

evidence has been found that this is true and there is no correlation between receiving a vaccine

and developing Autism. Another study that was conducted was that the number of antigens

received in early childhood vaccines affect the neuropsychological outcomes at the ages of 7-10

years old. This study was proved to be false and there is no correlation that links received

antigens to neuropsychological outcomes later on in life. Measles- mumps and rubella and other

measles containing vaccinations did not increase the risk of obtaining inflammatory bowel

disease. In another study there was no evidence found that the MMR vaccination induced autism

after receiving the vaccination. In another study with the Measles-Mumps and Rubella in

Finland, children from 1 to 7 who were vaccinated between 1982 and 1986 had no association of

neurological disorders after the vaccination. All of these case studies were closely looked at by

the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics

(HealthyChildren.com).
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Vaccines can be scary not only for parents but kids as well. As a parent they do not want

to see their child in pain which might keep them from receiving the shots they need. For most

children, it is scary to think about getting a needle inserted into the skin with a strange liquid.

This can lead to a child having lots of anxiety about going to the doctor. The child may beg the

parent not to take them not to let them get the shot and try to get out of it. This can potential be

very harmful for the parent and the child’s not only physical state but their emotional state as

well. Small children may kick their feet, or squirm when receiving a shot which can cause the

parents to feel unsure about the situation. Most children will grow out of this phase of crying and

if they do still it will only last a few minutes. As a parent and a healthcare professional try to

make the child as calm and comfortable as you can. Have them sit on the parents lap give them a

distraction using a toy, bubbles, a sticker, a fun bandaid. Most importantly, try to prepare a child
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before receiving a vaccine, and let the child know that this is important to be healthy, and will

only hurt for a second, and most importantly that they’re going to be okay. As a parent, one

should never use shots as a punishment, or use them as a threat this could eventually make the

child fear the shots more and have more anxiety about receiving them in the future. A child may

feel this is a very scary experience and having the support of the people around them can help to

positively impact how the child will view shots for most of their life. As a parent and even if you

do not prefer shots try to be as positive as you can for your child to keep them calm. As a parent

you never want your child to fear the doctor and you want them to be able to be happy about

medical procedures not associate the doctor with negative connotations.

There are opposing views on this topic as well. There are some people that believe in

vaccination choice. This is a controversial topic. There are opposing views that parents should

be able to choose if they should vaccinate their children. The people that are against vaccines are

making good arguments against the vaccination refusal. Vaccines can sometimes cause fatal side

effects. “According to the CDC, all vaccines carry a risk of a life-threatening allergic reaction

(anaphylaxis) in about one per million children”(vaccines.procon.org). This is important because

this can cause lasting effects on a child’s life. Vaccines may be linked to learning disorders,

asthma, and diabetes. “The rotavirus vaccination can cause intussusception, a type of bowel

blockage that may require hospitalization, in about one per 20,000 babies in the United States”

(vaccines.procon.org). Parents believe that immunizations may contain hazardous materials.

There are certain chemicals in influenza immunizations that may be linked to autism. The last

pro/con of immunizations is that the government should not have the right to decide which

vaccines a child is required to receive. There are arguments that it should be the choice of the
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parents or the caregiver to make the decision on what vaccines or if any vaccines should be given

to their children.

In conclusion, parental refusal of immunizations is a controversial topic in our public

health system today. When people do not receive immunizations, it may cause incurable diseases

to spread rapidly through our societies causing side effects and harm to individuals and

communities. Our populations have had an indirect protection of their immunity called herd

immunity after many years received, the indirect protection may be impacted which could cause

disease to resurface. There are choices that have to be made if people want to choose to put

other people in danger by not receiving the vaccination themselves or refusing to vaccinate their

children. Many diseases are resurfacing because of an vaccination and refusal of vaccination

from parents. In my opinion vaccination of children is not a question and children should always

be vaccinated. Hopefully this issue will solve itself and states will individually come up with

solutions to these problems to prevent situations like these from happening again.

Works Cited

Bednarczyk, Robert A., et al. “Estimating the Number of Measles-Susceptible Children and

Adolescents in the United States Using Data From the National Immunization Survey--

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148–156. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1093/aje/kwv320.

(NYT), Lawrence K. Altman. “World Briefing | Africa: Big Polio Immunization Campaign.” The

New York Times, The New York Times, 20 Feb. 2004,

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www.nytimes.com/2004/02/20/world/world-briefing-africa-big-polio-immunization-

campaign.html.

“An Important Immunization Message from the AAP.” HealthyChildren.org, American

Academy of Pediatrics , www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-

prevention/immunizations/Pages/An-Important-Immunization-Message-from-the-

President-of-the-American-Academy-of-Pediatrics.aspx

“For Immunization Partners.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention, 6 Jan. 2017, www.cdc.gov/vaccines/partners/childhood/matte-

articles-5-reasons.html.

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Pediatrics , www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-

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Null, Gary, et al. IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt1214118/.

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Parasidis, Efthimios, and Douglas J. Opel. “Parental Refusal of Childhood Vaccines and Medical

Neglect Laws.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 107, no. 1, Jan. 2017, pp. 68–71.

EBSCOhost,
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