Vaccines have been around for hundreds of years. We discovered the idea of vaccines after people who survived diseases were immune to catching it again. When we get a disease, our bodies work hard to eradicate the disease. At the same time our body produces antibodies. Antibodies attach to the disease and remove it form the body, allowing a person to heal. This posed the question of, how can we make someone immune to these diseases without them ever getting sick? This brought us to the invention of vaccinations. Vaccinations have helped eradicate the diseases we vaccinate against. There was a time where millions of people died due to diseases we now have vaccinations for.
However, during this time of need for vaccinations to save lives, we have done whatever necessary to make them available. Recent claims have shown that children who are getting vaccinated are developing autism. They believe that babies and young children are being over vaccinated. Between birth and six years of age, children get around twenty nine vaccines to prevent against only ten diseases. Autism is a difficult disease to live with. Many families who are dealing with autism in their children, are struggling to help them through their cognitive, communication, and socialization disabilities. These families believe vaccines are the reason for their childrens struggles.
While vaccinations prevent against terrible diseases, they also cause autism in children. These children are forced to live their entire lives coping with this disease. Those who support the idea that vaccines cause autism view the issue as, the risk of developing autism is greater than the risk of developing the diseases that have become almost obsolete. With the great increase in hygiene and cleanliness, the disease rate was already beginning to drop before we created vaccines. Due to the great decline in diseases worldwide and with the increased risk of autism in children being vaccinated, parents have been declining vaccines for their children at an increased rate. “The rate of parents refusing one or more of the vaccinations for their children increased nearly 70 percent.” ("The Persistent Threat of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases", 2018)
Studies have shown that the chemicals found in vaccines, allowing the vaccine to work, can be toxic and harmful to our bodies, especially the bodies of babies and children who are still developing. Common chemicals in vaccines that are known to cause autism are mercury and aluminum, among others. Studies have shown that the mercury added to vaccines can cause the same symptoms as an individual who has autism. Therefore those individuals get diagnosed with a form of autism.
The MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine effects have been studied in children with autism. Their blood was studied and it showed higher than normal levels of antibodies. This information confirms that the vaccine plays some part in autism.
When a child is diagnosed with autism they must go through significant therapy to attempt to live normal lives. However, adults suffering with moderate to severe autism can rarely live on their own due to developmental issues, lack of maintaining jobs, and problems maintaining relationships.
The downside to not vaccinating due to the fear of children developing autism, is the risk of them becoming ill with the diseases that we vaccinate against. If a child manages to survive a disease that there is a vaccine for, they can be left with lifelong side effects. They can have serious health problems and deformities.
Unfortunately, due to increased refusal of vaccines for children, the disease we are trying to prevent are coming back. “Nearly 670 cases of measles in 27 states were reported in 2014, the greatest outbreak of the disease since the CDC declared it eliminated in 2000.” ("The Persistent Threat of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases", 2018) The issue with these diseases coming back are that it puts people at risk who didn’t chose not to vaccinate. There are children with cancers and immune disorders who medically can’t receive vaccines. They are at a much higher risk of getting these diseased as they become more common. There are also people in high poverty areas who are not financially able to get their children to the doctor or afford health care. Their children are also at risk of developing these diseases.
Vaccines have done incredible things over the years. Before vaccines were available for these diseases, 10,000 plus people were affected compared to today. Here is a comparison of annual disease cases then vs. now. “Measles: 530,217 vs. 85, Pertussis: 200,752 vs. 17,972, Smallpox: 29,005 vs. 0, Diptheria: 21,053 vs. 0, Mumps: 162,344 vs. 6,369, Rubella: 47,745 vs. 1, Polio: 16,316 vs. 0.” ("The Persistent Threat of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases", 2018) “In 1980 there were 2.6 million deaths from measles. In 2012, 84 percent of babies were vaccinated and there were only 122,000 deaths.” ("The Science Facts about Autism and Vaccines")
Since people have elected not to vaccinate their children, diseases have started to come back. During the time when the majority of the population was vaccinated, it creates a group immunity. With this, there is only a small gap for disease to get through. Overall this protects the minority of people who aren’t vaccinated. But when a larger group of people are unvaccinated, the group immunity diminishes. This allows for the spread of disease.
Scientifically, it is safe for babies to receive the vaccine that they do. Based on the number of antibodies present in the blood, a baby would theoretically have the ability to respond to around 10,000 vaccines at one time.” ("Vaccine Myths Debunked") There is no evidence that the trace amounts of aluminum and mercury are actually harmful.
The downside of vaccines are that they are becoming less effective as bacteria and viruses evolve. They are becoming resistant. Also, when you get a vaccine, it is not 100%. There is a chance that your body will not build the antibodies and the vaccine will not be effective. Another downside to vaccines is that you can’t just get a single shot. Vaccines require boosters to be effective, which puts you at risk for reactions, and exposes you to more chemical additives.
As long as there is the ability for a discussion to take place, there will always be a debate as to whether vaccines cause autism or not. There is not a definitive cause of autism identified. It is believed that autism is caused by genetics as well as certain environmental factors. In terms of chemicals we are exposed to in our lives, vaccines are just a small piece of the puzzle.
Some think that the recent spike in children with autism is due to progress in identifying the disease. Previously mental disorders were classified as mental retardation, or ignored for embarrassment reasons. We have gotten better at breaking down the symptoms and classifying it as it is, autism.
In conclusion, I do not think refusing vaccines for fear of autism justifies putting your child and other less fortunate people at risk for terrible diseases that are preventable. We developed vaccines to prevent millions of people, mainly babies and elderly people from dying terrible deaths. I fear that with people refusing vaccines, we are heading down the same path.
APA Reference Page
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Geier, D. A., King, P. G., Sykes, L. K., & Geier, M. R. (2008, October). A comprehensive review of mercury provoked autism. Retrieved from http://mercury-freedrugs.org/docs/0810dd_GeierDAEtAll_AComprehensiveReviewOfMercuryProvokedAutismIndianJMedResOct2008_v128_383-411_1004.pdf
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