A couple who are parents of 3 children are having an issue with giving their one year old child the MMR Vaccination, MMR stands for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella. The parents believe after giving the MMR Vaccine to their five year old, that symptoms of Autism arose within their child. They believe the same symptoms would affect their one year old. The mother holds a college degree, and decided to homeschool the children; and as well researches all the vaccines for the safety of her kids. I understand why they are so committed on their decision with this vaccine, but I believe you cannot give up until you share all aspects on this vaccine. The goal in this case study is to prove to the parents that vaccinations have not been proven to give symptoms or signs of Autism. The only speculation is from parents saying that vaccinations can cause a reaction that leads to Autism within the child.
Austimspeaks.org is a website that you can visit, which helps show the study of Autism. It also states that scientists have conducted extensive research over the past two decades. They have found that vaccines do not cause Autism as well. Also, if you visit, the CDC, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, they have a page that includes peoples conversations in which scientists and parents alike have explained that there is no such link between vaccinations or thimerosal and Autism. A website talking about vaccine safety, that supports healthy children, goes into depth about vaccine safety and how the theory of vaccinations causing Autism had come about. Another website talking about the history of vaccines and how they’ve changed over the years; a great website to take a look at in order to grasp a greater understanding on the theory and information of vaccines. The history of vaccines linked to Autism was actually started by a gastroenterologist by the name of Andrew Wakefield, MD. He studied the potential connection between bowel diseases and vaccines, by stating that the constant intestinal issues cause by vaccines lead to neurological issues which in turn caused Autism. Wakefield published a case study in 1998 with multiple other co-authors, claiming that they had found evidence that linked the two, and basically overnight it went viral. Long story short, when the article was looked into more deeply, it was actually found that most of the subjects that they had tested and “proven” to develop symptoms of autism after these vaccines, had actually shown symptoms of autism before the vaccines were ever administered. Wakefield actually lost his ability to practice medicine in Britain, due to what was stated as, “he had shown “callous disregard” for children in the course of his research.” It was also found later on that Wakefield had in fact committed research fraud by lying about the data that was received from the children. One more website I found, which once again focuses on the safety of vaccines, and how they do not cause Autism. The institute of medicine, which is now called the National Academy of Medicine, concluded that, “the body of evidence favors rejection of a casual relationship between Autism and MMR, vaccines, and thimerosal-containing vaccines”. The different websites all give strong information and discuss why Autism is not caused by vaccines, especially the MMR.
A possible consequence of not getting the MMR vaccine is potentially risking your child to being infected with any of the MMR related diseases, such as, Measles, Mumps, or Rubella. Measles can cause a fever, rash, cough, runny nose, diarrhea, pneumonia, brain damage, and worst of all, Death. Mumps can give similar symptoms as well as muscle aches, lack of appetite, inflammation, and brain or spinal cord damage. Lastly, Rubella can also give symptoms of both of these other diseases, all of which are highly contagious and prevent children from being a part of the public world. Another consequence of not vaccinating ones child, is without the vaccinations it can cause early respiratory illnesses and pertussis. The child’s health will greatly be at risk. This is why it is so crucial to understand the importance of vaccinations. Also, a child without the MMR Vaccine will not be allowed to be a part of the public school system. The only way of schooling a child who does not have all of their vaccines is to homeschool them in order to protect all the other students and teachers around the child from potentially getting a disease that the child may have due to not being vaccinated. Your child will also need special care if he or she needs to be taken to the hospital, you must call ahead and inform the hospital that you are coming and that your child is not vaccinated so that they can quarantine the area where the sick patient will be in order to keep the other patients from being affected. If in contact with another individual that has a weak immune system, they could be affected even more and cause them to become very ill or even die. If you have any questions on these issues with the MMR and Autism, you can go to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and go to the helpful PDF resources.
I would recommend that any parent, no matter the situation, should vaccinate their children. Not only for their own child’s safety but the safety of everyone that they may come in contact with. The goal of the disagreement is to show the parents that vaccines have never been proven to give Autism or any signs of adverse health effects. I believe that if the parents had come to me about strongly considering the decline the vaccine, I would sit with them and politely listen to their reasoning with strong eye contact and let them know that I cared about their opinion. If the parents sense a negative feeling during the visit they will not have trust in us. Trust is the key factor in the doctor patient relationship. After they were done explaining their reasoning, I would go into my strong beliefs on why everyone should be vaccinated. I would send them off with brochures or different websites that they could read up on and follow up with them within the next couple days. I would also follow up with an email as well, just to make them feel as comfortable as possible. Then if the parents still declined the vaccine after all the information that was given, I would still have one last final talk over with them and have them sign a waiver stating that we are not responsible if something happens to the child because the vaccine was not given. But I would also let the couple know, that regardless of their decision, we will do everything in our power to keep their child as healthy and safe as possible. I strongly believe that vaccines are here to help us live a healthier lifestyle, despite any side effects.
The safety and health of a child is crucial, and I believe that everyone should be vaccinated. This subject is important to me because I completely disagree with the argument of Autism being linked with vaccinations. I received my vaccinations as a baby as well as my entire family, including the youngest and newest members of the family. If you are against it, I strongly recommend you take the time to look at some of the websites I have mentioned and take the time to look more deeply into the subject, not only is a child’s life on the line when they are not vaccinated, but the people they come in contact with could be too.
Citations
- Do Vaccines Cause Autism? History of Vaccines, The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, 2018, www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/do-vaccines-cause-autism
- Do Vaccines Cause Autism? Vaccine Safety – Do Vaccines Cause Autism?, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Institute for Vaccine Safety, 10 May 2018, www.vaccinesafety.edu/vs-autism.htm
- Provider Resources for Vaccine Conversations with Parents. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 Nov. 2017, https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/conversations/index.html
- Vaccine Safety: Examine the Evidence. HealthyChildren.org, American Academy of Pediatrics, 24 July 2018, http://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/immunizations/Pages/Vaccine-Studies-Examine-the-Evidence.aspx
- What Causes Autism? Autism Speaks, http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-causes-autism