Vaccinations by: Jeff J Mitchell

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that kids aged 6 and younger be given 9 vaccines. In
all, 29 shots are recommended, as some of the vaccines must be given more than once. The idea behind
vaccination is that the best way to provide protection against a disease is to give a person a small dose
of that disease. This low-level exposure allows the body to build up resistance to the disease. So, to
protect a person against smallpox disease, you vaccinate them with a tiny bit of smallpox. Protecting a
person this way is known as immunization.

There are no U.S. federal laws that say everyone must be vaccinated. However, all 50 U.S. states require
certain vaccinations for children entering public schools. Most states offer medical and religious
exemptions, though. A few also allow exemptions for people who believe vaccination is a bad idea.

Supporters of vaccination say it is safe and that it is one of the greatest health developments of the 20th
century. They point out that illnesses like rubella, diphtheria, smallpox, polio and whooping cough are
now prevented by vaccination. As a result, they say, millions of childrens lives are saved. They claim it is
extremely rare for people to react badly to vaccines.

Opponents say that childrens immune systems can deal with most infections naturally. The immune
system is the body's own set of defenses against disease. They argue that injecting questionable vaccine
ingredients into a child may cause serious and even deadly side effects. They also claim that numerous
studies prove that vaccines can trigger behavioral problems. In particular, they say vaccines may cause
autism. Autism is a mental condition that makes it difficult to communicate with others.

The Invention Of Vaccines

The first instance of vaccine promotion in the United States was in 1721. A minister named Cotton
Mather encouraged vaccination in response to an outbreak of a disease called smallpox.

Vaccination as it is practiced today came into being when Edward Jenner, an English doctor, created the
first smallpox vaccine in 1796. To make the vaccine, he used cowpox, a milder form of smallpox. Jenners
innovation was used for 200 years, with updates. It eradicated smallpox. Eradication means the disease
does not exist anywhere in the world. Some diseases are not eradicated, but are eliminated, which
means that the disease is no longer present in a particular part of the world.

In 1801, Benjamin Waterhouse, another physician, began using the "Cowpox Vaccine." This led
Massachusetts to become the first U.S. state to promote the use of vaccination.

In 1813, President James Madison signed into law An Act to Encourage Vaccination, which created the
National Vaccine Agency. In 1855, Massachusetts passed the first U.S. state law requiring vaccinations
for school children. By 1970, 29 states would require that children be immunized to attend public
schools.

Wakefield Accused Of Lying About Vaccines Causing Autism

In February 1998, Dr. Andrew Wakefield published an article about a study he had conducted. Wakefield
claimed his study proved that the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella can cause autism. Soon, some
parents began using Wakefields article as a reason for not vaccinating their children.
Brian Deer, an investigative reporter, looked into Wakefield's study. In a series of articles he accused
Wakefield of "falsifying medical histories of children." Deer claimed Wakefield had purposely created
fake evidence. He said Wakefield had been paid to do this by "lawyers hoping to sue vaccine
manufacturers and to create a vaccine scare."

In 2011, the British Journal of Medicine published an article stating that Wakefield received over
$674,000 from lawyers. Furthermore, it claimed that 5 of the 12 children examined by Wakefield had
problems before being vaccinated and three never had autism. Britain stripped Wakefield of his medical
license in 2011.

Thimerosal Is A Controversial Ingredient

Anti-vaccine activists have been particularly concerned about a vaccine ingredient called thimerosal,
which is added to vaccines to keep them from spoiling. In 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics and
the U.S. Public Health Service recommended that thimerosal be removed from vaccines.

In 2005, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. published an article titled "Deadly Immunity." In it, he claimed the CDC
was covering up a "staggering number of earlier studies" that show a link between thimerosal and
autism.

Kennedy's article led to an 18-month investigation by the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education,
Labor and Pensions. The investigation concluded that Kennedy's claim was false. Thimerosal was being
removed from childhood vaccines not because dangers had been proved, the report said, but only as a
precaution. By 2009, thimerosal had been phased out of almost all vaccines in the U.S.

Vaccines Deemed Safe

In August 2011, the Institute of Medicine issued a report on vaccines. The report stated that the
evidence suggests that there is no link between the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism.
However, the report added that in some cases the chicken pox vaccine can cause pneumonia, meningitis
or hepatitis. Such infections can occur in individuals with a weak resistance to disease, the report stated.

In 2012 the Cochrane Collaboration, a health research group, conducted its own independent
investigation. It concluded that there was no significant association" between the MMR vaccine and a
number of conditions, including autism.

Disappearing Diseases

Many of the diseases for which people receive vaccines have been eliminated or eradicated over time.
Smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980, and was the first disease to be eradicated. Polio was declared
eliminated in the United States in 1979 and in the Western Hemisphere in 1994. Rubella was declared
eliminated in the Americas in 2015, and measles in 2016.

The World Health Organization states that the eradication and elimination of these diseases is due to
successful vaccination programs. Those opposed to vaccination disagree. They say that cleaner living
conditions and cleaner water are what led to the diseases' elimination, not vaccination.