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Candidate #:3085

Should parents be required to have their children vaccinated?

“In the 20th century smallpox alone killed 300 million people” (nih.gov), and at one point

in time, it was the cause of death for 7% of Europeans. In 1979, the smallpox vaccination

eradicated the deadly disease in 1979. It is said by many that vaccination has been the most

effective contribution to global health after clean water and sanitation for contributions just like

this (nih.gov). However, despite the progressiveness of global vaccination, approximately 6.6

million children still die each year (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). The question of the safety of these

vaccinations also arises with many concerns over contaminants, what goes into a vaccine, and

adverse side-effects and deaths related to vaccinations. This poses the question should parents be

required to have their children vaccinated?

A major reason why parents haven’t been vaccinating their children in more recent years

spawns from a paper published by a gastroenterologist named Andrew Wakefield in 1998 which

linked colitis and autism to children receiving the MMR vaccine. The paper has now been

proven fraudulent after new studies were conducted but the impact on parents has had a lasting

effect. In 2000, the Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CDC) announced that measles

had been eradicated in the United States (Strauss, Elissa). Unfortunately, in 2014 there were 677

reported cases, which is outrageous considering there weren’t any 14 years earlier. Some of these

cases have been attributed to parents who abstain from having their children vaccinated, or “anti-

vaxxers”. Anti- vaxxers in Minnesota have also been held responsible for causing the biggest
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measles outbreak since 2015. Anti-vaxxer parents like these hold ‘measles parties’ with the

intention of exposing their children to others with the disease in order to build up their immune

systems. While to some, these parties may seem extreme, there is something for parents to worry

about- and it isn’t autism.

In 2014, at least 15 kids died in Syria after receiving measles vaccinations. These

children, all under the age of 2, were rushed to nearby medical facilities after they started

experiencing drastic symptoms after receiving the vaccine through a U.N. sponsored program

(CNN.com). After further investigation, it was suspected that the contaminated vaccines were a

product of human error and that strong muscle relaxants had accidently been mixed in with the

vaccine powder instead of the serum. If we can’t trust a vaccination program led by the U.N., it’s

a bit difficult to trust our own doctors. If human error was the cause of the deaths of these

children, it’s only plausible that something like this could happen again without the proper

regulations necessary. But this isn’t the only case where a failure in the health system has led to

death. In South Sudan, where “in 2016, there were 2,249 suspected measles cases (npr.org)”, a

measles campaign supported by UNICEF and The World Health Organization (WHO) led to the

death of fifteen children all under the age of five. In a statement issued by the two organizations,

it was revealed that “the vaccine had been left unrefrigerated,” and that “one syringe had been

used over the course of four days” (npr.org). Again, when the organizations responsible for our

health fail so tragically, it’s easy to see why some have been turned off by vaccines.

However tragic, if there is no human error with their handling, experts say that serious

reactions to these vaccines are rare but still occur. In a review of 11 vaccines all used in children

under 6 years old by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), it was found that there were adverse side

effects to some of the vaccines, but that patients rarely experienced them. “For example, the
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rotavirus vaccine RotaTeq was linked with 15 extra cases of intussusception per 1 million doses

of the vaccine, the review said. And between 3,000 and 4,000 children get the MMR vaccine for

every one extra case of a fever-triggered seizure” (livescience.com). However, some parents are

still concerned over what is actually in a vaccine. A study published in the International Journal

of Vaccines and Vaccination found “the presence of micro- and Nano-sized particulate matter

composed of inorganic elements in vaccine samples” not declared in the products’ ingredients

lists” (globalresearch.ca). Included in the vaccines were lead particles, stainless steel, tungsten,

platinum, silver, bismuth, chromium, and iron- which “can corrode and the corrosion products

exert a toxicity affecting the tissues,” and others. One ingredient commonly found in vaccines is

formaldehyde, a carcinogen that in prolonged exposure can cause cancer, but is used in vaccines

to “inactivate viruses and detoxify bacterial toxins” (publichealth.org). Another potentially

harmful ingredient is gelatin, which “is the single largest identifiable source of severe allergic

reactions from vaccines” (publichealth.org). Others include antibiotics, aluminum, thimerosal,

and MSG. However many of these substances are naturally occurring and have been deemed safe

in the amounts located in vaccines.

Even while facing bleak incidences like these, more and more countries are progressing

towards increased vaccination. India accounts for 37% of the global deaths caused by measles

each year (WHO). The country is now seeking out to eradicate measles by 2018 with two

measles vaccinations which will fully protect children against the viral infection. After

Germany’s increase in measles cases, new legislation was passed requiring parents to provide

their children’s kindergartens with proof that they had attended vaccination counseling (CNN).

Italy has decided to follow in the United States’ footsteps and require proof of vaccination in

order for children to attend school. Unlike the United States, however, parents will be fined if
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unable to produce proof of vaccination. “In Australia, the ‘No Jab, No Pay’ policy contains both

financial disincentives and incentives. Firstly, patients in lower earning scales get some

additional family tax rebates if they have kept their child up-to-date with their various

vaccinations” (CNN.com). Epidemics of preventable disease that used to go back and forth

between Texas and Mexico are now a thing of the past since Mexico’s adoption of anew

vaccination policy. If a parent has failed to have their child vaccinated on time, a nurse will visit

the house and administer the vaccine, regardless if the parents are present or not.

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