Why Some Parents Won’t Vaccinate Their Kids Professor Ramos Blog

Why Some Parents Won’t Vaccinate Their Kids While vaccines have been preventing death and injuries for hundreds of years against diseases like measles, deadly diseases still show up all around the world. The clear answer on why is that some parents either cannot afford to pay for vaccines or simply don’t believe in them. Financial status had affected children not getting vaccinated, not only in the united states but also â€Å"Measles vaccination remains sub-optimal, particularly in Bauchi. Efforts to counter negative perceptions about vaccination and to ensure vaccinations are actually provided free may help to increase vaccination rates. Parents need to be made aware that vaccination should be free, including for children without a birth certificate, and vaccination could be an opportunity for issuing birth certificates. The study provides pointers for state-level planning to increase vaccination rates.†(Cockcroft et al). Measles outbreaks have been recently popping up everywhere around the world, in Madagascar , and places in the United States like Washington, New York, Oakland County, and many more cities and counties. Though some anti-vaccinators approve of the vaccines against measles and other deadly diseases and use them, they still don’t approve on other vaccines and believe they make the patient worse or don’t have an effect at all. There are many variations and inputs on why parents don’t vaccinate, as listed above, but the main reasons why parents don’t vaccinate their kids can fall into these categories, safety concerns, religious beliefs, or personal views and/or ethics (Mckee and Bohannon). Many parents often think that vaccines frequently lead to autism, and some even know its a low percentage, but still, don’t want to jeopardize the risks. However many doctors’ have debunked this rumor, with research and statistics. Religious views, on the other hand, cannot be debunked because people’s faith sometimes doesnt give a clear reas on, and rather just an answer. Personal views and/or views are the category for everything else, meaning they neither come from a persuasive source nor a religious one, or sometimes they are a mix of both but, they surely come from what peoples’ own opinion. Parents claim that science has provided information that links vaccines to autism. However recent studies say otherwise. An online textbook called â€Å"Clinical Infectious Diseases† states that â€Å"Although child vaccination rates remain high, some parental concern persists that vaccines might cause autism. Three specific hypotheses have been proposed: (1) the combination measles-mumps-rubella vaccine causes autism by damaging the intestinal lining, which allows the entrance of encephalopathic proteins; (2) thimerosal, an ethylmercury-containing preservative in some vaccines, is toxic to the central nervous system; and (3) the simultaneous administration of multiple vaccines overwhelms or weakens the immune system. We will discuss the genesis of each of these theories and review the relevant epidemiological evidence.† (Plotkin, Gerber, and Offit) This states that autism doesnt necessarily relate to vaccines and the textbook goes into more detail claiming, and debunki ng the original article that persuaded theyre linked, it critiques the study by saying â€Å"Although no data supporting an association between MMR vaccine and autism existed and a plausible biological mechanism was lacking, several epidemiologic studies were performed to address parental fears created by the publication by Wakefield.† (Plotkin, Gerber, and Offit). The authors explain how it wouldnt make sense to believe that the two are linked in any way possible. Even though clear evidence proves correlation from vaccines to autism, that still remains one of the main reasons today, why parents refuse to vaccinate their children. Religion is a sensitive topic when it comes to whats allowed and whats not, some religious people even feel offended or disgusted when someone of their religion, sins or breaks a rule. Therefore in religion, it becomes tricky when it comes around science because you cannot decide for yourself unless you plan on going against your religion. But in the articles â€Å"Heres Where Major Religions Actually Stand On Vaccines: Almost all U.S. states allow religious exemptions to immunization. But the issue has almost nothing to do with religion.† By Antonia Blumberg, it goes through all the major religions and manages to capture their views on vaccines. It shows that the majority of people who decline vaccines come from Christian orientated homes, like how the Catholic church as a whole opposes vaccines, while Muslim and Jewish homes openly accept vaccines, and actually encourage it. It also states that many Christians still do vaccinate as a whole. (Blumberg). Blumberg also acknowle dges that â€Å"Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist texts and doctrine contain no teachings in opposition to immunization† (Blumberg). Religious-based declines for vaccines cannot be debunked however, because if a religion says its impermissible, then for that religion it is. It is not a science-based question, where we can answer it with research, experiments, and conduct of extreme information. With religion, you always have to respect ones wishes, but to what extent is the question. Personal views usually sprout from the media, of friends and family, but nonetheless, they still are your views, and opinions you’ve gained yourself. Some parents just dont think its right for their child on numerous reasons, while others dont trust the hospital, doctor or even vaccine. There can be many concepts that personal beliefs can fall into, and it can even be linked up with safety concerns or religious beliefs. Its actually stated that â€Å"There is more than one way to understand paren ts views about immunization. Some parents have virtually no information, and when provided with data about harms and benefits, they usually (anecdotally) give permission for their child to be vaccinated. Other parents may have limited information or incorrect information that can be corrected by the physician, and yet others have a great deal of information and a firm philosophical stance that immunization is not what is best for their child. There are also divisions between complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners and some physicians about the merits and risks of vaccination.† (Gilmour et al). The article claims the physician should provide the best and more truthful information they can into helping the parent decide, being honest about side effects, risks and debunking false claims. The parent can then decide based on their personal beliefs on whether or not to vaccinate their child. (Gilmour et al). Everyone has a right to chose to vaccinate or not, but what poses a possible threat and an uprising question, is at what extent? Bibliography Stanley Plotkin, Jeffrey S. Gerber, Paul A. Offit; Vaccines and Autism: A Tale of Shifting Hypotheses, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Volume 48, Issue 4, 15 February 2009, Pages 456–461, https://doi.org/10.1086/596476 This article describes the concerns for that parents have in the connection between autism and vaccines. It debunks the main source of credibility that parents who refuse vaccines look to. This article. This article was published by the Infectious disease society of america, who work with scientists and doctors, and therefore are credible. I’m using this article for my report because its useful information on my analysis of why some parents refuse vaccines. Anne Cockcroft ,Muhammad U Usman, O’brian F Nyamucherera,Henry Emori,Bong Duke, Nisser Ali Umar and Neil Andersson Archives of Public Health The official journal of the Belgian Public Health Association 201472:48 https://doi.org/10.1186/2049-3258-72-48 This article explains why some parents don’t vaccinate their children. Its credible because doctors wrote it, and its credited by the public health association of belgium. Im using this article because it describes exactly what the title of my paper is about. I’m also using it to furthermore explain my point, and plot it. McKee, Chephra and Kristin Bohannon. â€Å"Exploring the Reasons Behind Parental Refusal of Vaccines† journal of pediatric pharmacology and therapeutics : JPPT : the official journal of PPAG vol. 21,2 (2016): 104-9. This journal identifies the factors of refusing vaccines and why it had been going on. This article is very credible because its a journal written for people in the medical field. Its a team of professionals narrowing down the outcomes and explaining why parents refuse from a more up front point of view. Im using it to see further into my thesis, and understand what the problem is. Blumberg, Antonia. â€Å"Here’s where major religions stand on vaccines† Article of huffpost magazine, reporter of huffpost magazine, Lydia Polgreen (03/31/17) https://www.huffpost.com/entry/heres-where-major-religions-actually-stand-on-vaccines_n_58dc3ef0e4b08194e3b71fc4 This article says what religions have to say about vaccines and the problem at use. This article is credible because it has been published on a magazine with editors and hundreds of thousands of readers. Im using this article in my report to understand what role religion plays in deciding to take the vaccine or not. Joan Gilmour, Christine Harrison, Leyla Asadi, Michael H. Cohen, Sunita Vohra. Childhood Immunization: When Physicians and Parents Disagree Pediatrics Nov 2011, 128 (Supplement 4) S167-S174; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2010-2720E This article describes the four reasons why parents disagree to vaccines and debunking their theories or excuses. It also helps to see where the rumors came from and the misinformation interpreted. Its credible because its written by a physician, on a scholarly website. Im using this journal in my report because it has useful information to structure my paragraphs and explain the issue.