The documentary details the conflict between two sides of a public health argument. One side is comprised of the supporters of vaccination during infancy and childhood because such measures have had a direct hand in the eradication of certain diseases. The other side hold the opponents of vaccination, purporting that the process has a direct hand in the increased incidence of developmental disorders, most notably autism. Physicians and the CDC acknowledge the inherent risk that comes along with the administration of vaccines but conclude that the benefits far outweigh he potential risks. The families that have been supposedly affected negatively by vaccinations of children spread their stories to the public via the internet and news media, fueling "public awareness."
I was very pro-vaccination before this video, and if nothing else, it only made me more so. The points made by the opposing side are not grounded in concrete fact at all, honestly based more on faulty correlation than anything else. The symptoms of autism generally develop around two years of age or so, when certain developmental milestones are missed. Because your child happens to develop these symptoms around the same time that they are administered a vaccine doesn't mean that one caused the other. Correlation does not equal causality. Another extremely flawed idea is the listing of ingredients in vaccines and demanding to know what the purpose behind their inclusion was. Ingredients are not put into medical products just for the sake of putting them in. They certainly have some sort of effect on the vaccine that aids in the delivering process. While the substances themselves may odd things to put into you body, one must account for their reactions with each other.
Vaccines should not be a thing that parents can just opt out of because a youtube video has suddenly enlightened them to the intricate workings of medicine. Getting vaccinated has a direct effect on those around you because you are not only putting yourself at risk for the contraction of a serious disease, but all those you interact with. Parents that have their children opt out of vaccinations rely solely on herd immunity. This is the idea that because a large amount of the surrounding population are immune to a particular disease, it's enough to safeguard yourself from said disease. If everyone has this idea however, the concept of herd immunity falls apart.
While there are a handful of reasons that children do not get vaccinated for things, only a handful are actually legitimate reasons to not do so. Children cannot get certain vaccines until certain ages, so during the time until then, they are relying completely on immunization of those around them to be safe. Some parents simply do not have the financial means to get their children immunized because they lack insurance for a regular health care physician. However the ones that are not acceptable are those that opt out because they find that the fictional link that has been created between autism and vaccinations to be far too great of a risk to give it to their children. One comment was that the mother would prefer measles to autism if she had the choice. Not only is the stance on the issue outrageously ignorant, it's also extremely selfish because it harms the children whose parents actually made the effort to safeguard their children's health from deadly diseases.
If it were in my power to try and increase vaccination rates, I would definitely try and raise credible awareness for vaccines that rebuked the extreme thoughts of a handful. Publication of just hard statistics that go in the face the critics would be an idea. For example, autism is generally on the rise in diagnoses because autism wasn't really a readily diagnosed disorder in the past not because it didn't exist but because it wasn't diagnosed as autism. Therefore to create a causation between the rise in autism cases and the rise in vaccination rates is extremely flawed, because one could essentially make that correlation with anything that had a positive rise along with autism. Another method to increase vaccination rates is to make more vaccinations mandatory for entrance into the public school system. This will essentially force parents to find the means to get their children vaccinated because they need to go to school.
I enjoyed reading your article. Great summary. There are only a couple of points I would like to being to your attention.
ReplyDeleteQn 3 asked who should be involved in deciding if children get a specific vaccine. I did not see this addressed in your answer. This should be related to the role of parents, schools, Government, Physicians, Public Health professionals.
Qn 4 asked about reasons children might not receive a vaccine. I agree with your points above on this. You touched on parents and the health care system in terms of health insurance. Another important point may be the physician. Physicians can play a role in why children do not receive vaccines. If a Physician does not establish a trusting relationship with the parents of the child and does not take the time to explain the benefits of the vaccine or explain the controversies, parents may have no way to easing their anxiety about vaccination.
Great job! I lke what you said about herd immunity and children who are too young to get vaccinated. You are totally correct when you say thats those vaccinated children are the only things keeping diseases at bay. Also, The claims some of these parents make are outragous... When children are given certain vaccines, they are around the age of normal diagnosis of autism or other learning disabilities. Keep it up!
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