Robert (1) Vaccinations: Intro, Solutions and Conclusion Immunization is the most powerful weapon available to fight disease.

They are so effective, that some diseases have been nearly eradicated. The problem is that pockets of humanity are able to stop immunizing, and subsequently experience outbreaks. To understand the importance of vaccinations, it is crucial to understand how they came into use, know how they are manufactured and regulated, and identify the global arguments concerning vaccinations.

Aly To begin to understand the importance of vaccinations, one needs to first comprehend the obstacles we as humans have long over come in the last few centuries of infectious diseases. Over centuries diseased pandemics have been one of the leading causes of death. Vaccinations are used to prevent childhood diseases and are considered to be one of the most effective techniques in medicine today. When you hear vaccines, you immediately think shots towards prevention of some sort, not the process someone went through, the organizations that approved it, or the manufactures that made it. The idea of vaccines started out with a eager hope to stop defects and death from consuming the lives of so many. Over centuries of doctors and scientist the journey of vaccines has been neither straight nor impeccable. It began in 1790s Edward Jenner came to the idea of the worlds first vaccine for smallpox by using cowpox, an illness in cattle. Then in 1885 a rabies vaccines became the next big impact in the world and by the 30s diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, anthrax, cholera, plague, typhoid, tuberculosis were being

prevented by vaccines. But it wasnt until the middle of the 20th century there was vaccine research and development that achieved a cure to most childhood diseases such as measles, mumps, and rubella. In the US organizations such as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have an organization called Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, known as ACIP which consists of fifteen voluntary members with expertise in the health field, chosen by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services which allow the members to make vaccine recommendations, evidence of further research, data, trials, and manufacturers labeling or packaging. In 1974 the World Health Organization known as the WHO is responsible for monitoring and assessing and providing global health for essential cares and threats of diseases with the use of vaccine. The WHO established the Expanded Program on Immunizations, known as EPI. Creating a worldwide resolution to expand and ensure the safety of children everywhere so that each country was given universal access to vaccines. By 2010 an estimated 85% of children under one year of age globally had received at least three doses of vaccine. (WHO). We as a society no longer hear of these diseases as frequently thanks to vaccines. Vaccines contain abundant agents such as viruses, bacteria, preservatives, and chemicals. With every organization seeing to supply countries with vaccines requires pharmaceutical companies to manufacture the name brand drugs. When the demand increases supply decreases allowing manufactures to raise their price which causes generic brands to increase in demand. In 1986, National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, a law designed in part to protect vaccine manufacturers against safety-related financial liability. This causes further development, research, and

time to produce an effective vaccine for countries everywhere. Once the pharmaceutical companies manufacture a drug it then goes to the Federal Drug Administration, known as the FDA to approve all drugs before it may be released to the public. Vaccinations were once the greatest solution to survival has now become an alternative controversial option. Heidi When it comes to education on vaccines, most people do not have the right resources. People seem to rely on more of the scientific facts found in the Internet, books, television, magazines or information said by their friends. This can create confusion because typically, most people do not have a background in health sciences to be able to distinguish between accurate and false information. Facts should be obtained from medical doctors when it comes down to the debate on whether vaccines are harmful to our health or not. If people solely depend on outside resources that do not include medical doctors, then the information obtained needs to come from well noted websites with information composed from scientist, clinicians, and caregivers whose primary job is to inform people on the negatives and positives of vaccines and who care about our health as much as they would care about their own. Websites such as The Centers of Disease, Control, and Prevention (www.cdc.gov/vaccines), The American Academy of Pediatrics (www.aap.org), and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (www.nnii.org), and among others are well-trusted resources. Their main focal point is to determine accurate scientific information from the false, whether they are carefully performed, published in reputable journals, and most importantly reproducible. Any information found that fails to meet these standards is deemed unreliable.

One main concern is the question of whether vaccines are safe to get or not. Vaccines are given to people who are not sick, therefore theyre considered to be very safe, in fact, they are considered to be among the healthiest things we put in our bodies. One thing to keep in mind is that they are not 100% safe due to some mild side effects. Some side effects may include fever, or tenderness and swelling where the shot was given. Some people may consider avoiding the shot because they may feel it is safest to not get the shot, and avoid the side effects all together. But in reality, avoiding the shot may put us at a greater risk. For example, discontinuing the pertussis vaccine in countries like Japan and England led to a tenfold increase in hospitalizations and deaths from pertussis (Plotkin S, et al. Vaccines. 6th Edition. Philadelphia, PA: W.B. Saunders and Co., 2012.). Recently, a decline in the number of children receiving measles vaccine in the United Kingdom and the United States led to an increase in measles hospitalizations (Plotkin S, et al. Vaccines. 6th Edition. Philadelphia, PA: W.B. Saunders and Co., 2012.). Kramer The use of vaccines has become widely accepted and is now very common practice in developed countries. The heavy use of vaccines is not without some downsides, such as adverse reactions to some of the vaccines available today. The adverse reactions can range from minor irritation and itching, to much more serious problems such as infection and death. Another adverse reaction to vaccinations recently came to light, which is the link to autism. The peer reviewed article Autism and Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination claims that, Epidemiological studies, however, have not found an association between MMR vaccination and autism (DeStefano and Chen). A study done in the Netherlands in 2010 reported that out of 1,250 healthy 9 year

old children, Local reactions occurred in 86.5% of the children within 7 days after vaccination (Kemmeran et al.). These local reactions were as minor as skin reddening and itching at the injection site. The same study also reported that, No serious adverse effects were reported (Kemmeran et al.) This study alone does not prove that serious adverse effects cant happen, but it does prove that they are very far and few between. Scientific research on vaccinations has been ongoing since the late 1700s. During the last century this research has greatly improved in its methods to produce safe vaccines, and to prevent and treat adverse effects. Governments of the world play a part in determining who is forced to get vaccinations, and what vaccinations are required. In the United States there is no federal law mandating vaccinations, but in all 50 states vaccinations are required to enter public schools. Other countries such as Australia do not require vaccinations, but provide incentives for families that have their children vaccinated. Slovenia is said to have the worlds most aggressive vaccination policy, requiring 9 different vaccinations before the child enters school. Governments should mandate every vaccine that has been proven safe, and effective, and that can prevent horrible disabling or fatal diseases. The effectiveness of vaccines is extremely close to 100% of cases for certain diseases such as polio, but can be hit and miss in changing ailments such as the flu. A study done primarily in the US states that, influenza vaccines are moderately effective (Treanor et al.). Importance of vaccines has steadily rose during the 21st century because of the massive increase in people in close proximity to one another. The term herd immunity has become more and more popular. This term means that with high numbers of people

who are vaccinated, diseases are far less likely to spread to those who have not been vaccinated, meaning that if everyone were to be vaccinated, certain preventable diseases would be all but eradicated. If the entire world were to become vaccinated against such preventable diseases, it is likely that these diseases would become a thing of the past and would no longer affect anyone. Robert (2) The solutions to this problem are (1)educating people, (2)responding faster to outbreaks, (3)improving vaccines, and (4)making them mandatory for all people world-wide. If these practices become standard, many diseases could be eradicated in a matter of years. The enhanced immune systems of the immunized people will destroy the disease, before it can mutate. Mutations occur when an immunized person is exposed to an un-immunized, ill person. The disease tries to spread, but is unable. Slight mutations within the disease appear unfamiliar to the vaccinated person's immune system. They catch and reproduce. At this point a new strain of the disease is formed which bypasses the immunization. This strain is free to infect others. A similar situation occurs when an animal disease mutates through sufficient exposure to infect humans. Some examples are Bubonic plague in rats, H1N1 from pigs, and H5N1 from birds. To solve this problem, organisms that are infected must be isolated and treated-protecting the population from exposure. Until people are properly educated, they will resist this confinement. To ease their apprehension, they should be separated in an ethical manner until the disease passes, and given all possible comforts until the treatment is complete. This mandatory separation becomes auto-voluntary when it is recognized as

a selfless sacrifice for humanity. The disease then has fewer chances to catch and mutate permanently, and a new strain is prevented from forming. The old strain dies out. This four-part approach to eradicating diseases world-wide hinges on the most important factor--education. Knowing the importance of vaccinations empowers humanity to combat diseases. It is helpful to understand the process of manufacturing and distributing vaccines, and the way governments around the world regulate immunizations. Vaccines have risks, but are constantly being improved through research. The problem is that there are people who will resist vaccination--the solution is to educate, to innovate, and to mandate--in that order. When humanity can cooperate in this one endeavor, the future will be better for everyone.

Works Cited (2012). The facts about childhood vaccines. The Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania, Retrieved from http://www.chop.edu/export/download/pdfs/articles/vaccine-education-center/vaccinesfact.pdf 2013). Immunization. American Academy of Pediatrics., Retrieved from http://www2.aap.org/immunization/families/safety.html Koch, Kathy. "Vaccine Controversies." CQ Researcher 25 Aug. 2000: 641-72. Web. 13 Oct. 2012.

Andre, Fe. Vaccination Greatly Reduces Disease, Disability, Death and Inequity Worldwide. Bulletin of the World Health organization 86.2 (2008): 140-46. Print. Vaccine Preventable Diseases, Who.N.p., 28 Nov. 2008 Web. 109 Nov. 2013 Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About ACIP16 Aug. 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2013 Kemmeren, J. M., Van der Maas, N. T., & De Melker, H. E. (2011). Parental reports of adverse events following simultaneously given dT-IPV and MMR vaccines in healthy 9year-old children. European Journal Of Pediatrics, 170(3), 339-345. doi:10.1007/s00431010-1294-4
DeStefano, F. F., & Chen, R. T. (2001). Autism and Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination: Controversy Laid to Rest?. CNS Drugs, 15(11), 831-837. Treanor, J. J., Talbot, H., Ohmit, S. E., Coleman, L. A., Thompson, M. G., Cheng, P., & ... Shay, D. K. (2012). Effectiveness of Seasonal Influenza Vaccines in the United States During a Season With Circulation of All Three Vaccine Strains. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 55(7), 951-959.