Crystal Hann
health WISE
Crystal Han is a freelance writer and artist. She graduated from San José State
University with a BFA in Animation/Illustration and is an aspiring novelist, currently
working on two books.
The Vaccine Debate
W
ith this most recent outbreak
of measles and the numerous
conflicting opinions about
vaccinations, you may be wondering
about the benefits and risks of childhood
vaccines. Some see vaccinations as the
ultimate threat to their child’s wellbeing,
while others see it as essential for protecting
their kids from diseases. So which one are
we supposed to believe?
Vaccines have been described as one
of the top ten achievements of public
health and disease prevention in the
twentieth century. Their widespread use
has contributed to decreasing rates of
childhood illnesses and have rendered
some diseases, such as smallpox and
polio, nearly extinct. However, for as
long as vaccines have existed, there
have always been fears and myths
surrounding them.
Much of the current and enduring
opposition to vaccines stems from the
British ex-doctor Andrew Wakefield.
Wakefield alleged that the Measles,
Mumps, and Rubella—MMR—vaccine
caused autism in children. It was later
discovered that Wakefield had been paid
by a law board to search for evidence that
would support a litigation case by parents
who believed the MMR vaccine caused
their children’s autism. He then faked a
study that found a correlation between
the two and published those findings to
the public. Due to overwhelming evidence
that Wakefield committed scientific fraud,
his medical license was revoked and his
findings were declared false. However, the
damage had already been done. To this day,
many people in the Western world believe
that the MMR vaccine, and vaccines in
general, cause autism in children.
Vaccination opponents have used many
claims to support this idea that vaccina-
tions cause autism, the most prominent
of which is the ingredient Thimerosol.
Thimerosol is a mercury-containing
compound that is used as a preservative in
76
vaccines. Despite there being no scientific
evidence that Thimerosol causes autism,
researchers continue to study possible links.
As a precautionary measure, Thimerosol has
also been removed from most childhood
vaccines, though some multidose vials of
the influenza vaccine may still have it for
sanitary reasons.
Another argument against vaccines
is the idea that group vaccines, such as
DTaP and MMR, overload a child’s immune
system. On average, a healthy child’s
immune system is exposed to and fights
off thousands of antigens—the parts of
germs that our immune system responds
to—a day. Even group vaccines like the
MMR vaccine contain only a tiny amount
of antigens compared to what we regularly
encounter.
The irony of vaccines is that when they
are working best is when the public doubts
them the most. Vaccinations create herd
immunity, where a disease effectively dies
out because everyone within the population
is immune to it. People start to think,
“No one gets polio anymore. Why do I
need to vaccinate my child for it?” These
thoughts are compounded by the preva-
lence of false and misleading information
online, which vilifies vaccinations by using
tactics like skewing science, censoring
opposition, attacking critics, and claiming
Sources:
Making the Vaccine Decision, CDC,
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/
vaccine-decision/index.html
History of Anti-Vaccination Movements, The
History of Vaccines.org, https://www.
historyofvaccines.org/index.php/content/
articles/history-anti-vaccination-movements
The Anti-Vaccination Movement: A Regres-
sion in Mordern Medicine, NCBI, https://
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC6122668/
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
june/july 2019
to be “pro-safe” vaccination advocates.
Research shows that spending just five to
ten minutes on an anti-vaccination website
heightens misperceptions of vaccination
risks. The result is the belief that the risks
and side effects of vaccines are worse than
the disease the vaccine is trying to prevent.
The more parents refuse to vaccinate their
children, the more herd immunity is lost.
All medicines carry some risk. Similar
to how some people may be violently
allergic to a food or a substance, there
is a small chance that someone might
develop a severe allergic reaction or
respond negatively to a vaccine. However,
there are far more complications from
the actual disease than from its vaccine.
Typical vaccine side-effects are soreness and
minor redness or swelling at the injection
site, a low fever, and occasionally a more
heightened allergic reaction. In contrast, an
infection of measles can lead to pneumonia
or encephalitis—swelling of the brain—and
death in young children. Pertussis, another
disease that’s on the rise lately, can lead
to pneumonia, pulmonary hypertension,
seizures, and cracked ribs or a hernia from
severe coughing.
At the heart of the vaccine debate, you
have parents who deeply love their children
and want to do what’s best for them; a job
that’s made harder by all of the fear and
misinformation out there. Although the
risk of an adverse reaction to vaccines is
small, no one wants their child to be part of
that small percentage. The problem is that
unvaccinated children aren’t just at risk of
contracting highly contagious diseases, they
also pose a big risk to vulnerable groups,
such as immune-compromised individu-
als, infants, and the elderly. As the debate
rages on about vaccines, perhaps one of the
most important things to consider is that
choosing not to vaccinate doesn’t only affect
you, it affects your entire community.
gmhtoday.com