I recently accidentally came across someone’s views on vaccination. I usually keep away from things written by anti-vaxxers, because it just infuriates me; but now, I’ve decided to write this mytake in order to inform people about the dangers of not vaccinating.
The Effect of Vaccines
Vaccinations are vital. The point of vaccination isn’t as a cure for a disease. It is a prevention. There are so many common diseases that are so easily preventable. Whooping cough, measles, meningitis. No matter how healthy your child is, no matter how good their immune system is, no matter how organic-vegan-and-vitamin-fuelled their diet is, they are always at risk if they are unvaccinated.
Vaccinations aren’t just a preventative though. When used efficiently (read: when there aren’t anti-vaxxers trying to undermine them), vaccines can eradicate entire diseases. Remember smallpox? No. Most of you probably don’t. But it was a deadly and extremely contagious disease that killed most of its victims, and left the rest physically scarred for life. Why don’t you remember it though? It’s because vaccinations eradicated smallpox. Same with polio. Polio used to be feared by all parents, as the disease that took the lives of so many children, and left the survivors paralysed and with lasting health problems. Then, what happened? It was eradicated, by, you guessed it. Vaccines.
The side effects of vaccines far outweigh the dangers. Most vaccine reactions are usually minor and temporary, such as a sore arm or mild fever. Very serious health events are extremely rare and are carefully monitored and investigated. You are far more likely to be seriously injured by a vaccine-preventable disease than by a vaccine. Vaccine preventable diseases do not have to be ‘facts of life’. Illnesses such as measles, mumps and rubella (all of which have vaccines) are serious and can lead to severe complications in both children and adults, including pneumonia, encephalitis, blindness, diarrhoea, ear infections, congenital rubella syndrome (if a woman becomes infected with rubella in early pregnancy), and death. All these diseases and suffering can be prevented with vaccines. Failure to vaccinate against these diseases leaves children unnecessarily vulnerable.
The Effect of the Anti-Vaccination Movement
Because anti-vaxxers are refusing to let their children be vaccine, diseases such as measles are appearing again. In the USA, where the anti-vaccination campaign is particularly rampant, the movement has racked up a body count of over 9,000, since 2007. These are children who have died from preventable diseases. But because their parents refused to vaccinate them, they have died.
If you take into account all those affected by preventable diseases, not just the ones whose lives have been taken, that racks up the number to nearly 150,000. Many of these people have been left with long lasting health problems.
In 2011, the states with lenient policies about immunization exemptions had 90 percent more whooping cough cases than stricter states. Measles was almost eradicated before there was a surge in measles due to non-vaccinated children. One major example was the Disneyland measles outbreak.
Herd immunity and selfish parents
There's this thing called 'herd immunity'. It's what protects an entire society from a disease, because the greater the proportion of people who are vaccinated, the less likely a disease is spread. By not vaccinating your children, you are not only putting their lives at risk, but also everyone they come into contact with that are physically unable to get the vaccine. While some babies are too young to be protected by vaccination, others may not be able to receive certain vaccinations due to severe allergies, weakened immune systems from conditions like leukaemia, or other reasons. If your child is physically able to get vaccinated, then they should get vaccinated.
And Finally
If you are selfish enough to think that your own ideas about the dangers of vaccines are enough to justify not vaccinating your children, and therefore risking the lives of your children, as well as the lives of all the at-risk children your child comes into contact with, I’m not sure what else I have to say to you. You are a terrible human being. And that is not something I usually say to anyone other than myself.
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