Lately, the internet is buzzing about vaccinating kids. The internet controversy began as an argument between the people who agree with vaccinating their kids and those who don’t. However, now diseases have been spreading and creating epidemics in different areas affecting others with sickness.
Vaccination is defined as the “to inoculate with the modified virus of any of various other diseases, as a preventive measure.”
The purpose of vaccinating is to protect people from diseases and any other sickness that they could possibly develop from someone else. Vaccines help to prepare the body for a disease without actually giving disease symptoms. When bacteria get into the body, immune cells create antibodies that will fight off the disease.
Those that believe in vaccination believe that it is healthy and normal that kids get their shots so they can be protected by whatever is in the air. “Each year, 85 percent of the world’s children receive vaccines that protect them against tuberculosis, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and measles. These vaccines save about 2.5 million lives, and the hepatitis B vaccine, although not as widely used, saves about 600,000 lives,” according to The Children’s Hospital of Philidelphia.
Those that are “pro-vaccination” believe that if children are not vaccinated, there will be no protection from sickness, which can result in the children spreading diseases to everyone else around them. For example, if someone isn’t protected from measles, the fear is it will start an outbreak of measles in the world and start an epidemic which has already started to happen. This epidemic has recently started in Washington with under 100 cases but will continue to grow. So far, the biggest breakout in Washington has been in Clark County with 65 cases and one case in King County. They believe that for their children regardless of the additional health risks of being vaccinated, the other risks are minimal compared to deathly diseases.
Not only is it occurring in the states, but a huge outbreak in France started in May 2018 with a recorded number of more than 2,500 cases of measles. The most number of cases started with babies, but Vaccines Today states that children who are too young or too sick are the ones who are affected the most. They believe the numbers have increased because of the number of unvaccinated citizens that are living in France. The vaccine MMR cannot be used on younger children so that is putting them in more danger. Other countries who have a higher rate of people being vaccinated with MMR have a lower number of measle cases, according to Vaccines Today regarding the France outbreak.
Vaccination is a very important and serious situation that could affect the area that you live in. It is important that everyone becomes educated and informed about what is going on.