If a person has poor hygiene, decides to eat unhealthily, or refuses a seatbelt while driving, it does not have a direct impact on the health of others. Being unvaccinated, however, can affect the health of a community, and infectious diseases can be spread in places such as work or school. Vaccinations are a safe and highly effective way to prevent the spread of deadly diseases. They are one of the most “effective prevention tools available to clinicians” (Omer). Vaccines have reshaped the path of medicine, and they have led to the eradication and prevention of several transmissible diseases. Not only that, they save families time and money and protect future generations from extremely contagious diseases. Due to these facts, the Food and Drug Administration should require vaccines to prevent common childhood illnesses as well as diseases that pose a threat to public welfare.
In 1789, the first smallpox vaccine was scientifically documented (Chou). This step played a pivotal role in the advancement of medicine and has led to substantial progress in decreasing infectious diseases associated with mortality. When the body encounters a pathogen for the first time, such as a virus or bacteria, the immune system recognizes the pathogen as an “invader” based on antigens, the specific molecular features of a pathogen (Chou). As a response, the body produces antibodies that allow the immune system to fight off the pathogen (Chou). The first time the body is infected by a pathogen, it takes days to produce enough antibodies to fight off the infection. As a result, the pathogen has a chance to attack the body, and it causes symptoms of illness. However, the body can memorize what an antigen looks like on the first encounter to gain strength and hold up better in future invasions.
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Vaccines work with the body’s immune system to teach the body to recognize a pathogen. They use very small amounts of antigens, in a weakened form, so the immune system can learn to recognize a pathogen and create antibodies in a safe and controlled fashion (“Making the Vaccine…”). Consequently, the immune system is already trained to fight off a pathogen before it can cause illness in a real encounter. Some key ingredients are needed to create a vaccine and develop immunity. Adjuvants, found in aspirin and antacids, are used to help the body respond to vaccines, stabilizers preserve a vaccine and keep it effective, and formaldehyde prevents a vaccine from being contaminated while it is being manufactured (“Making the Vaccine…”). Thimerosal is also an ingredient that is used only in multidose vials of the flu vaccine during the manufacturing process. (“Making the Vaccine…”).
Moreover, a vaccine can help an individual as well as the population as a whole. When the number of individuals reaches a certain percentage, herd immunity is achieved (Chou). Herd immunity protects the entire population, including those who are not vaccinated, because a bacteria or virus cannot spread as easily. The percentage of people that must be immunized varies for different diseases. For common diseases, 75-94% of the population needs to be immunized for herd immunity to be attained (Chou). This percentage is called the herd immunity threshold. Herd immunity is extremely important to protect people who are not eligible to receive vaccines. Those ineligible include people who are unable to respond to an infection due to a weakened immune system, pregnant women, or infants (Chou). According to Saad Omer, “A reduction in the incidence of a vaccine-preventable disease often leads to the public perception that the severity of the disease and susceptibility to it have decreased” (Omer). Nevertheless, vaccine-preventable diseases will always be dangerous and contagious. Vaccines are needed to protect the population and develop herd immunity. Although being vaccinated seems like a personal decision, it affects the entire population, and it can have devastating consequences that people need to be aware of.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the measles disease was very difficult to control (Omer). As a result, the start of immunization laws began in the United States. In 1969, a total of 17 states had laws requiring children to be vaccinated before entering school (Omer). Nevertheless, an attempt to strengthen and enforce immunization laws was made. During outbreaks of measles, students were excluded from school if they did not act in accordance with the immunization requirements (Omer). This act received “minimal backlash, quick improvement in local coverage, and control of outbreaks” (Omer). All 50 states had school immunization requirements by the beginning of the 1980s (Omer). However, the number of people refusing vaccines has increased due to public concerns about vaccine safety issues, and state-level rates of nonmedical exemptions have increased. As of now, people can receive exemptions from vaccinations due to medical reasons, religious beliefs, and philosophical or personal beliefs (Omer). Children who receive exemptions due to nonmedical reasons have a higher chance of obtaining and transmitting an infectious and vaccine-preventable disease. In a study based on nationwide data from 1985 to 1992, exempted children were 35 times as likely to acquire measles as children who did not have an exemption (Omer). Reasoning with this fact, vaccines should be required, and exemptions should only be made due to medical reasoning to increase protection against communicable diseases that pose a threat to a community.
Furthermore, the Food and Drug Administration should require vaccines because vaccines are extremely beneficial. Vaccines can save a child’s life and protect people against dangerous and deadly diseases. Although the chance of a child getting vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and whooping cough is low, a child should not lack the protection needed by a vaccine (“Making the Vaccine…”). For example, people do not expect to be in an accident, but they still choose to put on a seatbelt to be safe in the incident. When children are born, they are at a greater risk for infections because their immune system is not fully developed. Children are exposed to thousands of germs every day through the air they breathe, the food they eat, or the objects they put in their mouths (“Making the Vaccine…”). When children are exposed to these germs, they can develop a deadly disease. They are vulnerable to infectious diseases because they can contract diseases from any number of people or places. Vaccines work with the body’s natural defenses to strengthen the immune system to fight off these germs and provide immunity against life-threatening diseases. A person can gain future protection from a disease without getting sick. Diseases that once killed or injured thousands of people have been eliminated or close to extinction due to vaccinations.
Additionally, vaccines should be used to prevent potentially fatal diseases because they are safe and highly effective. Even though no vaccine is 100% effective, many vaccines come extremely close. For example, the chickenpox vaccine is almost 98% effective after two doses. Vaccines against diseases such as yellow fever, smallpox, and measles are also more than 95% effective if administered on schedule (Chou). Ensuring that these vaccines are safe is a priority for the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“Making the Vaccine…”). These organizations take many steps to guarantee a vaccine is safe before public use. Before being released to the public, a vaccine goes through extensive lab testing that can take several years to complete to prove that is safe and effective. A vaccine also has to be tested on humans before it can be licensed. This can take several more years to complete. Even after a vaccine is licensed, the FDA, CDC, and the National Institutes of Health monitor the use of vaccines and investigate concerns that people or organizations may have. Vaccines can cause some mild side effects such as pain, redness, or discomfort at the injection site (“Five Important Reasons…”). However, these side effects go away on their own and are minimal compared to the pain and suffering a vaccine-preventable disease would cause. According to the CDC, “There is a one in a million chance of getting a serious reaction to a vaccine” (“Making the Vaccine…”). Receiving multiple vaccines at the same time is also safe and offers protection against several diseases in the same visit to the doctor (“Making the Vaccine…”).
Equally important, vaccines save families time and money. According to Joseph Califano, a former United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, “The cost to each family and the nation as a whole, of fully immunizing our nation’s young is negligible compared to the cost, in dollars and human suffering, when children are attacked by diseases such as polio, tetanus, whooping cough, and diphtheria” (Conis 87). Without vaccines, children are at risk and can suffer through pain, disability, and death from vaccine-preventable diseases. If a vaccine-preventable disease results in chronic pain or prolonged disability, it can take a financial toll on a family. This happens because of missed work, medical bills, or long-term care (“Five Important Reasons…”). A child with a vaccine-preventable disease can also be denied attendance at facilities that provide childcare and schools (“Five Important Reasons…”). Due to this, a child can lack the care and education needed to fully develop healthy social, emotional, and communication skills. With this in mind, a vaccine is considered a good investment. Many vaccines are usually covered by insurance. The Vaccines for Children Program is also a federally funded program that provides vaccines at no cost for those who are eligible (“Five Important Reasons…”). Although vaccines may seem expensive at the time they are being administered, it is minimal compared to the cost a person would have to pay if they contracted a deadly disease.
Not only do vaccines save time and money, but they protect future generations. Vaccines have helped reduce the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases, and they have eliminated diseases that killed or injured people of previous generations. For example, the last known natural case of smallpox was reported in Somalia in 1977 (“Smallpox”). On May 8, 1980, the World Health Assembly officially declared the eradication of smallpox worldwide (“Smallpox”). As a result, children do not have to get routine vaccinations against smallpox because it is no longer needed. In addition, polio was one of America’s “most feared diseases” because it was a crippling and deadly disease (“Five Important Reasons…”). However, after the near eradication of the disease, the number of cases dropped drastically, and polio is now considered an extremely rare disease because of the medical advances in immunizations since the 1950s. The risk of pregnant women passing the rubella virus on to their offspring has also dramatically decreased due to the rubella vaccination, and there are now less than 1,000 cases of congenital rubella disease, fetal defects in an infant caused by rubella, per year (“Five Important Reasons…”). Although several diseases have been eliminated, the population should not allow diseases that were once “deadly, daily facts of life” to return due to “apathy or ignorance” (Conis 87). Moreover, if the Food and Drug Administration required vaccines for threatening diseases, some of the diseases of today would no longer be around to harm the population of the future.
Some people are supporters of the anti-vaccination movement. They argue that vaccines cause more harm than good. One of the biggest arguments of anti-vaccinationists is that vaccinations cause autism, a developmental disorder known to impair the ability to communicate and interact with other people (Chou). The controversy was sparked after a British surgeon named Andrew Wakefield, known as “the father of the anti-vaccine movement,” claimed a link between autism and vaccines in an article published in The Lancet in 1998 (Chou). In the article, he described the development of autism and gastrointestinal issues in twelve children soon after they received the MMR vaccine, a vaccine given to protect against measles, mumps, and rubella (Chou). This article gained immediate attention and became one of the main arguments that people opposed to vaccinations. Many parents also began to delay, skip, and avoid using vaccines due to the fear of vaccines being linked to autism.
Although this article was published in a medical journal, Andrew Wakefield’s ideas were based on false evidence. After the Wakefield study, other scientists began to conduct investigations that failed to prove the connection between autism and vaccines. Similarly, studies from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, and Japan failed to confirm Wakefield’s article (Chou). In 2014, Australian scientists analyzed ten prior studies and found no relationship between vaccines and autism (Chou). This study involved over 1.2 million children. Once more, another study was conducted and published in the United States in April 2015. This study also revealed that the MMR vaccine did not increase the chances of developing autism, even for those who had an increased likelihood of developing the condition due to their genetic makeup (Chou). In 2004, a journalist named Brian Deer introduced the idea that Andrew Wakefield may have fabricated evidence in his published article (Chou). Suspicions arose and questions went unanswered until several years later. In 2010, Wakefield was found guilty of serious misconduct by the General Medical Council (Chou). The Lancet withdrew the original article, and Wakefield lost his right to practice medicine in the United Kingdom (Chou). Although the article was retracted, people today still use the falsified evidence to fuel the anti-vaccination movement. Parents of autistic children have shared stories of their children developing signs of autism after getting vaccinated. However, the beginning of autism usually occurs when children are two to three years old (Chou). This is around the time that children receive most of their vaccinations. Additionally, anti-vaccinationists refer to the rise of autism diagnoses in the United States to link autism to vaccines. Nonetheless, the definition of autism has changed, and more children are being diagnosed with the disorder because the definition is more “detailed” and “inclusive” (Chou).
In conclusion, the Food and Drug Administration should require vaccines for infectious and transmissible diseases to keep the population healthy and safe. Vaccines are one of the most effective tools available for preventing dangerous diseases and the pain, disability, and death that can result from them. Vaccinations affect an individual as well as the community, and all individuals should be vaccinated to protect themselves and the population as a whole. They are highly safe and effective, and they can save families time and money. Vaccinations also protect future generations and can lead to the eradication of many deadly diseases.
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