Vaccination has played an essential part in the lives of many people, and the effectiveness of it has proven itself by saving the lives of many people. When it comes to vaccinating children, then the parents have to decide whether they want to vaccinate their children or not. Vaccines can protect people from deadly diseases, and the effectiveness of it is equal in all the people regardless of their age or gender. The responsibility of vaccination for children falls on the parents as children cannot take that decision for themselves. If a child is vaccinated, then that child will be able to develop immunity against certain diseases before coming into contact with it. Vaccination can also be used to combat the infection if it has taken roots in a person. Vaccination of children not only protect children themselves other people as well.
Young children are at more risk of getting an infection because their immune system is not ready to protect their body against serious infections. The disease that is less dangerous to adults might be hazardous for children such as pneumococcal which is more dangerous to children compared to adults, and they are even deadly to infants. Children could be protected from dangerous diseases through vaccination before these diseases can take hold in their bodies. There is a misconception regarding the vaccination that it can overload the immune system of children and will do more harm than good. In reality, the immune system of a child fights off many germs on a daily basis. Even if the child did get the vaccination than it will make a small ratio of the immunity that the immune system of a person makes on a daily basis. Vaccination can help the children to combat the infection quickly and effectively. Through vaccination, a child can fight off the infection better in the future. Vaccination can cure the deadly diseases which could otherwise prove fatal. Parents need to vaccinate their children because it is their duty as parents to protect their children from deadly diseases.
Discussion
Parents are responsible for vaccinating their children to prevent them from getting a fatal or dangerous infection. Vaccination can help children to combat disease or protect them from being infected in the first place. Certain conditions can be avoided only through vaccination which can otherwise prove deadly. Doctors urge the parents to let their children get vaccinated unless there are medical reasons that are preventing the children from getting vaccinated. According to a report of UNICEF 123 million children were immunized on the global level in the year 2017 ("Vaccination and Immunization Statistics - UNICEF DATA," 2019). There are still lots of children that are not immunized especially in the underdeveloped countries. Many parents would deliberately avoid vaccinating their children due to the myths that are associated with vaccination. There are lots of risks that parents need to understand if they avoid vaccination their child. The result of avoiding vaccination can only yield negative consequences and would ultimately prove dangerous to the children. Avoiding vaccination is not only hazardous to the children but other people as well and its effects could spread to other people.
Certain diseases are dangerous and can only affect the children. Avoiding vaccination can increase the chances of these diseases. The infection can prove deadly in most cases, and it can even lead to disability in children. Mumps is a disease that can lead to permanent deafness in children if left unvaccinated. Polio can cause permanent paralysis of a particular part of the body, and its chances are exceptionally high in the children compared to adults. To prevent polio children needs to be vaccinated. Measles is an infection that could cause the brain to swell which can lead to the damage of the brain and can even cause death. Meningitis is an infection that could lead to permanent deafness and brain damage. The chances of these infections are unusually high in the children compared to adults. Sick people also need to be avoided to prevent these infections because certain diseases such as Measles can even spread through the air. Infections can also be spread through people who might not look sick as these germs can be dormant in one person and might not be inactive in another person. So it is vaccination is also essential in preventing the spread of disease to other people. The effects of vaccination are not only limited to the affected person but rather its impact could resonate in all the people surrounding the affected person (Bärnighausen et al., 2014). Certain diseases can only be avoided and cannot be treated such as polio, mumps, and measles. The severe infections can only be prevented through vaccination, and once these infections take hold, then the effects of it can permanently disable a person, or it can even result in death.
Vaccination can provide immunization against disease and vaccinated children are way better protected than the unvaccinated children. The advance in medicine has led to better prevention against diseases. The diseases were deadly in the past and had killed many children can now be cured with the help of vaccination, and some infections that were common in the past are nearly eliminated, or the frequency of these infections has been reduced. One such example is polio which devastated the lives of many people in the past however with the advancement of medical science polio is nearly extinct, and it can't be found in almost all of the countries in the world. Immunization in children has made them immune to the diseases that proved fatal for many children in the past. Without vaccination, polio would still be a significant problem, but vaccination has helped in the elimination of this issue. The lives of many children have been save from polio through immunization. Parents have to vaccinate their children against such diseases. The United States was divested by polio, but the willingness of parents to vaccinate their children has made the lives of many children better.
Vaccination can also help in making the lives of families easier and can also save them from excessive cost of treatment. Children might not be allowed to enter certain educational institutions and facilities if they are not vaccinated thus complicating problem for the parents. Certain diseases can be prevented through vaccination however when these diseases are left untreated then they can cause disabilities that last for a long time. Treatment of such conditions can put a financial strain on the family. In most cases, the children are left disable permanently, which could also result in disability care of the children. Vaccination against such severe diseases is always a good alternative because it prevents children from permanent disability and at the same time reduce the cost of treatment. There is a common perception that vaccines are not safe. This perception is wrong because vaccines go through many trials under the care of scientists. Vaccines are given to children after the careful consideration by scientists, the doctor and healthcare professional carefully review the case after giving vaccination to the children (Jolley & Douglas, 2014). The vaccines can be painful to some degree, but that pain is always preferable compared to pain caused by the disease that these vaccines are used to prevent. Allergic reaction to vaccination is rare, and the doctor can find such a case before the vaccination. The benefits that vaccination provide is far greater than the side effect, so they are preferable.
Vaccination has also helped in the elimination of disease that killed or severely disable many people in the previous generations. The elimination was possible due to the immunization of the previous generation the children born to vaccinated parents had stronger immune system compared to their parents to the diseases against which their parents vaccinated. For instance diseases like smallpox has been declared extinct due to vaccination and polio has nearly been eliminated due to the immunization of the previous generation. Children that are born after this eradication don't need protection against Smallpox because they are immune due to the vaccination of prior generation. Polio has also been eliminated through the vaccination. So vaccination not only prevents disease in the administered person but the future generations as well. If children are vaccinated, then their next generation will have less chance of infection against the immunized diseases. The effects of vaccinations are not only limited to and individual, but it can spread to the future generation.
Vaccination not only protects the vaccinated person but the people surrounding the person as well. If a person is vaccinated against specific disease than that person would not be able to spread the infection to other people who might not be suitable for vaccinating. Certain individuals are too young for vaccination such as babies. People with a particular type of allergy might also prevent children from getting vaccinated. The children with the weakened immune system that is caused by certain conditions might not be fit for vaccination. To prevent infections in such cases, it is essential for parents to vaccinate their children and themselves so that they are not able to spread the infection to other individuals. Such steps will help in preventing the spread of disease inside the family but will also assist in limiting the infection to the society as well.
Vaccination is the moral obligation of parents to help their children and society in general. If certain people have weak immunization system and cannot get vaccinated, then they will depend on other people of the community to get vaccinated so that the rate of infection could be reduced. The diseases that can be prevented from spreading through vaccination depend on the immune system of the entire community. The collective immunization can prevent the spread of such diseases on a large scale, and people with conditions preventing them from vaccination depends on the collective immunization of the community for their protection (Meunier, 2015). If the immune system of a person is stronger than that person would have less chance of getting infected. The collective immune system strength of a community will keep the people of weaker immune system safe. If more people in a community are vaccinated than it will reduce the chance of infections for certain diseases. Parents who chose not to vaccinate their children are putting the entire community at risk. The situation could be damaging to both the family of the child and the community. The parents who prevent the vaccination of their children are betraying their moral obligation. The treatment is not only protecting their child, but the protection of society is also depended on the immunization of these children.
Parents who chose not to vaccinate their child without any medical reason fully must take some steps to prevent the occurring of such disease. If the child is not vaccinated, then the immune system of that child will heavily depend on the preventive measure. If a child has vaccine-preventable diseases, then the preventable measurements will not help in combating such problem. Precaution would be needed to prevent the disease from spreading to other people in case the parents decided to avoid the vaccine. The record of immunizations would also need to keep close so that medical care could be taken according to medical history. However, in such case it will be a moral obligation of the parents to give vaccination their child so that the community could be kept safe and people with medical reason should be saved from such infection.
Avoiding the vaccination of children can lead to a certain problem if a vaccine-preventable disease is active in the community. People would try to avoid coming into contact with such a person, and the state institutes will also take steps to prevent such children from getting into different activities to prevent the spread of infection. Children whose parents refuse to vaccinate them in such condition might be asked to keep their children away from the childcare, school or other organization related to the children to prevent the spread of disease towards other children. The children would be kept away from such institutes till the management is sure that the situation is clear and the case could last for weeks. Certain diseases cannot be prevented with the immune system of the community. Tetanus or Lockjaw is one such disease, and there is no community protection against it because the disease is not contagious (Siddhapura, Harde & Jain, 2016). Tetanus does not spread from one child to another, and if a child is not vaccinated against Tetanus, then they can face serious consequences. The disease can spread by coming in contact with soil. Even with most intensive care, the chance of death is high both children and adults will face similar consequences. A vast majority of people who are infected with Tetanus have no history of any cut and injury that lead to the infection. The children need vaccination to prevent them from such sickness. There are conditions in which vaccination is unavoidable. Children cannot decide the immunization for themselves, and they depend on parents for the vaccine.
Conclusions
Parents have to vaccinate their children, and their immune system is not ready to combat against the severe infections. Lots of children in the world are still left unvaccinated which leave them vulnerable to lots of severe infections. If parents avoid vaccinating their children than it will only yield negative results, avoiding vaccination can lead to permanent disability or even death. Certain infections are deadly to children, and only treatment can help in the prevention of such disease. Vaccinations have helped in the eradication of many diseases, so the effects of it are not limited to the vaccinated person but impact the whole society. Certain conditions cannot be cured after the contamination and can only be prevented through vaccination. Vaccination provides better immunization against certain infections that could otherwise be dangerous to children. Vaccination has helped in the elimination of dangerous infections that affected the lives of many people in the past such as polio. The willingness of parents to vaccinate their children has helped in the eradication of these diseases. Vaccination not only save the cost of treatment by preventing infections but it also keeps people from the struggles of care after an illness. There is a false perception that vaccination is dangerous, but the benefits of immunization out weights the side effects and the occurrence of adverse effects are rare. Vaccination also helps in the prevention of certain infectious diseases in future generations. Vaccination can help a community in combating specific infection due to the collective immunization. Some diseases can only be prevented or cured through vaccination. It is the duty and moral obligation to vaccinate their child so that they can help not only their children but society as well.
References
Bärnighausen, T., Bloom, D. E., Cafiero-Fonseca, E. T., & O’Brien, J. C. (2014). Valuing vaccination. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(34), 12313-12319.
Jolley, D., & Douglas, K. M. (2014). The effects of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories on vaccination intentions. PloS one, 9(2), e89177.
Meunier, J. (2015). Social immunity and the evolution of group living in insects. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 370(1669), 20140102.
Siddhapura, K., Harde, H., & Jain, S. (2016). Immunostimulatory effect of tetanus toxoid loaded chitosan nanoparticles following microneedles assisted immunization. Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine, 12(1), 213-222.
Vaccination and Immunization Statistics - UNICEF DATA. (2019). Retrieved from https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-health/immunization/
