Vaccines
are currently one of the most effective means to fight and eradicate infectious
diseases. Vaccines are made to resemble a disease-causing microorganism, that’s
why they are usually made of killed forms of microbe or its surface proteins. They
provoke the body’s immune system to recognize the vaccine as a threat, destroy
it, and keep a record of it so it can be easily fight off in later encounter,
which leads to acquiring active immunity against the disease.
However, many people choose not to vaccinate themselves
or their children in fear of developing autism, or sterilization by
“Big-pharma” to limit human population. In 2016 over 20 thousand kids
weren’t vaccinated, because their parents decided not to. Not vaccinating your
kid not only puts it in danger of getting sick
but also it harms the herd immunity. Herd immunity is a form of indirect
protection from diseases, which happens when large percentage of population is
immune to an infection. The infection simply cannot spread and attack not an immunized
person when so many people are immune to it. Many people who can’t be
vaccinated, rely only on herd immunity. For
example , people with autoimmunological diseases, small babies, people with
AIDS or other diseases which do not let them get vaccinated.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/ng-interactive/2015/feb/05/-sp-watch-how-measles-outbreak-spreads-when-kids-get-vaccinated
In the picture above you can see how
herd immunity works, in different percentage of vaccinated people in society.
Because of
the recent trend of not vaccinating kids, diseases which were nearly eradicated reappeared in developed
countries. The best example is the measles outbreak which happened this year.
Measles is highly contagious and very dangerous disease. It spreads through air
by coughs and sneezes and by direct contact. The virus remains contagious for
up to two hours on infected surfaces, what makes it incredibly easy to get
infected, especially by kids. In January this year , Italy reported more than
two hundred cases of measles infection. Romania more than 3400 cases and 17
deaths since January 2016. For herd immunity to work against measles, at least 95% of society need to be vaccinated. That is why most of the
measles cases have been found in countries where vaccination levels dropped
below this threshold – France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Switzerland and
Ukraine. There is no treatment for
measles but two doses of vaccine prevent infection in the first place. WHO
regional director for Europe Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab said: "I urge all endemic
countries to take urgent measures to stop transmission of measles within their
borders, and all countries that have already achieved this to keep up their
guard and sustain high immunisation coverage."
Questions:
Have you
heard about the measles outbreak?
What do you
think about vaccines?
If you had
to choose now, would you vaccinate your child?
Comments
I like the idea of not allowing unvaccinated children in kindergartens. It's dangerous. Especially if there are kids that can't be vaccinated (there are some contraindications for it).
Sometime ago I watched a interview with woman who can't be vacinnated - her organism refused - something like that. She said, that for her, and people with same problem, it is very important that other people are vaccinated, because they are safer because of it. Not vaccinating makes danger to others.
I think that this is sad, that some group of people want to squander years of science and work, just because some "doctor" wrote some article, that was overthrown in 100%.
Today we can protect children from illness. Vaccines have been refined to a point where we can protect a child for more infections by using fewer antigens. Vaccines are safe and well tolerated by all(except those rare individuals who are allergic to their contents).
Vaccines are an incredibly effective tool to prevent illness , death and disability.
Never heard about outbreak in Italy.
What do you think about vaccines?
As we see through many studies that is the only way that can keep us healthy for a long time. Bypassing them is really irresponsible.
If you had to choose now, would you vaccinate your child?
Of course - that is the only option for me.
I've heard about protests against vaccination and even though I don't know much about it, it is obvious to me that we have to vaccine. It is an invention which greatly reduced population mortality over the years. We wouldn't want to have an outbreak which might decimate whole metropolities would we..
I think vaccines are really important method to defend us and our children against threats from the outside. Time showed it wasn't so bad idea to vaccinate people because it stopped few serious illnesses from spreading, and mostly eliminated them. As an example I can obviously say about smallpox/Blackpox. If I had to choose now to vaccinate my child, I'd say yes, better prevent than cure.
When I think about this issue some aspects cross my mind, for example:
1. Immunizations can save your child’s life.
2. Vaccination is very safe and effective.
3. Immunization protects future generations.
4. Immunizations can save your family time and money
5. Immunization protects others you care about.
They prevent many diseases so I have no idea why we shouldn't do it. If I have a child I would definitely vaccinate him.
I think vaccinations are absolute necessity. I don't understand people who had any doubts in terms of "Should I vaccinate the child or not?". If I have a child I would vaccinate him/her right away.
. In all seriousness I heard about resurfacing of measles which worries me a lot. No wonder governments want to introduce obligatory vaccinations. It's a really important issue and whenever I hear wise words of anti-vaccination people I think they never even bothered to read a single article on the subject that wasn't written by someone from their circle. If I had a child, I would definitely vaccinate it, and if anyone is has objections he can read tons of scientific publications and data on it.