It has been an ongoing debate for years whether vaccinations should be used or not, and it will continue to be debated for years to come. Anti Vaccine rallies are held and attended by those skeptical of today's vaccines being used to prevent diseases, such as Polio and Smallpox. Some of these protesters against vaccinations claim they are a violation on the beliefs of the founding fathers. Although vaccination was not the method used to prevent disease during the time of the founding fathers, inoculation was. Inoculation was a far less safer form of prevention than vaccines, yet founding fathers such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams were all inoculated successfully, and supported this method. John Adams also has his family inoculated, like we watched in the movie in our class. In 1796 Edward Jenner made the discovery of vaccinations. In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson declared vaccination one of the nation’s first public health priorities. Considering the years of scientific advances in health measures, vaccines are proven to prevent some of the most deadly and contagious diseases we still face today. According to Dr. Howard Markel, a professor of the history of medicine at the University of Michigan, so few Americans have firsthand knowledge of the safeness and reliability of vaccines. I agree with him completely because vaccines have clearly helped us come a long way in the history of health and science. Although some risks are involved, I feel the results in the end are worth it. To have the ability to prevent diseases that have shown to be so dangerous and contagious, and then take that ability away would be ridiculous. Instead of fighting and protesting against vaccines, we should be finding ways to make them better. This article reassured me that although many people fear, or protest against vaccination, many others fight to keep them around everyday as well. It is frustrating to read about anti vaccine rally members using the beliefs of the founding fathers against vaccination, when they actually helped create organizations supporting vaccination. I thought this article deserved attention because the on-going debate whether or not to use vaccines is a heavy subject. Also when debating this topic, all points should be made with fact-based information so people don't worry over points made without evidence. This debate will last a long time and the result will have an effect on everyone, so it is important that the information being released by both sides of the argument is fact based, so people actually know what they're fighting for. To me, a world without vaccination would be a scary place, so I truly hope people get to hear the truth of the history of vaccination.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/health/01smallpox.html
I really like this article because it showed a different view on the vaccine debate. I had never heard of people feeling as though vaccination conflicted with the beliefs of the founding fathers. I liked the connections you made to what we learned in class about innoculation. Vaccination is certainly more safe and reliable. I agree that we should be spending more time looking to improve vaccines and perhaps make new ones rather than debating whether or not they conflict with historical beliefs.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kara. This article showed a different view over the debate about vaccine use. I mean I knew there were people who did not approve of vaccination but I had no idea that they thought it went against what the founding fathers believed. Also I like how you made the connection to small pox when you were talking about innoculation. Like Kara said vaccination is a lot safer than innoculation. I agree with you when you said a world without vaccination would be a very scary place. All of these diseases that we have vaccinations for would come back and people would get very sick from them. So hopefully this debate is settled very soon.
ReplyDeleteAfter doing the assignment on the different polio vaccines, the website used pointed out that 1 in 2.7 million people can become paralyzed by the active virus in the vaccine. While some may argue that the risk is not worth it for that one in 2.7 million people, those who receive the vaccine are probably very glad they have it. What the anti-vaccine protesters should observe is how smallpox, a very deadly and contagious disease, was eradicated thanks to vaccines. Vaccines aren't without risks, like I believe there is a connection to the rise in cases of autism, but for those who live in worse conditions than we do are probably very happy to receive them regardless of risk.
ReplyDeleteThis article has really started a good debate. Julie you did a very good job written this. Like Kara and Meghan said I agree with that Vaccination is certainly more safe and reliable. I cannot imagine a world today with getting the flu shot or the chicken pox shot. I think that a lot more people would get sick and it would be like we took a step back in medicine. I think that we should put more money and effort into making safer and effective vaccines.
ReplyDeleteI am definatley pro vaccination. Like people have said innoculation is dangerous even though it is what the founding fathers wanted. Vaccination does have a very small risk, but it is worth it in the end. There are different kinds of vaccination too for people who are worried about risks, for example the flu vaccine. Some people like to get a shot (dead vaccine) while others like to get the flu mist (live vaccine). As we have learned the dead vaccine is safer because you won't actually get sick, where the live vaccine could give you a small case of the flu. I will always get my shots. The world would be a muc scarier place without vaccines.
ReplyDeleteI find it surprising that something so beneficial to the public can be such a debatable issue. Innoculation was used as a prevention for disease many years ago, which contained a much higher risk. It actually made people ill and also caused some debate before. However, vaccination causes less harm than good and should be taken advantage of since it exists. With dead vaccines in the form of a shot, there is no chance of becoming sick because it's not exactly "living." Pro-vaccination should be the majority due to the positive outcomes!
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Joel said. Everyone should know that there is always a risk when getting vaccinated. If only 1 person out of 2.7 million gets affected by the vaccine, it is clear that the disease is worth it for the good health of the general public. If vaccinations did not exist, our nation would still be plagued by many disease that have been eradicated from the U.S. like polio or smallpox.
ReplyDeleteI think Joel and Alex are right here when they say that everyone knows there is a risk involved with vaccination. But since only 1 in 2.7 million are negatively affected, nobody should use fear as an excuse to not get vaccinated. Vaccinations are what help this world stay healthy every day and without them, I don't think the world would be the same at all. As mentioned before, Polio and Smallpox have been eradicated from the United States and this is completely the result of people being vaccinated, so I think it is foolish for people not to get them.
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