Extra Credit Six: The Vaccine War

                Where do we draw the line with health: does it become a part of public policy or should it be a personal responsibility? This question is at the forefront of the "vaccine war," a debate over whether inoculations are safe or unsafe, and whether they should be a personal choice or mandatory. Vaccines have increased our lifespan by over 30 years, but are they worth the risks they potentially pose?

                In the first six years of life, a child will receive 35 inoculations to fight 14 diseases; this is four times the number of vaccines than a child from the 1970's received. Why such a large jump? All of the vaccines being administered are basically wiping out certain diseases. Doctors find it necessary to keep on vaccinating the population against these diseases so there is no spontaneous outbreaks. To doctors, the benefits of vaccines are clear - they are an easy preventative measure from some terrible diseases that can often be fatal. Why suffer the illness if it can be prevented?

                Some parents are refusing to vaccinate their children. They don't find some of the vaccines necessary, and deem sickness as "a part of childhood." Young parents didn't see diseases, like measles, mumps, or polio, while growing up. They don't realize the dangers and suffering it poses. However, doctors worry that these parents will bring back diseases that haven't been seen for a long time, as a sudden outbreak. These parents are generally more afraid of the risks that vaccines pose rather than the diseases they are preventing. Autism, most notably, is believed by many to be a result of vaccines. In a small percentage of the vaccinated population, brain injury, by chance, can occur; autism is a brain injury. Researchers don't doubt that vaccines can cause autism, but they do question: was autism bound to come up in the child eventually and did the vaccine just make it happen sooner rather than later? Much research has gone into this question, but it is still unanswered.

                With information readily available on the internet today, people can choose what they want to believe about vaccine horror stories. Internet can be noted as "fuel on the fire of the anti-vaccine" movement. Health officials worry because people "are more likely to believe something they see on YouTube than something from the CDC."

                Politically, California has allowed the Personal Belief Exemption, which has allowed parents to not vaccinate their children and still allow the children into schools. Personally, I believe that vaccination should be a personal choice, so I do not want to see politicians getting involved. However, I think that parents are not protecting their children by not vaccinating them, especially against the main diseases that are typically required by schools. Also, I think that health insurance companies would prefer having vaccinations as a requirement because it would ultimately be less expensive for them to prevent disease rather than having to treat it. 

"The Vaccine War." Frontline. PBS, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/vaccines/view/>.