Use feedback from your instructor, peers, and any other sources to revise and finish writing your 5-paragraph essay.Demonstrate your understanding of the final step of the writing process—revision.Sub

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Vaccines

Jordan R. Massey

American Intercontinental University

Vaccines

Gandhi once said, “Vaccination is a barbarous practice and one of the most fatal of all the delusions current in our time...” (Gandhi, n.d.)While there are many others who feel vaccines aren’t safe or adequate, there are many other factors to consider about why we should be vaccinated. Reducing preventable diseases, herd immunity, and cost effectiveness are some of the biggest topics to consider when determining whether to vaccinate.

Chicken Pox, tetanus, measles, poliomyelitis (polio), and rabies are only a couple of preventable diseases by vaccination. Polio is a disease that affects children which often causes paralysis, once contacted there is no cure. Vaccination of children can protect them from polio. Polio has been eradicated from the United States since 1979, but still exists in only 3 countries in the world, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. To put it in perspective, while polio was still at its most infective state prior to vaccination, there were nearly 350,000 reported cases; in 2017 there were only 22 reported cases of polio. With polio still not eradicated, it has the potential to infect as many as 200,000 people every year in any country until it is eradicated (World Health Organization, 2018). The measles is another great example of the importance of vaccinations. In 2000, the measles went one year without an infected measles case being reported, at that point the disease was considered eradicated from the United States. After 8 years of no reported cases of the measles, there was an outbreak of the disease. The CDC explains the travelers who visit other countries; the travelers are either unvaccinated or become carries for the disease, then travel back to the U.S. where there are people who are unvaccinated and transmit the disease to them thereby becoming an epidemic. The CDC also reports that the amount of reported cases for 2019, 1,250 cases, is the largest infection since 1992 and a majority of the infected persons were not vaccinated against the disease (CDC, 2019). The majority of other preventable diseases would have the ability to go the same way polio is. Wouldn’t it be nice to travel to another country and not have to worry about the person giving you a tour possibly having chicken pox and infecting you?

People who have suppressed immune systems rely on something called herd immunity. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services websites gives an excellent explanation of herd immunity; “Germs can travel quickly through a community and make a lot of people sick. If enough people get sick, it can lead to an outbreak. But when enough people are vaccinated against a certain disease, the germs can’t travel as easily from person to person — and the entire community is less likely to get the disease. That means even people who can’t get vaccinated will have some protection from getting sick. And if a person does get sick, there’s less chance of an outbreak because it’s harder for the disease to spread. Eventually, the disease becomes rare — and sometimes, it’s wiped out altogether” (Vaccines Protect Your Community, n.d.). Immune suppressed people often contain babies and/or young children, pregnant women, geriatric people, and immunocompromised people. Those who rely on herd immunity are at higher risk of preventable disease if people who are able to be vaccinated do not vaccinate themselves. Some diseases like the flu that, even with the vaccine, when contracted in a healthy body it will be less severe. In an immune compromised person, this disease can be deadly, reducing the risk of spreading disease is the number one goal with vaccinating.

Ultimately vaccines save money. How can spending money on vaccines save money? Initially one must pay to be vaccinated, the vaccine prevents a disease which would ultimately have cost that person thousands of dollars to treat. The amount of time, people, and supplies used when treating a sickness is significantly less than the amount of time, people, and supplies used to give a vaccine, or even a series of vaccines. In the United States, approximately $27 billion is spent taking care of adults that had a vaccine preventable disease. A study conducted by Translational Science showed $13.5 billion in health treatment costs for babies born today was saved by vaccines. The money was saved because the vaccines prevented a disease that would have required the child to go into the hospital for more extensive treatment (Vaccines Are Cost Saving, 2019). It can be extremely costly to society for someone to get a disease that could have been prevented by a vaccine.

There are many who are against vaccines. Some of which don’t fully understand the consequences of an unvaccinated society. Vaccinating has one main goal, to create a healthy world to live in, they can only achieve this if more people abide by vaccination guidelines. Reducing vaccine preventable diseases, herd immunity, and reducing health care costs are the biggest and best reasons to be sure to follow through with vaccinating.

References

Boyd, R. (2016, April 18). It Takes a Herd. Retrieved from American Academy of Pediatrics: https://www.aap.org/en-us/aap-voices/Pages/It-Takes-a-Herd.aspx

CDC. (2014, April 24). Report shows 20-year US immunization program spares millions of children from diseases. Retrieved from Centers for Disease Control: https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p0424-immunization-program.html

CDC. (2019, August 2). Diseases You Almost Forgot About (Thanks to Vaccines). Retrieved from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/diseases/diseases-forgot.html

CDC. (2019, October 11). Measles Cases and Outbreaks. Retrieved from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html

Disease Eradication. (2018, January 25). Retrieved from The History of Vaccines: https://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/disease-eradication

Five Important Reasons to Vaccinate Your Child. (2018, January). Retrieved from U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: https://www.vaccines.gov/getting/for_parents/five_reasons

Gandhi, M. (n.d.). Quotable Quote. Retrieved from Good Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/946778-vaccination-is-a-barbarous-practice-and-one-of-the-most

Orenstein, W. A., Seib, K., Graham-Rowe, D., & Berkley, S. (2014, September 10). Contemporary Vaccine Challenges: Improving Global Health One Shot at a Time. Science Translational Medicine, 6(253), 253ps11. Retrieved from Science Translational Medicine: https://stm.sciencemag.org/content/6/253/253ps11

Regal, C. (2019, May 22). Vaccines Save Lives. Retrieved from AHIP: https://www.ahip.org/vaccines-save-lives/

Vaccines Are Cost Saving. (2019, April 8). Retrieved from Vaccinate Your Family: https://www.vaccinateyourfamily.org/why-vaccinate/vaccine-benefits/costs-of-disease-outbreaks/

Vaccines Protect Your Community. (n.d.). Retrieved from U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: https://www.vaccines.gov/basics/work/protection

World Health Organization. (2018, March). Does polio still exist? Is it curable? Retrieved from World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/features/qa/07/en/