My gag reflex forced me forward as I spewed more vomit into the bucket. My throat felt rubbed raw and my mouth burned on as if fire. A nasty stench filled my eight year old nose as I looked out to the ocean. My family and I had taken a cruise, and it took a turn for the worse. The blame for my ill-feelings falls not on sea- sickness, but on the Rotavirus. I am still not sure where on the cruise I got the virus, but I do remember how terrible I felt because of it. I also remember all of the fun cruise activities I missed because I could not leave the room. My family and I could have simply avoided the experience by vaccinating me against the rotavirus. The rotavirus vaccine protects against the virus that ruined my vacation, and protects millions of kids every year from contracting the disease. Thankfully, the Rotavirus rarely kills and that's why I never received the vaccination for it, however I did receive the necessary vaccinations to protect me from more dangerous diseases. Unfortunately, a growing number of people have adopted beliefs against these essential vaccinations and the Anti-vaccination movement has taken the world by storm. These people endanger themselves and the people around them with their actions and ideas. Due to a rise in anti-vax beliefs, recent outbreaks of diseases, and all of the good vaccinations can do, the government should enact legislation requiring all Americans to get vaccinated.
To understand how vaccines work, one must first understand how the human immune system works. The immune system divides into two seperate branches: innate immunity and acquired immunity. Over millions of years, the human body has evolved resistance to a multitude of different diseases. This innate immunity remains almost the same in every human regardless of race or gender. Acquired immunity consists of B and T-lymphocytes, this part of the immune system remembers past diseases the body has encountered and the best way to fight off the infection. This part of the immune system activates in response to vaccines and remembers how to defeat the disease that the vaccine contains (Casey para. 12). Vaccines themselves have two different kinds: live attenuated and non-living. Live attenuated vaccines inject patients with a weakened version of a still living virus for the immune system to finish off and remember. Non-living vaccines contain killed versions of the organism that still trigger an immune response; most vaccinations classify as non-living (Casey para. 27-30). Vaccines also have an odd phenomenon associated with them where all people (regardless if vaccinated or not) in a community receive protection from a specific disease once a certain number of people in the community get vaccinated for that disease. Dubbed “herd immunity” by scientists, this phenomenon means that some unvaccinated people can still receive protection from a disease if enough people around them have received the proper vaccination (Loehr 29). With all of the scientific backing for vaccines, it's odd that so many people have elected to avoid them all together. Parents have always felt skeptical about vaccines, however after an in depth conversation with their family doctor, usually most parents realize their children should in fact get vaccinated. But in 1998, Dr. Andrew Wakefeild and 12 other authors linked the MMR vaccine to the inflamation of bowels, which they argued somehow lead to autism. This study officially started the anti-vaccination trend that so many people have adopted around the world (Loehr pg. 262). The situation has gone out of hand, and has made it necessary for legislation to require that people get their vaccinations.
A law requiring vaccinations would receive the most opposition from the anti-vax community. Anti-vaxxers would first claim that vaccines have dangerous side effects. A poorly prepared vaccine could contain a living strain of the virus, and the injected person may contract the disease instead of receiving protection from it. Additionally, many children receive multiple vaccinations at once. The introduction of multiple antigens to their body may overwhelm their immune system and leave them vulnerable to other infections that they otherwise could fight off (@antivaxmomma). Also, sometimes after vaccinations “people experience symptoms such as malaise, myalgia, fever, headache, and anorexia” (Casey para. 42). Finally, anaphylaxis proves the worst adverse vaccine side effect, because it can cause an allergic reaction following a vaccine (Casey para. 41). According to anti-vaxxers, vaccines have devastating side effects, and pose too much of a threat to require them for everybody.
Anti-vaxxers often exaggerate the extent of side effects, or base their conclusions on faulty evidence. The claim that a poorly prepared vaccine can give someone the disease, instead of protect against it, leaves out some information. This can only occur in live attenuated vaccines, and it occurs very rarely. The live attenuated oral polio vaccination for example, causes the disease once in every 2.4 million doses (Casey para. 39). As for overwhelming the immune system, no evidence shows that vaccines overwhelm the immune system with antigens. In fact, a baby exposes itself to hundreds of antigens on a daily basis, and the immune system responds effectively to those, just like it can to vaccinations (Loehr pg. 69). As for the symptoms of malaise, myalgia, fever headache, and anorexia, they could originate from the vaccine, but more likely come from another source and happen as a coincidence along with the vaccine (Casey para. 42). For Anaphylaxis, it “is extremely rare, occurring in less than one case per million vaccine doses” (Casey para. 41). The FDA and the CDC also monitor vaccines after they release to the public. They utilize the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System or VAERS to do this. People can submit VAERS reports after receiving a vaccine, and the reports get monitored for trends in adverse side effects. Then if any actually concerning side effects come, the CDC and FDA can handle them appropriately (Center For Disease Control). Vaccines' positive effects far outweigh their minimal side effects, and the side effects should not prevent a law requiring them for all american citizens.
Anti-vaxxers would also claim that due to harmful ingredients in vaccines, the law should not go into effect. First off, vaccines contain “thimerosal, an antibacterial compound used in vaccines for more than 50 years [which] is toxic to the central nervous system” (Thompson para. 2). Vaccines utilize aluminum salts as well. These salts combine with the rest of the vaccine to “create a gel-like solution for injection” (Casey para. 33). Aluminum can have toxic effects on the body, and should not purposefully enter a person's body. According to anti-vaxxers, a law should not require everyone to get exposed to these harmful ingredients.
The claims against vaccination legislation involving dangerous ingredients often leave out important information. For example, “since 2001, all vaccines that can be given to young children are thimerosal-free” (Loehr pg. 258). Additionally, thimerosal’s removal proves that vaccines undergo modification if necessary for the health of the public. However, aluminum still remains in vaccines today. It remains because very little aluminum gets used. The daily dose of milk formula for an infant contains more aluminum than any vaccine (Loehr pg. 274). Aluminum may have toxic effects, but vaccines do not contain enough to harm the vaccine recipient. Vaccines potentially harmful ingredients do not pose enough of a threat to prevent a law requiring vaccinations for all.
The final argument that anti-vaxxers might assert against the law would come from their founding idea: vaccinations cause autism. According to anti-vaxxers, the thimerosal used in vaccines can cause neurological disorders which can lead to autism (Thompson para. 2). Additionally, the findings of Dr. Andrew Wakefield's study which proved that vaccines cause autism. His findings showed that the “measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine damages the gastrointestinal lining, thereby permitting the entrance of encephalopathic proteins and causing autism” (Thompson para. 1). The last piece of evidence comes from the story of a young girl named Hannah Poling. She developed an autism-like syndrome after receiving a set of vaccines at two years old, and she continues to live with the condition today (Loehr pgs. 264-265). Many stories like Hannah’s exist, proving that vaccines cause autism. Anti-vaccination supporters would argue a law should not require American citizens to get autism, so the mandatory vaccination law should not happen.
Contrary to what anti-vaxxers believe, vaccinations do not cause autism. As aforementioned, vaccines no longer contain thimerosal. Even if it had remained in use, a study done by seven separate parties spread across five different countries found that autism rates had nothing to do with thimerosal present in vaccines (Thompson para. 2). As for the original study by Dr. Wakefield, some studies sought to replicate the findings. 13 different studies from 5 separate countries found no similar findings. The finding that the MMR vaccine could damage the gastrointestinal lining and then cause autism must have happened by coincidence. In 1998, autism rates in England climbed high enough that each month 25 children would get diagnosed after they received the MMR vaccine just by sheer coincidence (Thompson para. 1). However, one more possible explanation for the results remains: that Wakefield falsified the findings. It came forward later that a lawyer (from legal aid funds) funded Wakefield's 'research' and planned to use it to bring a class action lawsuit against the manufacturers of the MMR vaccine. Wakefield himself had taken out a patent for a single measles vaccine before publishing his research. He blamed the triple vaccine as the cause of autism, and said “the vaccines were safe if given individually” (Casey para. 24). He clearly planned on turning a profit from this by using his single measles vaccine patent after people stopped using the MMR vaccine. Clear evidence did come out later of the fraudulent activity, and in 2010 the original publisher of the study retracted it for good (Casey para. 21-27). As for the case of Hannah Poling, she actually had a rare mitochondrial disorder. People with this disorder develop normally, until some sort of significant stress happens to their system and they begin to develop the autism-like symptoms. Hannah’s body experienced stress from the vaccine, which caused her to develop autism-like symptoms. However, this stress would have come from another source sooner or later in her life, such as the flu or the common cold (Loehr pg. 266). Vaccines do not cause autism, and anti-vaxxers have no legitimate claims to stop a law requiring vaccinations for all.
The main resistance for the law would come from anti-vaxxers, however the entire anti-vaccine movement sits upon false accusations, misinformation, and flawed advertising. Many anti-vaccination supporters argue that vaccines exist for profit for the pharmaceutical industry, however, “the profit margin on vaccines has never approached that of certain categories of drugs, such as cholesterol- lowering medications” (Loehr pg. 76). The movement also relies on “cherry picking of data, the use of anecdotes in place of risk ratios, and celebrity “expert” opinion [which has] caused dangerous reductions in immunization rates in a number of nations in the last decade, with subsequent outbreaks of diseases” (Casey para. 46). While their information remains terrible, it compares nothing to the false advertising put forth by the movement. Robert Wolfe, from Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine, analyzed 772 links, and specifically looked at 22 with anti-vaccination information. From those links he “found content claims that vaccines cause idiopathic illness (100% of sites), vaccines erode immunity (95% of sites), adverse vaccine reactions are underreported (95%), and vaccination policy is motivated by profit (91%)” (Anti-vaccination websites rely on emotion para. 4). Anti-vaxxers continually advertise these claims as fact, when in reality, these claims hold no water. Additionally found in that study, 55% of anti-vaccination sites include anecdotes from parents who believe their children died or received injuries from vaccines. 25% of those sites included pictures of the children looking sickly and weak (Anti-vaccination websites rely on emotion para. 4). This clearly shows the anti-vaccination movements overuse of pathos and lack of legitimate logos. The anti-vaccination community has no right to advise people on health care, especially when it comes to vaccinations. The law requiring vaccinations for all should not receive any resistance from the illegitimate, misinformed anti-vaccination movement.
The law should not pass just because no serious group opposes it, the law should pass because the American public needs it. On more than one occasion, a measles outbreak has threatened the health of many Americans, and has proven that everyone needs to receive the proper vaccinations for the good of everyone. One of the first major outbreaks of measles in America, after the vaccination for it released to the public, happened “from 1989 to 1991, affecting fifty-five thousand people. This epidemic occurred during the era when the United States had high-quality sanitation and medical facilities, and still 132 deaths resulted from complications related to measles” (Loehr pg. 100). This shows how bad the virus can get, however this information has become outdated. More recently in December of 2014 over 50 individuals became infected with the measles after visiting Disneyland in Anaheim, California. From that initial starting point, the disease spread to a number of American cities (Frantantoro para. 1). Fifty people may not seem like a lot of people, however nobody should have received the measles illness while on vacation. Upon investigation of the outbreak, “the CDC has made the following conclusions: the majority of the people who got measles were unvaccinated, travelers with measles continue to bring the disease into the united states, measles can spread when it reaches a community in the united states where groups of people are unvaccinated” (Frantantoro para. 3-6). These people pose risks to themselves by not getting the proper vaccinations against these diseases. Some anti-vaxxers would claim that measles poses only a mild threat, not very dangerous or life threatening (@antivaxmomma). However, measles comes with a high fever and makes the infected very sick. Deaths can occur from measles, and can sometimes require hospitalization. Even if patients don’t go to the hospital, they will most surely spend many days in bed, kept there by the virus. Before vaccinations, the measles virus would kill roughly 450 people a year (Loehr pgs. 99-100). Measles has slowly snuck back into society through anti-vaxxers, and the time has come to finish it for good. A law requiring citizens to protect against the virus would kill it off, and end these potentially deadly measles outbreaks.
Finally, vaccines should become mandatory for all, because they do good, and work wonders for people's health. The power to prevent disease altogether proves one of the greatest achievements in human history (Casey para. 1). Vaccines have risks associated with them, but the risk of potentially catching a life threatening disease, far outweighs any risk a vaccine could offer (Anti-vaccination websites rely on emotion para. 5). Vaccines do not work for everybody, but just because a few people do not get the intended results does not mean people should not try. Only those who would experience allergic reactions should not try the vaccine, and they could receive an exemption to the law. For everyone else, the vaccinations would remain mandatory and required. The people who do not receive the vaccinations will remain protected by herd immunity, because everyone else will have the necessary protection. Vaccines have saved millions of lives and have almost completely eradicated many deadly diseases like smallpox, polio, and the measles (Boyne para. 7). If everyone did their part and received the proper vaccinations, these diseases and others would disappear in America for good, and other countries would most likely follow suit. Vaccines have already done great things for the world, and they can continue to protect millions more. On top of the protection they provide, “vaccines are among the most monitored medications in the world today, facing much tougher regulation since they are given to healthy people, and healthy children” (Casey para. 44). Despite what anti-vaxxers may claim, the government monitors vaccines, and protects its citizens from potentially dangerous substances. Not only do vaccines exhibit safety, they make the world a safer place to live. They continue to improve and become better at protecting everyone. In the words of Dr. Jamie Loehr, “as I have said many times, I personally and professionally believe that the benefits of vaccines outweigh the risks associated with vaccines and I recommend to all my patients that they receive the vaccines on schedule” (Loehr pg. 94). Almost every doctor has the same recommendation. Vaccines continue to do good in the world, and therefore all citizens should have to get them.
In conclusion, a law requiring vaccinations for all American citizens should go into effect to make the country healthier and more protected from disease. The law has no serious opposition, as anti-vaxxers assert incorrect beliefs about vaccines. Vaccines do have side effects, but they cause only minor problems, which usually sort themselves out with no treatment. Vaccines also do not contain any dangerous ingredients, and anything potentially dangerous exists in too small quantities to cause harm. Also, despite what anti-vaxxers claim, vaccines do not cause autism, they never have and they never will. The entire Anti-vaccine movement rests on false accusations, misinformation, and flawed advertising. Anti-vaxxers have no reasonable arguments, and they need vaccinations just like everyone else does. Recent outbreaks, such as measles show how too many unvaccinated people can pose a serious threat to the community and to themselves. It also shows the dangers of everyone not having the proper vaccinations. Vaccines have support from almost every medical professional in the world, and have proven over and over again their effectiveness. The country needs a law requiring vaccinations for all citizens, because it would save so many lives and protect the country from diseases for years to come.