Save Lives: Get Immunized

How getting vaccinated helps not only you, but those around you

Vaccines save over 6 million lives each year. They allow us to curb the spread of disease and drastically reduce mortality rates. They play a crucial role in maintaining the health of the public as a whole, not just individual recipients. And yet, more than 10% of parents skip or delay immunizations for their children. It’s important for parents to get their children vaccinated because they provide protection for everyone in the population.

In an article from his online journal, pediatrician Tim Jacks describes an encounter with an unvaccinated child that exposed his family to measles and endangered the life of his 2 year old daughter, Maggie. Doctors diagnosed Maggie with leukemia in August of 2014, and she has undergone multiple rounds of chemotherapy. She can’t get any immunizations until after her treatment is over, leaving her vulnerable to diseases that a child normally wouldn’t have to worry about. One day, Maggie went to a clinic for a lab draw, and she was exposed to the measles virus by another patient who hadn’t been vaccinated against it. Instead of having a three week break from treatments like they were supposed to, the family was forced to put their daughter in isolation and watch for symptoms, praying that none would show. Due to her weakened immune system, Maggie could easily have died if she had contracted the virus. Fortunately she was not infected, but the entire situation could have been prevented if the other child had been vaccinated. Jacks pleads with non-vaccinating parents to consider how their choices affect others. “Please realize that your child does not live in a bubble,” he says. “When your child gets sick, other children are exposed.”

If children with weak immune systems can’t get vaccinated, then how does it help when other children are? The answer is herd immunity. Herd immunity is the idea that in a large group of people, if most of the members are immune to a certain disease, then the spread of that disease will be contained. This protects the sickly and weak members of the population, who are much less likely to be exposed to the disease. When kids don’t get vaccinated, they are not immune to certain diseases, so an outbreak could spread much more easily. Not all unvaccinated kids might come down with the disease, but they are still likely to carry the pathogens, which could kill young children, the elderly, or people with immune system deficiency. Maggie’s story is an excellent example of how immunizations protect everyone in the population. If the other child had been vaccinated, Maggie would have been shielded from exposure to measles.

Because of the protection they provide, vaccines allow us to work towards eliminating certain diseases. Smallpox and polio, for example, have been virtually eradicated and are no longer a major threat thanks to vaccines. The road to eradication began in 1796, when physician Edward Jenner observed that milkmaids who had contracted cowpox were immune to smallpox during outbreaks, leading him to develop the first vaccine. Vaccines work by introducing a dead or very weak pathogen to the body, which imitates infection and teaches the immune system how to kill the pathogen. The smallpox virus once killed 35% of its victims, but through coordinated immunization efforts around the world, it was completely eliminated. Similarly, polio’s occurrence has been drastically reduced in many regions around the world, although it has yet to be eradicated. It may be possible to get rid of other diseases in the future, but only if everyone who can gets vaccinated.

Due to their importance to the eradication of diseases, vaccines have a profound impact on society worldwide. The World Health Organization determined that vaccines prevent over 6 million deaths annually. For decades, physicians have recommended vaccines in order to protect against nine diseases, including smallpox, tetanus, pertussis, and measles. Incidence of these diseases has dropped by 99% in the United States alone. Despite the effectiveness of vaccines, public attitudes based on incomplete information slow the development and approval of new immunizations, leading to more loss of life because patients do not have access to them. If as many people as possible get vaccinated, future generations will be protected. For example, children no longer need smallpox vaccinations because the illness has been completely eradicated. If a global effort is made to raise awareness concerning vaccines, diseases such as measles and rubella may follow in smallpox’s footsteps and simply become pages in a medical history textbook.

Many parents who are against vaccines are uninformed, and have misconceptions about how they work. A study for the NNII found that 25% of parents believe that vaccines can weaken a child’s immune system, and 23% believe that children get more vaccines than they should. Many anti-vax parents worry about chemicals that are found in vaccines, such as formaldehyde and thimerosal. Given that formaldehyde is a known carcinogen and thimerosal contains mercury, it’s easy to see why parents are concerned. Formaldehyde in large quantities can cause certain types of cancer. The FDA declared, however, that the amount of formaldehyde contained in vaccines is so small that it has no effect whatsoever. The highest amount present in any vaccine is 0.02 mg per dose. For reference, a pear contains anywhere from 38.7 to 60 mg of formaldehyde. While thimerosal was widely used as a preservative in the 20th century, the amount has been removed or reduced to less than 1 microgram in each vaccine. Since vaccines protect against potentially deadly diseases, it’s important to spread correct information about them and to help others understand them.

Although misinformation is often spread about vaccines, numerous scientific tests and studies have proven that they are safe, and are in fact an important factor in maintaining public health. This means that every year deaths occur that would have been prevented if the anti-vax movement had not gained so much popularity. 6 million lives around the world are saved each year with vaccination rates ranging from under 50% to 99%. How many people could we save if the global vaccination rate reached 100%?

Works Cited

“Pharmaceutical industry.” Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2015. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.

Gellin, Bruce G., Edward W. Maibach, and Edgar K. Marcuse. “Do Parents Understand Immunizations? A National Telephone Survey.” AAP Gateway. American Academy of Pediatrics, 26 July 2000. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.

Jacks, Tim. “To The Parent of the Unvaccinated Child Who Exposed My Family to Measles.” Mother Jones. N.p., 2 Feb. 2015. Web.

“Vaccination Greatly Reduces Disease, Disability, Death and Inequity Worldwide.” Bulletin of the World Health Organization 86.2 (2008): n. pag. World Health Organization. Web.

“Thimerosal in Vaccines.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration. N.p., 20 Aug. 2015. Web.

Center for Disease Control. Understanding How Vaccines Work. N.p.: Center for Disease Control, n.d. CDC. Feb. 2013. Web.

Flu vaccine. Digital image. Id-ea.org. N.p., 7 Aug. 2012. Web. <http://id-ea.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/flu-vaccine.jpg>.