RUNNING HEAD: FINDING THE NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK

Finding the Needle in a Haystack of Commotion

Francisco Canel
George Washington University

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With the existing option of protecting your childs life further than any physical
possibilities, it is hard to believe there is any chance of rejecting such a claim.
Vaccinations have been readily available to the public for various decades, however, their
usage rate, has not been that favorable. Despite a plethora of vaccination cases, which
resulted in the prevention of diseases, there are many arguments posed against this
procedure. Childhood vaccination has been highly favored by doctors; yet, claims made
by parents have led to an outbreak in anti-vaccination movements. There are many
Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPD), which have favored vaccines in an ongoing debate
over the necessity of parents to get their children vaccinated. With substantial evidence
pointing towards a decrease in outbreaks of VPDs, there should be more favorable
discussions for the implementation of vaccines and their financial, societal, and medical
results.
Straying away from the main factor of the debate, decrease and prevention of
diseases, there exists many financial benefits to increasing childhood vaccination rates.
Firstly, vaccines across the world have been structured to be affordable to the majority of
income classes. There is a wide range of prices for vaccines clearly fluctuating due to
the severity of the disease being prevented yet the range remains at an average of $40
USD. With an already seemingly affordable price, pro-vaccination health care companies
and physicians have been working to make vaccines even more affordable to a vast
majority of the global population. Subsequently, the incurring costs, which would spur
from a child being infected of a VPD or serious infection, such as medication and
treatment, can be diminished and/or prevented by the proper implementation of
vaccination.

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Along with the financial benefits is the societal issues being resolved by the
increasing vaccination rates. The root of this argument is embodied by the fact that
members of society must not only think for themselves. In other words, implementation
of vaccinations in a society can only be deemed successful if the majority of the members
of this society are supportive. If there are a large number of children vaccinated in a
society, there will clearly be a smaller chance of outbreak of a VPD. Although some
children will be susceptible to the disease or infection, the unique genetic make up of the
disease may not be prevented. This stresses the importance of maintaining a uniform
process in protecting the health of these younger individuals. Nevertheless, this factor
also works vice-versa. If there are a greater number of children unvaccinated, there is a
higher probability that the children that have been vaccinated may still be infected by a
combination of infections. Claims made about children who do not get vaccinated have
been focused on the spreading of diseases that have been seemingly dormant for years
such as measles. It was in the year 2000 that the United States announced the successful
elimination of measles. However, in his journal entry Understanding Public Perceptions
of Benefits and Risks of Childhood Vaccinations in the United States, Geoboo Song
states:

Since then, the importations of measles into the United States continue to
occur, posing risks for measles outbreaks and sustained measles
transmission. In fact, during 2011 alone, a total of 222 measles cases and
17 measles outbreaks were reported to the CDC, compared with a median
of 60 cases and four outbreaks reported annually from 2001 to 2010.

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This serves to be a prime example of the severity of the issue at hand.

Consequently, increasing childhood vaccination rates is looked at as societys best
healthcare investment due to the possibilities that could potentially spur from
successful results (Song, 2014).
Nevertheless, still at the forefront of the vaccination debate lays medical results.
Sharp decreases continue to surface in the number of VPD and other diseases prevented
by vaccination. These diminishing statistics have shown much success in the prevention
of measles, malaria, tetanus, chicken pox, pertussis and much more. Ongoing medical
examinations have shown positive signs resulting from the use of vaccinations in the
upbringing of children. These examinations have resulted in studies of demographics
showing that there is an extension in the life span of individuals due to the prevention of
diseases, assisted mainly by vaccination. Three doctors from the Washington D.C area
conducted a study of nine individuals, all of different ethnicities and demographics, to
measure their position in the debate, all of which held masters in library science. The
study was measured with 5 potential resulting stances. These five are: (1) without
vaccination, a child may get a disease, (2) without vaccinations, a child can cause other
children and adults to get the disease, (3) vaccines are necessary, (4) vaccines are safe,
and (5) serious side effects can occur with vaccination. The study resulted in none of the
participants creating a stance against vaccination. As indicated in the main argument,
there should exist no potentially harmful effects of neglecting a child to be vaccinated
(Keselman, Smith et al., 2014).

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No argument stands alone without an existing rebuttal towards its effectiveness.

Groups of parents across the world believe that physicians and healthcare providers
suggest childhood vaccinations, solely for the purpose of financial benefits. These
conspiracies root from a standpoint on the opposite side of the medical spectrum. Their
refusal for the implementation of childhood vaccination is structured by their disbelief in
the viewpoint of the financial area of medicine. Despite much data released to the public
showing proof of doctors pushing towards childhood vaccination for the prevention of
outbreaks and spreading of threatening diseases, parents continue to question the precise
reasoning behind it. The medical sector seems differs from any other industry due to the
intelligence required to practice within it. The majority of individuals on this earth are
oblivious to the details and facts about medicine. This leads them to believe that trained
professionals could be feeding them what they want since there is a smaller
understanding. As a result, there is growing concerns linking thoughts about various
potential diseases spurring from vaccinations. Purely the existence of vaccinations
causing an infection or disease has led to an increase in parental speculation about the
outcome. Nevertheless, arrays of studies and examinations have been conducted to show
a very low number of cases where vaccination has caused an infection or disease as a
result (Song, Silva et al., 2014)
It is vital that parents realize the potential benefits that can come from childhood
immunization. Through the financial benefits of depreciating long-term costs, increasing
societal awareness, and finally leading to positive medical results through decreases in
infections and VPDs, parents can raise awareness for those who believe that this is not
an imminent issue. If this situation is not brought to the forefront of these arguments,

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there could be a surprising increase in cases, which have not been dealt with in many
years. Progress in medicine has come to see a lack of these diseases and can potentially
be caught off guard if there is a resurgence of such impacts. There is a possibility to avoid
this if proper work is done. Therefore, more time must be spent focusing on the success
of childhood vaccination, rather than putting increasing efforts into extracting or creating
controversial negative impacts.

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REFERENCES:

Keselman, A., Smith, C. A., & Hundal, S. (2014). Library workers' personal beliefs about
childhood vaccination and vaccination information provision.Journal Of The
Medical Library Association, 102(3), 205-210. doi:10.3163/1536-5050.102.3.012
Song, G. (2014). Understanding public perceptions of benefits and risks of childhood
vaccinations in the United States. Risk Analysis: An International Journal, 34(3),
541-555.
Song, G., Silva, C. L., & Jenkins-Smith, H. C. (2014). Cultural worldview and preference
for childhood vaccination policy. Policy Studies Journal, 42(4), 528-554.
doi:10.1111/psj.12076