Issue Overview: Vaccines

By ProCon.org, adapted by Newsela staff on 01.24.17

Word Count 1,129

A young boy receives an immunization shot at a health center in Glasgow, Scotland, September 3, 2007. Photo by: Jeff J
Mitchell/Getty Images

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that kids aged 0 to 6 get 29 doses of
9 vaccines. The idea behind vaccination is that the best way to provide protection against
a disease is to expose a person's body to a small dose of that disease. This low-level
exposure allows the body to build up resistance to the disease. Thus, to protect a person
against smallpox you vaccinate them with a tiny bit of smallpox. Protecting a person this
way is known as immunization.
No U.S. federal laws mandate vaccination, but all 50 states require certain vaccinations for
children entering public schools. Most states offer medical and religious exemptions. A few
also allow philosophical exemptions for people who believe the practice of vaccination is
misguided.
Supporters of vaccination say it is safe and that it is one of the greatest health
developments of the 20th century. They point out that illnesses like rubella, diphtheria,
smallpox, polio and whooping cough are now prevented by vaccination and millions of
childrens lives are saved. They claim that bad reactions to vaccines are extremely rare.

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Opponents say that childrens immune systems can deal with most infections naturally.
They argue that injecting questionable vaccine ingredients into a child may cause side
effects, including seizures, paralysis and death. They claim that numerous studies prove
that vaccines can trigger both health and behavioral problems. In particular, they say that
vaccines may trigger autism, a mental condition that makes it dif cult to communicate with
others.

First Vaccine Was In Response To Smallpox

The rst instance of vaccine promotion in the United States was in 1721. A minister named
Cotton Mather encouraged vaccination in response to an outbreak of a disease called
smallpox. Vaccination as practiced today came into being when Edward Jenner, an
English physician, created the rst smallpox vaccine using cowpox in 1796. Jenners
innovation was used for 200 years, with updates, and eradicated smallpox.
In 1801, Benjamin Waterhouse, another physician, began using the "Cowpox Vaccine,"
which led Massachusetts to become the rst U.S. state to promote the use of vaccination.
In 1813, President James Madison signed into law An Act to Encourage Vaccination, which
created the National Vaccine Agency. In 1855, Massachusetts passed the rst U.S. state
law mandating vaccinations for school children. By 1970, 29 states would require that
children be immunized to attend public schools.

Wakefield Claims Vaccine Causes Autism

In February 1998, the medical journal Lancet published an article by Dr. Andrew
Wake eld. The article reported on a study of Wake eld's, which he claimed proved that the
vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella can cause autism. Anti-vaccination groups and
parents began using Wake elds article as a reason for not vaccinating their children.
Brian Deer, an investigative reporter, examined the story and published 36 articles which
accused Wake eld of "falsifying medical histories of children." He claimed Wake eld had
deliberately created fake evidence and that he had been paid to do so by "lawyers hoping
to sue vaccine manufacturers and to create a vaccine scare." Lancet withdrew its support
of Wake elds article on February 2, 2010. In 2011, the British Journal of Medicine
published an article stating that Wake eld received over $674,000 from lawyers.

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Furthermore, it claimed that 5 of the 12 children examined by Wake eld had

developmental problems before being vaccinated and three never had autism. Britain
stripped Wake eld of his medical license in 2011.

Thimerosal Is Removed From Vaccines

One vaccine ingredient that anti-vaccine activists have been particularly concerned about
is thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative added to vaccines to keep them from spoiling.
In 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Public Health Service
recommended that thimerosal be removed from vaccines.
In 2005, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote an article co-published by Salon.com and Rolling
Stone titled "Deadly Immunity." In it, he argued that the 2000 Simpsonwood CDC
Conference was spent discussing how to "cover up" the fact that there were a "staggering
number of earlier studies" that indicate a link between thimerosal and various serious
conditions, including speech delays, attention-de cit disorder and autism. The article was
corrected multiple times within days of publication. It was then taken down by both
Salon.com and Rolling Stone.
The controversy resulted in an 18-month investigation by the U.S. Senate Committee on
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions which concluded that there was no basis for
Kennedy's claim and that thimerosal was being "voluntarily removed from childhood
vaccines distributed in the United States as a precaution." By 2009, thimerosal had been
phased out of almost all vaccines in the U.S.

Case Rules No Link Between Vaccination And Autism

In a 2010 case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that there is no link
between vaccination and autism. The decision upheld two earlier rulings.
In August 2011, the Institute of Medicine issued a report on vaccines. The report stated
that "evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship" between the Measles-MumpsRubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. However, it also asserted that the chicken pox vaccine
can cause pneumonia, meningitis or hepatitis in individuals with a weak resistance to
disease.
A 2012 independent investigation by the Cochrane Collaboration, a health research group,
concluded that there was no signi cant association" between the MMR vaccine and
autism.

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Unvaccinated Children Barred From Schools

State laws in North Carolina, Ohio and New York allow the public school system to
suspend children who are not vaccinated. Approximately 2,000 children not vaccinated
against whooping cough were barred from attending classes in San Francisco in 2011. On
June 22, 2014, a federal judge upheld New York state law barring unvaccinated children
from public school when other children have the chicken pox.
Many doctors will not treat children who have not been vaccinated. Some legal experts
believe that parents who do not vaccinate their children should be subject to criminal
prosecution if their unvaccinated children infect and harm other children.

Diseases That Have Been Eliminated Or Eradicated

Many of the diseases for which people receive vaccines have been eliminated or
eradicated over time. Elimination means that the disease is not present in a region.
Eradication means the disease does not exist anywhere globally.
In 1980, smallpox became the rst disease to be declared globally eradicated. Polio was
declared eliminated in the United States in 1979 and in the Western Hemisphere in 1994. A
polio vaccine was developed by Dr. Jonas Salk in 1951. Its use decreased the number of
paralytic polio cases from 28,985 in 1955 to 72 in 1965. Rubella was declared eliminated
in the Americas in 2015, and measles in 2016.
The World Health Organization states that this eradication and elimination was brought
about by successful vaccination programs. Those opposed to vaccination say that better
sanitation and cleaner water is what led to the elimination of these diseases, not
vaccination.

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Quiz
1

Which selection from the introduction [paragraphs 1-4] MOST suggests that some people
believe vaccines are unnecessary?
(A)

Opponents say that childrens immune systems can deal with most
infections naturally.

(B)

They argue that injecting questionable vaccine ingredients into a child may
cause side effects, including seizures, paralysis and death.

(C)

They claim that numerous studies prove that vaccines can trigger both
health and behavioral problems.

(D)

In particular, they say that vaccines may trigger autism, a mental condition
that makes it dif cult to communicate with others.

Read the paragraph from the section "Unvaccinated Children Barred From Schools."

State laws in North Carolina, Ohio and New York allow the public
school system to suspend children who are not vaccinated.
Approximately 2,000 children not vaccinated against whooping cough
were barred from attending classes in San Francisco in 2011. On June
22, 2014, a federal judge upheld New York state law barring
unvaccinated children from public school when other children have
the chicken pox.
Which statement can be inferred from this paragraph?
(A)

It is unlikely that action will take place in most public schools to enforce the
use of vaccines.

(B)

Due to the controversy, the decision to require vaccinations in schools is

rarely enforced.

(C)

Students across the country will soon face punishment if they are not
vaccinated against disease.

(D)

Some states have taken steps to ensure the safety of vaccinated and
unvaccinated students.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.

According to the article, does the Institute of Medicine believe there is suf cient evidence to
support the claim that vaccines are safe for all children? Why or why not?
(A)

Yes, because they issued a report that indicated there is no link between
vaccines at autism.

(B)

Yes, because they conducted studies of multiple vaccines and found them
to be harmless.

(C)

No, because they determined that the chicken pox vaccine can lead to
illness in some cases.

(D)

No, because they only tested two vaccines, which is not enough to assert
the safety of vaccines.

According to the article, which of the following groups or people have perspectives in
AGREEMENT with one another?
(A)

The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

(B)

The Centers for Disease Control and supporters of vaccines

(C)

The Institute of Medicine and opponents of vaccines

(D)

The World Health Organization and Dr. Andrew Wake eld

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.

Answer Key
1

Which selection from the introduction [paragraphs 1-4] MOST suggests that some people
believe vaccines are unnecessary?
(A)

Opponents say that childrens immune systems can deal with most
infections naturally.

(B)

They argue that injecting questionable vaccine ingredients into a child may
cause side effects, including seizures, paralysis and death.

(C)

They claim that numerous studies prove that vaccines can trigger both
health and behavioral problems.

(D)

In particular, they say that vaccines may trigger autism, a mental condition
that makes it dif cult to communicate with others.

Read the paragraph from the section "Unvaccinated Children Barred From Schools."

State laws in North Carolina, Ohio and New York allow the public
school system to suspend children who are not vaccinated.
Approximately 2,000 children not vaccinated against whooping cough
were barred from attending classes in San Francisco in 2011. On June
22, 2014, a federal judge upheld New York state law barring
unvaccinated children from public school when other children have
the chicken pox.
Which statement can be inferred from this paragraph?
(A)

It is unlikely that action will take place in most public schools to enforce the
use of vaccines.

(B)

Due to the controversy, the decision to require vaccinations in schools is

rarely enforced.

(C)

Students across the country will soon face punishment if they are not
vaccinated against disease.

(D)

Some states have taken steps to ensure the safety of vaccinated and
unvaccinated students.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.

According to the article, does the Institute of Medicine believe there is suf cient evidence to
support the claim that vaccines are safe for all children? Why or why not?
(A)

Yes, because they issued a report that indicated there is no link between
vaccines at autism.

(B)

Yes, because they conducted studies of multiple vaccines and found them
to be harmless.

(C)

No, because they determined that the chicken pox vaccine can lead to
illness in some cases.

(D)

No, because they only tested two vaccines, which is not enough to assert
the safety of vaccines.

According to the article, which of the following groups or people have perspectives in
AGREEMENT with one another?
(A)

The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

(B)

The Centers for Disease Control and supporters of vaccines

(C)

The Institute of Medicine and opponents of vaccines

(D)

The World Health Organization and Dr. Andrew Wake eld

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.