The Decreasing trend in Child Vaccinations
Immunization can be defined as the process in which a person, typically at an infant age, is made immune to infectious diseases usually through the administration of vaccines. Doctors and healthcare providers recommend vaccainations to infants to protect them from common diseases that can be deadly especially to young children and infants. The process, as explained by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is referred to as the “4:3:1:3 series,” which represents the number of dosages of vaccines required to fend off diseases such as mealses, mumps, tetsnus, and many others (“Immunization”). In recent years there has been a movement mainly empowered by new mothers to forgo some or all vaccinations for their children. The following paragraphs will include an anylsis uncovering what has caused a decrease in vaccinations of children, as well as, exploring what effects this has had on the community.
When observing statsically research over the past two decades there seems to be two consistent themes for reasonings behind forgoing vaccinations of children which will be discussed later. However, these two reasonings might shed light on the topic and help explain the existence of this trend. A report released by the California Department of Public Safety shows that there has been an increase for both public and private schools from 2007 to 2014 of 2.6% to 5.7% of students receiving expemtions from vaccinations at the statewide level. The report also illistrated that certain counties of the state had greater than 20% vaccination expemtions 2014, up from 13% in 2007 ("Heard at Risk"). While California might serve as an extreme example of this trend, it shows where a concentrated group of individuals are making the decision to forgo vaccinations of their children.
Current legislation in the United States for all 50 states requires that every child must have the proper vaccinations to enter into the public school system. The requirement does allow for medical exemptions that allow children with certain medical conditions that prevent them from receiving vaccinations to still meet the requirements for enrollment. Medical exemption is not the same thing as the personal belief exemption or philosophical exemption. Currently there are 20 states that allow for one of these exemptions. A quote from the blog Vaccine Awakening, states, “If the State can tag, track down and force citizens against their will to be injected with biologicals of unknown toxicity today, there will be no limit on which individual freedoms the State can take away in the name of the greater good tomorrow" (Fisher). A cause for the increased numbers of children not receiving vaccinations could stem from the easy accessibility or low standard required for parents to receive one of the exemptions for their children. In most states the paperwork for enrollment requires that a parent must simply check a box to receive the exemption. There is a correlation observed that the easier it is for a parent to obtain an exemption for their children, the less vaccinations percentage exists in that state (Novella). The increase in individual’s personal beliefs and strong emotions towards the government’s intervention with personal freedoms combined with the ease of obtaining vaccination exemptions illustrates why there has been a decrease in vaccinations of children today.
In 1998 Andrew Wakefield released a paper that showed the correlation of the receiving the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and the onset of autism. The paper’s findings were stated as, “We identified associated gastrointestinal disease and developmental regression in a group of previously normal children, which was generally associated in time with possible environmental triggers” (Wakefield Et Al, 637-641). Wakefield was later stripped on his medical license and his paper was retracted from the journal it was published due to unethical practices while conducting research. However, after the publish of Wakefield’s paper, the National Consumers League survey collected statistics on parents with children under the age of 18 and reported that one-third now believed that vaccinations can cause autism ("Survey: One Third of American Parents Mistakenly Link