Every Year Ten Million Vaccinations example essay topic

In 1996 a mother took her six-month-old son, Jonah, to the doctor to get his DPT vaccination. Two days later, Jonah came down with an ear infection. Bobbie took him into the doctor and the child was given a prescription of amoxicillin. The ear infection soon healed and all went well for about two months when the infection returned. Bobbie again took Jonah to the physician where he, this time, gave the boy a stronger form of amoxicillin.

Again the infection soon diminished. About four months later Jonah received a third ear infection, this time accompanied with a fever of 103 F. Seeing that the amoxicillin was not working, the doctor prescribed Jonah an even stronger form of antibiotics known as ougmitin. This is a mixture of amoxicillin and penicillin called clavulate. This time Bobbie was a bit more skeptical.

She figured that if antibiotics didn't work the last two times, why would they work this time? She then, with the help of her husband, decided it was time for a second opinion. She then took Jonah to a man named Dr. Eugene Pontius, a naturopathic doctor in British Columbia, Canada. After talking with Bobbie and looking at her son, Dr. Pontius asked Bobbie if Jonah was receiving his regular immunizations. Bobbie assured the doctor that Jonah was indeed receiving his immunizations.

Dr. Pontius then informed Bobbie that if she wanted Jonah's ear infections to stop she needed to cease his immunizations. According to Dr. Pontius, the "D" in DPT vaccine stands for Diptheria. Diptheria is a dangerous toxin-producing bacterium called Corynebacterium diptheria. The diphtheria vaccine is what is known as an "attenuated" vaccine; meaning the bacteria has been weakened and modified, but is still alive. Corynebacterium diptheria, when alive in the human body, lives in the sinus and nasal tissues and migrates down to the larynx.

It gives off a toxin that attacks the epithelial cells and causes tissue destruction. In extreme cases it may even attack the heart. Jonah had an ear infection due to the fact he had active diptheria present, but not a full-blown case. It was just a mild form that is common today and is associated with common ear and sinus infections... It does respond very briefly to antibiotics but they are only suppressions and an soon as the antibiotic wears off the organism re-grows and becomes active once again.

(Pontius) Dr Pontius also explained that it was because of the DPT vaccine that so many children have chronic ear infections. To Bobbie, it all made perfect sense. When she pondered it, she realized that Jonah's ear infections were the worst right after each dose of the DPT vaccine. Dr. Pontius then prescribed an herbal remedy known as nosodes to heal Jonah's ear infection that was to be taken every half hour for the first three hours then three times a day. "After the second dose the pain was gone", said Bobbie. "He has never had an ear infection since" (Bailey).

Lately in our society, vaccinations have become a part of our daily lives. They are so common they seem to be put in the same category as our yearly medical examination or our six-month dental check up. In fact, every year ten million vaccinations are given to healthy children that are less than one year old (YEARS "What Is"). That's not to mention the number of vaccinations that are given to children over the age of one, including adults. Inoculations are so common; our lives seem to come to a halt if we are not up to date in our regular immunizations. For instance, a law just passed here in Oregon that children will not be admitted into a public school unless they are fully immunized.

This includes MMR (Measles Mumps & Re bella), which is thought to be linked to autism, and the ever so controversy Chicken Pox vaccine. I have found that there is no practical reason for this vaccine in a child, but for "cosmetic purposes only". Very few children have died from the Chicken Pox, and yet it is now a mandatory vaccination for our healthy children before we can let then go to a public school. When we go to the hospital for a cut, the first question out of the nurse's mouth is "when was the last time you had a tetanus shot?" Also when you are shopping in the local mall, on your way from Mrs. B's doughnut shop to JC penny, one can stop and get their "quick fix" at the immunization booth. When we run into vaccine propaganda at every turn, it's no wonder they are so much a part of our lives that we don't even think to question their credibility. We trust that the medical community would inform us of any health issues.

When we hear stories like that of Bobbie we can't help but wonder: Are immunizations this wonderful act of medical genius that is 100% effective and totally safe? Or are there major effects that could endanger the child even more? If there are adverse reactions, why don't we hear about them? And are immunizations as required as we think?

First of all, it seems as though most people feel that inoculations are altogether safe and are doing their children a great disservice if they do not get their vaccinations done as close to clockwork as possible. This mindset is simply not true, and is quite possibly even more harmful to the child. The Advisory Committee of Immunizations Practices (ACIP) has published a sixty-page report on the side effects and adverse reactions ranging from high fever to severe pain and swelling. They also report vomiting with diarrhea to convolutions, brain damage, seizures, autism, paralysis, and even death (CDC). The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a branch of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Center of Disease Control (CDC), revises up to one thousand reports of adverse reactions due to vaccinations every month (VAERS "Questions"). The FDA, unfortunately, acknowledged that only ten percent of physicians in the United States even report adverse reactions ("Vaccines").

When we add up the numbers, we can see that approximately 120,000 unfavorable reactions occur every year. Also we need to consider is that we already know that over ten million vaccinations are given every year. When a child receives his or her vaccinations before the age of one, they would receive 25 shots. Twenty-five shots!

And most times more than one shot is given at a time. You take this healthy child and inject some foreign material into the body in hopes that it will not do any harm your infant. With a quick calculation, we see that over 400,000 fit children would have to be inoculated. Of those children, the 120,000 harmful reactions add up to 30% of the total vacationed infants every year. In fact, according to VAERS, "about 17% of the reports reflect adverse events resulting in life threatening illness, hospitalization, and permanent disability (physical & mental) extended hospital stay or death. The remaining 83% primarily describe events such as fever, crying or mild irritability, and other less serious experiences" (VAERS "Questions").

So one can see that every year 20,400 children who are vaccinated receive severe adverse reactions. That is about 5.1% of the total number of the children immunized every year under the age of one. Clearly there are indeed some major health factors involved. There are many people who have already done the research.

They understand the dangers and either choose alternate forms of vaccinations or choose not to immunize their children at all. It's fairly clear that there are things not being told to the general public concerning the safety and personal choice when deciding on vaccinations. People seem to be content on wandering through life letting someone else make their decisions for them. This is not to say that vaccinations are evil or don't work.

In fact, there is no dispute whether or not vaccinations help your body create antibodies that fight off or repel childhood diseases. The purpose of this report is to explore the possibility of health issues and that vaccinations are not as safe as we are led to believe. So, how does the medical community respond to this sort of information? The Canadian National Report on Immunizations, published in 1996, states, "No drug products, vaccines included, are perfectly safe. But when the risks and benefits of vaccinations are compared, a clear choice emerges" (Ko 43).

But is it a clear choice? Is there truly a perfect choice to make between vaccinations and an alternative? Obviously not! With three out of every ten immunized children experiencing adverse reaction and one of every twenty experiencing a severe enough reaction to be life threatening, parents should take time and effort in making their choice as to wither or not to vaccinate their children.

Knowing this information, you may ask why we don't hear about the reactions that I claim happen so often? You see, most of the side effects to the vaccinations are rather mild, such as fever, vomiting, or diarrhea. Because these sorts of reactions can be easily mistaken for the symptoms of the common cold, parents don't see any reason to report such an incident. Why spend the money and go to the doctor if a bottle of Robitussin can mask the symptoms of the real problem? We have to remember also; ninety percent of doctors don't even report any reactions. But why not?

According to Catherine Dio dati, author of Immunization: History, Ethics, Law, and Health, "Many doctors do not notify officials of vaccine side effects. They don't want to be embroiled in the middle of a lawsuit or an ongoing investigation. Some do not believe vaccines can cause any harm" (Ko 43). In other words, reporting any reactions to the vaccination and caring for their patients is of the utmost priority, as long as they can do it in five minutes or less and it doesn't inconvenience their personal lives. Fortunately, there is a way to protect your child from dangerous disease without having to gamble with the chance of an unwelcome reaction. For over two hundred years homeopathic doctors have been prescribing natural remedies that cause the body to produce antibodies that fight off diseases.

The medicines used by homeopaths consist of two classes. One class belongs to the medicine that we gain from plants, minerals, and animal products. The other class, known as nosodes, "includes substances derives from diseased products, tissue samples, mucus, pus from discharges, are pure cultures of microorganisms" (Neustaedter 68). Nosodes are much like "orthodox" vaccines that the process by which they are made is much more refined and far less dangerous. People invest into the stock market, in order to do this there is a lot of planning and research involved. Which stock to buy, for how much, when, how well the stocks have done in past years, and how much money can be made.

These are only a few questions they must ask when deciding to invest while they are doing their homework. With immunizations, we are making an investment in our children's lives; don't you think it's about time to do your homework?