Get your vaccines!!!

Vaccines are very controversial in today’s society. With the power of social media and famous faces, it is very easy to become misinformed about what is going on in the world of vaccines. I encourage everyone to do their own research before choosing to vaccinate or not vaccinate. I am very hopeful that if you are reading scholarly articles, you will wish everyone would get vaccinated. Viruses that only have human reservoirs should be easily eliminated by vaccines, however they are still issues today. Measles, for example, is a virus that doesn’t mutate and has a vaccine. Why would someone want to put themselves at risk to get the measles? The UK was believed to have eliminated the measles, but has now been proven false. There has even been mumps outbreaks near Chapel Hill, a virus I thought wasn’t a prevalent issue anymore. If people would just get the MMR vaccine, they would be protected from measles, mumps, and rubella, all viruses that don’t mutate, so you would only need to get this shot once. Any protection is better than no protection!

The world heath organization defines the hesitancy to receive vaccines as a “delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccination services.” This statement makes no sense to me. It makes it seem as though individuals are grasping at any negative side affect of vaccines in order to make themselves feel better that they are choosing not to get vaccinated. If they are being offered to you, some for free in certain areas like the flu vaccine, then why wouldn’t you want to help your body out when fighting off viruses? Social media today can make anyone believe in anything. Even the most random, far stretched opinion will be seen as factual when posted on social media because the internet is always correct, right? The internet allows information to be spread rapidly and within the blink of an eye you can have tons of people starting to believe rumors that vaccines cause autism or vaccines are dangerous, etc. There was a study of anti-vaccination posts seen on facebook by British parents. Over half of them with a child under the age of five reported to have seen numerous negative posts about vaccinations. These negative messages cause some parents to feel concerned and hold off on getting their children vaccinated. If enough parents see the posts and decide to postpone vaccinations, herd immunity will no longer exist and anyone’s unvaccinated child can easily contract a virus.

Looking at anti-vaccination campaigns honestly made me angry. I wish I knew what was going on in these individuals minds that made them so against vaccines. Some doctors never thought they would be asked whether they get their children vaccinated. The hesitancy parents face around vaccines is said to be a top threat to global health. According to the world health organization, the United States is a country believed to have eliminated the measles. This is no longer the case as there have been recent outbreaks. The internet has spread so many misinformed rumors that anti-vaccine campaigns have only been growing. Some states have chosen to get ride of religious reasons being a choice to opt out of vaccines. I think people are too quick to point fingers. Just because your child saw signs of autism shortly after receiving the MMR vaccine doesn’t mean that vaccine is the cause. Autism signs are seen to rise around the same age children are given the MMR vaccine. Parents are looking for a distinct cause for their child’s autism. It just isn’t that easy to point out the cause of why a child has autism. Would you want your child to become infected with measles, mumps, or rubella? I would bet that most parents want to protect their children at any and all costs. So, I just don’t comprehend why parents aren’t willing to provide any form of protection from illnesses.