Letter to the Editor
Reuter's Health
Published Monday October 3rd.
http://www.reuters.com/
I understand that we live in a society where people are allowed to make their own decisions when it comes to healthcare and the same applies to their children. Because there are always associated side effects with vaccinations, I can also understand why some parents would choose to follow a vaccination that differs from the CDC plan. However, I believe that many of the parents who refuse or delay vaccines are have made decisions based on outdated facts. Science has progressed to such a degree that many of the more dangerous vaccines have become relatively benign-many are no longer made with live attenuated viruses but rather with viriod particles or killed pathogens. I also think that some parents do not have a full understanding of the dangers lack of immunity not only their own children but others. Vaccines confer herd immunity-if one person in a vaccinated society somehow gets infected, it cannot spread as there are no possible hosts without immunity. However, if there are unvaccinated people in a community, the infection can spread to other people, and then even mutate and continue to spread, even to immunized hosts. In this society, I do not believe that people can be forced to vaccinate, but public health efforts need to be made to prevent the spread of highly infectious diseases. I believe that efforts should be made to make information about vaccines more available so parents fully understand the costs and benefits of their decision on both their children and those they interact with.
Arunava Sarma
asarma@berkeley.edu
I agree with you that vaccinations are a lot safer now and that parents have a duty to protect their children from possible disease because they obviously can't make the decision themselves. The issue touches on pediatric care and how adherence to vaccinations and medication in general is such a difficult tasks when dealing with pediatric patients. I guess a way to address the issue is to educate people, especially parents on the benefits of the vaccinations and to dispel any myths that accompany vaccinations.
ReplyDeleteThere are many factors that goes into a parent's decision on whether or not they should immunize their child. However, I think it is more beneficial for society when children are vaccinated because this would curb or prevent any breakouts. The idea of 'herd immunity' only works if the vast majority are vaccinated, but if people start to rely on that to not vaccinate their child, then eventually 'herd immunity' will not be as effective. Also to bring in an example, the Berkeley campus is experiencing an outbreak of mumps. The outbreak can occur and immunization will safeguard the general public because it will curb the cost of primary care.
ReplyDelete-Amy Lei
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree that lack of credible information is certainly an issue in regards to pediatric vaccination. From a Public Health standpoint, we see the value in vaccination, in part because we are looking at the population as a whole. Parents, on the other hand, are looking at things from a more individualist perspective. We need to take advantage of this and make clear to parents the real effect refusing to vaccinate could have on their child. Because some of the diseases on the CDC list are not as prevalent today in the U.S., there is a disconnect between perceived risk and the horrific consequences that could result from infection. We need to emphasize the seriousness of these diseases, particularly for children, and make clear the low risk associated vaccination. Perhaps this would involve explaining the types of vaccines in simple terms and making clear that smallpox is currently the only infectious disease that has been eradicated. The Wakefield study showed us how readily parents were willing to accept information about something that could adversely affect their child's health. Let's just make sure this is the right information.
ReplyDelete-Tessa Mochizuki
Prior to reading your comment, I did not know that many vaccines are no longer made with live viruses. I agree that there is a need to address the misconception these parents hold regarding the dangers of vaccines. While this group focuses on the negative outcomes, they need to be educated on the positive outcomes -- vaccines do more prevention than damage. If they are worried for the health of their child, the optimal course of action would be arming the child with immunity via vaccines rather than being doubtful. Otherwise, they are not only endangering the health of their children, but that of the rest of the community as well. It is a responsibility unto each other in the community to maintain a healthy environment by managing personal health.
ReplyDelete- Karen Yu