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Anti-Anti Vax

by Bailee McCarthy

There has been an argument for quite a few years about whether or not parents should vaccinate their children. The new anti-vax movement began when children would get necessary vaccinations but then be diagnosed with autism shortly after. Some parents of the diagnosed children automatically assumed it was because of the vaccinations. So, for 12 years, parents from across the nation have been making arguments against vaccinations because it was, and still is, assumed to be the cause of autism.

Vaccinations are not linked to any form of autism. Children are given vaccinations until about the age of 18. The measles, mumps and rubella vaccination, or MMR, was thought to have been linked to autism diagnosis in children. However, this is false, as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, reports there is no link between the two. According the the CDC website, the most viable age for a stable, valid and reliable diagnosis in a child is between two and five years. The MMR vaccine comes in two doses, the first dose between 12 and 15 months and the second one between four and five years. When the second dose of MMR comes around, children begin to show signs of autism, so some parents assume that the MMR vaccination cause autism. But, anti-vaxxers aren’t looking at the facts. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, or JAMA, a study consisted of over 95 thousand children which included 15 thousand unvaccinated children. The results of the study found that there was no association with the MMR vaccination and autism.

Anti-vaxxers are putting the health of the nation, and the globe, in danger. Since these parents are refusing to vaccinate their children, many societies are at a chance of breaking out into a preventable pandemic, according to World Health Organization’s website. The only thing in question is when, how long and how severe. These challenges include outbreaks of completely preventable diseases such as measles and diphtheria.

Dr. Kevin Karl, a Blackburn professor in psychology, stated over email, “my  children have received, and will continue to receive vaccinations, for which the benefits outweigh the risks,” he said. He also added that his son has developmental delays. “My son had delays well before receiving vaccinations, and the correlation between those delays, and autism in particular in research, has been falsified again and again,” he stated.

I want every child to be vaccinated. My siblings and I have all been vaccinated. I understand that parents try to do what’s best for them. However, some anti vax parents try to fill in vaccinations with healing crystals and home remedies. Some parents don’t vaccinate due to religious reasons, which can be understandable, however, schools require children to be vaccinated. But there are also parents who don’t want to vaccinate because a mom-blog told them not to because it causes autism. What I don’t understand is why parents are risking their children’s lives because they don’t want an autistic child. If measles isn’t treated properly, it can get worse, developing into pneumonia and encephalitis (swelling of the brain). According to the CDC, one in every 20 children will get measles that develop into pneumonia. Pneumonia from measles is also the most common cause of death in young children.

As I am not a parent, I do understand that parents are always doing what they think is best for their child. Trying to cure a child with healing crystals is one thing, but trying to convince the whole world’s population that healing crystals can heal an entire break out is another. Vaccinations are the simplest way to prevent a world-wide outbreak of a disease. It starts with one child at a time.

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