Vaccines for the longest time have been under scrutiny, for their alleged correlation with autism and other bad side effects while also having been credited for eradicated or largely eradicated many infectious diseases. The issue even came up during a recent Republican presidential debate. Under all that scrutiny the real question would be: Are vaccines more helpful or harmful? To really understand the answer to this question, one has to look at certain facts. For example, what exactly are vaccines and how do they work?
According to Merriam Webster’s definition of a vaccine it is: “a substance that is usually injected into a person or animal to protect against a particular disease.” …show more content…
One notable example is the connection between autism and vaccines. They are two claims: first, is that there is a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism and then the connection between thimerosal and autism. Thimerosal is an antiseptic preservative ingredient used in multidose vaccines (“Thimerosal). To understand the alleged connection between autism and vaccines one has to see who first created all these connections in the first place. The first person to come up with a possible connection between vaccines and autism is a man named Andrew Wakefield. In 1998 Wakefield published a study that he co-wrote titled "Ileal-Lymphoid-Nodular Hyperplasia, Non-Specific Colitis, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder in Children" (Wakefield). Wakefield claimed that the “Rubella virus is associated with autism and the combined measles, mumps, and rubella [MMR] vaccine… has also been implicated” (Wakefield). The report described the cases of twelve children who been had been taken to the hospital for gastrointestinal issues. All of the twelve children had been vaccinated with the MMR vaccine but nine of the twelve who were perfectly normal in development had developed a loss of acquired skills and showed signs of autism. Wakefield and the other authors had asserted to have recognized another disorder called autistic enterocolitis, a supposed disorder that is regressive autism attributed with gastrointestinal disorders. (Wakefield) Regressive autism is when a child who had otherwise been developing normally loses acquired skills and is diagnosed with autism (Rojer). Wakefield claims that these children had developed their behavioral setbacks and the gastrointestinal problems were in part to do with their Immunization of rubella two weeks prior. Many studies before Wakefield's report have proven a correlation between autism and gastrointestinal problems; so to attribute the vaccine to cause the GI
According to Merriam Webster’s definition of a vaccine it is: “a substance that is usually injected into a person or animal to protect against a particular disease.” …show more content…
One notable example is the connection between autism and vaccines. They are two claims: first, is that there is a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism and then the connection between thimerosal and autism. Thimerosal is an antiseptic preservative ingredient used in multidose vaccines (“Thimerosal). To understand the alleged connection between autism and vaccines one has to see who first created all these connections in the first place. The first person to come up with a possible connection between vaccines and autism is a man named Andrew Wakefield. In 1998 Wakefield published a study that he co-wrote titled "Ileal-Lymphoid-Nodular Hyperplasia, Non-Specific Colitis, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder in Children" (Wakefield). Wakefield claimed that the “Rubella virus is associated with autism and the combined measles, mumps, and rubella [MMR] vaccine… has also been implicated” (Wakefield). The report described the cases of twelve children who been had been taken to the hospital for gastrointestinal issues. All of the twelve children had been vaccinated with the MMR vaccine but nine of the twelve who were perfectly normal in development had developed a loss of acquired skills and showed signs of autism. Wakefield and the other authors had asserted to have recognized another disorder called autistic enterocolitis, a supposed disorder that is regressive autism attributed with gastrointestinal disorders. (Wakefield) Regressive autism is when a child who had otherwise been developing normally loses acquired skills and is diagnosed with autism (Rojer). Wakefield claims that these children had developed their behavioral setbacks and the gastrointestinal problems were in part to do with their Immunization of rubella two weeks prior. Many studies before Wakefield's report have proven a correlation between autism and gastrointestinal problems; so to attribute the vaccine to cause the GI