Argumentative Essay Vaccines

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Argumentative Essay Part One: Vaccines Sitting in the doctor’s office, holding your precious child, the recommended immunization schedule is being explained to you. You can hear the doctor, but you are not really listening anymore. All of the information becomes gradually overwhelming when you think of them poking your daughter several times, injecting all sorts of foreign elements into her vulnerable, little body. You are pretty sure you received all of these vaccines when you were young, but are not convinced you are ready to submit your child to them. You thank the doctor for the information when she has finished, schedule the follow up appointment, and leave the office determined to find the exact purpose for these vaccines and if your …show more content…
You have also extended your concerns to family and friends for their opinions and experiences with these vaccines. From the information gathered, there appears to be three main viewpoints on vaccinating children: one, do not vaccinate; two, vaccinations can be delayed; three, all vaccinations are necessary and should be administered by the recommended schedule. The choice made by parents to not vaccinate their children appeared to gain a lot of popularity when a study was published linking autism to the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine in 1998. This study was completely retracted in 2010 due to several incorrect elements, ethical violations, scientific misrepresentation, and deliberate fraud (Rao). Many parents still hold to this notion, however, that vaccines are dangerous and pose serious safety concerns to their children. Adding to their worry, “…the medical community has notoriously overprescribed an enormous variety of drugs” (Loftus, 35). This does not garner a strong relationship of trust between the already anxious and wary parents with their medical providers. It is argued that “…parents have been persistently and insidiously misled by information in the press and on the Internet and because the health care system has not effectively communicated the counterarguments…” (Daley). Further, families that live …show more content…
They argue that since their chances to contract such diseases are already lowered, why “put a mixture of foreign DNA and artificial chemicals into a child’s body to prevent [them]?” Their decisions are based on their health at the time the vaccines are recommended and the frequency in which these diseases are contracted (Loftus, 34-35). Additionally, many diseases such as polio, measles, and tetanus have been nearly eradicated, so parents do not see the immediate need for these vaccines (Daley). They may put off the doctor’s advice or subsequent doctor visits. This leads to parents receiving powerful advice and stories from friends and family “whose children developed debilitating diseases from vaccines,” and they consequently rely more heavily on this information (Loftus, 35). Furthermore, parents may not receive adequate information from their doctor or know where to find such information. Parents “may not know when vaccinations are due, the importance of timely vaccinations, or where to go for well-child care” (Luman, 1217). When this information is not readily available, or explained clearly, parents may mistakenly miss or forget some immunizations for their

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