Child Vaccines Research Paper

Are child immunizations a safe and efficient way to keep children healthy, or are they unnecessary and harmful? Vaccines started their widespread use across the U.S. in the mid-20th century, and since then, the number of infection cases have dropped dramatically. According to the website Our World in Data, when the measles vaccine was introduced nationwide across the U.S. the number of cases per 100,00 people dropped from an yearly high of about 420 to an average of about 25. This may be due in part to a concept called herd immunity, in which with more of a population immune to a virus, the less likely others will be infected (immunized or not). Vaccines are also safe because of how they work, by using the body’s established defenses to create …show more content…
While the accepted verdict is that vaccines are safe, some believe that they are unnecessary or dangerous. Some of their reasons include that vaccines cause autism,. First of all, the idea that vaccines cause autism comes from a study done back in 1998 by British gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield with some of his colleagues. The paper linked the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism, describing eight children, all of whom displayed signs of autism about one month after they received the vaccine. This study has been proven incorrect again and again. Other studies attempting to reciprocate Wakefield’s results failed over and over, conducted in Finland, the UK in 1999, Denmark in 2002, and Japan in 2005. Furthermore, in 2004, British investigative journalist Brian Deer gave evidence that Wakefield may have made up data in his paper. Finally, in 2010, the General Medical Council ruled Wakefield guilty of serious misconduct. Since then, many of Wakefield’s colleagues and sponsors have long since distanced themselves from Wakefield and the study. One of these counterparts includes the Lancet, the article’s original publisher, which has since retracted it. The other major argument against vaccines is that vaccines have dangerous chemicals that …show more content…
When vaccines for certain diseases were introduced in the 20th century, the amount of cases dropped dramatically. When the measles vaccine was introduced across the U.S. in 1963, the number of cases dropped from hundreds of thousands per year to less than 40. The rubella (introduced in 1969) and polio (1955) vaccines have also proven extremely effective. Now, measles, rubella, and polio have been either mostly or completely neutralized. Effectively, these diseases have been eliminated from the United States, among others such as smallpox or