It is undeniable that the world’s population has grown immensely throughout the centuries, thriving one might even say, through the many decades of life threatening diseases that wiped out whole families, communities, villages and of people. But, thanks to vaccinations that were developed by world renowned scientist, devoted to research in which they achieved through science, the eradication of these serious childhood diseases we should have less to worry about, right. Of late that is not the case, many people are now opting out of vaccinating their children causing concern here in the United States and abroad. Childhood immunizations were developed for a reason, to ensure health …show more content…
Per Carol J Weber, PhD, RN is a Professor at Regis University for the Department of Nursing, Denver, Colorado quotes Kane & Lasher, 2002, in her paper: Update on Childhood Immunizations says,
“In the United States, unvaccinated and under-immunized children are protected by what is called “herd immunity” (Kane & Lasher, 2002). When most are immunized, contagious diseases do not have much opportunity to spread. But when immunization rates fall, the number of children who get sick from vaccine-preventable diseases rises.”
A community does not know what the risk are, since they most likely believe that all children are vaccinated. Therefore when parents opt out of immunizations they are putting the community at risk of an epidemic. With the spread of disease runs the risk of serious consequence in which parents will be regretful in their choice to not vaccinate their children. If parent’s refusal to vaccinate their children keeps up momentum with claims of too many unnecessary immunizations and the vindicated link between Autism and vaccinations, we will likely suffer a resurgence of these vaccine-preventable diseases. According to Bruce G Gillen, MD, MPH* he states in his paper …show more content…
Finding clinics that are open and accepting patients for those families that don’t have primary care physicians is a big reason why parents don’t adhere to the shot schedules, which is another barrier for why children are under-immunized.
Per a study done by Rosanne Harkey Pruitt, PhD, RNCS of Clemson University College of Nursing she found that “there was a widespread confusion about when immunizations were due, which reflects the multiple changes that have occurred in the last few years. Even those whose records were current often referred to the need for a “2-year-old shot.”(69) These finding from her survey indicate that there was inadequate communication between the physician and the family about the types of shots and the age requirements for the shots, which causes disinterest in getting children vaccinations on time when they are due.
The table below shows a list of barriers in Pruitt’s