Picture a healthy one year-old baby boy. Picture him chasing his dog in the front yard. Picture him playing in the pool his parents just bought him. Now picture that very same baby boy in the hospital. He has lost the ability to walk and talk. He is covered in red bumps from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. The boy has been diagnosed with measles, a deadly disease that could have been prevented with just one thing: a vaccination. Vaccinations are essential to safeguarding the lives of children. Many virulent diseases have been drastically contained through the use of vaccines. This containment has provided the ultimate protection for children and other people they may come into contact with. This level of protection is also why required vaccinations are necessary. Parents should be taught the true benefits of vaccinations to dispel any myths.

Discussion

The debate on the benefits of vaccines can be traced all the way back to the introduction of the first vaccination, Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccination in the early 1800s in England. Jenner injected fluid from a cowpox blister into the arm of a child in order to prevent smallpox infection. Parents immediately began to protest and reject the use of Jenner's vaccination, even though his vaccine proved to be effective at preventing the smallpox infection. This opposition resulted in the first mandates regarding vaccinations. According to the editor for Greenhaven Press, Noel Merino, "The Vaccination Act of 1853 ordered mandatory vaccination for infants up to 3 months old, and the Act of 1867 extended this age requirement to 14 years, adding penalties for vaccine refusal"(Merino). The protest against vaccines worsened, so in 1898 the English government decided to allow parents the option of vaccine refusal.

Fast forward two hundred years later. Parents still have the option to deny vaccinations for their children, even if these vaccinations are mandatory. Claiming religious or many other personal beliefs is all it takes for a parent to legally be able to refuse vaccination for their children. However, any exemption from any mandatory vaccines can pose serious consequences for children and many others. Many organizations, such as the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society understand these consequences and oppose any legislation that allows children to be exempt from vaccinations. 

The Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society is an organization formed by medical professionals worldwide. They are dedicated to controlling and preventing infectious diseases that plague children. The group's article, "Mandatory Vaccinations with Few Exceptions are Necessary for Public Health," specifies examples of what could happen if a child is not vaccinated. These include an increased risk of being infected with diseases, weakened immune systems for populations, and an increased risk of deaths due to diseases. Parents often do not realize that they place tens, if not hundreds, of children in danger when they refuse vaccination for their children. This article details an anecdote that perfectly illustrates just how much of a risk unvaccinated children are. 

An unvaccinated boy around the age of seven returned to his San Francisco home from a family vacation to Europe in 2008. He then developed symptoms that included respiratory difficulties, a rash, and a high fever. His parent rushed him to their local emergency room. What the parents and doctors did not know was that the boy had been infected with measles. The physicians were unable to quickly diagnose the boy with measles because they were unable to recognize the signs of measles due to the rareness of this disease. Because the physicians initially were unable to diagnose the boy with measles, the boy was not placed in any type of isolation or quarantine conditions. Over the course of a few weeks, "11 additional cases of measles occurred in unvaccinated infants and children" (Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society). Some of these children had never even been close to the boy. They were just receiving care at the same doctor's office at the same time as the boy. In addition to those eleven children who had contracted measles, "70 children who had been exposed to the index case were placed in voluntary home quarantine" (Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society). Over seventy children had placed at risk for contracting measles because of one unvaccinated child who contracted measles.

Measles, along with other debilitating diseases, are no longer commonplace. Illnesses such as polio and mumps sound like diseases from ancient times. The containment of these diseases is a result of the widespread usage of vaccinations. In fact, many diseases are now on the verge of extinction. Science editor Erin Brodwin articulates diseases that are nearly completely eradicated in her article for Business Insider. Measles, polio, and the mumps are just three of seven diseases that are close to going extinct. The other four diseases are rubella, guinea worm, lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), and Onchocerciasis (river blindness). Many of these diseases have been almost completely eliminated from developed countries. For example, since 1988, cases of polio have decreased 99%. This is due to the fact that, "the World Health Assembly resolved to globally eradicate polio, and ...  to disseminate the [polio] vaccine worldwide" (Brodwin). Polio is a virus that attacks the spinal cord and leaves its victims with perpetual physical deformities. What makes this disease so deadly is the fact that "somewhere between 90% and 95%" of sufferers do not display any physical deformities or other symptoms of polio. This makes it extremely easy for a person infected with polio to infect others with the same disease.  There are only three countries in the world that still see routine diagnoses of polio: Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria. This is due to the fact that these countries are war-torn and it is very dangerous for foreign troops to disseminate vaccines and other health care to these countries. 

Just like polio, measles is highly contagious. Some of the effects of measles include swelling of the brain, respiratory infections, and permanent blindness. Measles has enduring effects that can compromise the immune systems of children. This leaves the children vulnerable to contracting other contagious diseases. The mandatory vaccination for measles provides children with protection from this. The security this vaccination provides cannot be ignored. Both Erin Brodwin and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society agree that the lives of children are put in danger when they are not vaccinated. In fact," the risk of measles among exemptors is 35-fold higher than among vaccinated children" (Pediatric Infectious Disease Society). Even if nearly all of the children in a particular community are vaccinated, this statistic still stands. 

Diseases that are near extinction, like the diseases Erin Brodwin has mentioned in her article, are still very dangerous to the global population. Even though ailments such as measles, polio, and mumps have been drastically reduced globally, cases of these diseases still occur. These diseases would resurge and become epidemics without the widespread use of vaccinations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains exactly how vaccines have stopped the resurgence of these diseases in its article.  Even though the actual diseases are rare, "the viruses bacteria that cause vaccine-preventable disease and death still exist"(CDC). People who are not vaccinated do not have protection from becoming infected with these pathogens. Before the widespread use of vaccinations, these three ailments ran rampant in the U.S. According to the CDC, "nearly everyone in the U.S. got measles" before the introduction of the measles vaccine (CDC). That is extremely dangerous given the fact that measles can be fatal. Even if only one child isn't vaccinated, there are several other children who are placed at risk. Stopping vaccines would end any protection children would have to certain diseases.

Refutation

Many parents have refused vaccinations for their children for fear of the children becoming diagnosed with Autism. British physician Andrew Wakefield is responsible for sparking the controversy between the MMR vaccine and Autism. The MMR vaccine is the vaccination that protects against measles, mumps, and rubella. In 1998, Dr. Wakefield claimed that there should be a probe into the relationship between the MMR vaccination and Autism. Dr. Wakefield even asserted that "the vaccine was not properly tested before being put into use." The physician's allegations resulted in a media frenzy that ignited terror in the public. What the public did not know was that the claims made by Dr. Wakefield were both false and illegal. The former physician deliberately and purposefully falsified his "data" to conjure up a link between Autism and the MMR vaccine. 

A group of parents filed a litigation case stating that the MMR vaccination caused harmful effects in their children. A board of attorneys had paid Dr. Andrew Wakefield to determine if there was any evidence that could support the allegations made by those parents. The "evidence' Wakefield found was published in the journal, The Lancet. This journal withdrew Wakefield's work in 2010 "after the British General Medical Council ruled against Wakefield in several areas" (Merino). He claimed that he had sufficient evidence showing that the MMR vaccine was to blame for the causation of Autism. His statements were grossly inaccurate. It had been determined that Wakefield had falsified scientific data in order to gain money from his investigations. After his paper was retracted, Wakefield's license to practice medicine was stripped from him. Andrew Wakefield is prohibited from practicing medicine in Great Britain. 

Dr. Joseph Mercola agrees with Andrew Wakefield that vaccination is the direct cause of Autism in his article, "Vaccines- Are They Still Contributing to the Greater Good?" Cases of Autism in children have "skyrocketed over the past few decades. Dr. Mercola attributes the increase of Autism to the increased use of mandatory vaccines. Even though medical professionals around the world and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) don't believe that there is a specific cause of Autism, Dr. Mercola believes that there is. He claims that they are hiding information from the public. He also claims that physicians are not taught the risks of vaccines while attending medical school. He even accuses the CDC of not conducting a study that compared "health outcomes of vaccinated versus unvaccinated children." (Mercola). 

Dr. Mercola is correct about the increase of Autism cases over the years. However, the prevalence of Autism cannot be blamed on the use of vaccinations. Scientific editor, Steve Silberman explains why diagnoses of Autism have increased in his TED talk entitled "The Forgotten History of Autism." 

In 1943, child psychiatrist Leo Kanner began the study into Autism. He believed that Autism was a very rare syndrome. Because he believed that Autism was rare, his criteria for determining whether or not a patient had Autism were very stringent. According to Steve Silberman, "he discouraged giving the diagnosis to children who had seizures but now we know that epilepsy is very common in Autism" (Silberman). He was the leading expert on the topic of Autism by the 1950s, so no one thought to question his theories. That is, until the 1970s.

Cognitive psychologist, Lorna Wing, found several faults with Kanner's theories. Leo Kanner believed that Autism was a result of "unaffectionate" parents. Wing disagreed with Kanner because she actually had an autistic daughter and the child always received love from her parents. Eventually, Lorna Wing and a colleague began working with the American Psychiatric Association in order to augment the gauges for diagnosing Autism because they believed this syndrome was very diverse. They coined the phrase "the Autism spectrum" in order to describe the range of symptoms. These changes, however, did not go into effect until the early 1990s. This recent attention Autism has garnered is what caused the number of cases to rise from 3 or 4 in 10,000 children to 1 in 68 children, not vaccines (Silberman).

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention agrees that vaccinations do not play a role in the causation of Autism. Many believe that the ingredient thimerosal, which is found in vaccines, is what actually causes Autism. However, the CDC has not found any evidence that thimerosal causes Autism. In fact, "there have been nine CDC-funded or conducted studies that have found no link between thimerosal-containing vaccines and ASD, as well as no link between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and ASD in children" since 2003. None of these studies have provided evidence of any link between thimerosal-containing vaccinations and Autism. 

Editor Noel Merino agrees with the CDC that vaccines do not cause Autism. In fact, she believes that genetics might actually be the cause for Autism. There are inequalities in brain development and function between children who have Autism and those who do not. Autistic children as young as six months "experience unusually rapid growth in areas of the brain that are responsible for the skills typically impaired in autism"(Merino). Children this young have not received most of the required vaccination, so it would be impossible for vaccines to account for these differences. Also, children who have Autistic immediate family members are "between 20 and 50 times more likely" to be diagnosed with the same syndrome (Merino).

Dr. Mercola has offered a solution: utilize natural, organic products as treatments instead of vaccinations. The products he recommends are much like the products he sells on his website. He also endorses companies that manufacture organic products. In fact, a portion of all the products he sells is donated to these companies.  The fact that Dr. Joseph Mercola is very much involved in the manufacturing of organic products illustrates his biased towards these products. These products are very profitable for the physician, so he endorses them on his website. Much like Andrew Wakefield, Dr. Mercola made false claims to gain profits. The Food and Drug Administration outlines a few of these erroneous claims in the warning letter the agency sent to Dr. Joseph Mercola.

The Food and Drug Administration has several centers that are dedicated to ensure and protect the public health of the United States of America. This federal agency regulates a wide range of products that include vaccines, medical devices, and radiation-emitting products (Food and Drug Administration). Steven Silverman, the director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health sent Dr. Joseph Mercola a warning letter in March 2011 regarding false allegations.

This letter was written in regards to Dr. Joseph Mercola's endorsement of a telethermographic camera and thermography centers. According to Silverman, the camera and centers is illegal because the products have "not receieved marketing clearance or approval" from the Food and Drug Administration. This directly violates the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. In 2001, the Center for Devices and Radiological Heath approved Dr. Joseph Mercola's Meditherm Med2000 Telethermographic camera "[f]or viewing and digitally storing thermal patterns generated by the human body" in healthcare facilities. Silverman explains in the letter that the telethermographic camera is not supposed to be utilized for diagnosing any conditions or ailments. According to Dr. Mercola's website, however, the physician boasts about the camera's ability to do just that. Silverman includes a few of the statements Dr. Mercola's uses on his website to insinuate that the Meditherm Med2000 Telethermographic camera is safe and effective at diagnosing cancer and other diseases. The letter goes on to tell Dr. Joseph Mercola that the Food and Drug Administration "requests that you immediately cease making claims, identical or similar to those described above, for this product" (Silverman). 

The claims Dr. Mercola has made regarding the camera are dishonest, just like the claims he has made regarding vaccinations. Many scientific studies have shown that vaccines do not cause Autism. However, Dr. Mercola continues to make this allegation in order to highlight the natural products he sells. The outright deception detailed in the FDA's warning letter helps to illustrate a pattern of dishonesty for Dr. Mercola.

Conclusion

Parents who refuse vaccinations for their children do not fully understand the danger they are placing their children in. They often hear the horrors of vaccinations from physicians like Dr. Joseph Mercola and Andrew Wakefield, who have a conflict of interest in the matter. Before parents make the decision to decline vaccines for their children, they should be required to speak with infectious disease specialists and physicians who have no stake in the matter. That is exactly what Kelly Wallace did when deciding whether or not to vaccinate her first child.

Kelly Wallace is an editor-at-large for CNN. She covers issues regarding family life. In her article, she details her own experience with determining if vaccines would help or harm her child. Like many parents, she read about the paper Andrew Wakefield wrote regarding vaccinations and Autism. When the paper was retracted, her "worries were dramatically reduced." Her worries were further reduced when she spoke with numerous infectious disease experts and doctors who assured her that vaccinations were the best option for protecting her child.

I, like Kelly Wallace, acknowledge that many parents just don't know how to determine what's true and what's false. When I become a pediatrician, I will tell the parents of my patients the truth regarding vaccinations. I will give them access to any resources they may need in order to make the best decision for their children. If parents truly knew just how beneficial vaccinations are, there would not be a single unvaccinated child in the United States. 

