The discussion of vaccinating children is at an all time high in the United States right now. With one side of the argument saying that children should be immunized and the other side opposing, saying that children should not be immunized against the plethora of diseases. Although research and facts are still being gathered, parents should be getting their children immunized. Getting children immunized will protect future generations from an epidemic of diseases, save money and time for the family, and will most importantly protect the child from infectious and life threatening diseases. Also there should be new laws mandated stating that if children aren't vaccinated they must find another education system or school to put their child in and the government should not allow them into public schools this will allow parents to still have a choice but will persuade them to have their children vaccinated. 

This issue is not new it has been occurring for the last hundred years in all different cultures. Specifically in the United States the U.S defense against the Measles and Mumps disease began in the mid 1970's. "In 1978, CDC set a goal to eliminate measles from the United States by 1982. Although this goal was not met, widespread use of measles vaccine drastically reduced the disease rates. By 1981, the number of reported measles cases was 80% less compared with the previous year. However, a 1989 measles outbreaks among vaccinated school-aged children prompted the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) to recommend a second dose of MMR vaccine for all children." (Center for Disease Control)  many bills and laws have been passed in the United States regarding immunization of children. Although some parents are against the idea of immunizing their children the implement of the laws were effective. "Measles was declared eliminated (absence of continuous disease transmission for greater than 12 months) from the United States in 2000. This was possible thanks to a highly effective vaccination program and better measles control in the Americas region."( Center for Disease Control). In recent years new laws and bills have been passed after their was a measles outbreak in Disney land in 2015. "Gov. Jerry Brown must now decide whether to sign into law a bill that would require mandatory vaccinations for nearly all California schoolchildren" this caused many demonstrations and protests in California because parents did not feel like they should be force to vaccinate their children. This issue could be solved by making laws that forces children out of public schools and into other education systems or they can be vaccinated and in public schools. 

Not only do doctors and researchers think that children should be vaccinated they have found scientific proof about the following and rising rates of children being vaccinated and the outcome and effects that these rates have on our nation. "Acceptable documentation included MMR doses recorded in the NYC Citywide Immunization Registry (CIR)  or those obtained directly from an individual's medical provider. CIR, an immunization information system sentinel site for the CDC, maintains high quality completeness and timeliness for which 92% of immunizations are reported within one month and to which 89.5% of providers regularly report." (Livingston, Rosen, Zucker, Zimmerman). Many researchers found that one of the many reasons parents are not having their children immunized is because they are uneducated about the facts revolving the issue. From the articles that I have read and information that researchers gathered they have found many different conclusions specifically pertaining to parents understanding "A first level is more concerned with the medical encounter between parents and pediatrician, where the vaccination issue is addressed and discussed. Building on the needs that parents articulated in this study, there are a number of practical implications for pediatricians." (Fadda, Depping, Schulz). Also issues about doctors spreading false information about immunizations being tied to other diseases such as autism has caused the conversation about whether or not to get vaccinated to become even more prevalent in todays society. This has caused many more parents to be less inclined to have their children vaccinated which will put a risk on our society. This problem can be solved by implanting new laws to make it more challenging for parents to avoid having their children unvaccinated. 

There are several people who oppose my position on the issue of immunizations. Such as parents who chose not to have their children vaccinated because they think  that the immunizations will cause other defects with the child such diseases as autism, other mental developments and seizures. There are also parents who think that the natural way is best and has worked for millions of years. Although humans went thousands of years without vaccination the amount of people who survived and the age that humans are living to has increased dramatically. Also some parents perceive diseases such as Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Whopping cough as just childhood diseases that everyone gets when they are young, and that our bodies are made to evolve. "I have the feeling that I don't want to meddle with it [natural immunity] and mess it up. Things exist and one has to handle them when they are there. But to treat an illness before it is there, ehm... that is something weird. It is like having a bypass operation while the heart is still strong" (Gross, Hartmann, Zemp, Merten). This quote from an actual parent depicts the real life conflicts that some parents and our society are facing. Although there is a great amount of opposition, the argument to have your child vaccinated is much larger because it includes scientific data, research, and facts while parents who chose to not have their child immunized are basing it off of their own conclusions and opinions which can jeopardize out society.

The main benefit of childhood vaccinations is to protect the child and the community, but that is not the only thing that America can gain from having children vaccinated. "BRICS have considerable potential to save lives and obtain economic benefits through introducing or scaling up childhood vaccination."(Mirelman, Ozawa, Grewal). Researchers claim that there would be economic benefits to having more children vaccinated. Specifically the researchers and authors say that if more citizens have their child vaccinated they will have the opportunity to work more because they are not having to take care of their sick children and they childhood immunizations will also have a positive economic outcome because you will be less likely to pay high hospital bills because your vaccinated child is less likely to contract a sickness. "The economic benefits of vaccination extend far beyond the treatment costs that are usually included in cost -- effectiveness analyses. Children whose lives are saved through immunization programmes not only contribute to the economy but also bring social value to the community." (Mirelman, Ozawa, Grewal). This should really be a push for parents to have their children immunized since it can impact a family in many ways for the positive. 

The benefits of having children today vaccinated it because it will be able to help and progress future generations. Vaccinations will prevent diseases and epidemics from spreading and eventually the disease will be not heard of. This will help to progress and protect future generations. "If we continue vaccinating now, and vaccinating completely, parents in the future may be able to trust that some diseases of today will no longer be around to harm their children in the future."(vaccines.gov) the article shows data how getting your child immunized can make drastic improvements by decreasing the risk of pregnant women passing diseases and viruses along to their unborn children. Having everyone vaccinated now will be able to cancel out rare diseases and make them nonexistent. 

I feel as though a way that we can help the controversial issue of immunizations by implementing new laws. An example would be to have public schools enforce that only children who are vaccinated are allowed to attend the public school, and the children that are not vaccinated must find alternate schooling and education such as a private school or homeschooling. This could be just another rule that schools implement, this new law or "rule" could be comparable to the dress code in public schools now. All schools have a different rule if its "below the knee" or the "strap must be three inches" this new rule could just become as well known. This law or "rule" will help confine the children and people who are not getting vaccinated and contracting diseases which will keep all the kids that are staying in school and being vaccinated safe from infectious and deadly diseases. I feel as though this would be an effective measure because it would give the parents who do not want their child to be immunized another option or a last resort option but will still make them want to have their child immunized. " Herd immunity (or community immunity) means that when a "critical portion" (the percent of people who need to be vaccinated to provide herd immunity) of a population is vaccinated against a contagious disease it is unlikely that an outbreak of the disease will occur so most members of the community will be protected." (vaccines.procon.org) This would definitely cause a herd effect by being able to specifically locate those who have not been vaccinated and those who have been. 

There have been many points made by parens saying that they are not having their children vaccinated because of the adverse reactions. The most common reaction is anaphylaxis which occurs in one per several hundred thousand to one per million vaccinations. (vaccines.procon.org) "According to Sanjay Gupta, Chief Medical Correspondent for CNN and practicing neurosurgeon, "you are 100 times more likely to be struck by lightning than to have a serious allergic reaction to the vaccine that protects you against measles."" This statement is effective because it is coming from an Medical Doctor which will make the audience more convinced of his findings. These findings prove that their are many more risks that we take daily than having our children immunized. People make the choice everyday to get into cars which could get into wrecks, why not make the decision to prevent infectious and deadly diseases? "Combination vaccines, like MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella), have been used without adverse effects since the mid-1940s." This also shows that their has been a great deal of research done on this topic from decades ago and is still ongoing, and this statement also proves that their have been no adverse effects resulting specifically the MMR vaccination. 

Another reason that parents should have their children vaccinated is because these multiple vaccine preventable disease have not completely been eradicated and have not disappeared totally. "The CDC notes that many vaccine-preventable diseases are still in the United States or "only a plane ride away."(Center for Disease Control). This shows that not only is the threat for these infectious diseases still out there they are very prevalent and can easily become transmitted and outbreak can occur. This information can encourage parents to have their children vaccinated because the parents may not know that these deadly diseases are still lurking and it is very possible to still develop them. "UNICEF reported that, globally, 453,000 children die from rotavirus, 476,000 die from pneumococcus (the virus that causes pneumonia, meningitis, and blood infections), 199,000 die from Hib (a virus that causes pneumonia and meningitis), 195,000 die from pertussis (whooping cough), 118,000 die from the measles, and 60,000 die from tetanus each year, all vaccine-preventable diseases." (Center for Disease Control) this data shows how much is occurring in other countries and how it can be very easily brought to the United States by people who travel or who have family members in other countries that come to visit. It is detrimental to know that some children are living unprotected from these disease that can be very harmful and deadly. The implementing of new laws and regulations of the vaccines are needed and need to be acted upon quickly. 

From all of the research that I gathered it was very interesting to see and better understand both sides of the controversial topic of whether or not children should be given vaccinations. The stance that I take is that there should be new laws and regulations implemented that control and monitor the situation better than the United States government is doing right now. Although it was helpful and beneficial to see the opposing side of the argument their is just not enough data or information to back it up. From the articles that I tried to find on the opposing argument it was mainly parents who were forming their own opinions about the topic. I feel as though there are too many infectious and deadly diseases in our world today it is neglectful to leave you or your children unprotected from the diseases. Vaccines are beneficial in many ways such as saving children's lives, protecting family members and our nation as a whole, and also it can help the United States economically and socially. Based on all of the research that I have done my argument and perception still stand and I support my stance on how vaccinations will protect future generations, save money and time for the family, and ultimately will save children's lives. If there becomes a steady decline in vaccines given it could be detrimental to our society and the world as a whole, causing disease outbreaks. This topic is very important to me because of the future career I want in health care but it should also be important to every citizen of the united states because it will literally and ultimately effect every single person, because everyone is faced with diseases and sickness. Every person should be informed about this topic and I feel as though some parents are not being completely informed and that is why they are making rash decisions about whether or not to get their children immunized without consulting a doctor first, and from other reading and articles that I have read it seemed almost like a fad or the new cool thing to do is to refuse immunizations for your child, this is not something that people should be uninformed on. Along with my thought on having new laws and rules made about which school a child should go to depending on whether or not they are immunized there should also be a required class that expectant parents take regarding the topic of vaccines and immunizations and it should be taught by a professional who is a credible person and a reliable teacher. I believe that it is the correct and smart decision to have your child immunized to help not only themselves but the nation as a whole.

