Two years ago, when I was a student at the University of South Carolina Upstate campus in Spartanburg, I met Megan Kaiser. Megan and I had a lot in common. We were both the same age and were majoring in nursing.  She is the oldest of eleven children, and I am the oldest of four. We were both outgoing, liked the beach and the mountains and were a little motherly towards our siblings. Megan and I also were different. While my family lived in a subdivision in Charleston, Megan’s family lived on a farm in Woodruff, South Carolina. I went to visit her family one weekend, and got to see her chickens, pigs, goats and cows. I thought they were pets but this livestock fed their family.  I met her mom and dad and found out that her family was very natural in the foods they ate and the way they lived. The pigs were only fed grass-products (no meat) and their family got honey from bees on the edge of the property. 

When Megan started the nursing program, they required her to be vaccinated and receive a few vaccines essential to working with patients. I was surprised to learn that Megan and her ten siblings had never been vaccinated. It was their parent’s decision. They believed that vaccinations put unwanted, toxic chemicals in your body that were not needed. While her family is very religious with conservative Christian beliefs, they were most opposed to the unnatural ingredients in vaccines. Megan and her parents were furious with this requirement to get vaccines and thought it was an unreasonable request. Megan ultimately did not continue onto nursing school due her belief against vaccinations. I was shocked to find out that she had never been vaccinated in her life and sad that she would never be a nurse because of her beliefs. 

This made me think a lot about vaccines. My parents had always made sure we were vaccinated on schedules provided by the pediatrician, so it was something I really never questioned before.  Now, because of Megan, I wondered if vaccines were really beneficial or if they were just not needed. I was curious to learn more about vaccines and thought it would be helpful to know the history and the arguments in favor and against vaccines, especially since I am hoping to have a career in the health care field. I wanted to find out if there was any truth to the beliefs that Megan and her parents held strong to. Or, if their choice to not vaccinate was actually causing more harm than good.

I learned about the history of vaccines, and discovered that vaccines came about hundreds of years ago due to all the deadly diseases that were wiping out the human population. Diseases such as tuberculosis, small pox, measles, etc. were killing millions of people in the United States and all over the world. The very first vaccine was a preventative treatment for smallpox discovered by Edward Jenner in 1796 in England. In the 200 years following his discovery, smallpox was eventually eradicated.  It was gone, all because people started being vaccinated! In the mid 20th century, the vaccine for polio was revolutionary. It was an active time for vaccine research and development. Scientists continue today with research and are focusing on some non-infectious conditions such as allergies and addiction.  

Vaccine critics are not unique to our society today. “Opposition to vaccination has existed as long as vaccination itself” (History). When the smallpox vaccine was discovered, the opposition formed anti-vaccination leagues. Today, groups are opposed due to religious, safety, economical and medical reasons. 

 For those who cite religious reasons, I found a case recently in Michigan where a mother refused to vaccinate her nine-year-old child due to her own religious beliefs, and went to court because of her refusal. She said, “I can not go against my own religious beliefs, this is about having my choice as a mother to be able to make medical choices for my child” (Phillips). This mother served five days in jail for violating a court order to vaccinate her son. Often times, divorced parents disagree on vaccinations and conflict follows, such as the one in this case.  This mother stood firm in her beliefs and was even willing to go to jail before giving in to having her child vaccinated. 

In 47 states, including Michigan, states allow religious beliefs for an exemption of vaccinations. Only three states, California, Mississippi, and West Virginia, do not allow non-medical exemptions. However, in Michigan, parents of children enrolled in public school are required to attend an educational session in which they talk about diseases that vaccines can prevent, before they are given waivers for nonmedical purposes (Phillips). 

Not all religious people are opposed to vaccinations.  Some Christians believe it’s important to “love your neighbor as yourself” and vaccinating helps the greater good of humanity. When first researching this topic about vaccines, the idea of herd immunity really stood out. Herd immunity goes along with the argument for the greater good that some Christians believe.   Herd immunity is when a sufficiently high proportion of a population is vaccinated against communicable diseases, the entire population can obtain protection. (Lee). Herd immunity is essential and critical, because it is protecting the health for many groups of people who are especially vulnerable to communicable diseases: those who cannot be vaccinated because either they are too young or because an immunological condition makes vaccinations too risky, or those who choose -or whose parents choose for them– not to be vaccinated for nonmedical reasons (Lee). Children especially, are very vulnerable to certain disease and need vaccines to prevent them from becoming infected. Many vaccines are most effective when they are administered to children at a young age, this is because it takes time for vaccines to build full immunity in their bodies. “However, children fall into two broad categories: the unvaccinated, for those who do not receive any vaccinations and the under vaccinated for those who do not receive the fully recommended vaccine schedule. Unvaccinated and under vaccinated children are socioeconomically and demographically distinct populations, and separate factors account for why they are not fully vaccinated” (Lee).

Vaccines were created to help our body fight deadly diseases eventually creating immunity. Vaccines are composed of the inactive viruses or bacteria from those deadly diseases that stimulate B and T cells to produce antibodies to then fight the disease. (Godwin). This helps to stimulate our immune system and build an immunity to these potentially deadly diseases. If more people become vaccinated, then less people will be infected by the viruses. The goal of vaccines is to create a herd immunity. 

The vast majority of people who are not vaccinated are those whose parents did not want to vaccinate their child due to non-medical reasons. This decreases the effect of the herd immunity idea. “Nationwide the ratio of non-medical exemptions to state vaccination mandates still remains relatively low but between 1991 and 2004, the mean state-level rate increased from 0.98 percent to 1.48 percent” (Lee). It is very dangerous for the exemption rates to cluster and get higher because if enough individuals within a particular community receive exemptions, then the community will lose its herd immunity and its effectiveness (Lee).

In addition to religious reasons, some people chose to not be vaccinated because they believe that vaccines are linked to children with autism. For them, it is a safety issue. It all started in 1986 in New Jersey there was a 15-month-old toddler who had recently been given the MMR vaccine (measles-mumps-rubella.) Shortly after he had been given the vaccine his parents started to notice changes in his behavior and his ability to communicate. Later, in 1989, he was diagnosed with autism. The toddler’s parents said that he had a major reaction to the MMR vaccine, and they were not alone with the belief that the vaccine had a link to autism. In the United States and the United Kingdom, parents are pushing for more research to see if there is a link between vaccines and autism (Vaccine Safety). As you can imagine, parents who have a child with autism want answers and sometimes they are willing to place the blame as they desperately search for an answer to how it happened and why to their kid. Because these parents believe that there is a link between autism and vaccines, they become outspoken and try to convince other parents that vaccines are dangerous and they should not vaccinate their children. It is likely that these parents are finding that the first symptoms of autism just coincidentally coincide with early childhood vaccinations and the schedule for these vaccines.  These new parents are scared that vaccines are not safe and may give their children autism. If science can prove that vaccines are not linked to autism, they think science should prove why certain children have autism and others do not (Sun). 

But science has not proven their point. CDC (Centers for Disease Control) research has proven that vaccines have no link to autism. Vaccines do not cause, nor have any link to autism, the CDC says. According to the CDC, “Thirmersal, which is a mercury-based vaccine preservative, was the most researched topic (related to vaccines). However, the studies have shown that vaccines are not linked to children with autism” (Vaccine Safety). Parents are simply choosing to believe that vaccines are linked to autism because they are desperate for an explanation to why their children have autism. Because of that, parents are basing their belief off of a lie. They are influencing the decisions of other parents who are on the fence of vaccinating their child, when they have no research to support their argument. 

Another main argument people who are opposed to vaccines make is that vaccines cost money and are not free – therefore what if someone did not have enough money to vaccinate their child? Would their child not be able to get vaccinated because of it? In today’s economy especially money is very tight, and there are a lot of people who have been affected and are still suffering from the recession years ago.  This is not a legitimate argument because health departments provide free vaccines for those who qualify under income guidelines.  Also foundations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have raised money to take vaccines to third world countries to provide access to vaccines to people who are most in need and cannot afford access to health care that would prevent diseases (Vaccine Delivery).

While there are people who simply can not be vaccinated due to an allergy, a reaction, or a medical reason that prevents them from being able to receive a certain vaccine, this is a very small number and should not be used as an argument for the majority because the medical condition only affects a very small number.  While research is still ongoing to find out best practices in this area, only people with a severe (life-threatening) allergy to eggs are recommended against having egg-based vaccines. (History)

In summary, the majority of parents choose to not vaccinate their children based on religious beliefs, safety concerns, economical or a desire to know additional information regarding vaccines (McKee). Parents, like my friend Megan’s, who practice a certain religion may have a strong belief about chemicals (like thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative) coming into their body. These people may believe that their body and immune system can fight any infection and they do not need other chemicals comprising their body’s natural health. Parents who do not want to vaccinate their child based on safety concerns, they may believe that the vaccines cause problems for their child down the road or strictly right after they receive the vaccine. They do not want to harm their child. And lastly, many parents may have a desire to know more additional information regarding vaccines. Parents like to know exactly what chemicals are in the vaccine, what the vaccine does, or if there are any side effects from the vaccine that would affect their child. Parents like to research and talk to the doctors to make sure they are doing the right thing for their child. 

The strongest argument I have for being in support of vaccines definitely comes from the Centers for Disease Control whose research (more than 40 studies) has found that vaccines are safe and effective and vital to wiping out diseases that once threatened the lives of millions. Well respected and scholarly scientists, pediatricians and medical professionals around the world support vaccines because they have researched the pros and cons and have proven with scientific facts that vaccines are beneficial and not harmful. Science and data is how we make logical decisions.  Many others are using emotional and sometimes over-dramatized arguments that are not grounded in any real facts.  Some people are skeptical of the government, but this again is an emotional argument, not one grounded in fact.  Because of this distrust, they are threatening the lives of other children, some who may be too young to get the vaccine. Much more research is still going on for infectious diseases and public health organizations are helping to spread the word to make sure that diseases that can be prevented, are prevented. Research is ongoing for polio, mumps and tapeworm, which still exists in several countries.  Vaccines are safe and effective and important to protect our children today and for the generations of the future.
