Two years ago, when I was a student at the University of South Carolina Upstate campus in Spartanburg, I met a girl in one of my classes named Megan Kaiser. 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 wanting to pursue a career in the nursing field and had a lot in common. However, Megan and I also were also very different. I was surprised to learn that Megan and her ten siblings had never been vaccinated before. However, it was their parent’s decision. Her parents believed that vaccines 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 that were in vaccines. When Megan started the nursing program, the nursing department required her along with all nursing students to be vaccinated and receive a few vaccines essential to working with patients. Megan and her parents were furious with this requirement to get vaccinated and thought it was an unreasonable request. Megan ultimately did not continue onto nursing school due her belief against vaccines. I was shocked to find out that she had never been vaccinated in her life, and even more sad that she would never be a nurse because of her beliefs. Despite the fact that this is a very depressing outcome this is an example of a family who believes that their beliefs are protecting their children from chemicals that are in vaccines. 

As you can imagine, parents have a huge influence on their children’s beliefs, and because of that many of their beliefs are actually manipulated by their parents. Children trust that their parents know what is best for them. Megan’s parents held strong to their belief that vaccines put unwanted, unnatural ingredients and toxic chemicals in your body and were simply not needed. This greatly influenced Megan’s belief on vaccines and ultimately ended a career she wanted to pursue. Today, parents are influencing their children all around and more parents are choosing to not vaccinate their children based on their own belief. However, these beliefs that the children are choosing are not their own, but simply influenced by their parents. 

 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 1976 in England (Edward). In the 200 years following his discovery, smallpox was eradicated. It was gone, all because people started being vaccinated. 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, there was 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). The court order stems from an earlier custody hearing where the boy’s father said he wanted the vaccinations for the child, but the mother of the child refused. This mother served seven days in jail. At the time she was sent to jail, the judge announced that the boy will be vaccinated that day. The father now owns custody of the child. The woman was put into jail, because the judge ruled that she was hurting her child by not vaccinating him, and was also very verbal in expressing her beliefs. She just wanted to be heard in the court system, and was put behind bars because of it (Phillips).  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). In South Carolina, a certificate of religious exemption may be granted to any student whose parent or guardian signs the appropriate section of the South Carolina Certificate of religious exemption stating they are members of a recognized religious denomination in which the tenets and practices f the religious denomination conflict with immunizations. The South Carolina Certificate of Religious Exemption may only be obtained from the Department of Health and Environmental Control. Medical exemptions are also allowed in South Carolina (South). 

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 increases 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. In 1986 in New Jersey, a 15-month-old toddler, named Eric had recently been given the MMR vaccine (measles-mumps-rubella.) Shortly after, and unlike the vast majority, the parents started to notice changes in Eric’s behavior and his ability to communicate. Later, in 1989, he was diagnosed with autism. The toddler’s parents believed that Eric had a major reaction to the MMR vaccine, and they were not alone with the belief that the vaccine had a link to autism. Autism is a developmental disability, and is characterized by problems in social interaction and communication and by the need for sameness or repetition in behavior. Autism is also usually identified in toddlers, and s diagnosed more frequently in boys than in girls, according to the CDC (Vaccine Safety). 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). Barbara Loe Fisher, is a parent of an autistic child and co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center, believes that some cases of what she terms the “regressive” form of autism may be linked to the MMR vaccine. She says regressive autism is characterized by a sudden developmental downturn in a child who had previously been developing normally (Vaccine Safety).  A number of studies published in the past few years point to a connection between autoimmune reactions and autism. In one study, published in the February 1998 issue of the Lancet, Andrew Wakefield, FRCS of Royal Free Hospital in London, and colleagues found evidence of a possible connection between autism and the measles virus found in the bowels of autistic children (Vaccine Safety). As you can imagine. Parents who have a child want answers and sometimes they are willing to place the blame as they desperately search for answers to how it happened and why to their kid. However, there are numerous reasons why children could develop autism. Some people believe that children could develop autism based on their genetics.  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. This could be attributed to the mercury that is in thirmersal that is used as a preservative in vaccines. Parents are basing their belief off of a lie, because studies have shown that there is no correlation between mercury and vaccines. These studies are influencing parents to be concerned that mercury and all vaccines can cause their children harm and give their child autism, which is false. Parents who believe that, are also 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.  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 vaccine (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 p. 104-109). 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. For those parents who are on the fence with vaccines, many of them choose to ignore what doctors say, and take matters into their own hand by reading articles online, and simply believing these articles.

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.
