Shahadat Rahman
Professor Matyakubova
English 21003
October 12, 2017
Argumentative Essay Final Draft
Abstract
Humans
have been taking advantage of vaccines for decades. Today vaccines are relevant,
as they are vital in preventing childhood diseases; children have weaker immune
systems and are more susceptible illnesses, but because of vaccines a child’s
immune system can learn to adapt at an early age. Without vaccines, times would
regress to the age of polio or measles, where thousands of children died every
year due to ineffective treatments. Therefore, with all the ways vaccines have
improved lives, it would be dangerous not to take advantage of them. Yet scores
of people refuse to vaccinate their children on the premise that vaccines are
ineffective or immoral; their actions providing a medium for a disease to
circulate throughout a community. When observing the claims of those who are
skeptical of vaccines and actual data that supports the use of vaccines, it was
found that the benefits of vaccines outweigh the potential drawbacks. This evidence
necessitates making vaccinations compulsory in order to secure the welfare of
the overall population.
Key Words: Vaccination
Herd
Immunity
Immunity
Immunocompromised
Vaccination: The
Underappreciated Miracle
Vaccination
is considered one of the biggest modern-day medical miracles, becoming a
standard in contemporary society. The justification for the widespread integration
of vaccines is simple: they help prevent diseases before they infect a victim. Surprisingly,
the efficiency of vaccines stems from the diseases they combat. Vaccines
provide an innocuous version of an ailment, allowing the antibodies in the body
to learn to resist this particular condition if it appears again; therefore,
more vaccinated people equates to less sick people. Consequently, increased
prevention against certain illnesses also leads to their diminishment, allowing
these diseases to continue to exist only in history books. By simplifying, and
even eliminating, the treatment of several contagions, vaccines have saved
families and hospitals millions of dollars every year. Yet despite all these
benefits, a portion of the population is left susceptible to a host of infections
by those that doubt the application of vaccines. These skeptics claim that
there are unknown risks involved in the use of vaccinations and mandating
vaccines would infringe on the personal liberties of an individual. Although
there are several concerns about the integration of vaccines, the value of
vaccinations supersedes the potential drawbacks, warranting governments to make
them mandatory.
It was less than 60 years ago that measles was as common
as the flu, with nearly all children contracting the disease by the time they
were 15, until vaccines made this ubiquitous illness into a rare diagnosis. In
fact, it was estimated that approximately 4 million people in the United States
were infected with measles every year in the decade before the vaccine was
developed in 1963(“Measles
(Rubeola)” 1). But the American medical landscape rapidly transformed
once the measles vaccine was developed in 1963. The vaccine was widely
distributed throughout the United States and the measles vaccination rate
steadily increased while the number of measles cases steadily decreased— within
a year the number of measles cases decreased by 80% (“Measles (Rubeola)” 1). In recent years, 
the measles vaccination rate has
reached an astounding 91% in the United States [Figure 1]. Furthermore, there
were only 70 cases of 
measles
in 2016 and only 350 cases in the past 3 years; this is less than 1% of the
prevalence measles once had in the United States, with the majority of people
who were diagnosed with measles being those who were unvaccinated and lived in
communities with other unvaccinated individuals. Mandating the administration
of vaccines, especially as a prerequisite to enter school settings, would
promote healthier environments for the general population. There are still
several people who are unable to be vaccinated—such as children under the ages
of one—that would be left susceptible to disease that do not have to be,
especially in areas dense with people who are unvaccinated. Some people are
unable to receive vaccines since they have compromised immune systems, so even
innocuous versions of a disease could be life-threatening. Vaccines are not an
issue regarding an individual; they concern the entire well-being of a
community. They are clearly effective and since it is the responsibility of the
government to ensure the well-being of the American community, the government
should mandate the administration of vaccines.
While the benefits of vaccines are obvious, there are
skeptics who protest the implementation of mandatory vaccinations due to
questions of effectiveness. These are often young people who have never truly
seen the dangers of epidemics and the miracles of vaccines. In fact, a study on
the views in different age groups on childhood vaccinations found that the
largest percentage of people who believed that vaccines should not be required
were between 
ages
18-29. Inversely, the smallest percentage of people who believed vaccines
should not be required were over age 65 [Figure 2]. Older people have seen the
effectiveness of vaccines with their own eyes. They have seen the rise and fall
of several 
epidemics including polio, measles,
and rubella due to the use of vaccines. On the other hand, younger people have
lived with these vaccines their whole lives, so they would not be able to
visualize a world in which vaccines did not exist. The skeptics of vaccines,
such as Jack Wolfson, DO, cardiologist at Wolfson Integrative Cardiology, instead
have claimed that children should be allowed to contract illnesses to gain
resistance naturally. According to Wolfson, the immune system has long been
fighting infectious diseases before the first vaccine was created and this
method should not be overlooked (“Doctors have heated debate over vaccination.”).
This argument is flawed primarily because it assumes that all diseases that
have vaccines also have cures. It is important to make the distinction that a
vaccine is not a cure; it simply prevents a body from ever being infected. A
body that is already affected by a disease requires a cure. Therefore, Wolfson’s
logic is ineffective because diseases with permanent physical side effects and
no cure, like polio, would already affect its victims. Vaccines provide a
sensible alternative where a cure is not needed if the virus could never be
contracted. This not only protects people preemptively but also leads to the
diminishment of diseases in the overall population over time, until they
eventually disappear.
The use of vaccines not only minimizes the dangers of
different diseases, but large numbers of immunized people in a community can
protect those who are unable to be vaccinated and eventually leads to abating
numbers of certain maladies in society. For example, if a large percentage of a
population is immunized against a contagion, there would be a low probability
of the disease entering the population and affecting someone who is not
vaccinated. This concept, known as herd immunity, proposes that the vaccination
level of the population must be about 90% for all members to be protected
(“Vaccines” 1). Herd immunity would help defend babies who cannot yet receive
vaccinations as well as immunocompromised individuals. Yet, if the percentage
of the population that is protected drops drastically, the disease would be
able to circulate and these individuals with special needs would no longer be
protected. Mandating vaccination would
also help eventually eradicate diseases, subsequently eliminating the use of
those vaccines. For example, vaccinations combating smallpox are no longer
needed due to the fact that the disease no longer exists. Since the creation of
the smallpox vaccine, the last case of smallpox in the world was in 1977 ("Smallpox Disease
Overview" 1). Smallpox was one of the deadliest
epidemics in history, and its eradication saved millions of lives. Mandating
vaccination would lead to a safer environment for everyone in the population,
as there are fewer dangers that people are susceptible to falling victim to.
Although
vaccines can help prevent diseases, some worry that there is a greater problem
creeping behind them: autism. Skeptics claim that certain vaccines —
particularly the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine — may be linked to
autism, and it is somewhat understandable when observing their contents. One of
the main ingredients in vaccines, thimerosal, is a mercury-containing
preservative which prevents the contamination and growth of potentially harmful
bacteria (Stoskad 1). Thimerosal first garnered attention when the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) noticed that toddlers may have received excess doses
of mercury due to being injected with multiple vaccines when young; the use of
thimerosal was immediately stopped the following year as a precaution. Based on
this information, many parents concluded vaccines caused autism, since symptoms
of autism appeared when a child was 18-24 months old— coincidentally when
children received most vaccines. This rumor was exacerbated when British
physician Andrew Wakefield tied the measles vaccine to autism when he announced
that he had discovered viruses from measles vaccines lingering in the
intestines of 12 autistic children (Stoskad 2). Yet despite these conclusions,
neither pieces of evidence presented displays a causal relationship between
vaccines and autism. Although thimerosal was no longer used in vaccines after
2001, there have still been cases of autism appearing in young children. Since
autism has still sprouted in children born after 2001, thimerosal could not be
the source of the disorder. Studies have also proven this by examining groups
of children who had received different amounts of thimerosal in their vaccines;
autism occurred at the same rate no matter how much thimerosal a child received
(“Evidence shows
vaccines unrelated to autism” 1). Furthermore, thimerosal
is particularly useful because it is excreted from the body quickly and cannot cross
the membrane surrounding the brain; illustrating that could not be responsible
for the complex changes in the brains of autistic children, as it would not be
in the body long enough nor would it cross the membrane and cause the complex
chemical changes seen in the brain (Center for
Biologics Evaluation and Research 1). In addition, when researchers
tried to replicate Andrew Wakefield’s findings, they were unable to do so,
which implied that Wakefield’s conclusion must have been erroneous and his
observations occurred coincidentally. Deeper investigations surfaced that
Wakefield had falsified patent data and used incorrect laboratory reports to
make his conclusions, proving his findings were based on false information and
his claims were completely unreliable (Stoskad 2). Although this
exemplifies there are no proven links between receiving vaccines like MMR and
diseases like autism, the consequences of not being vaccinated are still
authentic.
As
a result of rumors pointing to vaccines as the cause of certain diseases, there
have been numerous cases of outbreaks due to concentrated populations of
unvaccinated individuals — some of which have occurred this year. Although it
was eradicated in the United States in the year 2000, in May of 2017 a measles
outbreak had health officials scrambling to contain 79 known cases in Minnesota
— a culmination of the problems skeptics have with vaccines (Zdechlik 1). Even
if measles has been eradicated in America, it still exists in underdeveloped
nations like Somalia; so all it takes is one traveler to bring the disease to
America. Indeed, the outbreak in Minnesota was traced backed to communities of
Somali Americans who refused to vaccinate their children; their reasoning was
fueled by fears of autism. While these rumors were disproven, the fear they
invoked was enough for as many as 1 in 6 Somali children to be unvaccinated
against the disease (Zdechlik 3). Combined with a complete disregard for herd
immunity, the highly contagious measles disease quickly circulated through
Minnesota, infecting more than the total number of individuals diagnosed in
2016 and hospitalizing 20 people. When the measles outbreak was first pioneered
in the 1960s, it had an impressive efficiency of 95%; it was so effective that
measles was declared eradicated in the year 2000 (“Measles (Rubeola)” 3). But all it took was a small
community and one traveler to expose nearly 8,000 people to the disease and
restricting nearly 700 people to their homes (Zdechlik 4). Even if a few
individuals are not vaccinated, thousands of individuals can be exposed to a
disease, even an eradicated one. Vaccines
must continue to be administered to all citizens to ensure eradicated diseases
do not reappear, as well as guarantee the safety of all citizens. It may be
one’s choice to be vaccinated, but it is a choice that affects everyone in
their community.
Despite evidence that vaccines help defend the
population, some people worry that mandating vaccinations actually attacks
something just as important as health: personal liberties. Similar to how the
government cannot force anyone to be treated for an injury, some believe the
government should not be able to force vaccinations. Vaccinations are perceived
as a personal medical choice and the government has no right to intrude on such
choices. Quite recently this idea was tested when a mother in Detroit refused
to vaccinate her son due to her own personal beliefs. Luckily, living in
Michigan meant that her son was exempt from taking certain vaccines if the
mother had any qualms with them being administered (Ramirez 1). She made this
decision without consulting the father, and in the ensuing court case a judge
jailed the mother and ordered the boy to be administered 20 vaccines he was
missing (Ramirez 2). If the government is allowed to control these medical
decisions, it would violate the idea that medical decisions require consent
from the patient. The difference is, though, that unlike treating injuries
vaccinations not only affect the individual, but the overall population as
well. The decision to not administer vaccines can help infections propagate and
spread throughout a community. Consequently, this forces an unsafe environment
on parents who seek to raise their children in environments that are free of
certain diseases. Furthermore, the government’s responsibility is not to a
single individual but the overall population. The government must do what is
best for the community, and in this case that gives it the right to mandate
vaccinations.
Aside
from the medical reasons they are beneficial, vaccines aid hospitals,
researchers, and families financially. With the administration of vaccines,
families no longer need to worry about the potential costs in treatment for
particular diseases. Instead, it is ensured that the child will already be able
to defend itself from certain illnesses. This is also a relief for researchers,
who no longer need to spend resources trying to find a cure or developing
treatment plans for certain diseases. Instead, researchers can allocate their
time and money to investigating ailments that do not have cures or vaccines.
This benefits the economy since there are more people being productive and
supporting it. The CDC estimates that in the last 20 years there has been
nearly $1.4 trillion in savings in societal costs which include preventing lost
productivity due to disabilities and early death (Noel 3). In addition, the
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health claims that $63 billion dollars
could be saved by providing vaccinations to the world’s poorest countries (Noel
4). Money is often the greatest obstacle in these situations. The first and
last question asked is usually, “is this a financially feasible option?” But in
the case of vaccines, mandating them would support the economy and would help
save billions of dollars.
But vaccines have not always been advantageous; there
have been reported cases of vaccines causing illnesses in children. The CDC
reported several claims of anaphylaxis — an allergic reaction — after the
administration of some vaccines. Anaphylaxis can often be fatal and can be
unpredictable when following vaccinations, prompting healthcare providers to be
prepared to treat medical emergencies if they occur; even then, these steps may
not always be effective. On the other hand, these cases are quite rare with
less than two cases per million doses of vaccines administered to children and
adolescents (Miller 1). Live vaccine viruses have also killed some children
with compromised immune systems. For example, a case involving a 4-year old
cancer patient resulted in the patient’s death after receiving a varicella
vaccine after a chemotherapy treatment (Miller 2). Children with cancer are
especially susceptible to diseases since their immune systems are severely
weakened. There is little that can be
done to prevent these situations, especially in the case of anaphylaxis, aside
from prescreening for an immunodeficiency as well as receiving vaccines ahead
of time. To acknowledge the injuries vaccines may cause, however rare they may
be, the federal government established the National Vaccine Injury Compensation
Program — a no-fault alternative to the traditional way of petitioning vaccine
injuries (“National Vaccine Injury
Compensation Program” 1). The act provides compensation to those who
have been injured by vaccines, similar to how the Heroes Act of 2003 provides
relief to those affected by natural disasters. Vaccine-related injuries are as
rare and unpredictable as natural disasters, and although this element of
surprise provides few options for preventive measures, there are programs to
alleviate the stress these situations may entail.
But the consequences of vaccines are not only summed up
in statistics, they can be seen in the lives of typical citizens. The founder
of the National Meningitis Association, Lynn Bozoff, lost her son Evan because
he never received the meningitis vaccine. The meningitis epidemic plagues the
entire world, but is not as prevalent in the United States, yet Evan lost his
life because he was unprotected. “What one night presented itself as a small
virus quickly evolved into a life-threatening disease that gave Evan less than
a 5% chance of survival in under 12 hours” claimed Mrs. Bozoff, who added “my
son did not have to die; there were vaccines that could have saved his life”
(Bozoff 1). Since then, Mrs. Bozoff has made it her mission to make vaccination
compulsory, and prevent the situation that befell her son from damaging someone
else. Mrs. Bozoff was right when she claimed her son did not have to die.
Meningitis vaccines are regularly given out in hospitals as well as in the
army, yet in Mrs. Bozoff’s mind rumors made the word vaccine synonymous with
the word poison— the same rumors that manipulated the Somali-Americans in
Minnesota as well. Therefore, vaccines should be mandated; rumors incite fear
and cause people to act irrationally. Although the data that depicts the
benefits of vaccines is right in front of them, they allow their fear to
dictate their actions. Vaccines must be mandated in order to maintain a healthy
population, even if the population does not always see the benefits they
provide.
The administration of vaccines should be mandated as it
has been proven to be both medically and economically beneficial in the long
and short term. Vaccines are a preventive measure instead of a reactive one.
They help protect against diseases before they even appear in the body and over
time limit the appearance of such ailments until they eventually disappear.
Furthermore, administering vaccines could help save billions of dollars as well
as remove stress from patients, families, and researchers. Although some people
are skeptical of the effectiveness of vaccines, they have decreased the number
of child deaths as well as the number of deadly diseases prevalent in society
today by a drastic amount. The government should not cater toward these
skeptics who do not believe the facts in front them. It is the responsibility
of the government to look after the entire community, not just consider the
needs of an individual. As such, it is imperative that lawmakers mandate
vaccinations in order to promote a safe and healthy environment for the entire
population. There is no need to regress to times without technology when the
ability to save millions of lives is available.
Works
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