{"id":4188,"date":"2019-02-22T08:40:31","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T08:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/?p=4188"},"modified":"2021-05-27T16:59:09","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T16:59:09","slug":"immunization-12-potential-benefits-and-risks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/immunization-12-potential-benefits-and-risks\/","title":{"rendered":"Immunization: 12 Potential Benefits and Risks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Centers for Disease Control \u2014 or CDC \u2014 recommend that you get a total of 29 doses for nine vaccines for all of the kids in your family between the age of zero and six. In addition, they also advise that you get your annual flu shot for every member of your family that is beyond the age of six months old. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are no federal laws as of yet that make vaccination mandatory, but every single state in the US requires that children be vaccinated if they are to enter into a public school. There are many states who offer religious and medical exemptions. In fact, some states even allow philosophical exemptions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There has been overwhelming research showing that vaccines are not only safe but one of the best developments in the medical industry in all of the 20th century. That said, if you are a reluctant parent, here are eight things that will help you weigh the risks and benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Vaccination saves lives<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The main benefit that vaccination <\/a>has brought to our species is its ability to prevent disease and save lives. Most doctors consider immunization one of the greatest leaps in healthcare during the 20th century. Any credible expert will agree that getting vaccinated is key to staying healthy. In a single year, vaccines prevent 33,000 deaths in the US alone and a whopping three million deaths across the globe. While there has been a significant decline in the diseases that people vaccinate against, they are yet to be eradicated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vaccines are very easy to access in the US, but other nations aren\u2019t as lucky. If people were to stop vaccinating, these diseases would come back faster and harder than ever before. You might think that diseases that are near the level of eradication are no longer a threat, but even just a single tourist carrying the disease could infect a whole town \u2014 then country \u2014 if not for vaccinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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2. Vaccination protects the people you care about<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While it\u2019s true that vaccination protects you, it goes beyond that, it also protects the people that you hold dearest to your heart. Those who are vaccinated in a community will also protect the people that are unvaccinated \u2014 perhaps due to a suppressed immune system or allergies <\/a>to vaccine components. This is a concept that is known as herd immunity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a person gets vaccinated, they inhibit the spread of disease within their community. If less than 90% of children in a specific community has been vaccinated, everyone in the neighborhood will be more vulnerable to infectious diseases. Luckily, only 3% of children in the United States are currently unvaccinated, but there\u2019s still room for improvement in that number. Some communities that are specifically vulnerable to disease are the Amish ones that reside in Pensylvania. One sick tourist could decimate their entire town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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3. Vaccines are cost-effective<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Okay, so let\u2019s say you\u2019re the selfish type and don\u2019t really care about saving lives. We won\u2019t judge you for that. That said, we\u2019ve found that selfish people tend to be stingy, or at the very least frugal. Well, you\u2019ll be happy to know that vaccination saves a lot of money. Preventing diseases is always far cheaper than treating them. Vaccinations <\/a>save $13.6 billion in treatment costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For every dollar that is spent on childhood vaccination, $18 is saved \u2014 and that\u2019s just the statistics for Colorado. In contrast, $29.2 million was spent in Colorado to treat 538 children. The worst part is that the diseases they had could have been prevented had they been vaccinated. Even if you are selfish and couldn\u2019t care less about herd immunity, just get vaccinated for the sake of keeping your bank figures high. You wouldn\u2019t wanna spend your hard-earned cash on hospital bills, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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4. Vaccines are safe<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Contrary to what extremist anti-vaccination activists might have you believe, vaccines are safe. Every vaccine is put through stringent <\/a>testing before it approved by the FDA. It is only administered to the general public once the FDA is absolutely certain that it is safe. But the testing doesn\u2019t end there, the FDA continuously monitors every vaccine to ensure that it is still safe for public use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IOM \u2014 Institute of Medicine \u2014 published a very comprehensive study in the year 2013. It covered the recommendations of the CDC and found that there are no significant safety risks of adhering to it. Many parents think that vaccines are unsafe due to years of misinformation campaigns, but what\u2019s really unsafe is keeping your children unvaccinated and thus vulnerable to a plethora of diseases that could be otherwise prevented. Don\u2019t take the risk, get your children vaccinated as soon as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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5. Major medical organizations state that vaccines are safe<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The list of organizations that have verified the safety of vaccination <\/a>is truly amazing. This list is comprised of the American Medical Association, United States Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control, American Academy of Pediatrics, UNICEF, World Health Organization, and countless more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, it would take us far too long to list every single agency by name. All you have to do is Google your area\u2019s medical organization and you\u2019ll find that they support vaccinations wholeheartedly. In Canada, you\u2019ll also find the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Paediatric Society supporting vaccinations in accordance with the CDC recommendations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The WHO has said that \u201cvaccines are very safe.\u201d The United States Department of Health and Human Services has also said that \u201cvaccines are some of the safest medical products available.\u201d Who are you gonna believe, some random activist online or the major medical organizations of our planet?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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6. Adverse reactions to vaccines are extremely rare<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Any adverse reaction to vaccination is incredibly rare. The most common side effect of vaccinations is anaphylaxis <\/a>\u2014 which is a severe allergic reaction. That said, even being the most common, it only occurs on a scale that is greater than one in a million. The Chief Medical Correspondent for CNN, Sanjay Gupta, has said that \u201cyou are a hundred times more likely to get struck by lightning than to get a serious allergic reaction to a vaccine.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many anti-vaccination activists have made unsubstantiated claims that vaccines cause diabetes, autism, and a plethora of other diseases. All of these claims have been debunked by countless studies. On the other hand, not getting your child vaccination will expose them to various risks \u2014 risks that are actually backed by science. Do you really want to expose your child to diseases that could be easily prevented with a single shot?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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7. Vaccines protect future generations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mothers who are vaccinated will also protect any future children from deadly viruses that could lead to congenital anomalies \u2014 more often referred to as birth defects. Vaccinated communities could also eradicate diseases which will protect the future generations from being exposed to this risk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to licensing of the rubella <\/a>vaccine in the year 1969, a global outbreak of the disease under the name German measles from 1963 – 1965 led to the death of 11,000 babies in the US. It also led to birth defects in over 20,000 babies in the United States alone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pregnant mothers who had been previously vaccinated during childhood against rubella had a significantly lower chance of infecting their unborn or even newborn children with the disease. The birth defects caused by rubella include congenital cataracts, liver damage, heart problems, deafness, vision loss, and even mental disabilities such as autism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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8. Potential side effects<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Every vaccine will have its own list of side effects and risks, but it\u2019s important to remember that whatever they are, they\u2019re always less severe than the adverse effects of actually contracting the disease in question. Some of the common side effects of vaccines include fatigue, aching muscles, nausea, headaches<\/a>, and fevers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many parents choose to not vaccinate their kids in light of these side effects, but it\u2019s important to remember that the risk and consequences of not being vaccinated are far more significant than the side effects of getting vaccinated. Would you rather save your kid from a headache or save your kid from polio? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, the side effects of vaccination often subside very quickly whereas the effects of contracting a disease could be long-term and sometimes even fatal. If you choose to not get your kid vaccinated, you\u2019re not protecting them from risk, you\u2019re exposing them to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\r\n

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