Most Americans believe that vaccinations are just an inevitable reality, and that every child must get their shots to be ready for school. Yet, there are several exemptions that allow students a pass: epilepsy, severe allergies, religious-based or personal philosophical opposition. While it could wind up being a legal battle, it’s illegal to ban children from school for refusing immunization, except in the case of a local outbreak. But why would someone oppose a vaccination when they’re supposed to be good?

According to medical information, on one hand, vaccinations are needed because we cannot face the alternative. Plagues and disease epidemics once ravaged the globe in epic proportions, killing millions worldwide. Many health experts credit vaccinations with the eradication of smallpox and polio; once deadly killers. Additionally, immunization is considered to be one of the most cost-effective health prevention methods.

According to the World Health Organization, every dollar spent on vaccines saves the average American $27 in health expenses. Hundreds of thousands of deaths have been prevented each year by administering a simple vaccine, experts say. They add that the new rotavirus diarrhoea vaccine will save 300,000-600,000 children each year and the new human papillomavirus vaccine will prevent 500,000 cervical cancer deaths.

Yet, there is also a strong case against vaccination procedures. Even though immunization against smallpox was made compulsory in 1872, Japan experienced annual rises in infections that resulted in 29,979 deaths over twenty years. Additionally, the smallpox-related death rate in the Philippines quadrupled following immunization. In 1989, Oman had a widespread polio outbreak six months after being 100% vaccinated. In the US, 90% of pertussis victims in Kansas had been vaccinated in the outbreak of 1986 and 72% of the pertussis cases in the 1993 Chicago outbreak were vaccinated as well. The 1980s saw a resurgence of measles among children, half of which were fully vaccinated. Some health experts fear smallpox will come back as a virulent strain of shingles later in life as well.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 at 6:30 am and is filed under Health & Beauty. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.