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Erin Thibault
Mr. M
ENG-112-18
26 April 2012
The Truth about Vaccines
A parents worst fear is his or her child becoming ill or injured, so he or she takes all
necessary precautions to keep the child safe. When a new child is brought into a home knives
are moved out of reach, outlets are covered, and doors become locked. These are all common
ways of protecting children from harm, but there is one precaution that rarely crosses parents
minds, routine childhood vaccines. During the infant and toddler years children receive several
vaccines to prevent various infectious diseases. Although there is controversy over the
importance of childhood vaccines, the benefits are far more extensive than the risks.
Throughout history, infectious diseases that are vaccine preventable have been the causes of
illness and death all over the world (Tahmeed et al. 295). Disease outbreaks, such as the bubonic
plaque and the swine flu, have occurred numerous times, in multiple countries, over the past few
decades. The death tolls of these epidemics are outrageous, and the thought of children dying due
to these diseases is heartbreaking, especially when a routine vaccine could have prevented it.
Rudan Igor, a researcher for BMC Public Health, states that Immunisation is the most effective
method available to reduce morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases. In 1980 children
received only five shot by they were age two, now children may receive up to twenty shots, with
as many as five vaccines in one visit, by the same age (Offit). Although this statement is

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somewhat shocking, it emphasizes that vaccines are necessary; doctors would not recommend
vaccines if they did not work.
Most people can think of a time when they heard that vaccines were not safe, and it was
better to become naturally infected. There are parent groups and even some pediatricians that are
concerned that vaccines may have an inverse affect on the immune system (Halsey 315). This is
most commonly associated with the flu shot; many people actually get the flu or flu like
symptoms after receiving a flu vaccination. No vaccine is completely safe, almost all of them
cause pain, redness at injection site, and low fever; some shots can actually cause inconsolable
crying and very high fever (Offit). When a disease is contracted naturally, the body becomes
infected because of an immune weakness, so when the immune system builds back up it can
fight the infection naturally; vaccination injects the disease into the body when the immune
system is not weak, so it cannot become stronger to fight the infection (Bartlett 99). Natural
infection also causes better immunity to the disease than vaccination (Offit). Many parents have
become adults without knowing anyone with a serious disease, therefore they feel there is no
need to take the risk of vaccinating their children (Bartlett 99).
Vaccines are not harmless, but the slight risks and side effects are greatly outnumbered by
the benefits of prevention (Offit). Vaccinations have been used for over fifty years and have not
only been proven safe, but have brought great benefits to children (Halsey 512). Thomas
Cherian, a writer and researcher for the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, states that,
Immunization confers durable, long lasting protection, it requires only a few contacts to confer
that protection(369). When a vaccination is given there may be a few subtle side effects
lasting several hours, but when the body becomes naturally infected the symptoms last much
longer. Opposition towards vaccines made public by celebrities and activists sometimes gets in

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the way of scientific work to find the real side effects (Kwok 436). Vaccines have been proven
safe by numerous studies, and even though they may cause reactions in a small percentage of
children not vaccinating causes more concern (Kwok 438).
The biggest concern that most parents have is that vaccines, specifically the measles-mumpsrubella vaccine, causes autism. Paul Offit, author of Should Vaccines be Manditory?, tells why
this is such a serious concern, In 1998, Andrew Wakefield and his colleagues published a paper
in the journal Lancet. Wakefields hypothesis was that the MMR vaccine caused a series of
events that include intestinal inflammation, entrance into the bloodstream of proteins harmful to
the brain, and consequent development of autism. This idea caused a great uproar all over the
world, and this fear was intensified when Wakefield conducted a study that supported his
hypothesis. In this experiment twelve children with delayed development were tested and eight
were proven to have autism, all of them had received the MMR vaccine within one month
(Offit). This experiment was almost fifteen years ago, but it is still a major controversy today. In
2002 Dr. Wakefield ran another experiment on MMR and autism, Paul Offit describes the
results, Of [the] children with autism, 75 of 91 were found to have measles virus in intestinal
biopsy tissue as compared with only five of the 70 patients who didnt have autism. The
concern about the MMR vaccine and autism is very serious, and it is not going away anytime
soon (Offit).
After Dr. Wakefield published his findings, several other studies were conducted on MMR
and autism. All of these experiments proved the hypothesis that the measles-mumps-rubella
vaccine causes autism wrong. Autism is most obvious at approximately two years of age so
diagnoses occurs around this time; the MMR vaccine is usually given at the two year old
checkup, so Dr. Wakefields hypothesis is simply a cause and effect fallacy ( Offit). Paul Offit

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states that Very subtle symptoms of autism are present in early infancy and argues strongly
against vaccines as a cause of autism. This evidence is strong support against Dr. Wakefields
hypothesis, but it is not the only support. There have also been numerous home-movie studies
where development specialists look at the home movies from children under one year old and
look for autism-like symptoms; all of these studies have proven that MMR does not cause autism
(Offit). The largest experiment on this issue was performed in November 2002, Paul Offit
explains the details and outcome of this experiment, About 537,000 children . . . who either did
or did not receive the MMR vaccine were examined for about 6 years. The incidence of autism
was the same in children who did or did not receive the MMR vaccine. For the two experiments
that supported the hypothesis that the MMR vaccine causes autism, there are numerous
experiments that shoot it down.
Even today there is a large controversy over vaccines and whether or not they should be
administered to children. The evidence that vaccines are not safe and should not be given to
children is far and few between. There is an abundance of evidence that supports vaccines, the
safety of them, and the idea that vaccinating children is good. There will always be concern over
the safety of vaccines, but Neal Hasley, a researcher for Clinical Infectious Diseases 33 , sums it
all up by saying we need to emphasize that children are healthier today than they ever have
been in the past because of the use of many vaccines that effectively prevent illnesses (317).

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Works Cited
Bartlett, Brenda L., "Safety and Efficacy of Vaccines." Dermatologic Therapy 22.2 (2009): 97-103.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2012.
Cherian, Thomas et al. "Vaccines To Prevent Pneumonia And Improve Child Survival." Bulletin of the
World Health Organization 86.5 (2008): 365-372. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Apr.
2012.
Halsey, Neal A. "Combination Vaccines: Defining and Addressing Current Safety Concerns." Clinical
Infectious Diseases 33. (2001): S312. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2012.
Igor Rudan, et al. "An Evaluation of Emerging Vaccines for Childhood Pneumococcal Pneumonia."
BMC Public Health 11.Suppl 3 (2011): 1-14. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Apr. 2012.
Kwok, Roberta. The Real Issues in Vaccine Safety. Nature 473 (2011): 436-438. Web. 11 Apr. 2012.
Offit, Paul A. "Vaccine Risks Are Outweighed by the Risks of Not Vaccinating." Should Vaccinations
be Manditory? Ed. Nol Merino. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. At Issue. Rpt. from
"Common Concerns about Vaccines." Vaccines: What You Should Know. 3rd ed. Hoboken, NJ:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 11 Apr. 2012.
Tahmeed Ahmed, et al. "Infectious Diseases and Vaccine Sciences: Strategic Directions." Journal Of
Health, Population, & Nutrition 26.3 (2008): 295-310. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11
Apr. 2012.

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Reflection
This is an essay that I wrote in 2012 at CPCC, for ENG 112 which is the equivalent of
UWRT 1102. I received at 60 on this paper, after receiving Fs on the two prior drafts. Reading
back through the paper now, two years later, I definitely see some areas that need improving.
There are many punctuations errors, and I see some places where I cited things wrong. In the
class we did not do any of the writing exercises I was taught in UWRT-1102, and I now truly see
how much those quick assignments helped my writing. I ended up failing the class at CPCC, and
entering UNCC I was dreading having to take it again. Now that the class is over I am very
grateful that I did. I feel that if I was to re-write this paper now I would be able to be more
successful and make a good grade. I am a more confident writer, because I was taught the
techniques to help me write a good paper.