Mandy Bringhurst

8th period

The MMR Vaccine

MMR stands for measles, mumps, and rubella. This vaccine is usually given to
babies to help prevent them from getting these diseases in their lifetime. In some cases of
babies receiving this vaccine they have gotten autism, although this doesnt always occur.
For that reason some parents choose not to give their child this vaccination. The reason
that some parents choose to give their baby this vaccine is because they dont want to
have to deal with the diseases that it is protecting against.
The first side of this issue is that babies should receive this vaccine. In an article
about childrens vaccines it said, The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is
recommended for all children. It protects against three potentially serious illnesses
(Measles, Mumps, and Rubella [MMR] Vaccine, 2015). These illnesses can cause lifelong complications for some victims of them. They can also become very expensive
because of all of the doctor bills and medications. A scientific journal about this
vaccinations link to autism there was a study that was done in the UK, their conclusion
stated, The authors observed no differences between case and control children in
practitioner consultation ratesa surrogate for parental concerns about their child's
developmentwithin 6 months after MMR vaccination, which suggests that the
diagnosis of autism was not temporally related to MMR vaccination (Jeffrey S. Gerber
& Paul A. Offit, 2014). This states that within the cases that they tested, the vaccine was
not related to autism. Autism can have many different causes but most of them are
hereditary.

The other side of this issue is that parents dont want the possibility of their child
getting autism from the MMR vaccine. In a scientific journal about the MMR vaccine it
said, Described 8 children whose first symptoms of autism appeared within 1 month
after receiving an MMR vaccine (Jeffrey S. Gerber & Paul A. Offit, 2014). The only
problem with getting this vaccine is the chance that it might alter a childs whole life for
this one decision. Many parents are wary about permitting their child to get it because of
that fear. This vaccine can also cause other problems in children. One of the main
arguments that people against the vaccine is stated on a webpage, Perfectly normal
children developed a range of problems after having the combined vaccine, the worst of
these is full-blown autism (The MMR debate, 2014). Some parents have the dilemma
that they can either have a couple weeks of childhood illness if they dont get the vaccine
or they could change the childs whole life if they receive autism after getting this
vaccine.
I feel that parents should give their child this vaccine. I feel this way because
there have been many studies done that prove that the vaccine is not related to autism.
Many doctors and scientists firmly believe that this vaccine is perfectly safe and will not
cause side effects. These diseases can be terrible things for everyone involved and can get
pretty ugly. They may also lead to other life-threatening illnesses which can become very
expensive and time consuming. There are children who do get autism after receiving this
vaccine but the probability of it being linked is very low. I also think that parents should
get their child tested before receiving the vaccine for the chances of them getting autism
in their lifetime.

References
http://www.beep.ac.uk/content/299.0.html
http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/48/4/456.full
http://www.webmd.com/children/vaccines/measles-mumps-and-rubella-mmrvaccine