The Pro-Vaccine Voice

Most people in the healthcare profession would agree that childhood vaccines are a good thing and should be given to as many school aged children as possible. Vaccines decrease the risk of individual’s contracting the disease as well as preventing a spread of the disease. The “herd effect” is a major concern with in schools and among children in general. Whenever people say, “The flu is going around,” or “Well, little Timmy got sick last week it’s only a matter of time before the whole school is sick.” These are great examples of the “herd effect”; when people remain in close proximity to others the likelihood of contracting a disease increase dramatically. Now just imagine small children who have no understanding of germs or how diseases are spread being cooped up in a small class room for hours, and then going outside to play on the monkey bars that a thousand other kids have touched. It seems almost absurd that parents would not want to take every precaution when it comes to keeping their children healthy. However, there is a major debate between parents and healthcare providers: do the risks outweigh the benefits? And even if the vaccines are determined to be the best course of action, does the government and school systems need to dictate how children are vaccinated?

Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism

One major debate between parents and healthcare professionals is whether the risks of childhood vaccines outweigh the benefits. The idea of a vaccine is that a small amount of the virus is actually injected into the patient. This is so the immune system can be exposed to a small amount of the disease therefore if the disease is actually contracted the body will respond faster and already have immunity to the pathogen. The patient can become sick as a result of the injection, which parents consider a major risk. Why give an injection that will make their kid sick while trying to prevent them from getting sick? There are a lot of misconceptions about vaccines including that the MMR vaccine will cause autism. The idea that the MMR vaccine causes autism in children came out several years ago and as a result parents are terrified to have their children vaccinated. Studies have been done since this time disproving the link between autism and MMR. Parents are adamant that their children should not be exposed to a possible infection or unrelated diseases in order to prevent from fatal diseases.




The Governement Requires Childhood Vaccinations to Prevent Outbreaks

The school system and the government are another factor that prevents parents from vaccinating their children. The school system has a plausible reason for vaccinations, which is to prevent other children from catching a disease due to the “herd effect”. The government would love to eradicate as many diseases from the world as possible, and one method is to have small children vaccinated in schools. Many people, parents included, feel that the government has no business deciding if and when children are vaccinated. Remember the HPV vaccine not too long ago, just suggesting that young girls get vaccinated for the future caused a huge uproar. It is easy to understand both points of view when it comes to this topic. Parents do not want to be told how to raise their children; they do not want to be told to put their children at risk. The government wants to protect the population starting with the children.




1. The benefits of immunization: a public health approach. (2008). British Journal of School Nursing, 3(5), 234-238. Retrieved from EPSCO database.

2. Austin, H., Campion-Smith, C., Thomas, S., Ward, W. (2008). Parents’ difficulties with decisions about childhood immunization. Community Practitioner, 81(10), 32-35. Retrevied from EBSCO database.