How important is it to immunize our babies?
"Some 4 million people, mostly children, die needlessly every year becasue countries don't vaccinate..." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 1)
"Measles kills 1.1 million children" (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 8)
"Hepatitis B vaccine prevents just a third of the infections that it could" (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 9)
"Hib kills up to 700,000 children a year"(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 10)
"Yellow fever vaccine costs the poorest countries just 15 cents a dose, yet still kills 30,000 a year." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 11)
"Whooping cough vaccine has cut deaths by two-thirds but 350,000 still die annually." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 12)
"Tetanus kills 500,000, largely newborns whose mothers didn't get prenatal vaccination." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12, 1998, para 13)
These statistics are astounding. Yet, Clark (2001) found that there are many parents today that seek waivers to keep their children from being immunized. Michigan has the lowest numbers of children who are properly vaccinated (Clark, 2001). People must understand all the information when making the decision to immunize their children or not. The FDA keeps a close watch on all vaccines to keeps records of any and all side effects (Cooperstock, 2012). Yet there are still those who believe that vaccinations cause Autism or other disorders. But science has not proven these beliefs. Immunizing your children not only keeps your children from getting certain diseases, but also helps those around them from contracting them as well. These diseases are world wide, where not all children are immunized. So in our world of travel, if one child gets a disease from another country, brings it home to the US, he/she has then exposed a large number of children to the sickness.
Immunizations in Africa-
In Africa, many diseases could be prevented if vaccinations were available to everyone. "twice as many children under 5 die each year than in 1960" (Bartholomew & Oot, 2005, para 1). Many diseases that are no longer or rarely seen in the US still threaten African children. There is a direct coorelation between an educated mother and children who are vaccinated. So for Africa, we need to help them to get their girls into school, so they are more knowledgable so that they will be educated mothers who will get prenatal care and immunize their children. We also need to help send the needed vaccinations to the lower developed countries to help to irradicate these diseases. This would also cut down the worldwide spread of certain diseases that can be prevented through simple vaccinations.
References:
Bartholomew, C. & Oot, D. (2005, June 16). Plight of Africa's children. Washington Times, p. A18. Retrieved from ProQuest July 4, 2012.
Clark, I. (2001, November 20). Parents must weigh the health risks versus the benefits of immunizations. Michigan Chronicle, p. A7. Retrieved from ProQuest July 4, 2012.
Cooperstock, M. (2012, April 29). Immunizations boost public safety: Medical professionals have faith in vaccines. Columbia Daily Tribune, p. D3. Retrieved from ProQuest July 4, 2012.
Lack of vaccinations kills 4 million a year report seeks boost in immunizations in world's poorest nations. (1998, January 12). Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, p. 3. Retrieved from ProQuest July 4, 2012.
Oh my goodness! This is so beneficial. I am going to share some of your research with some of my families. We have those families who are not too concerned in ensuring the health of their children. They are not very educated on the benefits and needs of immunizations for their child, and become very irate when explain to them that it is a requirement for enrollment in our program. There are not just a few, but more than a few. But with the majority who enter I program, we preach health and well being of our children.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that schools make immunizations a mandatory requirement. The health and well being of children are so important. I did research this week on nutrition and the two equally go hand in hand. The importance of immunizations are just as strong as the value of healthy eating and excersise. Student success in school depends on immunizations, proper nutrition,adequate sleep and guidance.
ReplyDeleteI too support immunizations however I can see how for some, making the decision to be vaccinated or not can be one worth thinking about considering there are risks including contracting a disease if you aren't vaccinated and the possibility of dying if you do. According to Berger, 2009, p. 150, "immunizations have had a greater impact on mortality reduction and population growth than any other public health intervention besides clean water." My hope is that advocacy continues, and that global improvement continues.
ReplyDeleteBerger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
Great statistics, Sara! I agree with you completely that it is important we put out those statistics for the people who disagree with vaccinations.
ReplyDeleteThis was in the news the other day about how whooping cough is on the rise! Great article to read at:
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/cdc-whooping-cough-rising-alarming-rate-us-203023900.html