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Childhood Vaccination Research Paper

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The recent United States measles epidemic has sparked another contentious national discussion about childhood vaccination. A growing number of parents are expressing concerns about the safety of vaccines, often fueled by misinformation from the internet, books, and other nonmedical sources. Many of these concerned parents are choosing to refuse or delay childhood vaccines, placing their children and surrounding communities at risk for serious diseases that are nearly 100% preventable with vaccination. Between 10% and 15% of parents are asking physicians to space out the timing of vaccines, which often poses an ethical dilemma for physicians.
This trend reflects a tension between personal liberty and public health, as parents fight to control …show more content…
This balance may change over time. For example, recipients of oral polio vaccine (OPV) and their close contacts have a risk of developing paralysis associated with the vaccine of 1 in approximately every 2.4 million doses of vaccine distributed. This risk is small and was certainly outweighed by the much larger risk for paralysis from wild polioviruses at the time they were circulating in the United States. The Advisory Committee on Immunization (ACIP. Poliomyelitis prevention in the United States. Updated recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). MMWR 2000; 49(RR05):1–22).
Practices (ACIP), an advisory group to the CDC, recommended, in 1997, that children should receive a sequential schedule with two doses of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) (which carries no risk for paralysis but has slightly less effect in preventing community spread of wild poliovirus), followed by two doses of OPV. In 2000, the recommendation was made to switch to an all-IPV regimen.
An important characteristic of most vaccines is that they provide both individual and community protection.( CDC. Recommended childhood immunization schedule—United States, 2001.
MMWR 2001; 50:7–10, …show more content…
According to the CDC, all vaccines carry a risk of a life-threatening allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) in about one per million children. The rotavirus vaccination can cause intussusception, a type of bowel blockage that may require hospitalization, in about one per 20,000 babies in the United States. Long-term seizures, coma, lowered consciousness, and permanent brain damage may be associated with the DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) and MMR vaccines, though the CDC notes the rarity of the reaction makes it difficult to determine causation.
The CDC reports that pneumonia can be caused by the chickenpox vaccine, and a "small possibility" exists that the flu vaccine could be associated with Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a disorder in which the person’s immune system attacks parts of the peripheral nervous system, in about one or two per million people vaccinated. The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) says that vaccines may be linked to learning disabilities, asthma, autism, diabetes, chronic inflammation, and other

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