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Vaccination Controversy

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Vaccination Controversy
Julie S. Bertram
Excelsior College

Author's note
This paper was written for MLS 500: Graduate Research and Writing taught by Dr. Kyla Hammond

Most healthcare professionals and leaders attribute vaccination as the single-most important reason for increasing the health of the human population during the past one hundred years. As a result, required immunizations are common in the U. S. and other developed countries. However, there is a segment of society who argue against vaccination due to worries that immunizing negatively impacts future health. More and more information is becoming available that presents allopathic vaccination in an ugly light. (Sharma, 2003) For the past century, vaccines for diptheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, and now more recently, hepatitis B and varicella have programmed our immune systems to be powerful protectors of our health. Compulsory state immunization laws have increased the U.S. immunization rate to 77%, the highest ever. (Largent, 2012) Despite high immunization rates, there is an underlying progression of a movement of parents questioning whether the vaccines are contributing to health conditions such as autism. Contributing to the uncertainty are occasional anecdotal accounts of parents with children who experience adverse reactions. Fear causes many parents to entirely forego vaccines for their children. Regardless of mandatory school vaccine laws for school children, physicians can exempt children from vaccines due to a medical reason. In addition, only two states (West Virginia and Mississippi) do not permit religious exemptions and twenty states allow personal philosophical exemptions. Two to three percent of our nations' school children have a non-medical exemption and that number is rising. (Park, 2008) We are bombarded by information advising us to immunize, not to

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