Since Edward Jenner introduced the first successful smallpox
vaccine by injecting an eight-year-old boy with cowpox pus in 1796, vaccines
have been an important part of public health care around the world (“Edward
Jenner”). Yet today, many parents choose not to vaccinate their children.
Because vaccines are widely supported by research, have few side effects, and
have proven successful in halting the spread of disease, I believe it is
important that all parents continue to vaccinate their children.
All major health organizations, including the Centres for
Disease Control and the World Health Organization, recommend vaccination. The
value of vaccination is supported by research from around the world, and
researchers are constantly working to improve the safety and effectiveness of
vaccines. Epidemiologists, the scientists whose job is to study the outbreak of
disease, all recommend vaccination.
Many parents worry about the safety of vaccines. While side
effects do occur, they are usually minor, like redness or swelling around the
site of an injection. In Canada, only about one in a million doses of vaccine
leads to serious side effects (“Fact and Fiction”). The most famous study
linking vaccines to autism, one which got many parents worried about vaccination,
has been proven false and the doctor who conducted the study has had his
medical license taken away (Triggle).
Around the world, increased vaccination leads to better
public health. Diseases like smallpox and polio which once killed and disabled
millions of people are virtually unknown today thanks to immunization programs.
Yet in countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan where the Taliban discourage
immunization, rates of polio are on the rise again (Nordland).
If and when you have children, please get them vaccinated.
The risks are minimal and you’ll not only be following the best advice of
medical science and protecting your own child from disease; you’ll be helping
in the fight to eradicate infectious diseases in your community and around the
world.
