What Is a Vaccine?

A vaccine is a killed or weakened organism that produces immunity in the body against that organism. There are many instances where it is recommended to receive vaccinations, including infants, children, teens, college students, geriatrics, and before traveling.

What are the Stats?

• There has been a decrease in the amount of vaccinations across the country
• The government would like to keep a 95% vaccination rate across the United states, however, a total of 26 states have not reported being at the 95%
• Studies show the reason for this is the publics decreased fear of the deadly diseases that are not around today because of vaccines
• Religious exemption rates have risen in the last decade, especially over the last 5 years
• 48 states and the District of Columbia allow religious exemptions from vaccines
• 20 states allow philosophical exemptions.
• The states that allow religious and philosophical exemptions have higher incidence rate of pertussis and  children with these exemptions have increased risk of acquiring and transmitting measles and pertussis

Benefits Vs. Side Effects

There are many benefits to vaccinations, which include preventing disease and disability, increasing life expetancy, and reducing healthcare costs. As with most things, vaccines come with side effects that can range from mild symptoms such as redness around injection site, fatigue, fever, and chills, to more severe symptoms such as anaphylaxis, pneumonia and inflammation of the organs.

HPV Vaccines

There are three HPV vaccines, Gardasil, Gardasil 9, and Cervarix. All three of these vaccines were created to protect against HPV types 16 and 18, which cause 7 out of 10 cases of cervical cancer. Although the HPV vaccine is recommended in teenage girls, the number being vaccinated is low in the US. A survey was conducted consisting of mother-daughter pairs to assess the number of HPV vaccination doses, why they chose to start or complete the vaccine series, and survey mothers whose daughters had not initiated vaccination to identify reasons to refuse the HPV vaccination. Many of the survey answers concluded they did not want their daughters to receive the vaccine due to negative side effects.

Autism’s Link to Vaccines

Many people still fear that Autism is related to childhood vaccines. “Over the last two decades, extensive research has asked whether there is any link between childhood vaccinations and autism. The results of this research are clear: Vaccines do not cause autism.” (The Asha Leader, 2015) An advocacy group, Autism Speaks, released this statement after large groups of people contracted the measles virus, the majority of them never receiving the vaccine. This advocacy group, along with others, is trying to reach out to the public and educate them to vaccinate their child without fear of autism.

References:

Yang, Y.T., Delamater, P.L., Leslie, T.F., and Mello, M.M. (2016) Sociodemographic Predictors of Vaccination Exemptions on the Basis of Personal Belief in California. American Journal of Public Health, 106:172–177.

Kester, L.M., Zimet, G.D., Fortenberry, J.D., Kahn, J.A., Shew, M.L. (2013). A National Study of HPV Vaccination of Adolescent Girls: Rates, Predictors, and Reasons for Non-Vaccination. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 17:879–885.

Autism Speaks Launches Push for Adults With ASD, Alters Vaccination Stance. (2015). ASHA Leader, 20(4), 14-14 1p. http://library.neit.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=107781085&site=ehost-live