Child Development and Public Health-Immunizations

Child Development and Public Health
Immunizations

Here in the United States, there has been a trend to not vaccinate our children. This trend is based on myths, potential side effects, and fears. Although these fears and myths are not easy to overcome, the facts prove that immunizations are not harmful to infants and children. It has become easier for children to enter our school systems without proper immunizations. Because of this, we have seen a rise in illnesses that have all but been eradicated from society (Tremblay et al, 2013).

Even though we have seen a rise in certain illnesses here, other countries are having similar issues while other counties are having, even more, problems with outbreaks and reemerging illnesses.

Polio outbreak is one such virus that we are seeing in war and conflict-affected countries. Polio invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis (Akil, 2016). Developing countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, and Nigeria have seen a rise in polio cases due to war and conflict. In the study I read, it also cited religious and cultural reasons for denying vaccinations. The polio outbreak in certain regions has become problematic due to displacement and migration to neighboring countries (Akil, 2016). In 2013, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative launched a plan to eradicate polio in all the countries where there has been a rise in polio outbreaks in an effort to have a polio-free world (Akil, 2016).

I chose immunizations because I see a problem with how easy it is for parents to decide not to vaccinate their children. We have seen a rise in illnesses that used to be eradicated. With all of our advances in modern medicine, this should not be happening. We have become a nation that makes decisions based on emotion instead of facts. I have experienced second hand the effects of unvaccinated children. I had a child, a friend’s nephew, who could not get vaccinated due to neuroblastoma (brain cancer). Even when he was in remission, he could not attend school because of the fear that other children were not vaccinated. Because of cancer and the treatments, his immune system could not handle such viruses. It is one thing to choose not to immunize but another when you are unable to immunize due to instances such as cancer. children. I had a child, a friend’s nephew, who could not get vaccinated due to neuroblastoma (brain cancer). Even when he was in remission, he could not attend school because of the fear that other children were not vaccinated. Because of cancer and the treatments, his immune system could not handle such viruses. It is one thing to choose not to immunize but another when you are unable to immunize due to instances such as cancer.

References

Akil, L & Ahmad, A (2016). The recent outbreaks and reemergence of poliovirus in war and conflict-affected areas. Elsevier: Publisher on behalf of International Society for Infectious Diseases. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2016.05.025

Immunization. In: Tremblay RE, Boivin M, Peters RDeV, eds. Scheifele DW, topic ed. Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development [online]. http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/sites/default/files/dossiers-complets/en/immunization.pdf. Updated April 2013. Accessed November 11, 2017.