Amanda Latorre

9/30/15
UWRT- 1103
Ms. Caruso
Danger of vaccinations to children
Throughout the years our society has become one of the most influential as far as medicine. We
have some of the best health centers in the world, and modern medicine has helped save millions
of lives with things such as antibiotics and vaccines. Vaccines are a preventative measure used to
help us stay healthy, and not catch any life threatening diseases. Some examples of vaccinations
that most of the American society gets today would be things such as the flu shot, chicken pox,
hepatitis, along with multiple other shots required just to do things such as go to school, or play a
sport. The amount of vaccines children receive has also skyrocketed and Children receive forty
eight doses of fourteen different vaccines by age 6 (Manookian). The scares of illness from
vaccination is becoming a greater concern, and children are the most susceptible, especially with
the amount of vaccines being received at such a young age.
One advancing theory that many believe to be a risk of vaccinations is autism. A large amount
of people believe that this is due to the high amounts of chemicals incorporated into the
injections, and others have claimed that their children were perfectly healthy until they received
several vaccines. One specific case that has caught the eye of many parents as well as medical
officials is the case of 18 month old Jeremey. He was a healthy 18 month old toddler, with a
vocabulary of about 10 words. Then two days after Jeremey received a shot for diphtheria,
whooping cough, and tetanus, he was in the hospital. He hasnt spoken an intellectual word in 29

years (CBN News). While this case is a worst case scenario, it has happened to many families
who have been effected in someway, whether it be expensive medical bills or a death in the
family. There was a study that took place in June which surveyed 10,000 families, which
concluded that teenage boys vaccinated as children were Twice as likely to suffer from autism,
four times as likely to suffer from adhd, and both boys and girls were much more likely to
develop asthma after vaccinations. Now with this being said, people may ask But I thought
vaccines were looked at closely by medical professionals? Arent vaccines supposed to keep us
healthy?. And the answer is in some cases yes. In other cases, chemicals are found in vaccines
that could be detrimental to our society as a whole. Especially young children and babies.
Vaccines are always formulated with a specific purpose, to help fight against a disease of
illness someone could possibly contract. Formulating these vaccines requires chemicals, some of
which can be much more dangerous than others. One chemical that has been controversial is
Thimerosal. This is a mercury containing organic compound, which since the 1930s has been
widely used as a preservative in a number of biological and drug products (FDA). After many
health professionals noticed health problems from this chemical in the vaccines, it was removed
from most in the 1980s. This was a good change for the medical world because it ensured that
this harmful chemical was no longer going to be supplied to young children, babies, and the
elderly who are more prone to get sick. While this change was positive, the spike in autism from
the 1980s to 2005 alarmed one medical doctor Russell Blaylock. He explained that one possible
spike could be due to the change we made in our vaccination program by vaccinating children
at a younger age and vaccinating much more often (Blaylock). One controversial topic is that
this chemical is still in fact in the flu vaccine which millions of children get every year. While
this chemical is dangerous, several others still found in vaccines could explain the deterioration

of children such as Jeremey after a multitude of vaccines. Many parents were aware of the risks,
but many made the realization that the risk of getting other diseases because of not getting the
shot was just as real. "That's crazy, why would you not vaccinate your child?" Meirs believed.
"You want to put your child in danger of developing those diseases? And so I really did think
these people were way out there (CBN News).
While being able to determine if your child will get sick from a vaccine is almost impossible,
there are some steps that can be taken in order to try to prevent illness for younger children.
These steps include not vaccinating a child who is sick or has had a bad reaction to a similar
vaccine, learning about possible side effects so you can monitor that child, and read the
information sheets given at the doctors. Many people tend to get these sheets and toss them to the
side, but they include vital information about what is in a certain vaccine, and what could
potentially make a childs health deteriorate.
While vaccines are still incredibly helpful in todays society of modern medicine, there are still
some fall backs as far as symptoms, illness and death among many children. While there isnt an
exact way to know what vaccines could cause a child to get sick, there are signs and ways to
prevent that from happening. Along with this, some chemicals similar to Thimerosal are being
removed from vaccines, helping America as a whole feel better about what is being injected into
their bloodstream. While all vaccines have their flaws, in order to keep young children healthy,
we need to enforce a change to remove dangerous chemicals out of these shots, due to the fact
that they could be causing things such as learning disabilities to affect young children. With a
change like this, we could change how our entire vaccination system is, which could cause many
positive outcomes which would keep us happy in healthy in the long run, from childhood to
adulthood.

Works Cited Page

"ChristianBroadcastingNetwork."AreVaccinationsSafeforYourKids?N.p.,n.d.
Web.30Sept.2015.
"U.S.FoodandDrugAdministration."ThimerosalinVaccines.N.p.,n.d.Web.30
Sept.2015.
Manookian,Leslie."CPUDesign:AnswerstoFrequentlyAskedQuestions."
(2005):n.pag.TheGreaterGoodMovie.Web.30Sept.2015.
"TheDangersofExcessiveChildhoodVaccinations."Mercola.com.N.p.,n.d.
Web.30Sept.2015.
HealthyChildren.org. N.p., 20 Aug. 2015. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.