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Kaitlyn Dowdy
Mr. Padgett
English 102
14 April 2016

Vaccinations are your friends not your enemies

When having children, there has been a topic discussed that parents dont have a
full understanding on if they should vaccinate their children. Most parents dont even
think about the topic of vaccinating their child until the child is born and the doctors
talks to the parents about the childs check ups through their first year of life. The doctor
will also talk about when the child will receive their different vaccination shots and
which ones will be given at that time and date. Parents normally will ask the doctor any
questions on the benefits and risk factors on vaccinating their children. Think about
though how quick and short your doctor appointments are at a doctors office. Then
parents begin to Google the topic to answer their questions the doctor may not have had
time to answer. By that time the parents being in a panic because not only are most of
them new parents trying to get use to a newborn baby but also they dont know enough
information on each different vaccination shots. These parents will then not truly know
all the information on each shot to feel comfortable with saying yes or no to the doctor
about the vaccination shot before its time for their child to receive the shot. So now we
ask ourselves why is it important to vaccinate your children and the reasons people are so
hesitant to do so? These parents should understand the importance of vaccinating their
children when they are growing up and feel comfortable with their decision without
questioning themselves.

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Lets talk about five important reasons to vaccinate your children. The
immunizations can save your childs life. Once before advance medical science thousands
of children were being injured or killed by diseases. Now more than 50% of injuries or
death cases due to diseases are eliminated due to successful vaccination on children.
Second, vaccination is very safe and effective. The article states, disease-prevention
benefits of getting vaccines are much greater than the possible side effects for almost all
children. Third, immunization protects others you care about. The reason being some
people cant receive vaccinations due to age, allergies, and etc. This article states, not
only protects your family, but also helps prevent the spread of these diseases to your
friends and loved ones. Fourth, immunizations can save your family time and money.
This article states, some vaccine-preventable diseases can result in prolonged disabilities
and can take a financial toll because of lost time at work, medical bills or long-term
disability care. Fifth, immunization protects future generations. This article states, If we
continue vaccinating now, and vaccinating completely, parents in the future may be able
to trust that some diseases of today will no longer be around to harm their children in the
future. The source is very credible for 2 main reasons. This website is well known for
great creditable information and other sources to back up the information.
One study was done to see how undecided parents could be influenced to be pro
vaccination. In this study several mothers and a few couple were pick. The children had
to be at least 18 months or younger for the parents to do the interview. The interview was
done in the parents home or in a public quiet area that ranges from 30 minutes up to 2
hours. The families were giving 20 dollar for their time after the interview. Then, the
interview data was organized in a coding so that the information could be reevaluate for

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each interview. Finally, the results of the interview presented 3 major points that
persuaded the mothers and couples decision. The result stated, when parents were
initially making vaccination decisions for their first child, when parents had not made set
or final decisions and were actively in the process of assessing their options, and during
particular events in childrens lives when circumstances were influencing parents to
reconsider previously made vaccination choices. The study shows the importance of
why parents need to be informed on the benefits of vaccinating because without that info
they may choice not to vaccinate their children in which can harmful not only to the child
but also others around them.
When people talk to others about vaccinating their children a majority of those
individuals would state they are pro-vaccinations. Over half of those individuals are provaccination before truly knowing information on the topic of vaccination. These parents
were the upper-middle class living in Philadelphia with young children. The parents in
this study didnt all investigate information on vaccinations when others did very detail
investigating on the topic. An interview process was conducted with the parents to see if
there decisions on pro vaccination had change if they studied the topic. The result states,
Parents who sought out vaccine information were often overwhelmed by the quantity
and ambiguity when interpreting that information, and, consequently, had to rely on their
own instinct or judgment to make vaccine decisions. In particular, while parents in this
sample did not refuse vaccines, and described themselves as pro-vaccine, they did
frequently delay or space vaccines. This study shows why parents need to be more
informed by doctors and other healthcare providers of how important vaccination is for
children, with details so they do not feel so overwhelmed when doing their own research

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on the topic. To conclude the study demonstrates why there is such hesitancy in a parents
choice to vaccinate or to not vaccinate their children.
A study was done to see about different reasons why parents or guardians failed to
vaccinate their children. The clinic sent out a questionnaire to the parents of the children
that didnt attend their appointment for their vaccination. Forty of the fifty-five
questionnaires were entirely finished by the parents or guardians. The source states, The
main reason (85%) given for failure to attend for vaccination was the concurrent
occurrence of minor illness in the child. Of the parents completing the questionnaire 75%
considered immunization to be effective, 13% thought that immunization was not
generally a safe procedure and only 70% thought the diseases we immunize against were
still serious. This article concluded that the parents lack of drive was the general
purpose on why the children didnt attend the clinic for their vaccinations. We need to
think about maybe if their was more of a push or understanding of how important
vaccinations were to the parents they would have more drive to show up to all
appointments for their children.
In Goteborg, Sweden there was a study done on why parents dont vaccinate their
children against measles, mumps and rubella. They also wanted to understand how the
parents felt about the diseases themselves. They observed the children that were born in
the city in 1995 and 1996. There were 300 babies born in the time frames that were
identified, which were either vaccinated or unvaccinated. Next, they send out a postal
questionnaire on the parents view on vaccine and childhood diseases. The study shows
that more children were vaccinated in 1995 vs. 1996. The major reason on why they
accepted declining vaccination for both groups though were similar in the sense due to

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the strengthening the childs immune system. Parents with children that were
unvaccinated MMR were most likely to also decline any other kind of vaccination. The
results also showed that 1 out of 3 parents with an unvaccinated child still didnt make a
finally decision on vaccinating their children even 3 years after it was offered. Some of
the parents of both vaccinated and unvaccinated children obtained information from the
Internet. The important fact that we can conclude from this study is, Our study
indicates that official statistics on MMR vaccination uptake
underestimate the number of vaccinated children. Vaccine safety is a
major concern for many parents and needs to be addressed by
healthcare professionals at institutions offering pediatrics
vaccinations.
One study is trying to understand if herd immunity effectively influences parent
options on vaccinating their children. The study was designed to get original information
of parent or guardians of children younger then 18 discussing the benefits of vaccination
your children. One of the major results across the board was the main motivation to
vaccination was the benefits to others. The article states, One to six percent of parents
ranked benefit to others as their primary reason to vaccinate their children, and 37% of
parents ranked benefit to others as their second most important factor in decisionmaking. This concluded that parents are more agreeable to vaccinate their children for
the benefits of others.
The herd of immunity helps prevent our community that isnt vaccinated such as
infants, pregnant women, or immunocompromised individuals. These individual gain
some protection due to the fact a major portion of the community is vaccinated against

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contagious disease. In your community there are 3 kinds of people not immunized but
still healthy, immunized and healthy, and not immunized, sick, and contagious. Using the
3 kinds of people there is an image that shows 3 different effects that can happen in our
community. First, you have all 50 people that are not immunized but still healthy. Then, 2
of those people get sick and become now not immunized, sick and contagious. This
results in 45 out of the 50 people now not immunized, sick and contagious and the other 5
not immunized but still healthy. Second, you have 45 out of the 50 people not immunized
but still healthy and the other 5 people are immunized and healthy. Then, 2 of those
people that are not immunized but still healthy become sick and become now not
immunized, sick and contagious. This results 40 out of the 45 people that were not
immunized but still healthy now not immunized, sick and contagious. The other 5 of the
45 are still not immunized but still healthy and the 5 immunized and healthy continue to
be healthy. Third, you have 45 out of the 50 people immunized and healthy, 5 out of the
50 are not immunized but still healthy and 2 of the not immunized but still healthy
become sick in which making them not immunized, sick and contagious now. This result
in 47 out 50 people immunized and healthy continue to be healthy, 4 not immunized, sick
and contagious and 1 not immunized but still healthy. The article states, The principle
of community immunity applies to control of a variety of contagious
diseases, including influenza, measles, mumps, rotavirus, and
pneumococcal disease. In which states the reason why you should vaccinate your
children for others around them.
In conclusion The major problem with why parents dont understand the
significant of vaccinations is the lack of knowledge, information talked about by a

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medical provider to the parent, and the full understanding of the significance of
vaccinations. Many parents are doing more research on their own about the topic instead
of really sitting down with there family doctor or a medical provider that could help give
more information and details on the topic. The problem with parents doing their own
research is that they may not recognize what info is true or false such as what research or
knowledge does the writer of the website have on the topic and how they came up with
why its best to vaccinate or not vaccinate a child. This makes the parents more concerned
on what is truly best for their child. When parents are hesitant to do something they are
more likely not to do it due to feeling uncomfortable with the topic and wanting to be
fully well informed before making a decision. This concludes why it is so important for
parents to have a full understanding on the why it is important to vaccinate their children
not only for the health of the child but also for the health of other people around them
through their life. So the next time you have questions on why to vaccinate your child
think back to this paper and remember your decision doesnt only affect you or your child
but the other people around you guys.
Kaitlyn,
You do a really good job answering the question why are people immunizing their
kids? This was a compelling exploration of that issue, but Im left with a so what now
question at the end. What is your exigency? Why does this matter? Is your goal to combat
this kind of ignorance (for lack of a better word)? If so, how might you combat it? Also,
you need to proof read much more closely.

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Work Cited:
Alfredsson, R., et al. "Why do parents hesitate to vaccinate their children against
measles, mumps and rubella?." Acta Paediatrica 93.9 (2004): 1232-1237.
Brunson, Emily K. "Identifying Parents Who Are Amenable to Pro-Vaccination
Conversations." Global Pediatric Health 2 (2015): 2333794X15616332.
"Community Immunity ("Herd Immunity")." Community Immunity
("Herd
Immunity"). The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases (NIAID). Web. 14 Apr. 2016.
Five Important Reasons to Vaccinate Your Child." Five Important Reasons to
Vaccinate Your Child. Vaccines, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.
Littlewood, Robert. "Parental reasons for failure to vaccinate." The Journal of the Royal
College of General Practitioners 36.285 (1986): 182.
Quadri-Sheriff, Maheen, et al. "The role of herd immunity in parents decision to
vaccinate children: a systematic review." Pediatrics 130.3 (2012): 522-530
Wang, Eileen, Yelena Baras, and Alison M. Buttenheim. "Everybody just wants to do

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what's best for their child: Understanding how pro-vaccine parents can support a
culture of vaccine hesitancy." Vaccine 33.48 (2015): 6703-6709.
"Why Immunize." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, 23 Sept. 2014. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.