Saar Kuzi
Alessandra Coutinho Fernandes
William Cope
Richard Tapping
Kashif Ahmad
Reda Sadki
Shubhra Kanti Karmaker Santu
Adam P Rusch
Elle Meisner
Nereyda Ochoa
Landon J. Kunzelman
James DotimasFA16 Immunization Module’s Updates
Relative Safety of Vaccines
Although vaccines have done an enormous amount of good in our society, a surmounting fear has grown against their generalized disbursement. Although the inherent nature of vaccines may make some people uneasy, the evidence supporting vaccinations is overwhelming. In many cases, it is easy to fear or distrust something which one does not have a deep understanding. In some other cases, minimal knowledge can cause a misconstrued idea of the dangers behind vaccinations. When it comes to one’s health and the health of one’s children, any small risk seems to be too much.
One of the easiest ways to approach the risks of vaccines is to compare them to the relative risk of the alternative disease. Many of the diseases that are vaccinated for in our society were once extremely dangerous, widespread, and life-threatening conditions. While vaccines only on rare occasions cause individuals to react, the actual diseases could kill up to 1/5th of those who contract it in the case of tetanus or 1/20th in the case of diphtheria, as well as many other diseases (“Immunization” PowerPoint). These afflictions are no longer seen; therefore the severity is easy to forget. We have become so used to our lives without the fear of these conditions that the thought of exposure seems unnecessary to many.
Many people understand what vaccines are supposed to protect us from, but not how exactly they achieve the end goal. Vaccines are derived from the viruses or bacterium that cause the condition, and yet they no longer have the effect of the original specimen. These derivatives are used to expose our immune systems to the foreign body and develop immunity without the actual risk of contraction. The inherent fear lies in the possibility of error. Many people fear they could be infected with a live virus or bacterium in the process of vaccination and contract the disease. Due to the many precautions and high standards of safety this risk is slim to none. Researchers have also taken into account the differing health and ages of their patients when developing vaccines. For this reason, many different types of vaccines such as live attenuated vaccines, inactive vaccines, and pure polysaccharide vaccines with varying levels of effectiveness and risk to the patients exist (“Immunization” PowerPoint).
Vaccines have become an extremely safe occurrence, and are only becoming more specialized and effective as time goes on. The public’s confidence is of utmost importance when it comes to this subject, and their trust could be considered well placed.
Great initial post and follow up. @Brooke Dean, excellent perspective! The big question is how do you convince the public and moreover, your patient!
@Nadia Churchill-Gilstrap I love the way you presented the information in this post. It is so important for people to understand that nothing in life is 100% safe, but that getting a disease like diphtheria is far more likely to be fatal than is receiving the vaccine that will confer protection. @Victoria Costello, I am in complete agreement that it is unbelievably easy to forget the devastating effects of diseases before society was able to protect itself. I was actually talking to a previous professor of mine once about the anti-vaccine movement, and she shared with me that she was one of the children in the Polk trials for the inactivated polio vaccine. I was a little surprised and I asked her if she remembered her parents being worried about the potential risk they were taking by vaccinating her with a relatively untested vaccination. She told me that they did not have to think twice children in their neighborhood were becoming permanently paralyzed and dying from this virus. They felt like the potential benefit far outweighed the risk. Today, parents do not see the risk of polio or measles, because most of them have never even seen a case, so it is easier to think that maybe the vaccine is not worth the risk. However, our grandparents' generation remember the horrors of the polio epidemic. They all vaccinated their children as soon as they could!
I completely agree with you and @sara taege. I often believe people get so caught up in the media and the negative things they occasionally hear about vaccines that they forget the facts. I often forget myself the widespread epidemics that have occurred until vaccines were used in order to control these illnesses. I think you brought up many great points on the importance of vaccination and why they should be used instead of feared.
I found your approach to this topic quite compelling. These vaccinations have been tirelessly tested and approved, administered with great success, and yet there are people who fear them. Their fear is misplaced because as you said, These afflictions are no longer seen; therefore the severity is easy to forget. It is easy to become desensitized to the struggles of the past and focus on current potentials for danger, but it should not be forgotten that these immunizations are neutralizing illnesses which have caused mass epidemics plaguing our world many times in the past, before science found a way to fight back. Nice job on tying together the fear concept with vaccines proven safety and benefit.