The debate around vaccinations is something that has began to be brought into the light recently. The fear is that vaccinating less-than-a-year old babies will pose serious health related side affects. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have stated that healthy young babies should get vaccinated against 14 deadly diseases by the time they are age two. One of the other main things babies, and even adults, should get is the flu shot. The US Government is so in favor of vaccinations, that they will let uninsured children receive them free of charge.

Many state laws require kids to be vaccinated in order to go to school, but some parents have been going against those laws for what they say are religious or “philosophical” reasons. Due to some parents reluctance to get their children vaccinated, diseases that have not been around for a long period of time have made their way back into our school systems; some of those diseases include measles, mumps, and whooping cough. 80-90% of a population must be vaccinated against a disease in order for that disease to not spread, and right now roughly 75% of our population is vaccinated.

Infectious diseases like the measles and mumps are still very prominent in vaccine-less countries, or poor countries, and if they get brought here, they can be easily spread again if we stop vaccinating young children. One of the biggest reasons parents fear giving their children vaccines is because they think it will give their child autism. Others also believe that there are unsafe levels of mercury within the vaccines that can put the health of their children at risk. The chemical that makes up the mercury based substance has been removed from the vaccines, and since it has been removed, autism rates still rose.

Children first get vaccinated between 12-15 months, which is roughly the same time that autism signs start to appear. Doctors have stated that the link between autism and vaccinations is purely coincidental due to the age at which kids get vaccinated and the age when they may develop autism. People have began to argue that we need to stray away from using our money to investigate whether vaccines cause autism, and start using that money to try and find a cure/prevention for autism; people think the science speaks for itself. Doctors have also stated that the odds of having a health risk due to getting vaccinated are not as high as it would be to catch a vaccine-preventable disease if your child is not vaccinated. Vaccines are rigorously tested before they get used, and they would not be permitted to be used if they produced serious health issues.

A suggestion many doctors have been making is to space out the span in which you give your vaccines to your child. Rather than giving them 2-3 shots at a time, they have suggested doing one shot, and then another a week or so later. Getting vaccinated not only helps your children, but it also helps the community you live in as a whole; one vaccinated person could be the difference between a deadly disease breakout and a safe community. Doctors also state that many parents have not fully seen the affects these infectious diseases have on young children; no one would want to see their child with the measles, mumps, or even the chicken pox.

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