disadvantages of vaccines essay

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The Risks and Benefits of Vaccination

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How do vaccines work?

Nobody likes getting shots, but at the end of the day vaccines and shots save lives. The diseases that vaccines prevent can be deadly, and these shots work with the body’s natural defense to develop immunity to these deadly diseases.

When bacteria or viruses invade your body, they attack and multiply. This is called an infection, and it’s what causes illnesses. Our immune system then fights this infection, and has a supply of cells or antibodies that remember the infection and can fight that disease in the future.

The vaccines we get can help our bodies develop immunity, as tiny doses of the disease are introduced to our body, without causing illness. It helps the immune system develop the same response as a real infection, so you can develop antibodies and fight it in the future.

Some people argue that natural immunity is best for your body. While this is true, many immune systems can't handle the virus that comes, and things like measles, polio, and smallpox can kill children or leave devastating results like paralysis or neurological damage. Immunizations are a much safer way to help immune systems create the antibodies needed to fight these diseases.

Registered nurses or other educated healthcare professionals ones who administer vaccines . These nurses are trained in school about the proper ways to administer vaccines, what reactions to watch out for, and can explain vaccine safety to help ensure you are educated and comfortable.

As more health professionals enter the field, there are more trained experts to help with vaccine safety.

Risks of vaccination.

There are some very rare and very mild side effects that can be the result of vaccinations. These side effects completely depend on the immunization you got, and how your specific body will react to it. While there are side effects, as with any medication, it’s important to note that unvaccinated children run the risk of spreading diseases or catching a deadly disease themselves.

Mild side effects.

There are sometimes very mild side effects from getting a vaccine. As the vaccine enters your body and is pretending to be the infection, you may get some of the symptoms of that disease like a cold symptoms, or a slight fever that shows your body is fighting the infection. There may be soreness of muscles or redness at the injection site. All of these very mild side effects go away in a couple of days.

Rare side effects.

There is a very rare chance you or your child could have more severe side effects that come from vaccines. High fevers, rashes, or neurological episodes are these very rare side effects. Medical professionals are trained to deal directly with these kinds of side effects, and each of them is extremely rare— more rare than getting the disease that is being immunized against.

Rarely, individuals will be allergic to vaccinations and can have reactions to their shots. While allergic reactions can be very dangerous, again, they are extremely rare. The CDC reports that in 2015, only 33 people had a serious allergic reaction out of 25 million vaccines given. Many people have genetic indications that they could be allergic to vaccines and are able to work with health professionals to stay safe.

Benefits of vaccinations.

Disease control..

Vaccines are extremely effective at controlling or eliminating dangerous diseases. The World Health Organization reports that the measles vaccine has prevented more than 20 million deaths since 2000.

Smallpox has been completely eradicated thanks to vaccinations, and polio is not far behind. Polio vaccines are still given to help keep control of the disease until it has been globally removed.

Immunizations have a direct impact on disease and virus control in the United States, and across the globe. Immunizations have turned deadly, devastating diseases into preventable diseases that are no longer life-threatening.

Herd immunity.

When more people have vaccinations, it makes everyone less likely to get the disease that is vaccinated against. This control of diseases is called herd immunity, and benefits the entire community.

For example, routine measles vaccines are high in the United States, with 91% of preschool children vaccinated. Measles has an extremely low occurrence rate as a result. But as specific areas dip in the number of vaccines, outbreaks have been seen. In 2018, 17 measles outbreaks impacting more than 370 people were confirmed. This is a direct result of localized areas opting out of vaccines.

When more people decide not to vaccinate, the diseases they prevent against have the potential to flare up or even get out of control. This is why research on vaccine safety is crucial; health professionals want to explain the slight risks of vaccines, and share how the benefits outweigh any risk because of things like herd immunity, that keep everyone safe.

Vaccines have been a hot topic for debate as research has come out about them. Many controversial studies, like the research about vaccines causing autism, have since been discredited. It’s important to look to health professionals as you research and learn about vaccinations and how they can benefit your family.

Image previously used in this blog post was found on https://lindyhealth.com/

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The Pros and Cons of Vaccinations: Risk of Vaccine Side Effects Or The Risk Of Disease

To vaccinate, or not to vaccinate, that is the question. Trying to balance the pros and cons of vaccinating yourself, or a child, can bring on quite the headache. As with all things, knowledge is power, so read on to find out the answers to commonly-asked questions and allay any concerns you may have about vaccines and their side effects.

Do vaccines work?

Put simply, vaccines work. Only decades ago, both children and adults became seriously ill, left with lifelong side effects or died from diseases that we now routinely immunise against.

In 1940, 857 people died from measles in the UK. In 2020, there was just one death from this disease. Other diseases such as mumps, smallpox and polio have all but been eradicated by vaccinations programmes that see children immunised from the early months of life.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that while 3.1 million lives are saved annually through vaccinations, a further 1.5 million are lost due to lack of vaccination programmes – an indication of the importance of vaccines and their contribution to global health.

If enough children and adults have been vaccinated against a disease(around 95% of the population), herd immunity can be achieved. Herd immunity protects those, who for whatever reason, can not be immunised against disease.

The NHS claims that vaccination not only works, but it is the single greatest thing you can do to protect yourself and your children from ill health.

Are vaccinations safe?

In recent years, there has been an uptake in vaccine hesitancy. Concerns over lasting side effects have left parents deliberating over the pros and cons of immunising their children. In the same way, trepidation around the COVID vaccine has led to similar discussions in families – with some choosing to avoid vaccination and others taking up the offer.

We understand that there’s so much information out there, it can be overwhelming and hard to discern what’s factual and what’s myth. What we can tell you is that before a vaccine can be recommended for use, it will undergo years of testing within a lab – this can take anything up to 15 years. Vaccines are designed to protect, not harm, so rigorous testing is undertaken before a single dose is put in the human body.

Once a vaccine is in use, it is monitored by the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MRHA) for rare side-effects.

While vaccinations are safe, they can come with side effects. But side effects do not mean that the vaccine dose is causing you or your child harm. Side effects, in the main, mean that your body is doing exactly what it should after it’s been immunised against disease.

What are vaccine side effects?

Vaccine side effects are definitely a downside of protecting yourself against disease. But, they’re generally short-lived, with most people experiencing mild side effects for anywhere between one day to a week.

Common side effects in both adults and children are:

feeling tired
feeling sick
an achy sensation
being sick.

Severe reactions to vaccines are rare, affecting only one or two people out of every million.

Signs of an adverse reaction are:

difficulty breathing
a rash over your body
swelling of your face and throat
dizziness or weakness
a fast heartbeat.

What should I do if I experience a severe reaction to a vaccination?

Occasionally, people will have an allergic reaction to a vaccine dose. An allergic reaction will generally occur within the minutes or hours of the injection taking place. If you do find yourself experiencing a bad reaction, dial 999 immediately.

Why do we experience vaccine side effects?

There’s no getting away from it, vaccine side effects can be the reason that we delay getting that all important immunisation. A pointy needle and the possibility of feeling pretty rubbish for 24 hours can turn over the tummy of even the toughest cookie!

Because the vaccine introduces the body to a microbial dose (tiny amount) of the disease, your body goes to war to defeat it. This is why you experience mild side effects.

How your body reacts to this tiny shot the germ depends on several factors:

biological sex
genetics
existing illnesses.

Women, children and older people tend to have a stronger reaction to immunisation, as do those with pre-existing medical conditions. An aged immune system also plays a part, for example: an older person’s immune system will have a memory of pathogens it has met before, but finds it harder to cope with novel immune diseases such as COVID.

So, what are the pros of vaccinations?

As we’ve already said, less than one hundred years ago people were dying from vaccine preventable diseases such as polio and measles.

Vaccinations work, protecting you and your loved ones from harm for up to a lifetime.
Bad side effects are rare and mild symptoms last for a couple of days – and many people avoid side effects altogether.
Vaccinations allow you to live your life without the worry of being impacted by disease – wherever you may be in the world.

So, what about the cons of vaccinations?

No one wants to be jabbed in the arm – it hurts.
Some vaccines require more than one dose or top ups – this can be time consuming.
You can experience mild to moderate symptoms and in very occasional cases, a severe reaction.

What now?

Vaccinations aren’t fun BUT they can save your life. If you’ve got a small child with impending immunisations or you’re planning to get away and need protection against traveller diseases, we can help. At the London Vaccination Clinic we’ve probably answered every question possible to ask about vaccinations, and we’re happy to answer them for you too.

If you understand the pros and cons of vaccinations more clearly now, and want to book an appointment or you’re still after that extra bit of advice, give us a call. We offer same-day appointments and will run a thorough diagnostic assessment to ensure you get the right vaccinations.