Hannah Hardy
11-20-09
Argument Paper
Vaccine Controversy: MMR vs. Autisms
What if a medical procedure actually left you worse than before? Many people fear that is the case with the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine. Over that last couple decades Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has drastically increased. It is unclear what is actually causing this increase, but many people have come to the conclusion it is caused by “environmental” exposure. One of the most widely blamed exposure is vaccines, which too have increased over the last couple decades. Although there are many anti-vaccination groups dedicated to stopping vaccination, there is no evidence that directly relates vaccines to cause autism.
The first known idea of vaccination was done by the Chinese . They called it “variolation” they would purposely expose people to a mild case of a disease so the body would grow an immunity to it. But the first vaccine was the small pox vaccination founded by Dr. Edward Jenner in 1796. He used a cowpox lesion from a milkmaids hand. Cowpox was a less serious disease but seemed to be related to smallpox and was found to give immunity to smallpox. He was able to prove this immunity by trying to give a “vaccinated” person smallpox, which the person didn’t contract. Since this vaccination we now have vaccines that are routinely given for 14 disease (Miller and Reynolds 167).
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define Autism Spectrum Disorders as developmental disabilities comprising not only classic autism, but also Asperger’s disorder and a cluster of other conditions grouped under the rubric “pervasive development disorders not otherwise specified” (Berg 14).
The Term Paper on March 12 2005 Vaccinations Diseases Vaccine
... the significant effects of vaccinations on reported diseases: After the vaccines started to be ... Info Traci database. US nurses oppose smallpox vaccinations (2003). Australian Nursing Journal, 10 ... Peltola, H. (2002). Neurologic disorders after measles-mumps-rubella Vaccination. 110 (5), 957-972. ... suggesting that vaccinations caused autism due to their content. Some vaccinations contained a ...
Symptoms that can define this disease are fearfulness, withdrawal, impaired ability to communicate, and repetitive behaviors. There are also three major ASD’s including: Autistic Disorder, Aspergers Syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorders (Fernell 766).
Because there are many different symptoms and classifications of the disease it makes it difficult to find an exact cause.
The main concern of vaccines is the large amounts of a preservative, Thimerosal. What causes the uproar about it is the unusually high amount of mercury, about fifty percent of it’s weight, that is added. But it is important for people to note that it is different than Methylmercury, which can build up in the brain and cause serious damage. Instead Ethylmercury is used, which does not build up in the body and brain. The body metabolizes and clears it from the body. But because of the controversy of this, vaccine manufactures have been advised to remove Thimerosal. As of 2001, vaccines used for children six years and under in the United States are given vaccines without the preservative, with a few exceptions.
Today the government mandates people to get vaccinated. Mass vaccination protects everyone’s health and prevents disease from returning. This is often referred to as the herding effect. But now as more and more people are being exempt or just don’t get them for various reasons it may bring some of these horrible diseases back. The question many people pose “Is saving millions of lives worth the risk of the rare incident of death or injury?” The government has to think about the public health so the individual choice is no longer relevant.
Many don’t realize the horrible effect diseases had on the world before vaccines were commonly given out. In 1921 there were over two hundred thousand cases of Diphtheria where as in 1997 there were only five reported cases. In 1964 two hundred fourteen thousand cases were reported for Mumps and in 1999 only three hundred fifty two cases were known. Measles went down from five hundred thousand cases in 1963 to eighty six in 1999. Not only are many diseases being reduced significantly but some have been virtually wiped out such as paralytic polio and congenital rubella syndrome (Gray and Ropeik 407).
The Essay on Autism Symptoms People Autistic
INTRODUCTION Today in America autism is still a mystery to the medical profession. They have discovered the symptoms and how to curve some of the autistic behaviors, but did not discover what causes autism. Cowley defines autism: It is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life. The result of a neurological disorder that affects the functioning ...
Although there are rare risks involved in getting vaccinated they have saved many lives.
Vaccines have been saving millions of lives over the last few decades. But because of allegations of health risks, less and less people are getting vaccinated. But people need to look at the facts and numbers. If there was a direct link between vaccines and autism then the pattern of immunization should be similar to the pattern of change in autism rates. It was shown that autism has increased three hundred seventy three percent between 1980 and 1994 but the rate of vaccination stayed mostly constant only raising fourteen percent (Miller and Reynolds 169).
Can the significantly higher rate of autism be explained by the fact people have become more aware or is there some other factor playing a role? Scientist have been working to find the causes of autism but have failed to find any direct correlation to any one thing.
No one knows for certain what actually causes autism. But most experts believe it’s a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Because of the increased awareness, research is on the rise and we will have better knowledge of this disease in the close future. Even the Obama Administration supports funding for autism research, treatment, screenings, public awareness, and support services (Berg 13).
Whether it is caused by Immune Deficiency, food allergies, Atypical Brain Development, poor nutrition, or a combination of several factors ( Rhodes 215), scientists are working hard to find the cause and cure to this disease.
“Vaccination rates are dropping. In the wake of all the media attention, people quite naturally think: well maybe vaccination is not the cause -but maybe it is. And do I want to take the chance? But the risks associate with not being vaccinated are actually much higher than the risk of autism.” Julie Daniels (Berg 15).
With the lack of evidence that vaccines cause autism, don’t take the chance of getting another life threatening disease. Get vaccinated today.
Works Cited
Berg, R “Autism: An Environmental Health Issue After All?.” Journal of Environmental Health 71.10
The Dissertation on Risk Management In Construction Projects
This chapter presented the background to the research area and sets discuss the problem formulation. The aim, objectives and research questions are stated and delimitations are described. Finally, the structure of the dissertation is outlined. 1.1 Background 1.1.1 Definition of risk Definition of risk is a state of uncertainty where some possible outcomes have an undesired effect or significant ...
(2009): 14-18. CINAHL. EBSCO. Web. 17 Nov. 2009.
Fernell, E “The Co-occurrence of Autism and Birth Defects.” Developmental Medicine & Child
Neurology 51.10 (2009): 766-767. CINAHL. EBSCO. Web. 12 Nov. 2009.
Gray, George, David Ropeik. Risk: Practical Guide for Deciding What’s Really Safe and What’s Dangerous in the World Around You. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. Print.
Miller, L, and J Reynolds “Autism and Vaccination- The Current Evidence.” Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing 14.3 (2009): 166-172. CINAHL. EBSCO. Web. 14 Nov. 2009.
Rhodes, AM “Ask the Expert. Autism and the Courts.” Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing 14.3
(2009): 215-216. CINAHL. EBSCO. Web. 17 Nov. 2009.
Hannah Hardy
Argument Paper
Response Letter
When we were first assigned this paper I had no idea what I was going to write about. I have a lot of opinions about different things but I wasn’t sure if they would interest the reader. So I decided to go with vaccines, especially since they have been a huge controversy in the media lately. But to be honest I really didn’t know to much about vaccines before I wrote this paper but I still went for the opposition of them. My first draft was actually based on the fact that I didn’t think that vaccines were safe for us and that the government shouldn’t make us have them if they are so dangerous. When I talked to my peer review group they helped me narrow my subject down. Instead of are vaccines safe for us, I went for are vaccines causing autism. Then after reading more and more information I began to realize how important vaccines are for everyone and that there is no evidence to directly contradict it.
You can probably guess that I really did struggle with my paper, mainly because I had to completely start over when I change the direction of my topic. But I actually found that it helped me understand both sides of the argument better, it was kind of like the exercise we did in class where we had to look at our likes and dislikes of food in different ways. So even though it was a struggle I think that was the part I enjoyed the most, actually researching a topic and gaining an opinion of my own rather than what the media wants me to believe.
The Term Paper on Web Services part 1
Web Services. Web Services are not implemented in a monolithic way, but rather represent a collection of several related technologies. A new language was developed in the Internet back in 1999. What were the reasons for that? The old one was called HTML, and it was a gear for the whole internet, especially for the area called World Wide Web, development process. Now the Web outgrew its creator and ...
I have really enjoyed this semester of English. I feel I can write a million times better just by doing simple things such as P.I.E. paragraphing, adding N.P.A or V.P.M., and looking at the topic from many different angles rather than just one set point of view.
