Issue Overview: Vaccines

Transcription

1 Issue Overview: Vaccines By ProCon.org, adapted by Newsela staff on Word Count 978 Level 1040L A young boy receives an immunization shot at a health center in Glasgow, Scotland, September 3, Photo by: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that kids aged 6 and younger be given 9 vaccines. In all, 29 shots are recommended, as some of the vaccines must be given more than once. The idea behind vaccination is that the best way to provide protection against a disease is to give a person a small dose of that disease. This low-level exposure allows the body to build up resistance to the disease. So, to protect a person against smallpox disease, you vaccinate them with a tiny bit of smallpox. Protecting a person this way is known as immunization. There are no U.S. federal laws that say everyone must be vaccinated. However, all 50 U.S. states require certain vaccinations for children entering public schools. Most states offer medical and religious exemptions, though. A few also allow exemptions for people who believe vaccination is a bad idea. Supporters of vaccination say it is safe and that it is one of the greatest health developments of the 20th century. They point out that illnesses like rubella, diphtheria, smallpox, polio and whooping cough are now prevented by vaccination. As a result, they say, millions of children s lives are saved. They claim it is extremely rare for people to react badly to vaccines. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 1

2 Opponents say that children s immune systems can deal with most infections naturally. The immune system is the body's own set of defenses against disease. They argue that injecting questionable vaccine ingredients into a child may cause serious and even deadly side effects. They also claim that numerous studies prove that vaccines can trigger behavioral problems. In particular, they say vaccines may cause autism. Autism is a mental condition that makes it difficult to communicate with others. The Invention Of Vaccines The first instance of vaccine promotion in the United States was in A minister named Cotton Mather encouraged vaccination in response to an outbreak of a disease called smallpox. Vaccination as it is practiced today came into being when Edward Jenner, an English doctor, created the first smallpox vaccine in To make the vaccine, he used cowpox, a milder form of smallpox. Jenner s innovation was used for 200 years, with updates. It eradicated smallpox. Eradication means the disease does not exist anywhere in the world. Some diseases are not eradicated, but are eliminated, which means that the disease is no longer present in a particular part of the world. In 1801, Benjamin Waterhouse, another physician, began using the "Cowpox Vaccine." This led Massachusetts to become the first U.S. state to promote the use of vaccination. In 1813, President James Madison signed into law An Act to Encourage Vaccination, which created the National Vaccine Agency. In 1855, Massachusetts passed the first U.S. state law requiring vaccinations for school children. By 1970, 29 states would require that children be immunized to attend public schools. Wakefield Accused Of Lying About Vaccines Causing Autism In February 1998, Dr. Andrew Wakefield published an article about a study he had conducted. Wakefield claimed his study proved that the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella can cause autism. Soon, some parents began using Wakefield s article as a reason for not vaccinating their children. Brian Deer, an investigative reporter, looked into Wakefield's study. In a series of articles he accused Wakefield of "falsifying medical histories of children." Deer claimed Wakefield had purposely created fake evidence. He said Wakefield had been paid to do this by "lawyers hoping to sue vaccine manufacturers and to create a vaccine scare." In 2011, the British Journal of Medicine published an article stating that Wakefield received over $674,000 from lawyers. Furthermore, it claimed that 5 of the 12 children examined by Wakefield had problems before being vaccinated and three never had autism. Britain stripped Wakefield of his medical license in This article is available at 5 reading levels at 2

3 Thimerosal Is A Controversial Ingredient Anti-vaccine activists have been particularly concerned about a vaccine ingredient called thimerosal, which is added to vaccines to keep them from spoiling. In 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Public Health Service recommended that thimerosal be removed from vaccines. In 2005, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. published an article titled "Deadly Immunity." In it, he claimed the CDC was covering up a "staggering number of earlier studies" that show a link between thimerosal and autism. Kennedy's article led to an 18-month investigation by the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. The investigation concluded that Kennedy's claim was false. Thimerosal was being removed from childhood vaccines not because dangers had been proved, the report said, but only as a precaution. By 2009, thimerosal had been phased out of almost all vaccines in the U.S. Vaccines Deemed Safe In August 2011, the Institute of Medicine issued a report on vaccines. The report stated that the evidence suggests that there is no link between the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. However, the report added that in some cases the chicken pox vaccine can cause pneumonia, meningitis or hepatitis. Such infections can occur in individuals with a weak resistance to disease, the report stated. In 2012 the Cochrane Collaboration, a health research group, conducted its own independent investigation. It concluded that there was no significant association" between the MMR vaccine and a number of conditions, including autism. Disappearing Diseases Many of the diseases for which people receive vaccines have been eliminated or eradicated over time. Smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980, and was the first disease to be eradicated. Polio was declared eliminated in the United States in 1979 and in the Western Hemisphere in Rubella was declared eliminated in the Americas in 2015, and measles in The World Health Organization states that the eradication and elimination of these diseases is due to successful vaccination programs. Those opposed to vaccination disagree. They say that cleaner living conditions and cleaner water are what led to the diseases' elimination, not vaccination. Source: vaccines.procon.org This article is available at 5 reading levels at 3

4 Quiz 1 Which section of the article highlights HOW a vaccine works to prevent a person from getting a disease? Introduction [paragraphs 1-4] "Wakefield Accused Of Lying About Vaccines Causing Autism" "Thimerosal Is A Controversial Ingredient" "Vaccines Deemed Safe" 2 Select the paragraph from the last two sections of the article that explains HOW vaccines can occasionally lead to illness. 3 How do the viewpoints of vaccine supporters compare with the viewpoints of vaccine opponents? Supporters believe that clean water and better living conditions helped to eliminate many diseases; Opponents believe that people's immune systems played a larger role. Supporters believe that the results of Wakefield's study are accurate; Opponents believe that the results of the Cochrane Collaboration's investigation are accurate. Supporters believe that vaccines have safely helped to eradicate and eliminate diseases; Opponents believe that vaccines are unnecessary and cause autism. Supporters believe that children should be required to get the chicken pox vaccine before they attend public schools; Opponents believe that chicken pox vaccine ingredients need to change. 4 With which statement below would a critic of vaccines most likely AGREE? Vaccines should be given to children only if they have healthy immune systems. It is unclear how vaccines are made, so they should only be used with adults. Vaccines are not needed, because our bodies already know how to fight infection. Giving children vaccines will make it easier for disease to spread in schools. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 4

5 Answer Key 1 Which section of the article highlights HOW a vaccine works to prevent a person from getting a disease? Introduction [paragraphs 1-4] "Wakefield Accused Of Lying About Vaccines Causing Autism" "Thimerosal Is A Controversial Ingredient" "Vaccines Deemed Safe" 2 Select the paragraph from the last two sections of the article that explains HOW vaccines can occasionally lead to illness. Paragraph 14: In August 2011, the Institute of Medicine issued a report on vaccines. The report stated that the evidence suggests that there is no link between the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. However, the report added that in some cases the chicken pox vaccine can cause pneumonia, meningitis or hepatitis. Such infections can occur in individuals with a weak resistance to disease, the report stated. 3 How do the viewpoints of vaccine supporters compare with the viewpoints of vaccine opponents? Supporters believe that clean water and better living conditions helped to eliminate many diseases; Opponents believe that people's immune systems played a larger role. Supporters believe that the results of Wakefield's study are accurate; Opponents believe that the results of the Cochrane Collaboration's investigation are accurate. Supporters believe that vaccines have safely helped to eradicate and eliminate diseases; Opponents believe that vaccines are unnecessary and cause autism. Supporters believe that children should be required to get the chicken pox vaccine before they attend public schools; Opponents believe that chicken pox vaccine ingredients need to change. 4 With which statement below would a critic of vaccines most likely AGREE? Vaccines should be given to children only if they have healthy immune systems. It is unclear how vaccines are made, so they should only be used with adults. Vaccines are not needed, because our bodies already know how to fight infection. Giving children vaccines will make it easier for disease to spread in schools. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 5

6 This article is available at 5 reading levels at 6