Centers for
Disease Control and PreventionAddress: 1600 Clifton Rd. Atlanta, GA 30333, USA
Phone: 800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636)
Http://WWW.CDC.Gov
“CDC
works 24/7 to protect America from health, safety and security threats, both
foreign and in the U.S. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are chronic
or acute, curable or preventable, human error or deliberate attack, CDC fights
disease and supports communities and citizens to do the same.”
Backgrounder
February 15/2014
February 15/2014
What are Immunizations?
There
exists two kinds of immunizations, natural immunizations and vaccinations.
Natural immunizations are the process where an individual’s immune system
becomes fortified against an outside agent otherwise known as an immunogen.
When the human body is first exposed to an unknown immunogen it will develop a
response to neutralize the immunogen which is then stored in the human cells
memory as an immunological memory to create an adaptive immune system. This way
the body can protect itself against future foreign immunogens. Vaccinations are introduced to the human body
in a form of active immunization to prepare the immune system to create
antibodies and other defenses against immunogens, when the body comes in
contact with an immunogen it will then be able to counteract the disease
quickly. This breakthrough in active immunizations has been so great that the
CDC has named it one of the “Ten Greatest Public Health
Achievements in the 20th Century”
Why Should I get immunized?
Immunizations are a safe and effective way to
fight potentially fatal diseases. In
1962 the United States had 503,282 cases and 432 deaths of the disease morbilli otherwise known as measles.
Measles attack the respiratory system and causes fever, cough, runny nose and
skin rash it is highly contagious with a 90%
chance that a non-immune person in close proximity will develop measles
leading to epidemics that were seen in the 60’s.
The number of Measles cases in The UK and Wales from
1980-2008, notice the date in 1997 as the rise of deaths increase due to
Wakefield’s fraudulent research
Source: http://www.republicanhour.com/wp-content/plugins/akismet/measles-vaccine-history-i9.png
Source: http://www.republicanhour.com/wp-content/plugins/akismet/measles-vaccine-history-i9.png
In
1963 the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine was introduced. This three
in one vaccine protects against three life threatening diseases. By 1978 the
reported cases of measles dropped from 503,282 in 1962 to 26,871 and was
targeted for elimination in the United States by 1982. The irradiation of
measles did not meet the 1982 deadline in the United States and is still on the
list for the Carter Center International Task Force for Disease Eradication.
Many causes have attributed to the remaining cases of measles namely the fear
of autism caused by immunization.
Do Immunizations Cause Autism?
In 1998 former
Dr. Andrew Wakefield proposed a controversial research study where he proposed
that autism spectrum disorders have a possible connection with the MMR vaccine.
Namely with the mercury containing organic compound present in the vaccine
called Thimerosal. Thimerosal was used as a preservative in many biological and
drug products including vaccinations. Wakefield recommended that immunization
should be postponed for a year. The coverage from this controversial statement
is what has been deemed responsible for the decrease in immunizations in the UK
(see figure one). Upon a 2009
investigation it was revealed that Wakefield changed and misreported results
from his research to create the impression that MMR and Thimerosal cause
autism. By May 2010 the British General Medical Council concluded Wakefield had
engaged in serious medical
misconduct and had his medical license revoked.
Autism
is estimated to inflict 1 in every 88 children and due to Wakefield’s study
linking Thimerosal used as a preservative it was removed or reduced to minute
trace amounts in all childhood vaccines. The CDC reports that according to
several studies following the vaccines uses that autism frequency did not
change from the removal of Thimerosal. Hence there is no relationship between
vaccines and autism rates.
Why are people not immunizing today?
The
Anti-Vaccination Movement (AVM) is a group of individuals composed of former
doctors, celebrities and other members of society who link Thimerosal citing
Wakefield’s research. The AVM believes that Thimerosal has caused autism.
Because of the celebrity status that some members have they promote anti
vaccination rhetoric on the media. This has led to an increase in the number of
vaccine preventable illnesses.
What are the side effects of Immunizations?
Side effects, although rare, are
present in immunizations. The CDC lists the side effects of immunizations from
mild to severe. Mild reactions are common since the introduction of the
antibodies present in the immunization will give symptoms present to what it is
immunizing. Mild symptoms are fever, mild rash and swelling of glands. These
are not life threatening and will subside by themselves. Moderate problems are
seizures and low platelet count which can cause bleeding disorders. These are
rare (1 in 3,000 and 1 in 30,000) Severe problems can be associated with
allergic reactions (1 in a million) other problems can were noted by the CDC
such as Deafness, long term seizures and permanent brain damage. These however
are so rare that it is difficult to tell if they are even caused by the
vaccines.
What are the dangers of not being immunized?
The
CDC states that diseases such as Polio and Diphtheria are becoming extremely
rare in the U.S. thanks to vaccinations against them. The CDC uses the “Stop the leak” metaphor
as a way to keep the importance of immunizing. The CDC believes in the
eradication of these preventable diseases by eliminating them at the source and
to keep on immunizing or otherwise face a resurgence in preventable diseases
such as japan did in 1976. Japan in 1974 immunized 80% of it’s population
against the virus pertussis (whooping
cough) with only 393 cases the
following year. In 1976 only 10% were immunized and japan experienced an
epidemic of 13,000 cases and 41 deaths in 1981 the Japanese government
reinstated vaccinating pertussis the
following year cases of whooping cough dropped again. The CDC stands by its
mission statement to fight disease and stand by its citizens to protect them
from these threats.
“Ten Greatest Health Achievements
of the 20th century,” retrieved from CDC.gov http://www.cdc.gov/about/history/tengpha.htm
03/11/13 accessed 2/15/14
“Vaccines are effective,”
retrieved from vaccines.gov http://www.vaccines.gov/basics/effectiveness/index.html
accessed 2/15/14
“Transmission of Measles,” retrieved from CDC.gov http://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/transmission.html
9/21/09, accessed 2/15/14
Alli, Renee “Measles, Mumps, And Rubella (MMR) Vaccine” retrieved from web.md http://www.webmd.com/children/vaccines/measles-mumps-and-rubella-mmr-vaccine
05/29/12 accessed 2/16/14
“Measles map,” retrieved from Republican hour, http://www.republicanhour.com/wp-content/plugins/akismet/measles-vaccine-history-i9.png
accessed 2/16/14
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