Skipping Childhood Vaccination Is Not Neglect Essay

Skipping Childhood Vaccination Is Not Neglect According to The Guardian, everyday approximately 11,000 babies are born in the United States of America. From the time they are born, they are required to be immunized. In the first few hours of life, these newborns receive the Hepatitis B vaccine. There are parents however who are skeptical about the potential side effects of all the vaccines. They think that immunizations are going to harm their children by causing them to develop neurological deficits. Unfortunately, schools are putting pressure on the parents by creating mandatory vaccination requirements as part of the admission process. Although childhood vaccinations have proven to significantly decrease mortality rates, the parents†¦show more content†¦Wynia, in his journal from the American Medical Association presented interesting statistical data about the benefits of childhood vaccinations. In this article he points out three years before initiating mandatory childhood vaccinations the number of reported death cases for Small Pox was 48,164, Diphtheria 175,885 and Measles 503,282. After starting the vaccination process the reported death cases for Small Pox was zero, Diphtheria was four and Measles was eighty one. Reading about the consequences of vaccinations in the literature made me confused. Both sides of immunizing and not, had positive, compelling points. I decided to interview one of my former classmates Dr. John Burns. He is a doctorate of chiropractic and father of ten children. He and his wife decided not vaccinate the majority of their children. During the interview I asked him what his fear was about vaccination. He answered, â€Å"Mohammad, most of my fear is from personal experience. In my life, I have witnessed so many of my family members and my patients who had perfectly fine children until fifteen months. After vaccinations, the same child started developing neurological problems; most often autism.† I further asked, â€Å"Do you think preservatives such as thimerosal in the vaccines are causing the neurological damage?† He responded â€Å"Although I think that thimerosal-containing vaccines play a major role in causing neurological damage, the numbers of vacci nes and the frequent