To the Editor:

Should any vaccines be required for children? This has been a question for many years, and the

government has yet to find a definite answer. Although there are many components to take into

consideration, such as medicine and religion, there still lie many questions and perspectives about the

effectiveness of these vaccinations. By researching how vaccines work, controversies related to

immunizations, statistics of benefits and risks, as well as the overall importance and need for

vaccinations, people who were once opposed to getting their children vaccinated may retract their

previous decision and agree to immunize.

Vaccines work by stimulating our immune system to produce antibodies without actually

affecting us with the disease. They trigger the immune system to produce its own antibodies, as if the

body has been infected with a disease (Markel, para. 20-22). Vaccines help develop immunity by

imitating an infection, but this imitation infection does not cause illness. It does, however, cause the

immune system to develop the same response as it does to a real infection. After receiving a vaccination,

if a person encounters the actual disease, the body’s immune system will know in advance how to defeat

it before the person experiences symptoms.

There are many controversies related to vaccines, but whether or not vaccines cause autism is a

major one. There have been a lot of false claims in the news which make spectators oppose the thought of

having their children vaccinated (Hornig, 2008, p. 3). Although signs of autism may appear at about the

same time children receive certain vaccines, it is simply a coincidence. Michael Roizen, a chief wellness

officer at the Cleveland Clinic states, “We vaccinate between zero and two years of age; that’s when

autism shows up, so there are going to be some cases that show up at the same time because they come

coincidentally, but unrelated.” (Roizen, 2010, para. 13-16).

Disease has always been existent in our country, but ways to prevent it have not been accessible

until the discovery made in the early 1920s. Our society needs to take action to prevent the spread of
disease amongst others and protect the future generations from outbreaks by encouraging or even

mandating the use of immunizations in children.

 References

Hornig M, Briese T, Buie T, Bauman ML, Lauwers G, et al. (2008). Lack of association between measles

virus vaccine and autism with enteropathy: A case-control study. Retrieved from

http://www.plosone.org/article/info doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0003140. 23(5), 567-860 doi:

10.1371/0003140

Markel, Howard. (n.d.). Vaccine Safety. Retrieved from

http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/24/3/611.full

Roizen M.D., Michael. (Sept., 2010). Are vaccinations needed? Risks vs. benefits. Retrieved from

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/2010/September/Are-Vaccinations-Needed-Risks-

vs-Benefits-/