Vaccinating Children Argumentative Essay

Words: 930
Pages: 4

Vaccines given to infants and young children over the past two decades have prevented 322 million illnesses, 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths (CDC). In the past, vaccines have safeguarded our population of numerous fatal diseases like polio, rubella, measles, and diphtheria from becoming worldwide epidemics. They have significantly dropped infection and death rates, immunizing mass populations, protecting individuals whom are not vaccinated, in addition to protecting future generations from dealing with diseases that are currently present. In today’s world, Americans have refused to have their children vaccinated because of the myth that vaccines cause autism. However, there is no evidence to support this outlandish claim. Vaccines are essential for protecting the human body and mass populace; additionally, vaccines show the most effective results at disease control and eventually disease extinction. For …show more content…
Parents who decide not to vaccinate their children, often believe that as a result of vaccinations, their children will get autism. This claim is made because the time children are vaccinated is near the time when some children show symptoms of autism (Autism Speaks). However, there is no evidence to support a correlation between vaccines and autism. For example, in a study done by the University of Sydney, Australia, results showed evidence to support that there is no relationship between vaccination rates and autism rates (Autism Speaks). On the other hand, vaccines have proven to drastically reduce the menace of several lethal diseases. For example, since the polio vaccine was introduced in America in the 1970s, there has been a 100% drop in polio infections in America (Vaccines Effective). Parents who decide to not vaccinate their children potentially risk their children’s lives; knowing that vaccines reduce the harmful risks of disease and have no relationship to