From antimicrobial resistance to Ebola, the World Health Organization (WHO) has ranked vaccine hesitancy as one of the top ten health threats in the world. Vaccine hesitancy is the refusal or the skepticism in the acceptance of vaccines; despite its availability and scientific evidence of showing efficacy in preventing diseases.
Vaccines are heralded as a game changer, especially against deadly diseases such as polio and pneumonia; according to WHO, the act of vaccination had saved 10 million lives between the year of 2010 and 2015. However, recent studies have shown that vaccines have stalled due to the growing trend of vaccine hesitancy.
This global threat is daunting as vaccination not only plays an essential role in reducing antimicrobial resistance, but it also reduces complications in patients with non-communicable diseases.
Debunking Common Vaccine Hesitancy Myths
#1 Vaccines Contain Toxic Chemicals such as Mercury, Lead, or Aluminum
Chemicals such as aluminum or formaldehyde only become toxic at certain levels. While it's true that vaccines contain potentially toxic substances, these ingredients are present in very small amounts; thus, the dose makes the poison. A dose of 0.125mg of aluminum is included in vaccines to make it more effective. However, average people actually consume food and drink with 30-50mg of aluminum each day; the amount of which is more than one vaccination on a daily basis. Mercury used to be present in negligible amounts but due to a public standpoint, it was entirely removed from vaccines in 2001.
#2 A Child's Immunity Develops Naturally
Depending on the type of vaccine, it usually introduces a weakened strain of the virus in the body. This helps the immune system to recognize the invader, to build defenses against infections, and prepare to attack in the future.
Newborn babies are immune to several diseases because of the antibodies they receive from their mother's breast milk. On any given day, a child is susceptible to 2,000 to 6,000 immune challenges. Vaccines cover up the diseases that the immune system normally has nothing prepared against. This is the reason why vaccination for every type of disease is not possible; but only for those that are most dangerous. Children are getting vaccinated at a young age because this is the time when they are at their highest risk of getting a disease.
#3 Vaccines Are Unnecessary – There Aren't Any Diseases
Just because a certain disease has no alarming reports doesn't mean a person can't get infected. Polio, which was met with public despondency, is still around and could infect a person any day when re-introduced to the country. With the massive numbers of travelers all around the world, the possibility of widespread is there.
Vaccines had done a great deal of work in preventing deaths of people infected with smallpox during the 1980s. The World Health Organization had stated it was completely eradicated due to the extensive vaccine campaign. As for measles, merely everyone in the United States have been infected because it is highly contagious. WHO estimates that regular vaccination has prevented 20.4 million deaths worldwide from 2000-2016.
#4 Vaccines Cause Allergies and Autism
Vaccines have, in fact, the opposite effect as they provide a protective effect against allergies. The World Allergy Organization Journal (WAO) paper proved that vaccines do not provoke allergies later in life.
Vaccines had done a great deal of work in preventing deaths of people infected with smallpox during the 1980s. The World Health Organization had stated it was completely eradicated due to the extensive vaccine campaign. As for measles, merely everyone in the United States have been infected because it is highly contagious. WHO estimates that regular vaccination has prevented 20.4 million deaths worldwide from 2000-2016.
Confronting a person with vaccine hesitancy may be a daunting task. Educating the people on how to appraise information and distinguish facts from fake news will help decrease and even eliminate of vaccine hesitancy. Science advocates effective responses through highlighting stories about the success of vaccines, providing informative and educative materials that support vaccination.
Find a common ground and instead of getting confrontational, focus on the positives of vaccines.
References:
Herbarth et al.: Vaccination prevents allergic disorders in children. World Allergy Organization Journal 2015 8(Suppl 1): A19
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (2017, March 10). What would happen if we stopped vaccinations? Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/whatifstop.htm
Sanicas, M. (2019, January 22). Vaccine hesitancy among the top 10 global health threats. Retrieved from https://www.zmescience.com/science/vaccine-hesitancy-threat-04243/
Puiu, T. (2019, January 22). The pseudoscience of anti-vaccination - the global movement that mocks science. Retrieved from https://www.zmescience.com/science/anti-vaxxing-pseudoscience-0543/
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