Universal Immunity or Egocentricity?

Dear Antivaxers,

Dangers of Globalization

While Globalization has brought nations together, increased our cultural affluence, and allowed for great collaborations, there are unseen threats that come with an increasingly connected world. In 2014, there was an Ebola scare in the United States when Eric Duncan from Liberia had contracted the Virus before entering the U.S. to visit his family in Texas. Having traveled with the Virus and knowingly lied on a screening test before departure, he put an immeasurable amount of people at risk of contracting the virus. Living in a world where germs travel just as fast as their hosts it is important that we equip our bodies with the defenses they need to stop germs in their tracks. The most important defense we have available comes in the form of vaccines.

Benefits of Vaccines

“Herd Immunity,” is defined as “a means of protecting a whole community from disease by immunizing a critical mass of its populace”. While this might make you feel as though you can therefore be exempt from vaccinations because the “herd” will take care of you, you must realize that a good percentage of our populous can’t be vaccinated. Those with some types of cancer, severe allergy, and people in certain age groups  are some of the populations that are dependent on the rest of us since they cannot always be vaccinated. While taking the focus off the individual and putting it onto the community, those of us who can get vaccinated should take this decision very seriously. While the flu might not prove fatal to most healthy adults, it isn’t most healthy adults that we should be worried about. It’s those with weaker immune systems who are relying on us for protection. You might be wondering why you, as an Individual, should put yourself at risk for the health of the herd? The answer is simple. You help decreasing the risk of those who cannot be vaccinated and increase the level of Universal Immunity. As Cassidy puts it when reviewing Frankenstein, the book “critiqued the individualism and egoism that were traditionally romantic ideals. Frankenstein’s rebellion against tradition and creation of life are not portrayed positively”.

Are Vaccines Dangerous?

Although we should be willing to sacrifice in order to bring better overall health we don’t have to because vaccines aren’t dangerous. In fact the mortality rates from preventable disease has gone down because of vaccines. While you may question the safety of vaccines, you must understand nearly all vaccines administered are a dead version of the pathogen (or germ). The few that aren’t dead version of the pathogen are either modified to be too weak to cause sickness or are specific proteins from the pathogen that elicit an immune response.
While amongst the “live vaccines” there might be a rare case of the weak pathogens mutating back into its stronger form this is more of an exception than the rule and with so much government regulations if a vaccine has shown a high likelihood of mutation government agencies step in and ban those vaccines. One example of this is the Oral Polio vaccine that has been banned from the United States since the year 2000.

Many people believe that vaccines can cause other health complications and with the amount of information and misinformation out there I believe it important for us to go back to the original source from which this idea emerged. That source is a paper published by the now disbarred Dr. Andrew Wakefield, linking vaccines to autism. His study was proven to be “flawed by severe research misconduct, conflict of interests, and probably falsehood”. While that might not put you at ease, knowing that several studies since Dr. Wakefield’s disbarment, have discredited his “findings”.

What About the Chemicals?

While some people might throw around “scary” words like formaldehyde, thimerosal, and mercury, the CDC has reported that these chemicals are eliminated from the vaccine before it is distributed, or they are in too small of quantities to harm us. So small in fact, that our body naturally contain these chemicals in higher doses than we receive from a vaccine.

Conclusion

While there might be a small associated risk that comes with being vaccinated those risks are low and are outweighed by the benefits of being vaccinated. Referencing my study of Liberalism during the “Empire and Industry” unit, I recognize the importance of equality and freedom, but should our equality and our freedom be the most important thing we think about when making decisions? Shouldn’t we be considerate of others as well?

Sincerely,

Daniel Brock

Sources: 

•  Botelho, Greg, and Jacque Wilson. “Thomas Eric Duncan: First Ebola Death in U.S.” CNN, Cable News Network, 8 Oct. 2014, www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/health/thomas-eric-duncan-ebola/index.html.
• Helft, Laura. “What Is Herd Immunity?” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 5 Sept. 2014, www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/herd-immunity/.
• “Vaccination During Cancer Treatment.” American Cancer Society, www.cancer.org/treatment/treatments-and-side-effects/physical-side-effects/low-blood-counts/infections/vaccination-during-cancer-treatment.html.
• “Vaccines.” Center Fo Disease Control, www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/e/reported-cases.pdf.
• “Vaccines: Vac-Gen/Additives in Vaccines Fact Sheet.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5 Aug. 2019, www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/additives.htm.
• “Polio Vaccination.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4 May 2018, www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/polio/public/index.html.

Image Credits:

• Sack, Steve. “Anti-Vaxxers and Measles.” Star Tribune, 2 Feb. 2019, www.startribune.com/sack-cartoon-anti-vaxxers-and-measles/505222702/.