Risks of Not Vaccinating Children

As parents, you have to make important decisions every day concerning your children. Some of these decisions are easy, and others require a great deal of time and research. Whether or not to vaccinate your children is a very personal decision. If you choose to vaccinate, it's your job to make sure you discuss all the details with your doctor and choose if you want your child fully vaccinated. Discuss with your doctor what is in the vaccines and what risks are associated with each one. If you choose not to vaccinate, it's extremely important that you understand the risks associated with this also. Not only could this affect your child, but it could affect other families as well.

Risk To Your Child

• Not giving the vaccines to your child can lead him to a much greater risk of contracting a deadly disease. Two diseases that seem to be on the rise again are pertussis and measles. A doctor working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Vaccine Program, Dr. Daniel Salmon, says, "Children who are exempted from school mandates in the United States are 35 times more likely to contract measles than children who get their vaccines." Even diseases like measles can be deadly.

  Some studies contend that the vaccines cause things like epilepsy and autism, but vaccines have saved countless lives. If you look at the statistics, since the use of vaccinations has become a norm, the incidence of diseases like polio, tetanus and measles/mumps has significantly gone down.

Risk to Public

• If your child is not vaccinated properly, then she is not only at risk herself, but she is putting others around her at risk. If she contracts a disease, such as pertussis, then she could spread it to others, especially infants, teens and the elderly. Babies cannot have some of the vaccines until they get a bit older, so they are vulnerable to disease. In 2008, there was a large measles outbreak in America, and studies have found the links to the sources of the disease; 90 percent of cases were in unvaccinated children or children whose vaccination histories were not known. Perhaps looking at a couple of diseases close up will help to determine how serious the risks could be.

Tetanus

• Tetanus is a very deadly disease. Most of the time, patients who acquire this disease will have gotten cut, which led to the introduction of a bacteria called Clostridium tetani, into that cut. Tetanus causes muscle spasms throughout the body. The spasms are very painful and eventually lead to death.

Pertussis

• Pertussis, or whooping cough, is most common in babies or teens or the elderly. Coughing is the most common symptom and can be so extreme that the patient's ribs may break. She may have problems breathing as well. This disease can lead to pneumonia, which further complicates the patient's status. Pertussis is airborne, which means that it can spread through the air pretty easily.

Conclusion

• If you or your children are unvaccinated when an outbreak occurs, you may be required to stay in your home for an extended period of time, due to quarantine. This is to protect you and your family.

  Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to vaccinate is yours, but it is not a decision to be made lightly. Carefully weigh every option available and what is most important for you and your family. Research which vaccines are more important than others and which diseases you want to protect your children from. The choice is yours.