Running head: THE ANTI-VACCINATION MOVEMENT

The Anti-Vaccination Movement

Shazlee Aolaolagi
Dixie State University

THE ANTI-VACCINATION MOVEMENT

The Anti-Vaccination Movement

History of Immunizations
The very first documented theory in vaccinations was in 1796, during the smallpox virus
outbreak. Edward Jenner, realized that individuals had a better chance of survival and less
complications related to the smallpox an airborne virus, if they had been previously exposed to
the cowpox virus. Jenners, very first test subject was an 8-year-old boy, named James Phips.
Jenner, cut the boys arm with a material contaminated with the cowpox virus. The specimen was
collected from a milk-maid who had cowpox, and active blisters. Jenner, then later repeated the
experiment with an infected material of the smallpox virus. The young boy, did not present with
the smallpox virus (Immunizations & Infectious Diseases: An Informed Parent's Guide, 2006). It
was discovered later that the viruses were in the same family. The vaccinia virus is the agent in
the immunization for the smallpox virus. In 1979 smallpox was successfully eradicated on a
global level (Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week, 2013).
Since Jenners experiment, vaccines have helped minimize many diseases and viruses
throughout the world. In 1991 the polio virus was completely eliminated from the United States,
as well as the Western Hemisphere (Healthychildren.org, 2006). Other viruses and diseases have
been on steady declines since immunizations have been implemented in healthcare.
Ethical Dilemma
Many school districts in our country have mandatory vaccination schedules, that need to
be met prior to enrollment. Parents who do not want to vaccinate their children, can fill out a
waiver form through the department of health, their pediatrician offices, and the school district. If
there is an outbreak of a vaccine preventable illness, the children who are not vaccinated, will be

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asked to not attend school. There are arguments to both side of the spectrum. However, there is a
lack of scientific evidence proving that vaccines are harmful to children. Parents may be making
their decisions based on fear of what they have heard from friends, family members, seen on
television, or read on the internet. This does put these children at risk for these vaccine
preventable illnesses. The opting out of vaccination may be seen as a parent who is intentionally
putting their child at risk for a communicable disease or virus. This can be described as an
nonmaleficence, to do no harm. This can be portrayed on an individual level as the child who is
not getting vaccinated can be at risk for a preventable illness and the child being vaccinated is
being exposed to a chance of the side effects that may be attributed to the vaccine administered.
This can also be under the category of the common good. The common good, can be supported
in two ways, first the children who are vaccinated create herd immunity and the second is that
they can protect the unvaccinated by decreasing exposure to these illnesses. Every child
vaccinated helps to contribute to the common good.
Benefits of Immunizations
Immunization constitutes the most effective means for diminishing the risk of such
outbreaks and disrupting disease transmission (Theodoridou, 2014). Herd immunity is term
used when describing a large number of individuals who have been vaccinated. Immunizations,
provide herd immunity, if a large group with a community receive the vaccination, and are able
to protect the community from exposure to the virus. An example would be the Influenza vaccine
every year. The vaccinated population can reduce the spread of influenza, not only in their
families but also in their communities (Piedra, 2015). This then decreases the risk of exposure of
the community as a whole. Many viruses have not been seen on a pandemic scale as in previous
history, since the development of immunizations.

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Horst Weinberg, MD, shares about the beginning of his career in the early 1950s. He
describes that many individuals today may not see the value in immunizations, because we have
not seen the power in these viruses. We have not seen the long term effects or seen the deaths
associated with these illnesses and unfortunately are not prepared.
Over the years as I practiced, the vaccines for these diseases were discovered and
[made] available. Parents were clamoring to get these vaccines and protect their children.
As "herd immunity" built up in the population, patients with these conditions gradually
decreased and almost disappeared, so that nowadays physicians and parents have never
seen a patient with a vaccine-preventable disease or known someone whose child has
died from 1 of these diseases. "If I do not see it, it does not exist" is the present-day
attitude of parents and some physicians (Weinberg, 2015).
A minority of pediatricians, have refused to accept patients when the family refuses to vaccinate
the children. These pediatricians feel that by having these un-vaccinated children into their
offices they are putting the vaccinated children at risks while they are visiting. It is a risk that
some feel is too high to take, to ensure the safety of their patients (Costill, 2016). However
according to the study, majority of the pediatricians allow the anti-vaccination families to be
their patients.
Opposition of Immunizations
Although vaccines are safe, they do have some very harmful side effects. The side
effects however, are very rare. "The rhesus rotavirus vaccine caused intussusception in 1 in
11,000 cases. That is actually rarer than just getting intussusception naturally, which is about 1 in
2,000, but it is a serious enough side effect that it killed the vaccine (Costill, 2016). Some

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children may have an allergy to the vaccines and its components, this occurs in roughly 1 in 1
million, according to vaccines.com website. There were no actual scientific articles from
scholarly journals that had evidence and proof with the risks of vaccinating a child, while I
searched for resources. However, there are many blogs that have parents sharing why they
choose to not vaccinate.
One parents blog worked in chemistry, has a masters degree level education, and
feels that their opinion is very valid because they have been trained to rely on research. The
author is Shane Ellison, who choose to opt off vaccinations repeat the same reasons as to why
they have chosen this route. Ellison, believes that herd immunity is an older concept and is over
200 years old. Ellison, also state claims that this is an outdated theory, and emphasize that it is a
theory, not proven scientific evidence. He takes a stance on that our natural immune systems will
fight anything that is foreign and invading the body from normal entry ways, the mouth, nose,
and ears. The blog post, stated that if a vaccine is actually injected into the skin then it is
delivered differently and handled differently from the immune system. Ellison, states that
Children under two years of age do not consistently develop immunity following vaccination.
Therefore, vaccines can fly below the radar of our immune system. This makes vaccines
ineffective. Claiming that the Polio vaccine was too late in its arrival. That other advances in
sanitation, personal hygiene, and nutrition decreased the rates of the polio virus. Another reason
the parent chemist shares to not vaccinate is that the toxins that are present in most vaccinations.
Some examples of toxins are formaldehyde, which can be linked to cancer. Other toxins
identified in the blog post are mercury and aluminum. Another reason to not vaccinate is that
pharmaceutical companies list Autism on the labels as a possible side effect. Taking a reference
to the DTaP vaccine, they claim the wrapper states that they may cause numerous side effects,

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such as Guillain-Barre syndrome, as well as brachial neuritis, this is also true for the tetanus
vaccine. The final reason to choose to not vaccinate is that children build a natural immunity.
Technology and Forums
Many people have taken the internet in an effort to gain more insight and knowledge on
certain topics or questions. This is what brings this ethical dilemma out into the publics eye.
However, discussions on forums and social media can be overwhelming with misinformation,
not backed by scientific data. Pro and anti-vaccinators wager in on many debates about the
ethical dilemma. Many of the individuals who are against immunizations, share personal
experiences either their own or someone close to them that may have been affected by vaccines.
One of the main arguments in these discussions is that vaccines could potentially cause autism.
However, no scientific evidence has been in support of this theory. Many feel that this peak of
belief happen in 2005, when a British company aired a documentary, on the link between the
MMR vaccine and autism. Many parents believe that their child was normal, until receiving
the MMR immunization. It was later discovered that the information in the documentary was
fraudulent and misleading (Nicholson, Michelle, 2012).
The internet may cause more confusion, than clarity as anyone with any opinion can post
or publish any theory they see fit. In this case there are many non-evidence supported
information on the web about vaccinations and the harms that they may cause.
Point of View as a Nurse and a Mother
As a mother of a young boy, who has been diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental
Disorder, which is on the spectrum of Autism. I can say like many of the individuals, I searched
for something to blame, something that was not directly linked to me as a parent who created a

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damaged child. It took me years to see myself not as a failure, but as a tour guide in this life for
my son and most importantly his advocate. I have spent endless google searches trying to find
scientific evidence of this theory that vaccinations harmed my child. However, the more I
research it I realize that my child is not damaged and that I cannot change his diagnosis, and I
cant correlate a link to autism and vaccinations. As a Nurse and a woman of faith, I tend to lean
towards science and that it is possibly the will of God that I was gifted this child. I do personally
feel, that every parent has the right to do research, and they have the right to choose if their child
is immunized or not, I sometimes feel that the online discussions and forums can be intense with
name calling and others, attempting to shove their own beliefs down other throats.
I also feel that vaccinations not only protect the child, but assist in protecting our society
as a whole. The more individuals that are vaccinated the less of the treat that illness is to our
society. We have not experienced epidemics of the many diseases that we vaccinate for, and I
believe this is a combination in vaccines and better knowledge and advancements in our health in
general. I feel that if our country was to now experience these pandemics then it may change the
view point of the minority who choose not to vaccinate.
Conclusion
Vaccines are an ethical dilemma, because the population may be divided based on various
information on the internet. It can be categorized as both nonmalienace and common good.
Every parent has the right as a parent to choose to vaccinate their children or to not. As
healthcare workers it is our responsibility to provide the best evidence based practice information
and scientific data available as we educate our patients and families in benefits and risk
associated with immunizations. In healthcare we often aske the question, do the benefits
outweigh the risk? If vaccines are beneficial and the risks are low, then that should be what we

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discuss with our patients. However, the parents still can choose to vaccinate or not as they have
the right to under law.

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References
Block, Stan L,M.D., F.A.A.P. (2012). Families that refuse to vaccinate their infants.
Pediatric Annals, 41(4), 142-144. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3928/00904481-20120307-05
Costill, D. (2016). Misinformation, false perception of risk contribute to vaccine hesitancy.
Infectious Diseases in Children, 29(1), 17. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1765625829?accountid=27045
Ellison, S. (n.d.). Herd Immunity: Three Reasons Why I Dont Vaccinate My Children And
Why Vaccine Supporters Shouldnt Care That I Use Vaccine Exemption Forms.
Retrieved March 8, 2016, from https://thepeopleschemist.com/reasons-dont-vaccinatechildren-vaccine-supporters-shouldnt-give/
Fleck, F. (2014). In the mood for wiping out vaccine-preventable diseases. World Health
Organization.Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 92(4), 236-237. Retrieved
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Healthychildren.org (2006) History of Immunizations. Retrieved March 14, 2016 from
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/i
mmunizations/Pages/History-of-Immunizations.aspx
Immunization; new vaccines study results from university of connecticut described. (2013).
Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week, , 2519. Retrieved from
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Nicholson, M. S., & Leask, J. (2012). Lessons from an online debate about measles-mumpsrubella (MMR) immunization. Vaccine, 30(25), 3806-3812.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2011.10.072
Perle, S. (2005). What's good for the goose is ... ethics and vaccinations. Dynamic
Chiropractic, 23(4), 10-10,12,46,48,53. Retrieved from
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Piedra, P. (2015). WHY VACCINATE? Contemporary Pediatrics, 32(3), 35-36. Retrieved
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Steven, R. J. (2015). Exploring why parents don't vaccinate their children. Modern
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accountid=27045
Theodoridou, M. (2014). Professional and ethical responsibilities of health-care workers in
regard to vaccinations. Vaccine, 32(38), 4866-8.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.05.068
Vaccination wars and why they matter. (2011, Nov). Running & Fitnews (Online), 29, 1318. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/922400115?accountid=27045
Weinberg, H. D., M.D. (2015). To vaccinate or not to vaccinate-2015. Contemporary
Pediatrics, 32(6), 14-15. Retrieved from
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Why Vaccinate Vaccination Pros and Cons. (2015). Retrieved March 10, 2016, from
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