Austism and Vaccines Essay - 626 Words

Every year, tens of thousands Americans die from the seasonal flu alone. This alarming statistic is what led the United States government to urge the country to vaccinate themselves, as well as their children every November, when the flu season is fast approaching. Though countless Americans do follow the government’s plea, many others insist that these vaccines distributed every year (as well as other year-long vaccines) contain an abnormally high amount of thimerosal, (a mercury-based chemical in vaccines designed to prevent the growth of bacteria) which could eventually lead to autism. This generation of fear is what has led many concerned parents to refuse to vaccinate their children, who seem to be the most vulnerable to this disease.†¦show more content†¦In a CNN article published just last winter, statistics regarding autism gave advocate groups against vaccines something to think about. As Dr. Sanjay Gupta, chief medical correspondent, states in the article, à ¢â‚¬Å"They [researchers] reasoned that if mercury exposure in vaccines was a major cause of autism, the number of affected kids should have dropped after thimerosal was removed.† However, after manufacturers halted the major use of thimerosal in vaccines in 1999, the researchers’ theory did not prove to be correct. In fact, from 2004 to 2007, the rate of autism in California raised from 3 per 1,000 children to 4 per 1,000 children. Doesn’t this show skeptic Americans anything? If we actually continued to be cynical about the situation and stopped using thimerosal as a preservative, what would make our vaccines safe to use? Hope? Almost one in every 166 children in the United States is said to have autism, many of whose origins are unknown. Now out of this alarming number of diagnosed children, how many can really be caused from vaccines trying to benefit their body? Even if these vaccines did play a part in some of these autistic children, we would have to regene rate almost every vaccine in distribution, cutting short our supply of immunity to diseases. Must we be reminded of life before vaccines? Life such as the smallpox pandemic of the 18th century, which finally slowed when physicist Edward Jenner created the first vaccine? No. We cannot let paranoidShow MoreRelatedThe Controversy Of Childhood Vaccination1173 Words   |  5 Pagesvaccinations have very few side effects, there have been very few lines between autism and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) (â€Å"Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and Vaccines†; Shea, Diekema), and when children come in to contact with diseases they are not vaccinated for it can cause nationwide pandemic (Nelson; â€Å"Should Any Vaccines Be Required for Children?†). There are side effects in everything around us and nothing is one hundred percent safe and vaccinations are no different. There are 30,000