What happens if we refuse vaccinations

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If we refuse to vaccinate, measles, smallpox and hepatitis can kill humanity in a matter of years.

Why vaccinations are so important

A vaccine is a drug that increases immunity to a specific disease. It contains killed or weakened bacteria.

Once in the body, the bacteria makes it fight the infection. Since the microbe is very weak, a person usually feels mild symptoms of the disease or does not notice anything at all. Having dealt with the microbe, the body "remembers" how to protect itself from it. This is how immunity to disease is developed.

Many people think that vaccination, on the other hand, can cause an infection. But this is not the case. The bacterium is dead and will not harm the person.

The first vaccine was created in 1796 by the English physician Edward Jenner, who was a practicing surgeon in the city of Berkeley. Smallpox raged across the country in the 1700s. One day the doctor noticed that the milkmaids on his farm were not sick. He thought it was all about the vaccinia virus: having caught the virus, people got sick, but quickly and without complications recovered.

Dr. Jenner decided to conduct an unexpected experiment. He took the pus of a sick cow and rubbed it into the scratch on the man's hand. The patient fell ill with cowpox: a slight fever appeared and his appetite disappeared. But after ten days, the disease completely disappeared.

The scientist's hypothesis turned out to be correct: thanks to a weak vaccinia virus, a person developed immunity, which prevented him from contracting smallpox.

Jenner presented the results of the experiment to the Royal Society in London. Scientists did not believe him and demanded more proof. The doctor repeated the experiment on his son and sent the results back to the Royal Society. This time his report was published.

When the study was released, people were skeptical about this treatment. They disgusted the idea of rubbing animal pus into a wound. Despite the discontent, in 1853 vaccination became mandatory in Great Britain.

By 1920, vaccination had spread throughout the world. And already in 1980, with the help of vaccinations, smallpox was eradicated.

Today, vaccinations are given not only against smallpox, but also against influenza, measles, hepatitis, rabies, rubella, tetanus and many other diseases.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends vaccinations throughout life because it will protect you and your loved ones from mortal danger.

If you are in doubt about whether to get vaccinated, pay attention to the statistics.

In 2017, 110,000 people died from measles worldwide, mostly children under five. This is a terrible number. But before the introduction of the vaccine, much more died from this disease every year - 2.6 million people. Vaccinations reduced these deaths by 80% between 2000 and 2017. The common vaccine has saved 21.1 million lives.

Every year in the United States, about four million people develop chickenpox. And just two shots reduce the likelihood of getting sick by 90%.

In Russia, in 2016, the infant mortality rate from pneumonia decreased by 41% compared to the period before vaccination.

Hepatitis caused 1.34 million deaths worldwide in 2015. Doctors consider vaccination to be the best way to prevent hepatitis. It is effective 90–95% of the time.

Myths about the dangers of vaccinations and their exposure

Although statistics objectively speak about the benefits of vaccination, vaccination has opponents. They appeared almost immediately after Edward Jenner invented the smallpox vaccine.

People refused vaccinations for various reasons: because of mistrust of official medicine, religious prohibitions, beliefs that compulsory vaccination violates their rights, because each person can decide for himself what to do. Now, these reasons have been added to the conspiracy theory, which doctors are accused of. Allegedly, vaccination is just a business, and doctors receive money for each vaccinated person.

The anti-vaccination movement is called anti-vaccination. In everyday life, these people call themselves anti-vaccination. They are confident that the vaccine will harm their health.

The issue of childhood vaccinations is especially acute. A survey was conducted among parents, which showed that about 2% of them flatly refuse to vaccinate their children. And from 2 to 27% of parents vaccinate their children selectively or with a delay.

Parents are hesitant and wary of vaccines. Perhaps this is due to myths about the dangers of vaccinations, which are spread by anti-vaccines. However, each of them has a scientific refutation.

It will hurt and pass, nothing terrible will happen

Many people do not consider influenza, chickenpox, and measles to be dangerous. They are convinced that natural immunity will do better than a vaccine, so they see no point in getting vaccinated. In fact, the consequences of these diseases can be dire.

According to research, influenza claims between 300,000 and 650,000 lives a year worldwide.

In addition, the disease can cause complications. Here is a partial list of the consequences:

• pneumonia - pneumonia;
• myocarditis - inflammation of the heart;
• encephalitis - inflammation of the brain;
• myositis - muscle inflammation;
• respiratory failure;
• renal failure;
• sepsis - blood poisoning.

Influenza also exacerbates chronic illnesses. For example, asthma and heart failure.

Chickenpox spreads just like the flu and is highly contagious. In 2017, in just 9 months, 680,000 cases of chickenpox were registered in Russia.

Consequences and complications of chickenpox:

• pathology of the liver and kidneys;
• diseases of the heart and blood vessels;
• hepatitis;
• development of inflammatory and purulent processes on the skin;
• arthritis;
• central nervous system disorders;
• paralysis;
• death.

The risk is too great to rely on luck and not get vaccinated.

Measles is an acute viral disease. It is generally accepted that this is a childhood disease, but for adults it is just as dangerous.

Possible complications:

• diarrhea;
• ear infection;
• pneumonia;
• bronchitis;
• strabismus;
• visual impairment;
• problems with the heart and nervous system;
• inflammation of the brain;
• death.

Obviously, diseases that are generally considered not serious are actually very dangerous.

No vaccine side effects known

This argument is common on anti-vaccine forums. Vaccine opponents criticize medicine and argue that doctors deliberately hide the statistics of complications after vaccination. And since the statistics are false, no one can know how serious the consequences will be.

There is no evidence that the statistics are false. All information about the consequences of vaccinations is in the public domain, it is not hidden.

Indeed, side effects can occur after vaccination. But they are not dangerous, this is a natural reaction of the body. These symptoms are mild and go away after a few days.

After vaccination, you may have:

• pain and redness around the injection site;
• trembling in the body;
• fatigue;
• headache;
• muscle and joint pain;
• slight rise in temperature.

In rare cases, you may be allergic to the vaccine. This reaction occurs in one person in a million. If you have an allergy, you need to see a doctor and solve the problem together.

You can learn more about the side effects of a particular vaccine in the package insert, which must be included with every dose of vaccine. You have the right to ask your doctor for it.

If you get sick after being vaccinated, chances are it's not about the vaccine; it could be an accidental infection or illness. For example, suppose you got a flu shot and you have a fever. This symptom could be caused by a common cold, to which the vaccine has nothing to do.

There are times when a person is vaccinated and still gets sick with what he was vaccinated from. The reason is that the antibodies that enter the body with the injection develop within two weeks. If you get sick during this period, the vaccine simply did not have time to work on you.

Vaccinations cause autism

Autism is a developmental feature associated with a disruption in the functioning of the central nervous system. It is diagnosed in children under three years of age. Children with autism find it more difficult to communicate with other people, and their speech skills develop more slowly than usual. They may have difficulty understanding abstract things and changing activity, be sensitive to smells, sounds, light.

The myth that the vaccine causes autism dates back to 1998. British doctor Andrew Wakefield published the report “Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, nonspecific colitis and advanced developmental disorder in children” in The Lancet. In the report, he said that the vaccine causes autism in children.

This news shocked and frightened many. Parents refused to vaccinate their children. Many scientists began to check the information to make sure it was reliable and to find more evidence. But tests showed that Dr. Wakefield was wrong. In 2010, a commission of doctors and scientists recognized his research as quackery. And the chief editor of The Lancet, Richard Horton, retracted the published article and said that he was deceived by Wakefield.

There is no scientific evidence linking vaccines and autism.

The reasons for this feature are unknown. Research has shown that the problem with autism may be rooted in genetics and ecology, but certainly not in vaccinations. Numerous tests have confirmed that vaccines are safe and not related to the development of autism.

Aluminum in vaccines is harmful

All vaccines contain additives that anti-vaccines often talk about as harmful. So, in the composition of the injections there is a suspending liquid - sterile water or saline solution. Preservatives and stabilizers (albumin, phenols, glycine) help the vaccine to be stored longer and not change its properties. Antibiotics prevent bacteria from growing. All these substances in the vaccine cannot harm the body.

One of the most feared vaccine ingredients is aluminum. It increases the susceptibility of the immune system to the vaccine. Since aluminum is a metal, it is harmful to health in large quantities, and people are worried about it.

However, they are worried in vain. The amount of aluminum in the vaccine is not dangerous: one injection dose contains a maximum of 0.85 micrograms. Infants receive much more aluminum with their mother's milk - about 6,700 micrograms.

If aluminum were really dangerous, the vaccine would simply not be produced. Before the injection is released, it is tested for several years in laboratories. The vaccine is tested on people who voluntarily consent to it. Research is ongoing until it is established that each component is absolutely safe for humans. Only after this is it allowed to vaccinate the rest.

What will the rejection of vaccinations lead to?

Consequences for everyone

Vaccinations have significantly reduced the risk of getting sick, getting complications, or even dying from infectious diseases. Diseases that in the last century claimed the lives of millions of people do not seem so terrible to us now. But the infections have not disappeared. They still pose a threat to all of us. Vaccinations hold back the spread of disease, and if we stop vaccinating, our immunity will weaken and infections will take over again.

Thanks to the vaccine, it was possible to eliminate smallpox. But the virus still exists and is stored in two laboratories - in the United States and Russia. In addition, some states believe that the virus exists elsewhere and can be used as a biological weapon. Just in case, you need to be prepared for everything and do not forget to vaccinate.

Most diseases for which there is a vaccine spread from person to person. If you have not been vaccinated and are sick, you can infect other people. The more infected, the faster the disease spreads.

Protection against infections is provided by herd immunity. If a group of people is vaccinated, the disease will not spread within it.

This is especially important for those who cannot be vaccinated, such as infants, sick people, and those with immune system problems. If most people are vaccinated, it will protect vulnerable members of society from infection.

Refusal of the vaccine will lead to outbreaks of disease, the number of patients will increase and will be the same as it was before the invention of the drug.

In 2013, just one unvaccinated teenager caused the largest measles outbreak in New York City in 26 years. The boy brought the infection home from a trip to London. Measles spread very quickly and as a result, more than 3,300 cases were reported. There were no deaths, but one child was hospitalized with pneumonia and a pregnant woman suffered a miscarriage. The city spent nearly $ 395,000 and over 10,000 working hours to contain the outbreak.

This is not an isolated incident. One infected person is enough to infect thousands of people. Therefore, it is so important that everyone gets vaccinated on time.

Consequences for you

In Russia, a law has been passed that limits the possibilities of unvaccinated people.

Lack of vaccinations can cause:

• a ban on leaving the country;
• refusal to enter educational and health-improving institutions;
• refusal to work or dismissal.

Failure to get vaccinated not only increases your risk of illness, but can interfere with your studies, career, or leisure time abroad.

In order not to endanger yourself and others, you must get vaccinated. Don't be negligent about what could save your life.