To Immunize, or not to Immunize
Are Vaccines Worth It?
The Controversial Debate: How Did This Start?
Ever since vaccines were introduced to the public, there has been opposition to them. Reasons for opposing vaccines include scientific, philosophical, political and for religious reasons ("History of Vaccines").
The Diphtheria and Pertussis vaccine was debated for being linked to neurological damage in the brain. It was found that there was no link, although there are still debates today about this and other vaccines ("History of Vaccines").
How Do Vaccines Work?
Vaccines work their magic by mixing small amounts of different chemicals and adding the antigen of a specific germ into it. The resulting concoction is injected into you, and the weakened or inactivated germ mimics an infection without getting you sick. Your immune system then remembers how to fight the germ so when it attacks your body for real, you can fight it off.
Live Attenuated and Subunit Vaccines
Live vaccines contain a virus which is live but weakened and injected into the patient. The weakened virus imitates an infection without actually infecting you. The antibodies in your body remember the virus for when a real virus tries to infect you. However, people with weak immune systems can't get these because the virus is live. Subunit vaccines are the same, but the virus injected into you is only a part of the virus is used ("Types of Vaccines").
Inactivated Vaccines
These vaccines are like the above vaccines, but instead of being live and weakened, these are behold and inactivated. People with weak immune systems can get these. However, the drawback is that you have to get booster shots every so often. A famous example of this is the annual flu shot you may get every year ("Types of Vaccines").
Toxoid Vaccines
Toxoid vaccines are used when germ secretes a toxin that infects someone. The toxin is weakened using a solution of formaldehyde and sterilized water. This "detoxified" toxin imitates an infection like a live vaccine ("Types of Vaccines").
Conjugate Vaccines
In these vaccines, the germ infecting you has a sugar coating around the a toxin, making it hard for your immune system to reconize it and making you sick for a long time. Conjugate vaccines are like subunit vaccines, it takes part of the a toxin and links it to the weakened toxoid the germ secretes. Once it is linked, the immune system can reconize the germ faster and fight it off faster too ("Types of Vaccines").
DNA Vaccines
A regular vaccines will imitate an infection, so the body remembers the germ and can attack it later. DNA vaccines use the same idea, they only amplify and speed up this process by injecting the DNA of the inactivated germ into cells to make the cells into vaccine making machines. Although these vaccines are still in the experimental stage, they show promising results. If they succeed, they could speed up the process of becoming immune so people won't get sick ("Types of Vaccines").
Recombinant Vector Vaccines
These vaccines are very similar to DNA vaccines, however these use bacterium and attenuated viruses. "Vector" refers to the germ which is also called a vector ("Types of Vaccines").
So, the BIG Question. Are Vaccines Worth It?
After doing lots of research, I have come to the conclusion that vaccinating yourself and your children it a good idea. I understand different reasons for not getting vaccinated like your religion or for philosophical reasons, but if you think vaccines are harmful, you are wrong. Although fever and rash are a side effect, (the chance you will get a rash or fever is 0.01% though) ("Vaccines") there is no substantial evidence that vaccines are related or linked to autism or other diseases. This is why vaccines are worth it, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.