To Vaccinate or Not To Vaccinate Posted on 2008 Sep 26 14:35 (Friday) by David Chan (UID:2)
The NHS will be launching a campaign to increase the uptake of the MMR vaccination in England. Every household where children have not received the vaccination will be sent a letter inviting them to have the jab. The rate of vaccinate in England is about 85%. Health officials believe that we need 95% uptake to make the vaccination effective.
Now, the publicity put out by the NHS focuses on the real risk of a measles epidemic in the near future. They claim that the MMR vaccine is safe and they are therefore targeting those households where children have not been vaccinated. However, there have been some concerns about the MMR vaccines but these have been dismissed by the NHS.
The question I would like to be answered is why when the issue is a potential epidemic of measles, why is MMR being used rather than the single measles vaccine?
This also raises the issue of the balance between the public good individual freedom.
Some people have legitimate and informed fears of vaccination. Although medical practitioners believe they understand how vaccination works by developing antibodies and antigens against the pathogens, our understanding of the immune system is insufficient to be confident we can predict all consequences. While vaccination against major diseases with significant health impacts on the general population may be justifiable, its use against diseases of smaller health impact is questionable.
If an individual does not want to be vaccinated, should he or she have the right to refuse it? Should there be social pressures exerted on these refuseniks or should we applaud them for making an individual stand?
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