To Vaccinate or Not Vaccinations save lives and minimize disease epidemics year after year. “More than 732,000 children’s lives have been saved in the past 20 years due to routine vaccinations, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, 322 million cases of kids getting sick were prevented” (Vaccination Has Saved 732,000 Children's Lives Since 1994, pp 1). There are currently 28 diseases that are avoidable through immunizations according to the article “Discussing Vaccination With Concerned Patients”. Widespread diseases have decreased to a minimum because of vaccinations. Small pox has been eradicated, with the last known case being in 1977. Near the turn of the century, there were only 162 …show more content…
There are live vaccines and killed vaccines. Live vaccine just means that the vaccination is a living, although weakened, form of the virus or bacteria. Live vaccines are usually a once in a life time administered vaccine. Persons that have weakened immune systems from things like HIV and cancer should avoid live vaccines. Killed vaccines are just that, dead forms of the virus or bacteria. These types of vaccines usually require a booster dose during a person’s lifetime. Once a person has been inoculated with the disease, their body starts to build immunity to that disease. Vaccines provide herd immunity, which means that when the majority of the population is protected through vaccinations, that an outbreak of that disease process most likely will not occur. For example, in 2005 a young female toddler contracted polio and infected a handful of other toddlers. However, the majority of the community had received their polio vaccinations and an outbreak was ward off. Pregnant women help protect their unborn babies from birth defects by vaccinating their selves. That immunity is carried into the first few months of the infant’s