A Parent s Refusal And The Decision Making Process

A Parent’s Refusal to Vaccinate By Michelle Whitley The word vaccinate tends to bring up controversy among parents in today’s society. For most parents vaccinating is a medical necessity when you are raising a child. Then there are a small percentage of parents who believe that vaccines are dangerous and refuse to have their children vaccinated. Why is that you might ask? There are many reasons a parent may decide not to vaccinate their children. It is not hard to find bad information on vaccines and their safety with the use of today’s technology. The internet is full of anti-vaccine websites along with all of the media attention to false claims about vaccine safety. The use of social media where parents post their â€Å"vaccine†¦show more content†¦By the age of 6 years a child will have received 49 doses of 14 vaccines and by the age of 18 years they will have received 69 doses of 16 vaccines as pointed out by National Vaccine information center. According to analyzed data from the 20 06 and 2013 American Academy of Pediatrics periodic surveys, a proportion of pediatricians encountering parents who refused their children’s vaccines in the last year rose significantly. During the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies Dr. Catherine Hough-Telford of the department of pediatrics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham reported that the percentage of parent refusals increased from 75% in 2006 to 87% in 2013, which is a 16% increase. Nationally, in 2013 surveys showed that 73% of the parents stated that the leading reason that they refused vaccines were concerns about the safety and believing that they are unnecessary. Many parents believe that the benefits of immunizations do not justify the risks that their children are exposed to. Then you have the risk of the vaccine itself such as pain, fever and the possibility of an allergic reaction. An allergic reaction can be as simple as an itchy rash or as severe as difficulty breathing or cardia c arrest that could lead to a child’s death (very rare). In a parent’s mind why risk their children’s well-being for a non-existent disease that has not been seen in 20-30 years. The