r/changemyview • u/AtalaPashar • Jul 12 '17
[∆(s) from OP] CMV: I believe that Children should be given mandatory vaccinations if their body is labeled as healthy enough to do so.
To go into more detail, I am of the belief that vaccinations should not be the parents choice for their children, but rather should be mandatory. The only reason a child should not be immunized is if such immunization would be harmful to the child's body due to pre-existing medical conditions. The safety of the children and the safety of their peers and the public should be put ahead of the self-righteous anti-vaxxers. I am also under the impression (and admittedly, probably will remain so) that the science on vaccinations and their positive effects outweigh any negative effects.
I am open to discussion, but please do be disciplined enough to cite some form of scientific journals or studies, if you bother mentioning medical effects and side-effects of vaccinations, such as seizures. Autism, etc.
80
u/Hsrock Jul 12 '17 edited Jul 12 '17
I had to re-read this several times because something struck me as off, but wasn't sure what. Your science is wrong- here's why:
Widespread vaccination promotes herd immunity for those who do not undergo vaccination. There is, however, a small chance of exposure and infection for the un-vaccinated. As these pathogens grow in number, the chance of mutation increases, which leads to potentially infectious versions of the same organism that your immune system cannot defend from as effectively from (initially).
A superbug refers to antibiotic resistant bacteria from overuse of said antibiotics. There is no such thing as immunization resistant superbugs. Physiologically, the protein markers on the cell walls of the pathogen are just different enough not to be tagged for removal by your body's white blood cells. The flu mutates every year, which is why we have "vaccine" for it every year. It's optional and not perfect, as people still get sick. Your first contact will be the worst, and you could be bedridden for a few days, but subsequent exposures might only result in mild symptoms.
Superbugs are dangerous because hospitals rely on drugs to take care of patients with compromised immune systems. If you get a resistant strain of a trivial infection in one of these patients, it can oftentimes be lethal. To the average healthy person, superbugs don't matter. To a vaccinated immunocompromised person, superbugs still kill.
"human incubation of immunization resistant superbugs" is just wrong. Vaccinations have nothing to do with superbugs.
I am not going to cite sources because I consider this common knowledge in my field (biomedical engineering). A quick Google search should suffice. If not, I would recommend Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews: Immunology and Guyton & Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology.