Advantages and Disadvantages of Vaccination

A vaccine is a substance that is administered to stimulate the body in producing antibodies significant in fighting diseases. A vaccine is a mild form of a bacterium or virus that is meant to create a false sense of disease invasion in the body. The immune system of the body releases the antibodies which should fight the specific disease-causing pathogens. Since it is a mild bacteria, the antibodies are not put into action but the ability of the body in fighting the particular virus or bacteria remains intact. If the same type of virus or bacterium attacks the body in the future, the body responds to the pathogen invasion by producing specific antigens that fight off the disease. The use of vaccines is debatable as there are both opponents and proponents of the aspect. During a disease pandemic, treatment may reach the infected after a relatively long time. Due to time lapse in availing the treatment, many people may succumb to the infection. However, the use of vaccines may prevent the death of many people or enable the infected the capacity to access appropriate treatment in time (Allen, 2017). There are various reasons for supporting the use of vaccines in the treatment of particular viral or bacterial diseases. Similarly, their opponents of the matter have their point of argument to justify their claims. Although it is subject to discussion, the use of vaccines has proven to be more important in the fight against diseases and should be utilized to prevent deaths emanating from viral or bacterial infections.

Proponents claim that there are numerous advantages that are accrued from the use of vaccines in treatment and control of diseases. To start with, vaccines are useful in the eradication of some disease. Extensive vaccination programs have been effective in controlling killer diseases such as polio, measles, smallpox, and chicken pox. In many countries or regions of the world, some of the killer diseases have been eradicated through the use of vaccines. In some cases, the use of vaccines has proven to be effective than the use of curative treatment. Some diseases are life-threatening and if left unchecked have the capacity to wipe out a large part of the human race. Extensive programs have been established to ensure that all people receive vaccines against the immunizable diseases. Secondly, vaccines are relatively cheaper than the actual cure of diseases. Giving a vaccine to a healthy person assists the body in preparing against a viral or bacterial disease early in advance. The natural immune system prepares the necessary antibodies for protection a disease that may possibly attack the body in the course of time. However, curing a disease that has affected the body is costly due to the damage caused to the body by the invading pathogens. Apart from fighting the disease-causing pathogens, the doctor has to address the tissue and body system damage that has been caused by the disease. Therefore, instead of receiving a single dose as in the case of vaccines, the infected patients receive medicines to suppress the disease and treat its adverse effects on the body. Thirdly, vaccines are used to slow down the progression of an infection in a population. Once some of the people in the society are infected, healthcare professionals may vaccinate the uninfected to prevent further spread of the disease. Besides, a vaccine is used to slow minimize the effects of a disease to the body before additional medications are made available (Bagnoli & Payne, 2017). Therefore, vaccines are used to prevent deaths caused by an infection that has affected a section of the population.

Fourthly, vaccines help keep children and individuals with weak body immune system safe from killer diseases. The body of children does not have the capacity to fight off serious illnesses such as polio and can sustain serious tissue damage if the infection is contracted. Vaccines help the children’s bodies in producing antibodies which fights off the particular disease and prevents the severity of body damage by the pathogens. Further, there are various organizations that have supported the use of vaccines. Such organizations include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO). The organizations have obtained facts and figures to show that the use of vaccines has prevented many deaths that could have occurred. CDC claims that the time taken for some infections to cause significant body damage is little compared to the time taken to distribute and administer an effective treatment. Also, it states that vaccines are helpful in reducing the severity of an infection. Additionally, CDC states that individuals who are not vaccinated have the capacity to spread diseases as compared to those who have been vaccinated (Allen, 2017). Therefore, vaccines are used to minimize long-term complications and death of the vulnerable individual.

Those who oppose the use of vaccines claim that newborn babies are at risk when their mother using certain vaccines. For instance, if the mother has been injected with a vaccine for hepatitis, there is a high probability for the newborn to contract hepatitis.  They, therefore, argue that vaccines should not be used to avoid the spread of intravenous diseases to a newborn child. Also, the opponents claim that the use of vaccine compromises the body’s capacity to fight diseases. They claim that the body can naturally fight off diseases and the natural body immunity should not be interfered with. They assert that natural immunity is able to last for a long time as compared to induced immunity through the use of vaccines (Chua et al., 2017). Besides, some people claim that the use of vaccines introduced harmful substances into the body which may cause a severe reaction in case it is not compatible with the body.

The strength of the supporting point of view is that it is supported by a majority of the people in the world. Also, there is information supporting the effectiveness of vaccines that have been documented under research papers and books. Besides, there are many international bodies such as the CDC and WHO which support the use of vaccines. The weakness of the point of view is that there is no provision for an alternative way of action in case the vaccines fail to work. The strength of the opposing point of view is that there is controversy on whether the body natural immunity should be disturbed or not. The weakness of the point of view is that the merits of using a vaccine outweigh the demerits by a big margin.

I have chosen to support the use of vaccines since the advantages of being vaccinated are evident. Due to the use of vaccines, mortality due to killer diseases has been significantly reduced. Also, the use of vaccines has made it possible to eradicate deadly diseases that can threaten the existence of the human race.

References

Allen, H. K. (2017, July). Alternatives to antibiotics: Why and how. In National Academy of Medicine Perspectives.

Bagnoli, F., & Payne, D. J. (2017). Reaction: Alternative Modalities to Address Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogens. Chem, 3(3), 369-372.

Chua, K. J., Kwok, W. C., Aggarwal, N., Sun, T., & Chang, M. W. (2017). Designer probiotics for the prevention and treatment of human diseases. Current opinion in chemical biology, 40, 8-16.