The Vaccine War Study Guide

The Vaccine War Study Guide

1. What are some reasons why parents don’t get their children vaccinated?

-Complacency- people don’t think they’re at risk bc the disease is not in their area

- fear side effects ex. autism

- they want kid to fight disease naturally

2. What can happen in communities where children are unvaccinated?

- outbreaks of disease from people who have disease

-no herd immunity in community

3. What are some documented potential side-effects from vaccines?

- common=mild fevers, swelling, pain for ~1hr-day at site of injection

-rare= allergic rxn

-very rare= severe rxn ex. deafness, coma- so rare, not even sure if vaccine caused it

4. What did the large epidemiological studies conclude about the MMR vaccine and autism? Thimerosal and autism?

MMR vaccine and autism= no causation-kids who got MMR shot were NOT more likely to develop autism

Thimerosal and autism= no causation- thimerosal does NOT increase incidence of autism

5. Discuss the problems with the following arguments made in the video:

a. A baby should not be vaccinated against hepatitis B bc this disease is a sexually transmitted disease

- there are other ways to transmit Hepatitis B

ex. through blood, mother to baby (mom has and baby gives to mom)

-some people with Hep B don’t get symptoms and may not know

b. A child should be allowed to go through disease processes naturally as has occurred for thousands of years.

- kid could have long term side effects or die from disease 

c. The polio vaccine requirement should be discontinued in the US bc there is no more polio in this country.

- bc their is polio outside of the country and we are a global community= exposure through travel

6. How has the Internet changed the way society approaches medical issues?

a. Web helps perpetuate controversies over vaccinations

-people more likely to believe things on internet then from CDC

- lots of bad info

b. However, it does give people access to lots of medical info

7. How does herd immunity protect vulnerable individuals?

-if a certain number of the population (critical number) are vaccinated then it prevents spread of disease- this protects the very young/old bc they are most at risk

-protects vulnerable people-> people who cannot get vaccinated

ie. infants, pregnant, HIV

-break through disease= people can get sick even with vaccine even when they are vaccinated... if enough people are getting sick 

8. How do you feel about an individual’s responsibility to public health with regard to vaccines? (this will be important for you to think about as a future health care provider)