In: Nursing
To Vaccinate, or Not to Vaccinate: That is the Question
by
Caren Shapiro
Department of Mathematics & Natural Sciences D'Youville College, Buffalo, NY
Paula Highsmith was quite distraught. She had returned from a routine checkup for her four-week-old daughter Jennifer. The pediatrician, Dr. Feiller, had informed Paula that he would begin giving Jennifer her DTP shots at her next appointment in a month.
Paula phoned her mother, Marion Johnson. “Oh, Mother, I don’t
know what to do.”
“You were vaccinated as a child and you didn’t have any problems,”
replied Mrs. Johnson.
“You know my friend Julie? Her oldest son Sam had a seizure after getting the DTP shot when he was Jennifer’s age. And what about that couple on television that said the rubella vaccine was responsible for their son’s autism?”
“I don’t know about that couple,” replied Mrs. Johnson, “but Sam was vaccinated ten years ago. If the vaccine was really the problem, I’m sure they would have a different vaccine now.”
“But now there are so many shots and, besides, the diseases they prevent have practically disappeared, so why do I have to have Jennifer vaccinated?”
“Jennifer will be required to show evidence of vaccination before she’ll be allowed to go to school and perhaps even some daycare centers. Don’t you remember the article in the Buffalo News about the couple whose son wasn’t allowed to register for school because he hadn’t had his vaccinations? His parents said they had refused to have him vaccinated for religious reasons.”
This case presents many of the issues facing parents when they need to begin the vaccination series for their child. Paula wants to do what is best for her child and she wants to make her decision based on scientific fact not emotional rhetoric.
What are the issues raised about vaccination by this case study and what kind of information will help Paula make an informed decision about vaccinating her daughter?
1. Is vaccination necessary? What are the consequences of natural infection? Do microorganisms cause asymptomatic infections or disease?
What are the symptoms of the major vaccine preventable
diseases?
What are the possible sequelae of the infections?
What groups of individuals are particularly susceptible to serious
disease consequences? How are infections transmitted?
What kinds of vaccines are available?
(a) What are the advantages (e.g., efficacy and duration of immunity) of the different kinds of vaccines?
(b) What are the disadvantages (e.g., side-effects) of the different kinds of vaccines?
What is the purpose of vaccination (i.e., prevent infection and/or disease)?
Are there reasons for not being vaccinated?
Are there beneficial effects of acquiring an infection naturally?
Are religious concerns justifiable?
1)Yes, The vaccine is necessary, because here we're talking
about DPT vaccine which prevents diphtheria,
tetanus, and pertussis.
Diphtheria and pertussis spread from person to person. Tetanus
enters the body through cuts or wounds.
Symptoms these diseases can cause
The possible sequelae of the infection in case of
tetanus abs pertussis is actually high. So it's better to take the
vaccine.
It can affect every age group not just kids , infants or
adults.
the kind of vaccine that are available are DTWP , DTaP, Tadp , DT
and Td . Among these vaccines, three vaccines i.e ( Dtwp, DTaP and
DT) are given to kids younger than 7 years, and two (Tadp and Td
) are given to individuals 7 years or older.
Side effects:
Like any other medicine, there is a very remote chance of a vaccine causing a severe allergic reaction, other serious injury, or death.