The question of vaccination is very important and disputable in the whole world. This situation was caused by a number of thoughts that were suggested and investigated by medical workers all over the world. Parents are usually worried with the question of vaccination of the newborns.
Vaccination is the applying of antigenic material in order to produce immunity to a disease, which prevents infection or weakens its impact. Antigenic material can be: live, but weakened strains of bacteria; killed or inactivated bacteria, purified material such as proteins of microorganisms, and there is also a synthetic vaccine.
A number of scientists suggested the occurrence of SIDS that is a sudden infant death syndrome. However, this theory was rejected by a number of controlled studies in New Zealand that proved the negative answer to this suggestion. On the contrary, the study proved only relative risk for SIDS which is lower for those children that were vaccinated.
If vaccination did not exist, it would be a lot more cases of disease, and along with them more serious side effects.
Benefits of Vaccination
Vaccines provide effective and long-lasting protection against disease. However, they do not guarantee that a person will never get sick. Sometimes this happens because the body did not produce enough antibodies.
Some of the children due to the peculiarities of their immune systems may develop an infection, despite vaccination. However, such children suffer from mild forms of the disease, with no serious complications or death.
Improving socio-economic conditions undoubtedly affected the decrease in the number of diseases. Nutrition, antibiotics and other treatments have increased the survival rate of cases, less close living conditions prevent the spread of diseases, and fertility decline has reduced the number of families’ contacts. But, if to look at the statistics of vaccination and the incidence, it is clear that a significant reduction in the incidence coincides with the introduction of vaccines.
Numerous studies have shown that the recommended vaccines are as effective in combination as well as separately, and the combination does not increase the risk of unwanted side effects.
There are no specific treatments for polio, measles, mumps, rubella and many other viral infections. Antibiotic treatment of pertussis is beneficial only if it is initiated on the early stage of the disease. Severity of infectious diseases with the improvement of living conditions may increase.
The immune response is very specific, the antibodies produced by a particular microorganism. And with the development of antibodies in response to the measles or any other vaccine does not affect the ability to produce antibodies to other infections.
Risks of Vaccination
According to the PICO analysis the population under the investigation includes a specific age group that includes infants. This age group was chosen for this study for the variability and importance of the question of vaccination. Medical workers are mostly for the immunization process while several medical researchers that are the followers of the non traditional medicine argue about this question.
The problem is intensified by the presence of such syndrome as unexpected infant death that is argued by the scientists is caused by the early childhood vaccination. As for the intervention, it is necessary to point out that the question under analysis is vaccination of infants in New Zealand. This problem touches all spheres of social life and is vital for the medical workers and parents. However, a great number of medical researchers prove that the benefits of immunization are higher than risks. For example, the whooping cough that is still emerging in New Zealand is one of the most severe diseases that influence infants.
Children can catch the disease from their relatives, friends, older brothers and sisters. For such case it is important to know that there is a special pneumococcal vaccine that was created for this disease and is available for the parents all over the country. Flu immunization is also important and is free for all the infants in New Zealand. Infants belong to the specific age group that can develop severe complications after catching influenza.
One of the most important immunization actions are provided for such dangerous disease as hepatitis B. The natural course of chronic hepatitis B depends on the clinical form of the disease, the age at which there was an infection, and the transmission way of hepatitis B. The probability of developing chronic liver disease increases sharply with the infection in infancy and early childhood.
Hepatitis B is a viral infection that affects the liver and can cause both acute and chronic disease. Here are some important things about this disease. The virus is transmitted through the contact with blood or other body fluids of an infected person. The virus infects 2 billion people in the world, and about 600 000 people die each year from the effects of the hepatitis B. The hepatitis B virus is 50-100 times higher than HIV.
Hepatitis B is one of the major occupational hazards for health workers. Hepatitis B is preventable with currently available vaccines are safe and effective. When infected during the 1st year of life, the frequency of chronic diseases make 80-90% between the ages of 1 and 4 years is 30-50%.
It should be noted that 21% of deaths caused by the hepatitis B virus, are the result of infection during the life of people, and 48% of deaths is the result of infection during the early childhood. An important feature of the natural history of hepatitis B is its relationship with primary hepatocellular cancer. People with chronic infection are exposed to 100 times higher risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in comparison with those who are not carriers of the hepatitis B virus. 80% of all cases of liver cancer are caused by hepatitis B virus, which is second only to smoking as a carcinogen.
Over the period 2000 to 2011 measles vaccination resulted in a reduction of global measles deaths by 71%.
In 2011, about 84% of the world’s children received one dose of measles vaccine by their first birthday through routine health services, up from 72% in 2000. Unvaccinated young children are at the highest risk of measles and its complications, including death. Any person with no immunity can be infected with measles. Those who have not been vaccinated or who did not develop immunity after vaccination are also at risk. Measles is a major cause of death among young children, despite the availability of safe and cost-effective vaccine.
Diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus killed a great number of children in the past. Today, the medical sphere workers and researchers produced vaccines to immunize children to help them fight these and many other diseases. Immunization or vaccination has wiped out a lot of the killer diseases of infant population in New Zealand. Tetanus is not that harmful any longer however, it can occur for those children who were not vaccinated. New Zealand does not face the problems with polio and diphtheria. Though other countries still face the problems of fighting these diseases they are not common for New Zealand.
The Problem of Vaccination of Infants
The Immunization Handbook 2011 give all the necessary information for the professional medical workers and scientists and is a more detailed source to add to the comprehension of the problem of infant vaccination. The most dangerous diseases that are vaccinated in New Zealand include diphtheria and hepatitis B, tetanus, mumps, polio, pneumococcal disease, measles and rubella.
However, there are some side negative effects of vaccination what give a lot of causes for the discussion over the vaccination for infants. Anaphylaxis is probably the worst side effect of vaccinations proven. This is a severe allergic reaction that affects various organs, and in the most severe cases might cause an anaphylactic shock. It leads to death in about 1% of cases.
Anaphylaxis can cause a wide range of allergens from diverse backgrounds from food to pharmaceuticals. According to a study published in a specialized journal Pediatrics, the frequency of anaphylaxis after vaccination is 0.65 for a million cases, and as anaphylactic shock leading to death in 1% of cases, the risk of dying from vaccination can be estimated as 0 0065 chance in a million.
However, in some cases like asthma, allergies to vaccine components, the risk is much larger. In the Indian state of Tamil Nadu April 23, 2008, four children died of anaphylactic shock after they were vaccinated against measles. At the same time, the circumstances indicate that the anaphylactic shock probably was not caused by the vaccine itself, and any unauthorized agent, that was in a vial after opening. The frequency of anaphylaxis due to vaccination is too small to make it possible to match the four cases. Since all four received the vaccine from the same vial, it was probably a mistake of health workers who provided a vaccination.
The problem of vaccination of infants is vital and this makes it an important question for the research work. The given research provides the most general information and the conclusions of the research works that took place in New Zealand and on the problem of child vaccination in general. The research has proven the positive change in the health situation with such vital and dangerous diseases like hepatitis B, measles, diphtheria and other. Most of researchers and medical workers try hard to make it clear to the population of New Zealand that vaccination brings more benefits than risks for people and to infants in particular. The problem of deeper research of the main causes of SIDS can be investigated in the future research following the provided investigation. This question is vital and can be a productive scientific work in future studies.
The research showed the most common ideas that accompany the question of infant vaccination nowadays. There is a proven success with vaccination of measles and hepatitis B. The population of New Zealand found a positive solution to fighting the most common killer diseases in the past and faces positive changes nowadays.
A problem of unexpected or sudden death can be suggested for further investigation. The most negative side of vaccination was discussed over the example of infant death caused by anaphylactic shock; however, the figures shown demonstrate the low level of risk for this effect.