Staff Writer
A
recent measles outbreak in California has sparked debate over whether or not
vaccines should be mandatory in all states.
While the general consensus is that vaccines are effective and harmless,
some people in the country still take issue with vaccinations. A common belief is that vaccines lead to
autism and certain mental disorders.
However, this belief has been disproven in the scientific community by
multiple studies, including one conducted by the Institute of Medicine in 2011
that found that “there is no relationship between vaccines and autism rates in
children.” Still, even though the belief
that vaccines are dangerous has been debunked, a large number of people in the
country still believe that it is true.
Senator
Rand Paul, an outspoken member of the Tea Party and presidential hopeful for
2016, believes that vaccinations should be voluntary. During an interview with Kelly Evans of CNBC,
Paul said that while he believes in the benefit of vaccines, he doesn’t think
the government should tell people whether or not they have to give them to
their children or themselves. He said that
he has heard of cases where healthy children have ended up with, “profound
mental disorders after vaccines.” It’s a controversial issue, and many people
think that the idea of “harmful” vaccines is dangerous. Sanjay Gupta, neurosurgeon and medical
correspondent for CNN, says that there is no data linking mental disorders to
vaccines. “He [Pau] says he knows of
many children who have wound up with mental disorders after vaccines — you
know, I don’t know where he is getting that data from,” said Gupta. “In order to protect people, we should have
all the vaccines,” says math teacher Jane Whitehurst. “My husband is a biochemist, and he and I
believe that we should get all of the vaccines.”
Many
states allow for exemptions from vaccinations because of religious beliefs,
including North Carolina. In North
Carolina, according to the National Vaccine Information Center, “If the bona
fide religious beliefs of an adult or the parent, guardian or person in loco
parentis of a child are contrary to the immunization requirements, the adult or
the child shall be exempt from the requirements.” Wake County Public School
System follows the state requirements for vaccinations, requiring vaccines for
hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, tetanus, and other
diseases. WCPSS also requires that, “…all
children entering the seventh (7th grade) must have a Tdap booster and one (1)
dose of meningococcal vaccine.” The Tdap booster prevents whooping cough,
diphtheria, and tetanus.
Many
experts are pointing out that California, a state that allows the choice of
exemption based off of religious beliefs, is the state with the most measles
cases in the country currently with 92 cases.
On the other hand, states that only allow exemptions for medical reasons
don’t have the same issue with measles.
West Virginia and Mississippi, the only two states that only allow exemptions
for medical reason, haven’t reported any cases of measles. English teacher Margaret Nordt believes that
vaccines are necessary. “In my opinion,
it is wrong not to vaccinate. Scientific
evidence shows that they work,” said Nordt.
Pat
Evans, a media center specialist, says, “I know that parents have the right to
do what they want. But when it involves
the safety of other kids, I believe that they should definitely be vaccinated. There’s a certain age that you have to be in
order to be vaccinated, and children under that age could easily get sick.” Most
people feel that vaccinations are beneficial, but mandatory vaccines are more
controversial. “My son received all of
his vaccinations. I believed that the
autism theory was debunked,” said head football coach Joe Kilby. When asked if he felt the vaccines should be
mandatory, he said, “I don’t really like any government intervention. But when it’s to protect people, I could see
the argument for that.”
