Vaccines? Are they worth it?

Question

Many people around the world are now saying that vaccines aren't worth it. That they are causing lots of medical problems. For example, some say that vaccines cause autism, brain damage, SIDS, diabetes, retardation, etc. In addition, vaccines could possibly cause a super bug. Many believe that our scientist can't keep up with the mutations of certain diseases and that eventually we will fall behind, creating something that we can't stop.

However, vaccines also save many lives and are the main reason our country/world isn't plagued with diseases. They prevent disease that could be worse then some of the side effects that are listed. They make doctors' jobs easier and actually save our country money and time (if we didn't have vaccines that means more people would be sick and that means we would have to manufacture more anitbiotics and medical supplies). Imagine if we didn't have vaccines. .it is very possible that 1/3 of the country could be seriously ill or die.

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So what is your point of view?

Is saving all these lives by using vaccines now, worth the thousands that could die froma super bug or deadly vaccine side effects.

Sources:
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http://www.909shot.com/

http://www.vaccineinformation.org/

ABC's new 20/20 "Scared Stiff"

Answer 1

Well...It all depends on your point of view....

If you see it from the point of view of public health then vaccines are definitely very important. The control of infectious diseases by means of hygiene and immunizations accounts for an estimated 70-80% of the life expectancy increase during the last 100 years or so...

If you are into "eugenics" then you could argue that by vaccinating (as well as with other medical interventions) we let the "weak" survive and actually if there were no vaccines, eventually our species would evolve (as it has numerous times during evolution) into something genetically better capable of dealing with all these microbes we vaccinate against....

The common statement that "some say that vaccines cause autism, brain damage, SIDS, diabetes, retardation, etc." is largely unsupported by the way we currently evaluate medical interventions and interpret statistical significance; currently, vaccine development includes extensive testing and evaluation before market release (this does not mean that this process is perfect by any means); this does not necessarily mean that such arguments are completely wrong but the people who claim such things need to come up with a way to prove their opinion in a rational reproducible way...

Personally, I am not much into vaccines but this is just my personal standpoint which doesn't necessarily mean much...

This is an extremely interesting and deeply complicated topic that you raised...

Answer 2

If you had seen even one child with polio or diphtheria, ( still around in many countries) or the meningitis or epiglottitis which can be prevented by Hib vaccine (in all countries) or known a damaged child born to an unvaccinated mother who caught rubella during pregnancy, or had a friend who was rendered sterile by childhood case of mumps and didn't find out til he was married and they were trying for a baby...
I have seen all these preventable tragedies. Not so sure about the need for chicken pox or smallpox anymore though..

Answer 3

all depends on what the vaccine is for. the FDA is a joke today so I wouldn't have much faith in anything new.