The production of Vaccines is arguably one of the most mind-blowing developments in the
history of medicine. Simply put a vaccine is a small amount of dead or weak virus that is
injected into the body so as to develop resistance against a stronger version of the
same virus in the future.
Background
Vaccines were first developed by Edward Jenner in the early 1800’s. He created the first vaccine against smallpox. His experiment consisted of infecting a child with the lymph of cowpox blisters to develop resistance against smallpox. The success of this experiment gave way to the first smallpox vaccine but an unintended side effect emerged anti-vaccination sentiments.
The topic of Debate?
Vaccines, ever since their development, have been a topic of debate and controversy. The idea of injecting diseases into the body was met with ethical and cultural opposition.
Even today we hear many parents choosing to not vaccinate their children even though many governmental policies mandate vaccination of children.
Common misconceptions like Natural immunity trumps vaccinations or that hygiene and nutrition are better to remain disease-free than vaccines- often lead to anti-vaccination sentiments amongst people.
One Anti-vax controversy was the ‘Green the Vaccine’ Movement.
Thimerosal, a mercury-containing compound used as a preservative in vaccines, has also been the center of a vaccination and autism controversy. There was no clear scientific evidence that small amounts of thimerosal in vaccines cause harm,or lead to autism contrary to popular belief. Subsequently, in 2001, the Institute of Medicine’s Immunization Safety Review Committee issued a report concluding there was not enough evidence to back claims that thimerosal in childhood vaccines causes autism, attention deficit hypersensitivity disorder, or speech or language delay.
A more recent report by the committee “favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism.” Even with this finding, some researchers continue to study the possible links between thimerosal and autism. Today, thimerosal is no longer used in most childhood vaccines, though some forms of influenza vaccine available in multi-dose vials may contain the preservative.
Despite scientific evidence, concerns over thimerosal have led to a public “Green Our Vaccines” campaign, a movement to remove “toxins” from vaccines, for fear that these substances lead to autism. Celebrity Jenny McCarthy, her advocacy group Generation Rescue, and the organization Talk about Curing Autism (TACA) have spearheaded these efforts.
Conclusion
The ‘Green the Vaccine’ movement is one of many anti-vaccination movements and shows the deep-rooted beliefs that cause people to distrust medical innovations like vaccines. Although it is safe to say we have come a long way ever since Edward Jenner created this life-saving serum.
Written By: Advika Pundlik
History of vaccines. (n.d.). Historyofvaccines.
Gallegos, M., de Castro Pecanha, V., & Caycho-Rodríguez, T. (2023). Anti-vax: the history of a scientific problem. Journal of public health (Oxford, England), 45(1), e140–e141. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdac048
댓글