The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

    Letters to the Editor: Readers respond to reporter’s vaccine opinion piece

    I would like to address the recently published article titled “I personally don’t believe in vaccines.” First of all, I’d like to say that I respect the right of the author to have her own opinions. However, I believe that publishing such an article could potentially be dangerous to those who read it. Based on scientific evidence, vaccinations have been found to be beneficial and not dangerous. There are many misconceptions surrounding vaccines. However, none of them are backed by scientific evidence. Vaccines are so important and spreading. Myths and misconceptions about them is detrimental to humankind. For example, many believe that the chemicals found in vaccinations are harmful, but this is so far from the truth. These chemicals are there to help you, not harm you. People allow a few flukes to cloud their judgment when it comes to vaccines and that is simply absurd. Herd immunity can be defined as “The resistance to the spread of a contagious disease within a population that results if a sufficiently high proportion of individuals are immune to the disease, especially through vaccination.” This is so incredibly important. If more people would trust scientific facts, deadly diseases could potentially be eliminated in the future. Unfortunately, that can’t happen when anti-vaccination articles that are not supported by scientific evidence are published. Please consider a counter-piece and spread the benefits of vaccinations!

    Sydni Casanova

    Junior, Psychology

    Hello, I am currently in Psychology 204 and we recently learned about vaccines. I read an article by Regina Pergola titled “I Personally Don’t Believe in Vaccines,” and I feel as though this article shouldn’t have been posted because she did not have an understanding of the group dynamic of vaccines. By her not being vaccinated, I should be concerned about getting infected because of herd immunity. Once herd immunity is lost, due to people not getting vaccinated, a community is susceptible to having an outbreak. An example of this is the  mumps outbreak in Baton Rouge and other places across the country. Since people have decided to stop vaccinating a few years ago, multiple diseases that could’ve been eliminated all together have made a come back because people refuse to get vaccinated. I just feel this should have had actual scientific backing to prove her points in this article.

    Lindsay Wilson

    Freshman, Nursing

     

    Hey Regina, I just read your article on vaccines and even though everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I would love to inform you on why vaccinations are important. The main reason for the vaccine is not to get you sick but to expose your immune system to the deadly disease. Only a small percentage is injected into you allowing your body to identify this agent and kill it effectively. By doing this, when exposed by someone who may have an illness or disease, your body is able to respond effectively completely protecting your immune system from being compromised. Therefore, you are right. There are so many cases of mumps and other disease spreading but that is because of this misunderstanding when it comes to vaccinations. In the 2000’s, a lot of people started getting less vaccines and from there on you can see the rise in these cases show up. I would suggest that you dig into some more information concerning the importance of vaccination and also ask your physicians on why vaccines are important to our health.

    Savannah Joseph

    Sophomore, Nursing

     

    Although it is a personal decision to get vaccinated, the issue is if you don’t get vaccinated you put everyone around you at risk, which means you are possibly the one carrying the virus inside your body. If you come in contact with another person that isn’t vaccinated, you both are carriers of the disease or virus and can infect other people that have not gotten vaccinated. If you get vaccinated, it prevents the virus from entering your body and making you sick. It is safer for you and everyone else to get vaccinated rather than lose your life or someone else’s ‘cause you refused to go through a needle stick to prevent you from infecting everyone else with whatever you are the carrier of. For example, one year I didn’t get the flu vaccine. Can you guess what happened that year? Yes I got the flu. There is a reason vaccines have been invented. It’s to protect the public from harmful diseases.

    Nicole McLean

    Freshman, Nursing

     

    The purpose of a vaccine is to inject tiny amounts of a dead or dying disease into the human body to stimulate antibody production. Once the vaccination is administered, the body begins training itself to fight against the actual diseases just in case they are contracted. Vaccinations do not completely protect against contracting said diseases/sicknesses; however, the chances of contracting them are little to none. There are many myths that come with the discussion of vaccines, I will list them out: vaccines cause autism, infant immune systems can not handle so many vaccines, natural immunity is better than vaccine-acquired immunity, vaccines contain unsafe toxins, vaccines alter the biological makeup of one’s body, vaccines are not worth the risk, we do not need to vaccinate because infection rates are already so low, and the list goes on and on. Can you believe that there is actually no evidence proving any of these myths to be true? Contrary to popular belief, vaccines are completely safe, harmless, and do not cause autism or any other conditions or disorders. Vaccinations work best in herd immunity. What this means is that there are enough members within the community who are vaccinated therefore the disease or sickness does not enter the community to begin with. In order to have herd immunity, people must actually get their vaccinations. Imagine a parallel universe where vaccinations actually did cause disorders and potentially harmful reactions within the human body, would it be better to die of the disease than to develop autism? NO. Getting vaccinated is very important not only for your individual health but other in the community that are not able to receive their vaccinations due to age or other health issues. It is not the idea of one person butting into another person’s business, but a matter of protecting those who can not protect themselves. Did you know that the MMR vaccination actually does not cause autism? I mention this particular vaccination because we almost completely eradicated measles, mumps, and rubella here in the United States until a researcher named Andrew Wakefield published a study in the Lancet claiming that he had evidence that the MMR vaccination caused autism. It was later found that his research was fraudulent, he in fact did not have evidence to prove his findings, and his article was retracted. Before researchers found the study to be fraudulent, many people quit getting their MMR vaccinations and we began to see the disease rates rise again. Please, for the sake of your health and others around you, get your vaccinations. Most importantly, please do research before spreading untrue or biased opinions that could potentially cause others to fall victim of the myths regarding vaccinations.

    Kelsey Payne

    Junior, Psychology

     

    I have recently read the opinion piece by Regina Pergola, “I personally don’t believe in vaccines” and would like to share my own thoughts on the “facts” used in this case. First off, people do not get vaccinated solely to protect themselves from a disease. There is a certain phenomenon known as herd immunity, which requires majority of a community to be vaccinated to prevent exposure to those who cannot be vaccinated, such as infants or individuals with compromised immune systems. Another point that the original writer made was that vaccines are filled with chemicals. Yes, vaccines do contain chemical preservatives such as formaldehyde and aluminum, both of which can be found equally in apples and antacids. Did you know water is also considered to be a chemical? Wouldn’t it be a shame to protest drinking water because it would be a chemical entering your body? I understand that this writer was personally affected by vaccines. However, every individual’s reaction to vaccines are different and the benefits of vaccinations far outweigh the risk of disease. In posting her opinion, Pergola is disservicing the community by spreading false information to inflame the vaccination debate. Furthermore, it should be encouraged that our Southeastern community consult their healthcare professionals about vaccinations. With the current mump/measles scare, it would be wise to consider booster shots, not only for personal health, but also for those who cannot be immunized. Thank you!

    Mallory Picou

    Sophmore, Nursing

     

    I’m embarrassed to see the newspaper of my university giving any thought to such an article that spits in the face of modern science and medicine.  I thought we were better than that here at SELU.

    Jarod Hopper

    Graduate Student, Business Administration

     

    Hey Regina, I read your article regarding vaccinations and wanted to provide some insight on how vaccinations actually work. Although I respect your view on vaccinations, I felt the need to share some points to hopefully encourage you to consider protecting yourself from disease. Let’s take the influenza vaccine, a common vaccination received by many each winter season. Those who get this vaccine have the live strand injected into their arm. When your body is exposed to an antigen, your immune response will develop antibodies to fight that foreign invader. This is done within seconds of exposure. So, if a patient who received an influenza vaccine is exposed to the flu, they can still get the flu HOWEVER, their body stands a better chance of attacking the foreign invasion because of the antibodies formed from the vaccine. This decreases their chances of becoming ill or potentially dying from the flu, but doesn’t 100% protect them from the illness. Those who are vaccinated against measles, chicken pox, etc., are still at risk for those things but because their bodies have the antibodies from the vaccines, their chances of infection are drastically reduced. There are side effects to getting vaccinated like arm soreness or fever, which usually resides in a day or two. We are concerned about those who aren’t vaccinated because we still are at risk for disease. A mother is vaccinated for whooping cough when she delivers a child, to protect the child from respiratory distress and coughing. This vaccine saves newborns. For those who can’t received vaccinations, for example, someone with Leukemia or infants (up until they are age appropriate), they can be protected from a disease because of something called “Herd Community.” If those surrounding the Leukemia patient are all vaccinated, they create a barrier against disease for the patient. Immunizations have been proven not harmful by highly trained and educated medical professionals and their research. Any information regarding vaccinations should only be considered if it is from a peer reviewed medical journal, where knowledgeable medical staff states objectively what research has proved or not proved.

    Cecily Solar

    Sophmore, Nursing

     

    In response to “I personally don’t believe in vaccines” on March 30, 2017: The writer clearly does not understand herd immunity – the fact that vaccines work not only on an individual level. Not everyone has the privilege of which the writer has chosen not to take advantage. Infants and the immunocompromised rely on others getting vaccinated to prevent deadly or disabling diseases from penetrating a community. Herd immunity has recently been lapsing thanks to the anti-vaccine movement. This movement is largely based on a poor grasp of science, a single fraudulent study by Andrew Wakefield, and willingness to listen to the loudest voices instead of the most compelling and numerous empirical evidence. Anti-vaccine arguments often rely on anecdotal evidence such as the account of the sister’s supposed adverse reaction to vaccination. These single accounts are vastly outweighed by large data sets of carefully collected observations by scientists and they can largely be explained by unfortunate coincidence (a shot happens to be given around the time a health problem appears or becomes diagnosed). The story of the sister is so vague that I cannot address the evidence for or against such a reaction, but there is overwhelming evidence for the lifesaving effects and overall safety of all recommended vaccines. Frankly, I am alarmed that the writer are attending classes without having had all recommended shots. Southeastern is an institution of higher learning. This is one place where critical thinking is encouraged and often required. If this opinion piece had been submitted as an essay in any of my classes (I teach developmental psychology and research methods), it would receive an F.

    Sara Sohr-Preston

    Assistant Professor, Psychology

     

    I 100 percent disagree with the publication about vaccines not being important. First off, I want to say that vaccines are probably one of the safest things you could do to protect your life and better yet the lives of others. I don’t understand why someone wouldn’t want to get vaccinated? I honestly feel like that is so selfish. What’s the worst it would do? Hurt for two seconds…that’s it. So, I don’t understand the big issue!! Get your vaccinations people! Don’t think about yourself…think about the other people in this world that you could be saving.

    Haley Porter

    Junior, Nursing

     

    Your article about vaccines is very poorly written due to the fact of bad science. Everything you’ve talked about is myths and opinion based when you should’ve done more research on vaccines. Vaccines are substances used to stimulate the production of the antibodies and provide immunity against one or several diseases. The vaccines itself will not make you worse than the actual infection. Also, the reason a lot more people are still alive and healthy is due to them taking vaccines.

    Shanika Bontemps

    Freshman, Kinesiology

     

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    Editor's note: All views expressed in The Lion’s Roar are those of the author or, if unsigned, those of the staff of The Lion’s Roar. These views should not be interpreted as the views of the administration, faculty or students of Southeastern Louisiana University.

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