JSランゲージスクールブログ | Non-Vaxxers
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Today I would like to talk about a trend among mothers in the US. Recently, more and more mothers are deciding against getting their children vaccinated. The word vaccinated means that children get injections that prevent them from getting illnesses such as polio or small pox. Thanks to vaccinations, these diseases are almost non-existent in first world countries.
Why would mothers choose to not vaccinate their children? Well, there was a study published years ago that claimed that vaccinations were linked to autism, a mental disability. The study said that the chemicals in the vaccines were bad for children and could give them autism. However, this study was proved false a few years ago. The researcher lied about his evidence and even lost his doctor's license because of spreading false information. Even though it was proven to be false, some mothers still believe that vaccines are bad for children.
The reason this is such a problem is that when the number of people in a population who have the vaccine drops below around 80%, there is a bigger chance of an outbreak of the diseases that they are not vaccinated for. There are some children who are not allowed to have vaccines, because they are too sick. These children are at high risk for getting diseases. We need to have "herd immunity" to protect these children. Herd immunity is when most people in a population are vaccinated, so because the majority are vaccinated, the small minority is safe.
When mothers choose to not vaccinate their children, it puts their children at risk along with children who were not able to get vaccinated because of health risks. If those children get sick, their immune systems are usually not strong enough to fight a serious disease. These non-vaxxers (the term used for people who do not get their children vaccinated) have actually caused outbreaks of small pox in certain areas of the US.
I have asked a few people in Japan, but it seems like this is not a problem here. Most mothers (if not all) choose to vaccinate their children if possible. This is very responsible. I wonder why it is so different in Japan. In the US, some people are more likely to believe the words that are written on the internet than the words of their own doctors. In Japan, it seems most people listen to the doctors and see vacations as something necessary. I don't know if the article about autism being linked to vaccines ever became popular in Japan, but it seems like it didn't. What do you think about this issue? Have you ever heard of someone choosing to not vaccinate their child?
