The Daily Campus

Issue date: 3/26/08 Section: Commentary

There are always exemptions to any kind of vaccinations or antibiotic treatment, but people utilize them too frequently. There is no point in fighting for everyone to have equal access to healthcare if not everyone will take advantage of it. Healthcare is a blessing in this country. There are countries that don't have access to simple medications like Tylenol. U.S. residents should be taking advantage of healthcare rather than denying it.

The people refusing vaccinations don't fairly weigh the risks and benefits. A meningitis vaccination is significantly less painful and less risky than the actual meningitis disease, which can be fatal. Parents underestimate the power of vaccines because they are not used to children dying of seemingly common illnesses. Children used to commonly die from mumps and the flu, but now these diseases can be stopped with simple visits to the doctor.

While not all of these parents replace medical shots with vitamins and immune-aiding minerals, they all leave their children unprotected and susceptible to fatal illness. Children's immune systems are fragile enough with added medical protection. Without vaccinations, children can be exposed to more threats than imagined. Children constantly are exposed to germs from toys, other children or whatever else they may come into contact with during the day. Nobody ever sees a child carrying around a purse sized bottle of Purell or washing their hands after they sneeze.

Children need more protection than anyone else. It is heinous that parents who can afford medical care could even think abut not providing medical care for their child. Vitamins may be able to boost one's immune system to a certain degree, but when it comes to a viral infection, vitamin C can only do so much.

Less trust has to be put in natural vitamins and minerals. There are side effects to everything in life including natural substances. It cannot be assumed that simply because a medicine is crafted form artificial chemicals that it is innately bad and damaging. There is more proof that actual medicine can improve health than leaving an immune system to fight for itself. Parents should acknowledge how precious their children's lives are and provide proper medical treatment for them. Children are too young to make their own medical decisions, so it is ultimately the parents' responsibility to do what is best for their children and provide the best care possible, even if that means settling for an artificially cherry flavored antibiotic.





Weekly Coumnist Alex Sanders is a 4th-semester journalism and psychology double major. Her columns appear on Wednesdays. She can be contacted at Alexandra.Sanders@UConn.edu.

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