To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate - Essay Example

"To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate" is a wonderful example of a paper on childhood immunization.
The mother has a choice to decide whether or not to have the baby immunised. Being a medical practitioner, I would try and educate the parent about vaccines and the risks of not vaccinating the baby. Although some horror stories have been reported with vaccinations; more good has been reported protecting many children from a serious illness that could have resulted in death and or disability. Some babies will have side effects and or allergic reactions from vaccinations, but they are treatable.

New-born babies do not have a fighting chance if they are not vaccinated. For instance, Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a fatal condition for infants as they cannot be vaccinated until they are 8 weeks old. The pathogen spreads from person to person via air. Whooping cough can lead to terrible coughing that makes babies not breathe. Complications such as seizures and brain damage resulting from this condition (Bettiol et al., 2012). The worst fact about this condition is that it is common all over the United States; recent outbreaks have been reported causing numerous cases of hospitalization and death. Moreover, failure to accept the administration of IPV vaccine may make the baby disabled (Jehan et al., 2013).

Therefore, a vaccine schedule helps receive the vaccine at the optimal time. HBV vaccine should be administered 1-2 months after the first dose which was given at birth. Vaccines administered at 2 months include DTaP, Hib, IPV, PCV, and Rota. The best way to save babies is via vaccination.

Question 2.2

Measles, mumps, and rubella are infectious; which if not controlled earlier by immunization can lead to disability and death. One dose of MMR is 95% effective in preventing clinical measles, 98% effective in preventing laboratory tested measles, and 95% in preventing secondary measles (Demicheli et al., (2012). The initial MMR vaccine shot is administered at 12-15 months; the initial signs of autism are evident at 15-18 months. With this information at hand, the mother of 12months old Johnny is concerned with the link between autism developments after the MMR vaccine.

The first fact I would point out to the concerned mother is that no, there is no link between autism and MMR. Epidemiological studies done by experts such as the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine have shown that there is no connection between autism and MMR vaccine. These studies have revealed that the incremental cases of autism reported globally cannot be caused by MMR.

Furthermore, children claimed to have developed autism after the MMR shot displayed signs of a new kind of recurring bowel problems. In addition, research was done by, Demicheli et al., (2012) clearly reveal that exposure of the MMR vaccine shows no association with autism.

Question 2.3

Based on this case, the patient has no prescription insurance; thus non-prescription drugs would be appropriate. The drugs that I would preferably choose for this patient include one of the following: diphenhydramine, loratadine, cetirizine, and pseudoephedrine. The reason I would choose these drugs is that they are excellent antihistamines; pseudoephedrine is a nasal decongestant which works best. In addition, these over-the-counter medications help alleviate the symptoms.

Patient teaching that I would provide to my patient will be discussing the symptoms and encourage the patient to communicate always with a doctor while unwell as this will help in symptom management. As a medical practitioner, I would advise the patient that this communication will allow him to have options in choosing an appropriate medication that works best in controlling the symptoms (Woo & Wynne, 2011). I would also advise the patient to go for an allergy test. These tests i.e. skin and blood test can aid in knowing the cause of the allergy (Bernstein, 2003).