Polio Notes-belladonna98

• Polio is not nearly as harmful in our lifetime as in past lifetimes, so we have made progress.
• Any country can have an outbreak of polio; we are all vulnerable in some way.
• Polio clings to war-torn, chaotic countries because of the lack of immunizations in children and unsanitary conditions.
• If the world is polio free once, it will always be so.
•  Polio vaccination efforts are common, but people resist because polio is not seen as a problem.
• People in poor countries generally distrust vaccinations, but they are not the only ones. As they resist polio vaccinations, the United States resists measles vaccinations.
• It is important to get vaccinated, as one person who has not been vaccinated can cause an outbreak for those around them.
• The theory that most people being vaccinated protects us all is ludicrous, as proven by the above note.
• States should require parents to vaccinate their children in order to protect everyone around them.
• Just because a disease is declared “wiped out” doesn’t mean it is going to stay that way.
• Doctors should be trained to recognize all diseases, even those considered eradicated.
• Outbreaks caused by one person do not just harm a few; in our world of international travel, disease spreads faster than ever.
• Though adults are more naturally resistant to polio, booster vaccinations should still be required, as they could pass it on to someone more vulnerable.
• The system of vaccinating people en mass is broken, as it often fails to protect everyone by pure lack of effort to do so.
• The benefits of vaccinating every child under five far outweighs the cost of giving very few children polio; it protects more people than it hurts.
• Even if polio only effects a few hundred kids a year, those kids could spread the disease and cause detrimental harm; we need to vaccinate everyone just in case.
• Use the inactive virus to immunize people. Even though it is expensive, it prevents about 250 ruined lives.
• It doesn’t take much to make a disease go from nearly eradicated to nearly epidemic.
• People simply need to care more about immunizations. We need more funds and volunteers willing to help people across the world.
• In many cases, one small flaw in a system can become blown out of proportion. This does not mean this flaw should not be fixed, but it may not be as horrible as people say.
• Vaccines do not cause autism. Six children that could possibly, maybe have been “given autism” by vaccines does not make for a basis of worldwide panic about vaccines.
• If people think that the measles virus causes autism, they should vaccinate their children against measles. That way, no measles, and no autism. Very few children actually get measles from the vaccination.

Practice Opening

It will not be easy, but it is entirely possible that we will eradicate polio in the next 20 years. Put very simply, we need people to care more. More financial donors and willing volunteers would make it possible to safely and extensively vaccinate children and eliminate the disease. As far as resistance, some sort of collective effort to require immunization would be necessary, such as needing vaccines to attend school. If we are able to come together, and I believe that we are, we can and will eradicate this terrible disease in the next 20 years.