MMR VACCINE

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  • Created by: Sunset
  • Created on: 31-12-12 11:21

MMR VACCINE

Advantages

  • Immunises Children against three potentially fatal diseaeses - measles, mumps and rubella
  • Widespread use of the vaccine prevents an epidemic of measles, mumps or rubella
  • Children only need one jab, instead of three seperate ones
  • Before the vaccine, approx. 250 000 children developed measles and 85 died every year

Disadvantages

  • Small studies have suggested a link between the MMR vaccine and autism in children
  • Some large studies do not rule out that MMR may trigger autismin a small number of children
  • Vaccines can be painful
  • Some children have mild reactions to the vaccine

Evaluation

In my opinion, I think it is important that children continue to have the MMR vaccine, because it is potentially lifesaving. There is some evidence that the vaccine causes autism in children, however these studies only used small sample sizes, so it is hard to know how realistic their conclusions are. In reality, it is likely that only a small number of children have developed autism due to the vaccine, if any at all. However, the MMR vaccine has certainly saved lives as the three diseases have almost been irradicated in the western world, but if a large number of children do not have the vaccine, then there could be a new outbreak of the diseases that could kill many children. In conclusion, I think that the number of lives saved by the MMR vaccine outweighs the risks that have been associated with it.

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