On October 23, 1796, I witnessed a death caused by the fast-growing disease, smallpox, which is why I stand here today to encourage everyone to get vaccinated. I recommended the vaccination to William, but upon offer, he declined my suggestion because he chose religion over life. “Clergymen argued that vaccination interfered with God’s plans or cast doubt upon his omnipotence” (Allen, 56). I strongly disagree with the clergymen because even I am trustworthy enough of the vaccination to inoculate my eleven-month-old son.
Some are questioning how purposely being inoculated with the cow-pox disease is supposed to protect one from smallpox. I have evidence that led me to believe that cow-pox is a possible preventive method for smallpox. Were you aware that milkmaids are not at risk for getting smallpox? The reason for this is simple; milkmaids are exposed to the cow-pox disease, which is proof that the cow-pox vaccination prevents smallpox.
Allen, Arthur. Vaccine The Controversial Story of Medicine's Greatest Lifesaver. New York:
W.W. Norton, 2007.
"Edward Jenner and the Discovery of Vaccination." University of South Carolina. 20 Oct. 2009
http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/nathist/jenner.html
"Edward Jenner A Gentleman of Science." Edward Jenner Museum Discovered the Vaccination
Against Smallpox. 20 Oct. 2009 http://www.jennermuseum.com/edwardjenner.html
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I'm scared. Why should I trust you to inject something in me that sounds like it would make me sick? How do you know it will work? Who would want to be the first person to test such a thing? Besides, I think you are playing God!
ReplyDeleteOn a contemporary note, I was just having a related conversation about the H1N1 vaccine. From a public health standpoint, I feel strongly that it is irresponsible to opt out of vaccines that are available for dangerous and potentially deadly diseases. vaccines have drastcially reduced the impact of infectious disease, particularly in the West. Sure, some people opt out and are fine, but that is only because the rest of us do get vaccinated, thereby reducing the likelihood that those people who don't will be exposed to disease.
As to the "playing God" issue--there are two sides to that argument. After all, if a higher power embued us with the ability to aquire knowledge and use it to better our lives, why not? I recently read an article that explains how both perspectives are represented in biblical text--the warnings of revelations versus the inspiration of Exodus. I can't comment much further here, as I am not a biblical scholar. But it sure is interesting stuff to thnk about!
Semi unrelated, but I was reading Cyndi's comment and I thought of a NY Times article I was reading a few weeks ago that talked about N1H1, the real interesting part was the (semi intelligent) comments, It is interesting to see people's thoughts on the issue.
ReplyDeleteThe article is located here:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/why-are-we-afraid-of-the-new-flu-vaccine/?scp=1&sq=n1h1&st=cse
I love the question you asked at the end, and then the answer that came with it. I think it's interesting that something as subtle as milkmaids delivering milk can help advance studies as long as someone actually catches it, like the bear that did the moon walk through the basketball players.
ReplyDeleteI'm eager to learn more!
This presentation was hilarious, and inspired me to do research on vaccines outside of class. As I'm sure everyone is aware, H1N1 has been reported in neighboring towns, and even in Burlington, which made me wonder if I should get the vaccine. Given, it has not been fully tested and therefore we are not completly aware of the possible side effects, pretty much anything would be better than death. Think of the Gaurdsil vaccine againt HPV, which is very controversial becuase there has not been a comprehensive study on its side effects years after receiving the vaccine, but still almost everyone gets the shot. It's better to be safe than sorry
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