It is a truth universally acknowledged that flu season is the absolute worst.

With this in mind, why are people still fighting against vaccinations?

Now, typically I am not one to dictate how a parent raises their child, but this is not simply a question of that. This concerns the spreading of infectious disease to other children and/or adults and the ramifications of contracting it, including death.

A prime example of this is the measles outbreak that originated in the Happiest Place on Earth: Disneyland. Over 178 cases were reported in over 17 states. It is not such a small world after all. The main culprit? People who were not vaccinated to prevent the disease in the first place.

The main argument for “anti-vaxxers” is that vaccinations can cause certain conditions such as autism. The problem about this point is that it is totally lacking in evidence. Multiple studies have been conducted on the issue and they all have the same result: there is no link between the two.

The good definitely outweighs the bad when it comes to vaccines. According to dosomething.org, vaccines prevent more than 2.5 million deaths per year. New and underutilized vaccines could also avert nearly 4 million deaths in 2015. With the help of vaccines, in only 60 years, smallpox and polio, both deadly diseases, have been completely eradicated.

Still think that vaccines are bad?

Sadly many people do.

Not getting vaccinated is an act of irresponsibility because you are not just putting yourself in harms way, but you are causing potential suffering to others. There is a reason that the world needs vaccinations and it is to prevent deadly outbreaks and epidemics.

Go back to the flu concept for a minute. According to flu.gov, the Spanish flu outbreak between 1918-1919 took over 50 million lives worldwide. The disease still has the possibility of being fatal, but it is significantly less so because of the advances of medicine in the past hundred years. Vaccines have prevented millions of deaths. Is that not incredible?

Do “anti-vaxxers” really want to go back in time?