TEST 21
READING
IELTS 5 Practice Tests, Academic Set 5
Page 136
READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on
Questions 27 - 40
, which are based on Reading Passage 3
below.
The Vaccination Debate
Disputes over vaccination have taken place for almost eighty years, since vaccinations were introduced.
Despite scientific consensus that recommended vaccines are safe and effective, scares regarding their
safety still occur today, resulting in regular disease outbreaks and deaths from vaccine-preventable
diseases.
Parental refusal of vaccines, or ‘vaccine hesitancy’ as it is sometimes called, is therefore a growing
concern for the increased occurrence of vaccine preventable diseases in children and the reasons for
this vary widely. Parental concerns about vaccines in each category lead to a
wide spectrum of
decisions varying from parents completely refusing all vaccinations to only delaying vaccinations, so
that they are more spread out. A large subset of parents who allow their children to be vaccinated,
have also admitted to being worried and having questions about the vaccinations. For this reason, it
can be helpful for pharmacists and other healthcare providers to understand the cited reasons for
hesitancy, so they are better prepared to educate their patients’ families. Education is a key element in
equipping parents with the necessary information, so that they can make responsible immunisation
decisions for their children.
In the
United States, all fifty states require that children be vaccinated in order to go to public school.
There are some variations in which immunisations are required and when, but throughout the U.S.,
there is an expectation that going to school means getting shots. However, in all fifty states, there are
ways to get out of being vaccinated, usually by saying that vaccination goes against people’s individual
convictions. However, a significant underlying reason why parents are refusing is that they just don’t
think vaccines are necessary. In essence, we are victims of our own success. Vaccines have done such a
good job that many people no longer remember the horrific range of vaccine-preventable diseases.
Another problem is that people who choose not to vaccinate often live in the same communities. This
isn’t surprising, given that people’s social networks influence their choices. However,
when groups of
unimmunised people live together, it completely disrupts the whole concept of herd immunity.
Vaccine-preventable diseases can easily take root and spread. While it’s important that parents in
general have the right to choose whether or not their child gets a medical treatment – and vaccines
are a medical treatment – the vaccination choice is fundamentally different in that it affects not just the
child, but also the entire community. Choosing not to vaccinate is dangerous for the child and it’s
dangerous for everyone around that child. Individual beliefs should not give anyone the right to put
the health of others at risk.
Some parents believe that vaccines can cause the diseases that they are meant to prevent. Properly
formulated vaccines cannot do this, however, as they either use weakened or inactive viruses. These
types of vaccine help people develop immunity by imitating an infection.
The type of infection a
vaccine causes, however, does not cause illness, but it does cause the immune system to produce
IELTS 5 Practice Tests, Academic Set 5
TEST 21
READING
Page 137
antibodies. Sometimes, after getting a vaccine, the imitation infection can cause minor symptoms, such
as fever, but such minor symptoms are normal and should be expected as the body builds immunity.
Once the
imitation infection goes away, the body is left with a supply of ‘memory’ cells that will
remember how to fight that disease in the future. However, as it typically takes a few weeks for the
body to produce antibodies, it is possible that a person who was infected with a disease just before or
just after vaccination could develop symptoms and get the disease, because the vaccine had not had
enough time to provide protection.
The informative interaction between health providers and doubtful parents is vital for ensuring the
protection of children
through vaccination, but these interactions can sometimes be difficult for the
health providers. Research has shown that most GP’s and immunising nurses found discussions with
parents who decline to vaccinate their children to be challenging and that they felt that these parents
cast doubt on their integrity. These encounters also stimulated strong internal conflict; many providers
felt their professional obligations to the child and the community conflicted with the primarily
bureaucratic function of exempting parents from complying with the recommended immunisation
schedule. A number of professionals also can begrudge being called upon to sign exemption forms at
all.
If pharmacists and other health care providers are able to understand the
main concerns parents have
about vaccinating their children, they can be better prepared to have informative conversations about
immunisations and they will also be able to provide the information parents need to make the best-
informed decisions for their children. Parents who are hesitant to vaccinate or who refuse vaccines care
about their children and want to do what they can to protect them, just like any other parent. It is
important for practitioners to have open and frank conversations with their patients and their families
so that the families will understand the benefits of vaccination without undergoing judgement for
having questions about their child’s healthcare.
The education patients have been exposed to has resulted in modest improvement in terms of
affecting parents’ attitudes about immunisation, but the tools healthcare providers should use for this
have not been fully discovered. Understanding the source of parents’ questions can equip pharmacists,
physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers to speak with patients on a more relatable level and
to speak in ways that parents value the most. All healthcare workers should make an effort to know
about the recommended vaccines and to understand why those immunisations are recommended.
This information will allow families to have face-to-face access to reliable information that can help
them to make the best decisions for the society they live in.
TEST 21
READING
IELTS 5 Practice Tests, Academic Set 5
Page 138
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