You're the parent of a young child and are debating whether to have your child vaccinated. Some friends tell you that it's dangerous–in fact, they say, some children have been paralyzed by vaccinations. They also tell you that vaccinations can damage the immune system and may cause autism in children, a disease that severely impairs a child's ability to communicate and form normal social relationships. They contend that there's no need to subject a child to this treatment because dangerous infectious diseases have been eliminated.

Select **two** of the questions below and answer them to the best of your ability in the appropriately numbered Question topic that follow this topic.

Be sure to make your discussion unique from your classmates' posts. In other words, you need to make sure you read all the posts that precede yours. You will not receive credit for duplicated ideas.

Question 1 – A friend argues that all dangerous diseases have been eliminated and vaccines are no longer needed. Use what you know about how vaccines work, how viral infections work, and what you have learned about disease eradication to explain to your friend why vaccines are still needed.

Use credible sources to support your list and cite all your sources.

Question 2 – Given what you've learned about vaccines, discuss whether vaccines could possibly damage the immune system and cause autism.

Use credible sources to support your list and cite all your sources.

Question 3 – Conduct research and provide a list of benefits and drawbacks/shortcomings of vaccinations.

Use credible sources to support your list and cite all your sources.

Question 4 – What information would you need to make an informed decision about whether you should vaccinate yourself or a child?

How does this information help you with making the decision?

Use credible sources to support your list and cite all your sources.

Question 5 – Given what you know about viral infections, about vaccines, and about the cells targeted by HIV, discuss what you think the cellular and molecular mechanisms of an HIV vaccine might be (in other words, how might an HIV vaccine work)?

Use credible sources to support your list and cite all your sources.