EVOL ANTH Essay Question

EVOL ANTH Essay Question

 

Medical anthropology is a subfield of anthropology that draws upon evolutionary, social, cultural, and linguistic anthropology to better understand those factors which influence health and well-being (broadly defined), the experience and distribution of illness, the prevention and treatment of sickness, healing processes, the social relations of therapy management, and the cultural importance and utilization of pluralistic medical systems. In regards to the evolutionary anthropology component of medical anthropology, Professor Lehman argued that one of the greatest medical accomplishments has been the development of vaccines that provide recipients with immunity to a particular disease, such as typhoid, polio, and whooping cough. Although side effects of vaccination are rare, there has been a growing debate, particularly over the internet, on concerns some people have about immunization safety. Perhaps the most serious and pervasive issue is one about a supposed causal relationship between vaccinations and autism. Your essay should explicitly answer the following question: Is there any scientific or biological validity to the supposed link between vaccinations and autism?

Peer reviewed journal article

Plotkin, S., Gerber, J. S., & Offit, P. A. (2009). Vaccines and autism: a tale of shifting hypotheses.

• Clinical Infectious Diseases, 48(4), 456-461. https://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/48/4/456.full.pdf+html

Popular article

Autism and Childhood Vaccinations: Debunking the Myth, American Family Physician Journal Club.  http://www.aafp.org/afp/2010/0915/p586.html