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To immunize or not to immunize?
It's time to make the big decision whether or not to immunize our kids, and if so, which ones to avoid and which ones to get. There is so much controversy out there on whether or not it is a good idea. We told our ped. not to give our twins the first set until we figure out what to do. It seems injecting 3 or more virus' (dead or alive) at once seems to be logically way to much for their little bodies. We have heard of Dr. Sears Alternate Immunization Schedule which our ped. had recommended (which I think gives each shot individually over longer periods and when they are a little older). We have friends who did something similar but rejected the MMR vac. Of course, there is the theory that the MMR is linked to autism, as is the giving multiple vacs. by overwhelming the infants immune system.
What have you all done and what are your thoughts based on any research you have done?
Re: To immunize or not to immunize?
I just feel that something is amuck. Call it a conspiracy theory.
There's a great article here: (2nd article; The Age of Autism: 'A pretty big secret')
http://biostate.blogspot.com/2005/12/no-vaccines-no-autism-noted-among.h...
from an IL doctor that shares his opinion and experience in his practice. Give it a read.
He compares the US Rate of Autism (Now 1 in 150) to his clients (0 rate) and the Amish(0 rate of Autism) and contributes the #s to no vaccines. It's pretty eye-opening.
Also, I wanted to share something with fellow IL's. The State mandates that all children must be given Hep B if they deliver in a hospital. (Hep B is a sexually transmitted disease. Not sure who passed this.) You can get around this if you ho home birth. I'm kind of pissed that I did not know this for my first child.
And one comment on the mercury comment above about it being outlawed. That is actually not true in IL. That does not start until Aug 31, 2008 (few days still.) and our governer has a clause to extend this if needed.
My intent is not to scare anyone. The topic itself is scary as hell.
it seems like the
it seems like the pro-vaccine people are able to offer clear data and the benefits and risks whereas the the anti-vaccine people offer is scare tactics. If you're not going to trust your doctor or the cdc or other bodies of medical personal that say that the benefits of vaccines outweigh whatever risks there are, then, why go to a doctor at all. how often have you turned down penicillin when you had an infection, or turned down other advice your doctor has given you.
remember that in this country there are 300 million people. and i would guess a great great majority of them have gotten vaccines during their lives, and yes you may hear of the very infrequent serious reaction to them, also remember that the other 299.99999 million people had no problem and lived a life without serious illness because of the vaccines they were given as a child
Get the vaccines.
Get the vaccines. period.
the odds of having a reaction are -insanely- remote. and i for one don't really want to see a resurgence of polio or other diseases that we've been free from for years.
for those people who say that the disease they protect against aren't that bad, try living in an iron long for 50 years and see what you think then. my 1 yr old has already received part of his schedule of shots and he will continue to. the doctors who you go to and trust with your health and experts if you have a good family doctor i can pretty much guarantee they will recommend the shots.
http://www.aap.org/
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/spec-grps/parents.htm#risks
These are two very important and respected groups, the CDC and the AAP,
the AAP is a group of 60,000 pediatric physicians and the recommend vaccines
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4959248
and for those who say the risks getting them are 'too high' remember what happed just 60-90 years ago...
History: A 1916 polio epidemic in the United States killed
6,000 people and paralyzed 27,000 more. In the early
1950's there were more than 20,000 cases of polio each
year. Polio vaccination was begun in 1955. By 1960
the number of cases had dropped to about 3,000, and by
1979 there were only about 10. The success of polio
vaccination in the U.S. and other countries sparked a
world-wide effort to eliminate polio.
Today: No wild polio has been reported in the United
States for over 20 years. But the disease is still common
in some parts of the world. It would only take one case of
polio from another country to bring the disease back if we
were not protected by vaccine. If the effort to eliminate
the disease from the world is successful, some day we
won't need polio vaccine. Until then, we need to keep
getting our children vaccinated.
http://www.immunize.org/reports/report022.asp
Pertussis or “whooping cough” is an
extremely dangerous disease for infants.
It is not easily treated and can result in
permanent brain damage or death.
During 1997–2000, nearly 30,000 cases
of pertussis were reported in the United States,
including 62 pertussis-related deaths. Of
infected infants younger than age 6 months,
two-thirds needed to be hospitalized. In 2004,
25,827 cases were reported—the most cases
reported since 1959.
Measles is dangerous and very contagious.
During the 1989–1991 U.S. measles
epidemic, approximately 55,000 cases and
132 deaths (mostly children) were reported.
Worldwide, measles kills approximately
500,000 children each year.
I think everyone needs to
I think everyone needs to make their own informed decision. When our daughter was 4 months old, she received her set of vaccines and ended up with a high fever and seizures. Since then, we've been to a ped neurologist to make sure she's okay. She seems to be doing fine, but needless to say, we stopped vaccinating. Her little body just couldn't handle all those vaccines. She continues to have mild seizures now and then and the neurologist seems to thing that the seizures were brought out by the vaccines.
There is a lot of info out there on the pros and cons... there isn't enough evidence to say that vaccines cause anything, however time and again parents report stories like ours and it just makes you think...
Thimerosal/Mercury
Thimerosal is a preservative containing mercury that was used in vaccines since the 30s. It has been absent from childhood vaccines for many years. The CDC is pretty clear on this:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/thimerosal.htm
definitely do NOT vaccinate until you have researched.
The levels of mercury and thimerosal that are used can be very dangerous to our little ones. Times have changed my friends from what they were pushing into our little systems to what they're doing now. The cool thing is, you don't have to take some random dude's word for it.
Try the online book, Vaccination: A Business Based on Fear. (just google it)
The testimonials are out there, including my very best friend and his wife who had a baby just after we did, and we learned some things about vaccinations that stopped us before our son's six month vaccs. My buddy continued with them, and had to take their little girl to the hospital right after that. I'm sorry that just shouldn't be happening. BTW, she still passes out quite a bit for no apparent reason, and she's 19 months old.
Anyway, just do the homework, your kid deserves it.
you can always....
immunize one kid but not the other?
but eventually the one will ask "how come I get a shot and he doesn't"
or maybe one brother will take the autistic brother to the casinos to count cards... and they'll win 4 oscars
... my wife and I have a daughter and we gave her shots.
Reply
Seriously, that is just not funny. If you have ever met a family that has a autistic kid it is not something to joke about ever.
to Will
hi Will, sorry my comment offended you.
I do know 4 families with kids with some range of autism - from kids in elementary school to having a close 31 year old autistic friend.
to you, which part wasn't funny? the 1. 'immunize one, but not the other?' or the 2. movie reference.
if it was 1., I'm just trying to keep it in perspective. There is not enough conclusive evidence that indicates a direct link between vaccinations and autism. If there ever is conclusive evidence, it will likely not come in time for the parents in this situation to decide. choosing to inoculate one and not the other is a real option. if a long term scientific research study had parents of twins vaccinate one child but not the other (assuming they grow up in the same environment) and more vaccinated children ended up having a occurrence of autism than their un-immunized twins, this could indicate a positive correlation between autism and vaccinations. (that is if the unvaccinated ones do not first die from measles, mumps, or rubella).
if your concern is about 2., I wasn't joking about anything. i was thinking of a creative way of discussing siblings and autism. You didn't like Rain Man? I thought it was pretty good. That Dustin Hoffman can act, it's the other guy that has been labeled as the 'odd' one recently.
Definitely vaccinate
The controversy, as far as I can tell, is mostly relegated to the internet and not within credible sources. I've had all of my children vaccinated. One of the tenets of the non-vaccine camp is that of "herd immunity", which means that as long as everyone else vaccinates their kids, you don't need to. Make of that what you will.
Besides the fact that the diseases for which vaccines are needed are still around, if you ever plan to travel at all, or have your kids go to school, or be around people who have recently immigrated, you'll defintely need to have your kids vaccinated.
On the autism front, there is an alarming rise in the doagnosis of autism, and it does tend to be diagnosed around the same time as your child is vaccinated, but as far as I can tell, that's the only link. You can't really tell if your child is autistic until they are verbal and have started to miss a few milestones in development, and that happens to be the same time that vaccines are administered. There doesn't seem to be a causative realtionship between the two, it just happens at the same time.
I'm not familiar with the alternative vaccine plan, but I can't see any reason not to go that route if it both eases your mind and vaccinates your kid. I'm not sure why MMR is pointed out as the one that causes autism, but it's a pretty important vaccine and not one I would skip as an attempt at compromise.
In my opinion; based on what I've read, my understanding of the underpinnings of autism, and my experience; vaccinating your child is far more safe than leaving them unvaccinated.
"On the autism front, there
"On the autism front, there is an alarming rise in the doagnosis of autism, and it does tend to be diagnosed around the same time as your child is vaccinated, but as far as I can tell, that's the only link."
I took the time to actually quote this and re-post it, because people need to see it. People who talk about vaccinations hurting their children and that it's linked to autism really need to do a bit more research before going off the handle. I've ran into many parents that are all bent out of shape about this issue and hit me with a wave of negativity when I talk about vaccinating my children.
I am an EMT and my wife a Registered Nurse. We make a living working in the medical field, and we have yet to come across a doctor that says "Don't immunize your children, it causes autism." People jump on the fear bandwagon when it comes down to something dealing with their kids. Fear takes over and drives them to make wild assumptions, instead of getting cold hard facts.
Spot on
Spot on. The introductory post is similar to saying "There is a lot of controversy as to whether the earth is 4000 years old or billions of years old." Well, OK, but a segment of society creating "controversy" doesn't mean there is really any valid argument to be made. Just do some basic research on infant mortality rates and vaccination rates across countries. Millions of kids out there in the world who are dying because they lack these basic vaccines and we are turning vaccines down based on crockery.
"crockery"?
Well I'm not sure as to who you're referring to when you say a "segment of society", but if you're referring to the rising number of children affected by autism... http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=FactsStats ... then that's a pretty non-sympathetic response. It's not "controversy" it's something that's really devastating to families and if it happened to you, as a dad, I'm sure you'd feel differently.
ALSO, I did watch this really interesting video where there is a treatment out there, not for autism, but for mercury toxicity. For all those "autism is an over-diagnosed ailment" people this is a victory but paints no better of a picture for all the vaccines the docs are pushing into our kids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaGwItPeMgQ
However there is definite
However there is definite reason to be wary of vaccines. If you walked in for a routine check up today, and the doctor said "I'm going to give you this shot" you would most likely say "what for?" and if you didn't, well there's your flaw. So then he says "It's good for you, keep you from getting diseases." Then you should say, "which diseases?" and if you didn't, well there's another flaw. Then he says "Oh, very rare diseases that haven't shown up in the US for a hundred years, and a few that really aren't that bad but we'll give it to you anyway". Then you say "are there side effects?" and if you didn't, see above.
I think you can see where this is going. You're basically suggesting not going through this conversation for your own child because we're fortunate to have vaccines when others may not. But some vaccines had their purpose and no longer do because the disease is not likely to spread. And so you're potentially giving your child major side effects to prevent something that may never happen!
Vaccinations
Just read a blog post from Momformation on this subject. I thought it might be useful. Yes, for the record, my wife and I chose not to vaccinate. We have two beautiful, healthy, and very intelligent children. Our choice may not be the right choice for others and we don't push our agenda on anyone else, nor do we talk about it much unless someone approaches us about it or initiates the conversation about it, and even then, we do so cautiously. We studied information from various sources including the National Vaccine Information Center and made our decision after consulting with our pediatrician, who supports our informed decision but doesn't advocate it as a general practice in her office.
Anyway, here is the article:
http://blogs.parentcenter.babycenter.com/momformation/2008/06/02/the-end...
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