Childhood vaccines

[mishi8]

I do realize that when it comes to your child even the remote possibility that something could hurt your kid is pretty scary. I don't think it's fair to rely on the fact that maybe your child who is not immunized won't get this disease because so many other kids have their shots. Not that that's what you're doing, some people have that mindset though. "Well, everyone else's kids have their mmr shots so my kid probably won't catch the measles." for example. By the way, do you know what you're having? Oh, and Kas was right, in most states, it's pretty hard to get your kids in school without their shots. You'd probably have to homeschool.

Not in Canada. And you don't have to have religious reasons for not vaccinating.

 

[mishi8]

My oldest son is mildly autistic. About ten years ago parents of autistic kids were very interested in exploring a a link between autsim and the MMR vaccine based on their own anecdotal experiences. Well, large-scale study after study has been done and there is no such link. Many of these parents have refused to concede the point though. They put a lot of time, money and emotion into the anti-vaccine cause and they are not willing to give it up. I guess I'm young enough to have missed out on the fray. I vaccinated my younger son without hesitation.

The link to autism has neither been proven nor disproven. The mere question about it is enough for some parents to choose not to. And that is well within their rights.

I had an excellent family doctor that combined traditional allopathic medicine with wholistic medicine. She fully believed in health of the whole person, physically, psycholigically and spiritually. She was unable to give me details about why not to vaccinate, because she had to practice within strict provincial guidelines, but she did suggest I read What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About(tm) Children's Vaccinations. It's an excellent book that is practical about the pros and cons of vaccinations, and gives a parent the info to make their own decisions. Another apparently good book is Vaccines: Are They Really Safe and Effective?. Question eveything that doctors and laymen tell you. Make up your own mind. It's your children, and no one can dictate how you raise them.

 

[Larissa]

yea, drugs can have some really dangerous side effects. I don't even like to give my kids tylenol unless I have to and I feel like that's a pretty safe drug. However, at the same time there is stuff out there that my son had to take that was pretty hardcore stuff and without it I don't know if he'd still be alive.
In canada, you may not have to have shots for school but here in the states I think it's required, although the list of shots is not the same for each state. There may be some kind of loophole I don't know about.

 

[mishi8]

I read the last thread about this topic and stayed out, becasue it's pointless to argue with people that have their minds made up against something. These are the people who will be responsible for reocurrences of these diseases becasue of refusal to vaccinate their children. I'm responding to you because you are at least looking into it. I would not delay adhearing to the vaccination schedule. You run the risk of the baby getting something avoidable if you wait.

Well, I was one of the vocal ones in the last thread, and I never stated that I was anti-vac. I have no issue whatsoever with people choosing to vaccinate their children. And I have no issue with them not-vaccinating, or choosing which vaccinations and when. I wish those who were so pro vaccine would have the same respect for others who believe differently. I expect people will take responsibility for their children's health, and thoroughly investigate the issues before choosing to vaccinate or not. If that one rare thing happens from vaccination, there is no going back. And vaccinations do not have to happen at a pre-determined schedule. There is nothing wrong with waiting until a child is older, and have developed more of an immune system before subjecting their tiny bodies to mutliple vaccines.

 

[mishi8]

Personally, I'd rather endure two seconds of pain and being a wuss about the needle than get something annoying, catching, and possibly very dangerous. And in my own humble opinion, I believe that the autism-vaccination people are just unwilling to concede that they gave out a funky set of genes.

That's just rude. Try saying that to someone who has lost a child because of a "hot" vaccine lot. And just wait until you have kids. You opinion may yet take a turn...you don't know until you are responsible for the life and health of a child.

 

[mishi8]

Vaccines are scary. They scare you into getting them, and your scared if you do get them.

Question: and maybe this has nothing to do with vaccines... but why do kids have so many more health/mental issues now than they did before vaccines were mandatory?

There are hundreds of people that don't get vaccines. My SIL has never had them. One of my doctors hasnt' had them and neither have his kids. They're adults now and are very healthy.

I was terrified to have my kids get them, and I was terrified not to. It's like a catch 22.

Do I think my son's Autism has something to do with them? Sometimes I wonder. He was going along fine. Speaking and all that. Suddenly he regressed down to babbling. But I know that some kids with autism natrually. Just odd that it happened after his 18 month vaccines.

There's too many doctors who say some of the vaccine's ingredients cause autism, and too many say it doesn't. Again...it's a circle that will go for a long time.

Lila

It's a very tough decision, and even though you may try to educate yourself as much as you can, sometimes it has to come down to your own gut feelings. I personally believe parental intuition & instinct is important, yet too often ignored...only a parent knows what's truly best for their children and family, and you can't let anyone force you to do what doesn't feel right.

 

[mishi8]

I'm still very undecided about the issue, and still learning about it. I figured starting this thread again would at least bring up some of the points I may be forgetting to look into. I started with the CDC website and read almost all of their links (and saved them ). I figured I should read the "practical information" and get their side before I start looking into the anit-vaccine literature, that way I understand the technical aspects first, what is recommended and why, etc.

Holly, besides the book links I posted, check to see what other countries do for vaccinations as well. The information in the US can be very different than elsewhere (the same goes for healthcare and birth practices). Find out what other cultures have experienced pro and con with vaccines and disease, and what is routine and how it may differ in timing. It may help weed out some of the propaganda from fact.

 

[Larissa]

I definitely agree with Mishi8 that you have to go with your gut on some stuff. And all doctors are not created equal, that's for sure. The anti-vaccine arguements were not able to convince me not to have my children vaccinated. On the other hand, I after doing some research, I chose not to have either of my sons circumcised(sp.?), but that's another topic all together...

 

[mishi8]

Back to immunizations. I agree that the chances of anything happening are slim, but if you're worried, try and see if you can get away with just getting the polio, tetanus, hepatitus, etc shots...all the severe diseases, and risk measles, mumps, chicken pox, flu, etc, as they come.

Something else that's important to consider: the severity of diseases can vary between sexes and different age groups. Mumps, for example, is more risky to boys, since it may lead to infertility. Chicken pox is more risky for teens and adults than children. Contracting hepatitis B is more unlikely for children, because they don't have the same risky behaviours as young adults, and the vaccine is only good for so many years (and in some people it doesn't create immunity.) Rubella is most risky for pregnant women, since it can be damaging to the fetus. As well, there are risky diseases out there for which there are no vaccine...Fifth disease is one which is also risky for fetal anemia and miscarriage (with the first 20 weeks), but it's common in children in the early school years (my family went through a case of it last year...definitely not fun to have it as an adult.)

 

[mishi8]

One thing I've also heard is that people think some of these problems were linked to mercury in shots - but mercury has been removed from shots since I think 2001. Getting them is really worth any trouble.

AFAIK, mercury has not been removed from all vaccines, and it's just one component in vaccines that is potenially dangerous.

There will always be a small percent that can't safely participate in what is the norm for the rest of us.

A big problem, though, is you don't know if you child is one that can't safely participate or not, until they have an adverse reaction, and then it may be too late.