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I do wonder though if your stance would change if your child was injured by a vaccine? That is also a very scary situation.
No doubt that it would be an awful experience as your child went through.
I really find it quite an interesting debate from both sides.
What I am finding even more interesting these days are the debates over the HPV vaccine & some of the immunizations our armed forces receive when they are deployed to specific countries.
But what about the Hepatitis vaccinations? Why would a parent chose not to immunize their child from Hep?
Also, parents who do not vaccinate, how are your children permitted to attend school?
Again, great topic. Learning quite a lot from the posts.
It is possible for them to attend school because you can get a waiver for vaccinations for religious or medical reasons. I don't think it has to even be either one of them now, just a waiver.
This is a very interesting topic....good thread starter zebra shoes. I don't know what I would do if I was just starting a family. I did vaccinate all my children and none of them were ever sick. I think the fact that they were breast fed and not bottle contributed to them not being allergic to things and not getting sick (but thats another topic) All of you have given good reasons to vaccinate or not, so it is really a hard decision
Along with the rise in the number of children diagnosed with autism is a BIG drop in the number of children that are considered "retarded"
I date back to a time when it was not unusual for families to have a retarded child. They were often sent to a special children's home for custodial care. Were they retarded or did they have autism? There was a lack of training as to how to care for the condition. At least, they weren't placed in an "insane asylum" with adults as they were 100 years ago.
We don't know for sure what causes Autism anymore than we know what causes retardation. Perhaps some sort of prenatal brain damage???
Would a lot of today's autistic children been thought retarded 50 years ago? They would certainly not have gotten the care and special attention that they get now. Parents just did the best they could for as long as they could. No special classes, no how-to-do-it books, just feed and clothe him and hope for the best. And send him away if he got unmanageable.
We have come so far. Maybe 50 years from now, they will have found a definite cause.
No doubt that it would be an awful experience as your child went through.
I really find it quite an interesting debate from both sides.
What I am finding even more interesting these days are the debates over the HPV vaccine & some of the immunizations our armed forces receive when they are deployed to specific countries.
But what about the Hepatitis vaccinations? Why would a parent chose not to immunize their child from Hep?
Also, parents who do not vaccinate, how are your children permitted to attend school?
Again, great topic. Learning quite a lot from the posts.
Hep B is also another vaccine that (when asked) my children's pediatrician doesn't even recommend routinely. It is a disease that mostly affects drug users and sexually promiscuous individuals-- not newborn, hours old babies. A child born to a Hep B negative mother has virtually NO chance of contracting Hep B. Our doctor does recommend giving it to all kids by the time they are 13 or 14 to try to catch them before they are sexually active, though. We probably won't do it then either.
As a personal anecdote, Hubby is a cop and has opted to be vaxed against Hep B because of the risk of blood contamination during his job. After the shots were given to all the members of the department, titers were given to check immunity levels. After the full course of the vaccine, Hubby was the ONLY police officer with full antibodies to Hep B. That is another reason that we chose not to vax our kids. Not only are we taking a risk with all of the chemicals and what-not, but they are no where near 100% effective.
I want to add a great big kudos to all of the posters on this thread. To vax or not to vax is such a hot button issue and no one has said anything mean or disparaging yet!
This is a very interesting topic....good thread starter zebra shoes. I don't know what I would do if I was just starting a family. I did vaccinate all my children and none of them were ever sick. I think the fact that they were breast fed and not bottle contributed to them not being allergic to things and not getting sick (but thats another topic) All of you have given good reasons to vaccinate or not, so it is really a hard decision
Totally agree about the breast vs. bottle issue! My breastfed boys are also way healthier than my girls were. Extended bfing also protects against many vaccine preventable diseases too!
Great discussion! I was overwhelmed with all of the conflicting information as well. In the end, I trusted my doctor's recommendations. I truly believe our pediatricians and the American Academy of Pediatrics has our children in their best interest, despite claims they are being blindsided by "Big Pharma". I do agree that there are some children who are at greater risk for having adverse reactions to the vaccinations; hopefully researchers will be able to identify these children and make different recommendations to keep them healthy. However, people underestimate the importance of vaccinations, because many of us rarely come into contact with these diseases. As a healthcare worker, I've seen elderly people who suffered their entire lives with post-polio syndrome, measles encephalopathy causing mental retardation, or deafness because of high fevers from the mumps. And you wouldn't believe how many people out in the community have some form of hepatitis. This could be the person making your hamburger at McDonald's. If you read up on HPV, it is a silent STD (no side effects) until it is very advanced-often by the time it's discovered the woman has serious uterine or cervical cancer. I know all of the toxins are scary but these other diseases are scary, too. Medicine is all about trade-offs. Sometimes you have to "pick your poison".
I agree with the previous post regarding how cool everyone has been on this thread. When I made this thread I thought for sure someone was going to criticize or argue because it is a hot topic. But I am so glad everyone has just been helpful and curtious. I have been learning alot with everyones advice. Thank you!
I guess I kinda went with my instincts with my first child, and my REAL trusted pediatrician. If my daughter had had some sort of reaction to the first time, I probably would have thought twice about having more. But she didn't...so I didn't even worry about it. I was a military dependent as a child there wasn't much option, we got immunized. Then I joined the military, and we got more. I never considered it wouldn't be a good thing. By the time I had even had that thought, my daughters were already in middle school. Quite frankly, I really hope that the trend declines. I think it is dangerous that up to 15% of kindergartners aren't getting vaccinated in some states. That is just scary. I know in the US polio has been eradicated for the last 30 years or more, but you know it only takes 1 carrier to move into the school district. It would be horrible. Just my opinion.
In response to the 2girlsand2boys, Measles and Mumps did at times result in death especially if you were older when you caught it. One of my uncles got it as an adult and it resulted in sterility in him, as was typical for adult males experiencing it.
Everyone have a nice night and good luck, whatever you decide for your children.
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