Here we are one week away from Kate's Dr.'s appt. where she is supposed to get her first round of vaccination shots. I'm sure you know that this is currently a very hot topic, as vaccines are suspected to be linked more and more to Autism and many autoimmune disorders such as Diabetes & MS, etc.
Did you know that now 1 in every 180 kids has Autism and also that the amount of vaccinations suggested for children by the CDC has hugely increased in the last ten years (I think it has increased by 300%, but I'm not sure on that stat)?
There generally are two sides to this argument: The pro-vaccination medical community oriented people, and the anti-vaccination folks who for the most part believe that their lives or lives of their children have been negatively affected (or is it effected) by vaccinations.
If you happen to have information or an opinion on this matter please feel free to post a comment here, as I am a firm believer that the more information we have, the better.
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4 comments:
Well you asked for opinions, so I hope you are ready to hear mine.
I know Jim has told you where he stands, so maybe I'll just be repeating his arguments, but here goes.
As a preface, I come from a very "natural" family. I was a home birth, my mother chose to not have drugs during both her labors (which totally freaked out the Air Force hospital staff in 1973), I chose natural labor, as did my sister (who also had a home birth). I believe breast feeding is best, and it's best to nurse for at least a year. One of my cousins is a midwife, three other cousins went drug free for their labors (8 babies total), two of those are Bradley Method instructors, one is a Le Lache League leader, and one is home schooling their kids. None of us (5 cousins total) have chose to circumcise their sons, and at least one of my cousins has chosen to not vaccinate her three children.(I'm not sure about the other two cousins I've mentioned)
All that said (still with me?), I firmly believe in vaccinating your children. It is good that you are researching everything and questioning whats out there, but there is a reason we don't fear polio or small pox. Measels is very rare and whose had rickets recently? These diseases can come back some day if we decide they aren't something to worry about.
I question stats that say diseases are on the rise (like autism or cancer or ADD) due to vaccinations or similar culprits. I question them because can we be sure they are on the rise due to outside forces or due to better diagnoses and reporting? 15 years ago a child with ADD was just hyper or difficult to deal with. And a child with Autism might have been labeled as special and placed in a home.
Plus, you aren't just vaccinating Kate for Kate's sake, but for my child's sake too. If enough children don't get vaccinated, these diseases can come back.
And I wonder how problematic signing Kate up for school and other activies will be. In order for Izzie to start school, we had to make sure she was up on her shots. I am sure there are ways to register her without her shots, but how difficult will that be? And what if she wants to travel overseas some day? Will she have to get tons of shots before she travels?
You might know the answers to all those questions. And maybe you've already hear all my arguments. And I am sure this is way more information then you expected!!
Hundreds of babies get vaccinated every day and are healthy. If you don't have a family history of Autism or ADD or other linked problems, I would say you won't need to worry.
But of course, I am not a docotor or nurse. I am just a mom who wants the very best for my babies. The same as you guys.
Good Luck!!
Great comment, Leslie - thanks for taking the time to write it. I think you bring up a great point about the advances of diagnosis and reporting, I would have to agree with you there, it seems like those things probably are being more vastly reported and diagnosed now.
I agree, we just want the best thing for our babies!
My main hesitation is the monetary motivation behind the push for vaccinations on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry. On the other hand I can't really think of what the motivation is for the folks who are anti-vaccination, besides the general welfare of children.
Any ideas?
Stacey
Alright, I'll weigh in here.
Leslie- I'm going to address your points 1 at a time, and then I'll add in a couple of points.
1) "Autism rates are on the rise due to increased diagnosis, not because of an increase in actual numbers" This is a common argument for a lot of newer neurological diseases and issues, and while yes, we do have more catergories for mental health issues, equating autism with ADD is a bit silly. Plus, across the board while we have more categories, the numbers of each type are increasing.
2) You're vaccinating for my kid's sake also. While it is true that an outbreak would have a chance at affecting immunized kids, the percent of parents who don't immunize are a subset of 1%. You kid is much more likely to get West Nile Virus (remember that one) than a new outbreak of rickets occuring
3)it will be a problem signing you kid up for schools, etc. They can't actually. Choosing not to vaccinate can be declared as a religious choice, and public schools are not allowed to discriminate based on religious beliefs
4) If the child wants to travel someday, then the kid can make that choice then. Getting immunized as an adult is much much less of a hazard than as a developing baby. She could always decide not to do it then also (I have friends out in Portland who don't get immunized)
A couple of other points.
1) different immunizations carry different risks. Tetanus shots are pretty low on the list, and I will likely get those/give those to my kids. I don't know much about the others, but there is information available out there.
2) Kate likely got immunized already, its common for hospitals to immunize right after birth, granted its not too late to delay/reject the other ones
3) here are some websites:
http://www.vaclib.org/exemption.htm
http://www.know-vaccines.org/
http://www.909shot.com/
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/374564/why_you_should_not_immunize_your_children.html
4) I'm a bit of a radical, but I do feel that immunizations while once very helpful, are now mostly a profit scheme by pharm. corps. that plays on parental fears. Its very effective, and difficult to counteract because statistically some kids will die (just as statistically, some kids will get autism). There are tons of environmental chemicals that get into our bodies one way or another, and its difficult to avoid them, but I do think its best to try.
of course, more than anything, I'd recommend reading both sides of the argument. And I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Well, we've succumbed to the pressure of the FDA & the pharmaceutical companies. After much conversation with our Pediatrician's office, our expected mortification if she was to contract any of the diseases and considering the amount of international travel that we do we figured she would probably be better off with the vaccinations.
I do feel good about the fact that Kate has been as healthy as they come so far, so hopefully her little body will be able handle the vaccinations.
She tolerated the shots pretty well, it was probably harder on Jeff and I to see her go through it than for her to go through it... I guess that's just one of the "joys" of parenthood.
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