"Shot Down": Babble Investigates the Anti-Vaccination Movement

Why I'm Going to Vaccinate My Unvaccinated Kids

Strollerderby — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 15:52:47 GMT

I'm coming to the conclusion that I've been hiding my head in the sand for several years now when it comes to certain parenting issues. My happy little parenting Bubble Of Goodness. I think a lot had to do with being immersed in a Waldorf school

re: "Shot Down": Babble Investigates the Anti-Vaccination Movement

Mae — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 14:19:44 GMT

This is my take on it. While unexpected things can happen and do happen. Just as you wait for a child to develop their digestive tract, you should allow them to develop their immune system before giving it a boost. I am tired of hearing the same old stories about Africa and other third world countries (I do donate to these countries in hopes of helping). I chose to wait to vaccinate my children until they were a year old. They are now up to date on all their vaccines because I went in every other month to have a new one done. Waiting is a viable option and not harming you or society. Vaccines are not 100%. Getting them in the early months of life isn't going to guarantee your child a lifetime free of disease (even the ones they are vaccinated against). The whooping cough that was spoken about in the original post may have come about because of a group of people not vaccinated against it in that one area. But we had a case of that go around the school I worked at a couple years back and all the children were up to date on their vaccines (it was a small school, I was in charge of admissions that is how I know). Just as there are diseases resistant to antibiotics there exist strains resistant to Vaccines not just because your neighbor didn't get vaccinated but because vaccines are not 100%. Whether we like it or not parents ultimately have say in how they choose to parent, care for, and safe guard their children. Read the argument around banning smoking in cars with children and you will see our government cannot choose for everyone.

re: "Shot Down": Babble Investigates the Anti-Vaccination Movement

Sheri — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 19:18:15 GMT

I have an autistic son. When I had his brother 13 years later I was scared to death to have him vaccinated, but I did it because I didn't want him to catch any of the illnesses he would be vaccinated against.

It is a shame these parents are not only not concerned about their children's well-being, but they are willing to throw other's children under the bus too.

re: "Shot Down": Babble Investigates the Anti-Vaccination Movement

fortytworoads — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 18:22:04 GMT

It's amazing to me to consider the level of selfishness and hubris inherent in the decision not to vaccinate one's child. It is basically a decision to leech off the healthy practices of a community while not only not contributing to the health of that community in any way, but even working against the overall health of its members. I just find it really shocking. I am the mother of a 16 month old and absolutely could imagine refusing to immunize her, nor can I understand how anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of biology could choose not to vaccinate.

re: "Shot Down": Babble Investigates the Anti-Vaccination Movement

dontletstart — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 23:02:20 GMT

Just a quick reply to the previous post - you didn't plan to have you daughter out and in contact with anything you perceived as a risk but things can and do happen which are beyond our control.

If something had happened where she needed to go to the hospital, for example, you'd have no idea what she'd be exposed to and she would then be at a greater risk of picking up something unrelated to her reason for being there.

It is great it didn't happen, but you just don't know.

re: "Shot Down": Babble Investigates the Anti-Vaccination Movement

required — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:23:14 GMT

I decided not to vaccinate for my daughter's first year. I was on leave, so she wasn't going to be in daycare, and especially for her first six months, was not going to be coming into contact with many of the things that would increase her chance of contracting vaccination diseases (ie. tetanus at 3 months, hepatitis b). My daughter is healthy, intelligent, and does not have polio, or scarlet fever.

Being informed does not mean you make a particular decision, it mean you think and research before you make any decision. Whether that means delayed vaccinations, by the book schedule, or none at all.

Just another perspective.

re: "Shot Down": Babble Investigates the Anti-Vaccination Movement

MissB — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:55:00 GMT

vlb72:

"As part of your pre-trip planning with your child, contact your local Red Cross and find out what it would cost to donate 5, 10, or 100 doses of a vaccine to the community you are visiting, and how best to go about it. Or figure out how many doses a small percentage of the cost of your trip would provide. Don’t avoid being selfish by withdrawing something from your child, avoid being selfish by GIVING something to other children."

That is really cool. Thanks for the awesome suggestion.

re: "Shot Down": Babble Investigates the Anti-Vaccination Movement

Grammy — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:09:39 GMT

As a vetran teacher, let me just say that I am all for vaccinations. We have enough sickness in the school without exposing your child to the unnecessary risk of major diseases. These are health risks that can be prevented so why not take advantage of it. I don't know about Gardisil but I do know that Small Pox, Measles, and Mumps could end up causing major problems if people stopped getting the shots. I hope and wish that parents would weigh the options more carefully before they say no shots.

re: "Shot Down": Babble Investigates the Anti-Vaccination Movement

vlb72 — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:32:56 GMT

I really have to comment on this one. And I have to state up-front, that I am a research scientist in microbial ecology. I do *not* work with vaccines, so I don't feel I have a vested (ie, "defensive”) stance on them. However 9 years of university and a Ph.D. in biological interactions makes me feel like my opinion on them is credible. As a mother to a beautiful 2.5 year old, I also feel that I can understand the emotions that motivate the anti-vaccinators.

As the primary article mentions, the article that linked autism to vaccination has not met the (extremely conservative) scientific criteria for acceptance. The top-tier research journal (The Lancet) that published the article AND 10/12 of the article's authors have retracted it. Even prior to this, the putative chances of contracting autism as a result of vaccination were much, much, much lower than those of contracting the disease from an unvaccinated population. For those who argue that their unvaccinated child has remained healthy: this is NOT due to improved hygiene, vigilant parenting, etc. It is due to a lack of exposure to the disease. The author even describes this by pointing out that the unvaccinated child is surrounded by vaccinated children - in biology, this is called "herd immunity." As the immunity of the herd breaks down (ie, more children are unvaccinated, or cases of polio/mumps/etc are "imported" by unvaccinated children traveling to exotic locales), ALL children become more vulnerable and we will approach the disease contraction rates of the unvaccinated population.

Regarding the argument that a parent would feel “selfish” by vaccinating their child for travel to exotic locations where the locals don’t have the same luxury. Rather than jeopardizing your child, why not work to help those locals? As part of your pre-trip planning with your child, contact your local Red Cross and find out what it would cost to donate 5, 10, or 100 doses of a vaccine to the community you are visiting, and how best to go about it. Or figure out how many doses a small percentage of the cost of your trip would provide. Don’t avoid being selfish by withdrawing something from your child, avoid being selfish by GIVING something to other children.

I am one of the first to admit that the field of medicine is one of the most ecologically unfriendly professions in the world. It is true that disease is a natural population control, and as our current population booms we are forced to make choices that compromise our planet even as we choose our best current practices for disease control, pest control, and energy consumption. However, am I willing to make my child a sacrifice to ecological health? No. I know I’m a hypocrite. So, every day when I go to work, I research practices that will perhaps offset the “ecological indulgence” I (and other like-minded parents) have chosen to commit by vaccinating our families.

re: "Shot Down": Babble Investigates the Anti-Vaccination Movement

viciousrumours — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:43:29 GMT

The only vaccination I have chosen not to give my daughter is Gardasil. It's to new and has not been proven to actutally prevent cervical cancer. The marketing for the product says it "may" prevent "some" types....to new, to vauge. I don't want my daughter to be a guinea pig.

Other than that, both of my children are vaccinated against all common childhood diseases. My daughter just had her boosters, as did I...yes, I keep up with my MMR and Tetnus boosters, every ten years. My family also gets flu shoots every year.

Arthritis Information And Treatment» Blog Archive » Foot-care for diabetes (arthritis remedy)

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:40:15 GMT

PingBack from http://www.best-arthritis-treatment.com/arthritis-information-and-treatment/59