Advice on Vaccines

I have been following the recommended series of vaccinations for my 18 month old son. The only one I hesitated with was the mmr. I had the mmr shot broken up into 3 different shots. The doctor's office was more than willing to do that and they already had the separate shots on hand. We did one shot at the 15 month appointment, one shot about a month later at a shot clinic at my doctor's office, and the last shot at the 18 month appointment. I was just told there needs to be a month in between each of the shots. My son hasn't really had any reactions to any of the other vaccinations he's gotten, so I did it for my own peace of mind just in case. Good luck!

My son was diagnosed with autism at 21 months old. While I do believe there are children who have adverse reactions to being vaccinated (whatever the specific trigger) there is no solid link between my son's vaccinations and his diagnosis. There are also an infinite amount of varying degrees of autism, and while my husband and I talked through the what ifs and should have dones, we agreed, battling autism is much preferable to coping with what could happen to our beloved son had we not vaccinated. I have learned a lot about the vaccination schedule in my research and agree that inquiring about a delayed/abbreviated vaccination schedule is a responsible thing to do. It is your right as a parent to demand the best possible treatment for your child, and not cookie cutter, assembly line handling that is designed to cope with the worst common denomonator. I have heard it from several people in pediatrics that the current shot schedule is designed to cope with the fact that the majority of mothers are irresponsible and have poor medical insurance and will stop taking their child well baby visits too soon. Therefore, the currect "grab 'em and stab 'em" mentality is designed to give as much as is deemed "safe" in as short a period of time in what is seen as good for both baby and society. You're obviously a responsible parent to be raising these concerns with your doctor. I think that should be proof enough you're not going to drop the ball on your child's health. If only that were the norm.

I am cutting and pasting a article that I found in the archives of a newsletter that I receive daily from the American Academy of Physician Assistants (a credible source) that I remembered reading awhile back. I hope this helps...

Research suggests no link between MMR vaccine and autism.

In continuing coverage from previous briefings, HealthDay (2/5, Reinberg) reports that there is "no evidence of a link between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism," according to a study appearing in the Feb. issue of the Archives of Disease in Childhood. This latest study, the "third and largest...that has looked for a connection between" autism and the MMR vaccine, "follows the release last week of a study that showed the mercury preservative thimerosal," which was "used in childhood vaccines until the turn of this century and thought by some to be associated with autism, doesn't remain in an infant's body long enough to build to dangerous levels."

According to WebMD (2/5, DeNoon), Gillian Baird, F.R.C.Paed., of Guy's Hospital, London, and colleagues, "looked for [the] measles virus and antibody responses to [the] measles virus in" 240 British "children aged 10 to 12," and "found...no difference in circulating measles virus or antibody levels among the children." Furthermore, "children with regressive autism had no unusual responses to measles vaccination."

Unfortunately, in my opinion, the positives outweigh the negatives when it comes to child vaccines. Although they give side effects, it is better to have the vaccine when it is scheduled for them because, if something should happen and they actually get the disease....they are worse off than they started. Just something to think about.

My daughter (who is now three) had all of her shots as scheduled with no side effects. She had only one MMR shot (not a series of three). The series of three shots is the Hepatitis B vaccine which your child should already have all of those being the age that she is. I hope this helps you a bit in your decision to vaccinate your child. Good luck!

I know this is a touchy subject wo I will just describe how my opinions have changed over time.

I have a five year old. She was born at the peak of this anti-vaccine thinking regarding autism. A study was published which had made the link and everyone was scared including me. That major study was disproven. Even so, I borke the shot into three sepearate ones over about 15-21 months, I think.

Now I have a 16 month old. When she was born, my older daughter was in preschool, and all I could think about is how vulnerable the baby was to things my daughter might come home with. In the last 3 years, I have had whooping cough and shingles. I have also heard of measles and mumps outbreaks around the country. The thought behind these is that as 30-somehting and older adults, our immunity from our vaccines is wearing off. I never felt better than when my baby got her MMR at her last appointment. I welcome every vaccination as another step in protecting her, and I actually have a great deal of anger towards parents who decide to not vaccinate their child AND thus endanger my child.

I think you are a little unique since your child had a reaction to the flu shot. I think you need to ask the doctor for detailed info regarding her shot history to see if there is some one ingredient that she might be sensitive to, and then find out if it would be helpful to break-up the shot to avoid that ingredient or to look for an alternative manuffacturer. That could help you make a decision about the when. But I highty encourage you to do it.

I will end by saying that I do think that we need to learn more about vaccinations, but not for the same reason as some in the autism community. I do not believe there is a obvious link to autism due to the mercury. And I think the focus on that just takes important research dollars away from other potential factors. However, to avoid the mercury, pharmacutical companies are substituting all sorts of preservatives which we know nothing about. Part of me wonders if time will tell and the mercury will turn out to have been the safest ingredient.

I don't believe in blindly folliowing a doctor, but I do believe in science, and the science suggests that vaccinations save children form traumatic and often fatal disease.

hi N.,
i can understand your hesitation with all the controversy surrounding this particular vaccine. from personal experience and a professional in the field of autism i am dreading the day that i have to make this decision for my 9 mo old son. the key factor in the mmr vaccine is to ensure that there is no mercury (thymerisol) in the shot. that's the big deal about the controversy because that is what many people feel is the cause of problems related to autism. because of all the debates and such surrounding the vaccines and the increase in diagnosis of autism there was a move to get all the mercury out of the vaccines. for the most part there are trace amounts in them still but many of the doctors offices do use no mercury-based. my brother was one, that after the vaccine we started to see differences with him. it took us years to get an actual diagnosis of autism after that my mom decided to separate the mmr vaccine into 3 shots for my sister. many studies have gone on about genetics and it seems from all the info out there that that is a likely factor as well. the facts though are that males are more likely to get autism than females. IF splitting up the shot into 3 is an option i would suggest that. my doctor told me that they don't really do that anymore when i talked to him months ago about my concerns with my son. i say that since you've mentioned she's already had a reaction to a different shot. most doctors will probably tell you it's ok to go through with all 3 in 1. that's a decision only you can make but be sure that you express your concerns with your pediatrician and that they understand your reasons. good luck with everything. if you're still uncomfortable with a decision ask for some resources for research on both sides of the fence. people are VERY outspoken and strong willed on both sides when it comes to this debate. sorry i couldn't be of more help but that's just my experience with it.

also on to what zoe b said. dr. sears book is wonderful for giving good information about the vaccines. i read this while i was pregnant and i have also been giving my son one shot each visit and delay them. he's done very well thus far but as i said i still have a few months before i have to decide about the mmr as well.

Good Morning N.,

My husband and I debated the vaccine issue for our daughter. I wanted her to be vaccinated, he didn't want ANY vaccines. When it came time for her 1st vaccine, our Dr explained to my husband she also had shared his concerns when it came to vaccinating her own 5 children. The deciding factor for her was that we have so many migrant workers that are here illegally, who knows what diseases they could be carrying because their own countries do not require vaccines. Unfortunately they are seeing cases of measles, mumps, and various other diseases that had previously been eradicated in this country. The risks of our daughter catching one of these diseases far outweighed the risk of the vaccines. I did do research on the mmr shot and in fact had decided to request the separate vaccines rather than the combo but our Dr made that call for us after her 1st vaccine. Our daughter had site issues with her first vaccine, her tiny little leg swelled and the poor thing cried all night. So from that point on our Dr decided to do individual vaccines vs the combo shots and knock on wood, she has not had a problem since then. One little hint our Dr gave us was to give her Motrin 1 hour prior to shot visit, it helps prevent fevers that some times occur with vaccines as well as pain relief. Our daughter will be 3 in August, she is a happy and healthy toddler now.

N.,

Having not read the majority of the repsonses, this is my advice, and my oldest is autistic(13 yo ds), which showed up after his 24 month shot combination. I had two (11yo ds, 6yo dd) other kids after this experience, neither of whom had more than a fever and crankiness after their shots. What I decided was to not take chances, all 3 of my kids are up-to-date on their vaccinations. I just decided to spread out their vaccines; they never got more than two shots at one time, where at one combination I think it was between 4 and 6 vaccines with 3 different needles.
I hope that this helps with your decisions, let us know what happens

I am spreading out my daughter's shots (mostly on the Sears schedule) and have discussed the option of spreading out the MMR with her pediatrician. This is more and more common so hopefully your child's doctor will do the same for you. Sometimes places won't do it because they don't have x number of patients who need it, but maybe you can ask to find enough other parents to get the vaccine ordered. You might also ask them what they would do if you were traveling...if my baby needed it for our trip before she was 1, they would have to offer her just the portion that pertained (mumps, I think). So also consider talking to a travel nurse about options. Good luck!

If you have any hesitations, don't do it until YOU are comfortable with ANY medical procedure including vaccines. I made that mistake with one of my children who ended up having a reaction to the two vaccines I was bullied into, and then wasn't taken seriously on the phone when calling the pedi's on call nurse a few hours later. Until you can pinpoint what it was about the previous vaccination that made your child react, I would personally hold off on ALL vaccinations. Because it was the flu shot, is it possible she has an egg allergy?

The MMR is no longer available as separate shots as the vaccine manufacturer stopped producing them. People in the know snatched them up to stockpile right after the announcement was made.

Again, if you do not feel comfortable giving your child ANY medical treatment DO NOT consent. YOU are the parent and DESERVE the respect that that entails. If your child's doctor starts in with scare tactics, ask for "peer reviewed journal articles and studies", the vaccine inserts, and any other credible information to back up their claim. If they refuse, then fire them and find someone reputable to take your child to for medical care.

And for what it's worth, vaccines ARE NOT 100%. Most of the people catching "vaccine preventable illnesses" were vaccinated. It's only the unvaccinated cases that get press because of public health policy/propaganda. And shame on those blaming immigrants, legal or otherwise, for the increase of disease. Vaccines ARE NOT 100% effective, and for all you know it could be some church lady returning from a mission trip bringing this stuff to your town. Scare tactics, xenophobia, and classism have no place in rational discussion on health and wellness.

Check out http://whale.to/ and http://www.nvic.org// and http://www.vaccineriskawareness.com/

good luck!

Most vaccines, including MMR, no longer contain any thimerosol (mercury derivative) and have not contained it for some years now. And the doctor who began the whole vaccines-and-autism scare was a British doctor who did a supposed study of a mere handful of kids, and got himself a lot of promotion and press coverage from it. He and his study have since been discredited by subsequent research. He moved to the US because he was so discredited in Britain and last I heard was under investigation here for practicing medicine without a US license. Also note that in Britain there has been a rise in measles cases since this discredited study made headlines, and doctors there are worried that measles -- which can be fatal -- is making a comeback in the population because many parents didn't vaccinate, based on this doctor's flawed study. Ask your pediatrician what he or she recommends and you'll probably find he or she advises vaccinating, whether it's in one shot or several. If you're still worried, ask your doctor for solid information about scientific studies of any links, or lack of links, between MMR and autism.

Although it has been linked their is no real scientific evidence that the MMR is the cause of Autism it is really speculation. There are other underlying factors that cause autism that also need to be taken into account. If the shot was the sole cause they wouldn't be giving it anymore. Although we are all cautious about giving our children shots I wouldn't deprive them of having this shot.

K.

This is such a hot and opinionated topic....I read the Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears...he talks about what each vaccine is made up of, why it is controversial or not, what he recommends, etc. He never says do or don't, he just raises some interesting points. I felt much more informed to make decisions that were good for my children after reading his book. My first son I simply did what the pediatrician recommended, he did not have any adverse reactions and while a bit whiny at age 5, he is perfectly healthy and 'normal' but with my second son I have been a little more opinionated. I have him only get one shot per visit, and I let the pediatrician advise me on which one she thinks is the most essential and I did break up his MMR. One thing I learned is the reason why they get two MMR shots is only for the Measles...I got the measles for my second son and when I asked about getting the Mumps & Rubella I was told we could not get them broken up in our area any more (the pharma companies will not sell them in small enough batches) but that I didn't have to worry about the other two until his second round of vaccinations....schools don't require two Mumps & Rubella, just two measles. I am pregnant now and plan on delaying shots....not putting them off entirely because I feel vaccinations are a necessary part of living in society, but I don't like to give my little one several shots all at once.

We've held off, too, by our choice and Dr.'s complete agreement in our case b/c of my son's medical history & my family's medical history. We're waiting until 3.

And you can no longer get the MMR broken down the in US. The best you can do is get a 'script from your Dr. and head to Canada to buy the 3 vaccines....

I complete understand your position. It's not about being anti-vaccine; it's about understanding that the CDC schedule isn't One-Size fits all (and yes, it does certainly fit a lot) and let's continue to check the safety of ALL our vaccines (Gardasil for our teen daughters, I'm looking at you).

If she's not going to day care you can delay it till 18 months or even 2 years old. The fact that she got a rash after the flu shot should have raised a red flag in terms of an egg allergy to your doctor because the flu vaccine contains eggs and so does the MMR. You should discuss that with your pediatrician and testing her for an egg allergy with a pediatric allergist and if she is, the vaccine should be delayed as long as possible and she should receive it at the allergist's office rather than at the regular pediatrician. But you can definitely delay it!

I encourage you to be FULLY informed before making your decision. As someone stated, this is a heated topic and people on both sides will tell you what to do. There is a lot of information on the web and a lot of books, I would check them out. I think that every mother has a right to make the decision for what they think is best for their child. I would also encourage you to listen to your own thoughts and feelings as you research the topic. Mothers have been given a special "extra sense", if you will, regarding their children. I have chosen not to vaccinate, but would support any decision as long as the person is fully informed and they feel that what they are doing is best for the health and well-being of their child.

I understand your anxiety about this - we felt the same way. The preservative Thimerosal is what is being blamed for the possible link to autism. With the controversy, there has been less use of it in the vaccines. You can google the FDA website and look for their information on Thimerosal. The MMR vaccine is not the only one that has used it. They have a table that shows all of the vaccines by the different pharmaceuticals and if or what the levels of the preservative are. We did our research and we ask exactly which vaccine they are using before letting them administer it to our son. With the flu shot (yes, some of them have Thimerosal too), I even looked at the actual vial before they game him the shot.

Listen to your gut. You know what is best for your daughter and there are options out there. Just do your research and make the decision with your husband that you feel is best. Good luck!

My son just had his 15 month check up today (he is 16 months old). I am a firm believer in vaccines as it is the reason we not longer get see people dying from small pox and being crippled by polio and babies dying of pneumonia. With that said, I spoke with my doctor today about my concern of children getting so many vaccines at one time and so many even before the age of 5. I told her from now on and within reason we would only be getting one shot at his visits. Today we did get the MMR. I know this is 3 vaccines in one, but that sure beats the 5-6 that they usually recommend at one time.
I agree with the other moms, you do what you feel comfortable with. If you want to wait, wait. Though MMR is no longer offered in separate doses.
Recent research also shows not link between MMR and autism and upon speaking to a mom with an autistic son, she believes vaccines are safe. It really is your choice. Good luck.

I don't know where you are located but can you find a DAN doctor to go to? I found a wonderful DAN doctor named Dr. Madren in Va BEach. He gave my friend the book "What your doctor may NOT tell you about Children's Vaccinations" by Stephanie Cave MD, FAAFP and told her to pass it onto me when she was done (which she did). The book may help you make a decision on vaccinations.
My son had a regression after having a combination shot that included the Dtap and Hib vaccines. I most likely will NOT be getting anymore vaccinations without talking with my son's doctor on my concerns. I will also be getting a Titers test on my son first to see if all the shots he has already received have given him the immunity or not.
This is a very difficult and very personal decision. You need to trust your instincts on this (from personal experience I wish my husband an I had listened to ours the day he got the shot because we had reservations and felt pressured). Listen to your mommy radar and go with your gut. Educate yourself as much as possible. If something the doctor tells you does not make you comfortable do not just assume he is the final say in your child's health. Find a doctor that you are comfortable with. A good doctor will go over everything concerning you child's health to make you more at ease with the decisions you face.

Good luck.

This response might be to late but it might help anyways. I always thought parents who did not get there child vaccines were ignorant. Until my daughter had a severe reaction to the flu shot in 2006(she was 2 1/2) She now has permanent nerve damage in her brain and she is still be treated--my baby went through so much 6 spinal taps, mri, ct, surgery on her eyes becasue the inflamtion on her brain caused her eyes to turn in. After this I requested all her ped records(she was sick from the time she was 2mo-2yrs) when she started rcving shots--she had fevers and local reactions with them red bump at site etc.. Of course my dr said this was normal--I am not against vaccines at all, but trust your gut and brek up the shots, I wish I would of done the research before I had to learn the hard way. This is a great site to check out! www.nvic.org Good luck!!

I just want to add that my husband and I have decided to delay giving out son (20 months) the mmr until he's 2. I read on Dr. Sear's website (sorry, I don't have the site handy to give you) that he had recently found that side effects from the shot had decreased significantly if delayed until 2. He also said that if the child was 2, he was comfortable recommending the combined shot instead of separating. Also, I saw someone comment that you can't get the shots separated in the US anymore, but I don't think that's true. There is a longer waiting time because one of the components isn't in as high of a supply, but my dr. said they could get it for me after the supply went back up (which he anticipated would happen in January 09, so that shouldn't affect you).

As many others have said, this is a very personal decision, and you need to do what is best for your child and family. Our family had decided to only delay the mmr, and to not get the chicken pox vaccine at all. This is definitely the right decision for us, but I know many others would disagree (thinking we should delay/eliminate more or that we should get them all). We've decided not to let other's opinion on this sway us, and do what we feel comfortable with after much research, talking, and prayer.