Rotavirus Vaccine Decision by Monday

My first daughter got Rotavirus and it was HORRIBLE; the vaccine was not available then. My second has received the vaccine and all is well!

My daughter was given the oral vaccination as well as ALL other recommended vaccinations (she is a year old). I felt it was necessary to vaccinate to prevent her from getting any of those nasty diseases... OR to prevent any of those diseases from being so incredibly dangerous.

The whole vaccination debate is just so HUGE and frankly I feel that they ARE absolutely necessary. I fear the potential outbreaks if the majority of babies today are not vaccinated.

My daughter just missed the opportunity to have the new rotavirus vaccine. It was released just a little too late for her to start it. My pediatrician said he would give it to her anyway if I wanted, but she wasn't in daycare at the time and he felt she would likely be fine without it. I still think due to her being over the age limit that not doing it was the right decision at that time, but she's now had Rotavirus for 2 weeks and it's been misery. She is 2 1/2 now. No trips to the hospital but a cranky fussy not sleeping two year old is no joke. And she doesn't want to eat. And the diarrhea is horrible with a capital H. If I have another one, I'm definitely getting the vaccine.

Hi Amoret-

I am so concerned by the vast amount of wrong information that is posted on this site regarding vaccination. Regarding Rotateq, do you know that over 10 million oral doses have been given and the intial clinical trial looked specifically at if the vaccine would caused the same serious condition where the bowel telescopes into itself made by another company almost a decade ago and proved in one of the LARGEST clinical trials ever conducted for vaccines that there was no increase risk and that there were infact LESS of these cases.

I know with all the movies star hype out there about "BAD VACCINES" if you really looked at the data you would find that vaccines are safe and effective. The majority of vaccines including MMR do not have thimerasol or mercury.

Then why do we have more ADD or Autistic children. Partly to the fact we diagnose "lable" children which we didn't do 40 years ago. I child then would have labeled, slow, different, weird. But now we give a specific label so the chidren get services that weren't available years ago. IF MMR causes autism why do we have more boys than girls who are autistic when MMR is given to an equal %

Do you know if as little as 10% of children in the US don't get vaccinated for a specific disease, we can have an out break of that disease?

Our generation doesn't remember what HIB, MEASELS, POLIO...etc look like. I personally have vaccinated all my children as I can't even imagine how I would feel if my child had a terrible complication from disease or worse yet died because I choose not to vaccinate and even rotavirus, almost every baby will get by the time they are five. Most won't have serious complications, but if you have ever talked to a parent trying to hydrate a infant who is has it comming out of them at both ends, or having to go to the ER or hospital room, or die, yes children in the US even die of Rota ( I believe I read 50-75 or so a year) it should make you think twice

Here in California most babies are vaccinated against disease, but if you travel with your child at all, even crossing state lines, you are putting your child at risk. IT wasn't too long ago that the UK had a measel outbreak and even recently in San Diego there was one too.

My advice is to instead of asking a bunch of women who have little medical background about the pros- and cons of vaccination, to ask your doctor who you trust, go to the CDC's website, AAP's website and the ACIP's website. There you will get the most up-to-date REAL information vs a bunch of mom's trying to talk you out of vaccination.

My humble opinion for a Mom who has see what happens to unvaccinated children.- Good Luck

Please don't vaccinate your child.
www.thinktwice.com

I have a grand daughter that had to go to the emergency room twice with high fever, vomiting and diarrhea. She was so dehydrated that the IV's was flowing fully for the first 4 hours along with ice packs. That was scary. She is a healthy 11 year old that has had all of her required shots. The two younger children have also had theirs. Pray about it. You are the mom and if you don't feel confident in your spirit about doing it..don't.

My son who was 1 years old had diarrhea for 14 days and my sister in law told me to get some black berry root and make some tea and give it to my some in small little sips. Health food stores didn't have any and one of my daughters said don't we have a black berry bush out side so I went out and dug up some of the root, cleaned it, washed and peeled it down to white pulp-bark, put it in some hot water in a cup let it steam and cool down. I fed him only a few sips and he never had any diarrhea after that. Good for you to question vaccines, some old natural remedies do work.

I think I might be too late for you, and if I am, I'm curious to see what you did for your son about the rotovirus vaccine.
My daughter has rotovirus at 8 months. It was very scary since no one could tell me what was wrong with her. She was hospitalized and released the next day. I think that as long as hands are washed often and children are not in contact with fecal matter, there is no concern for the vaccine. If us adults were to get checked for rotovirus, we would all be carriers...

follow your intuition ! i haven't vaccinated any of my children because i have read too much negative info on vaccines (can cause cerebral palsy, ADD, autism, SIDS, etc) i feel that if modern medicine can treat all these diseases that they vaccinate for then i'll not vaccinate and only let them use pharmaceuticals on my child when we absolutely must - when they are seriously ill. the chicken pox vaccine is absolutely ridiculous too. incidentally, my 5 mos old neice contracted rotavirus (through her mother who came back from india with it) and was treated for it and all is well. none of the other children in the family got it. the same symptoms of rotavirus happen with really bad flus as well and we handle those as they come =)

My Dr. just ambushed me with this one at my sons 2 month appt. I didnt know that they had a vaccine for this so that is why I felt a little unprepared for the decision. I usually say no to any of the "optional" vaccines, but my 3 yr old did have rotovirus andf it was pretty bad so I said yes. My thing is that the dr didnt tell me that there was a "time limit" on when it had to be given, so I would definately question that. He also didnt say anything about 3 doses. So I will be looking more into this myself. Good luck with your decision and if you get any great info feel free to send it my way as well.

I think you are right to be very careful in any vaccinations of children, in particular those that contain mercury (thimerasol) or aluminum used as preservatives, which may be linked to the steeply rising rates of autism and other problems. It appears there are a lot of unnecessary vaccinations; follow the money trail. I'm sending a couple of links, that provide some information about this vaccine and that it may not have been properly tested. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2001/0...
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/1...

Regards, K.

Hi there -- I never gave my son any of the vaccinations and he is now 5 and the healthiest kid I know. He had rotovirus when he was 1 year old and we had gone on our first long-distance plane trip and to a place with lots of people (my husband's grandmother had her birthday at Disneyland). He was sick for a couple of days and ran a fever (in addition to vomiting and diarrhea)and we did nothing but breastfeeding and monitoring of the fever. The only "medicine" we gave him was Boiron teething homeopathics to make him more comfortable (as recommended by our pediatrician) but we never even treated the fever and the whole illness ran its course and ended.

I really think giving all these vaccines is unnecessary for things that are a natural part of childhood and the building of the immune system. It sounds like you are already a mother and are educated and I would guess that most of the hospitalizations happen in families where there is less education and less awareness of the well being of the children until the situation is dire. Good luck with whatever decision you make for your family. aloha JP

I regret not getting it, as my 9 month old was hospitalized for the rotavirus a few months ago. It was so scary as she became dehydrated and lost weight in what seemed like overnight. Although she is healthy today, the hospital stay alone, is worth getting the vaccine. I wish that I would have.

Dear Amoret, I wish I knew more about vaccines as I get concerned as well... of course there is always a good and bad side. My first reaction is to really trust your instinct on this one (you said it makes you nervous) and pray about it a lot. A friend of mine's boy had intisiseption (spelling?) which is that condition you wrote about the bowel telescoping into itself and it was reoccurring. I have no idea if this could be related to the vaccine or not. Sometimes I feel like more vaccines are pushed out unnecessarily by drug companies to make money... you are putting foreign and chemical substances into your child so you rightfully have reason to want to know of risks! Anyway, this is more of an opinion, not fact based, answer. But as I said, often times trusting your motherly instinct pays off.-AM

Don't do it. Go with your gut feeling. My brother is vaccine damaged and my uncles baby died after vaccines. My nieghbors daughter started having siezures after her vaccines and my other neighbor son is autistic now after his MMR shots. My kids are not vaccinated and are hardly ever sick. Google the ingredients for vaccines. I promise you, you will be horrified.

Hi there, While I understand your concern, I think you answered it yourself when you said your Dr, who you respect, reccomended it. While it's incumbent on us as parents to do the necessary research, once we've absorbed it all, and we're still at an impasse, we need to rely on the professionals we feel comfortable with. I've got 3 kids and have almost always taken my doctor's advice. Our only point of disagreement was for the Gardisil shot for my 11 year old, and then I only passed because my Ob brouoght up some great points which were relevant. Good luck.

I have a 4 year old son and a 2 year old son. My first son had rota virus 3 times, 2 times we ending up in the ER getting fluids. It was terrible. We did everything to keep that child hydrated. My second son was born March 2006 and the rota virus was not available. I would have loved to have had him had that vac. But I respect you for looking into this. My experience has been rather scary with that horrid virus.

I feel your pain. My baby was due for the vaccine last February (2007) when the FDA (I think it was them) sent out a warning on the new vaccine, which was the same warning that led to them pulling it from the shelves the first time. Knowing that and it being a new vaccine, we opted not to give him the vaccine. We decided to just be very conscientious if he was sick and make sure he always saw the doctor. He was also not in a day care or anything. He stayed at home much of his first year with us, grandparents, and nanny so he had little contact with other children. He is now 15 months old and so far so good (knock on wood). Just so you know, we are parents who believe in vaccination but we are taking them one by one and are making our own decisions (with research) about which ones and when to give them.

Sorry, Amoret you may get 2 responses from me, as when I went to send, I lost the page and here I am again. Anyway, this is a decesion that you and your husband will have to make with the current information you have, from your pediatrician whom you trust, other information can be gathered from your county on immunization statistics, on a particular vaccine, also the numbers on people who do not choose to vaccine. I would never suggest what you need for your child, as a Christian I will pray for you to have peace. I have 8 grandchildren. God bless C. F

DONT do it. Your baby does not have an immune system strong enough to handle the immunization. Please. I know many children who are not vaccinated at all and they are perfect. Please, your other son did fine, my kids did fine and didn't have it either. They come up with these new shots and then scare you into taking them. your child will be healthier for not having it.
Just a mom...
If you'd like more information on researching your options for vaccines and their safety, let me know off list,
____@____.com

Hi,

My NYC pediatrician doesn't give the rotavirus vaccine. She says that none of her patients have ever been hospitalized. She is able to take care of it with fluids...My LA pediatrician gives the vaccine. Initially, I didn't let my daughter get the vaccine. But then I spoke with my friend, who knows someone, whose child was sick all year with rotavirus.

So at 4 months my daughter got the first dose. This week we are going in for the second dose at five months. So far she seems to be doing fine.

I read on the internet that you just have to start the vaccine before 6 months.

My LA Dr. also said that if you are the main childcare provider there is less chance that your child will catch the rotavirus, but the child who was sick for a year has a stay at home mom. I didn't want to chance it. I am nervous for possible problems in the future..

Hope this helps.

W.

We stayed away from this vaccine. It seemed controversial at the time, but I'm glad we went that route. I don't know any babies or toddlers who have been hospitalized for rotavirus, though I know 2 families who did go through it. Such a personal choice, you've just got to weigh the risk with the benefit. And of course, most pediatricians are pro vaccine. Good luck!

Amoret, I have two children, whom are 3 and 2. Neither of them ever got the vaccine OR the virus either. My son has not had ANY vaccines since he was 2months and my daughter hasn't had any since 15months. They are very healthy and rarely get sick. Ultimately it is up to you but I wanted to give you an outside look on a seemingly uncommon situation.

All Vaccines have preservatives and chemicals . We all lived and survived this virus when we were kids. Even if your child gets it (unless he is allergic to this virus) he will do just fine even if he goes to the hospital. With the high tech hospitals, your child will only suffer dehydration ( ask Dr. about other problems). But what if you do vaccinate, and the vaccine has a sever permanent side effect. Which one do you prefer to have? You have to decide! You already said your other son never got it. I think you need to ask what kind of preservatives are in this vaccine, once you find out I am sure you will not vaccinate your child. What if the new version has other non reported side affects? Do you want your child to be experiment for Vaccine companies? Best way to keep your child safe is wash their hands. Viruses are all over the place and if you have a weak immune system your child will not be able to fight it off. Make sure your kids eat fresh fruits daily, so if they do get exposed to these viruses/ bacteria they can fight it off naturally.

The first Merck Rotavirus vaccine was pulled by the FDA for killing babies, so your 3.5 year old son was born between the pull of the first one and the launch of the 2nd one.

You can always delay the vaccine until you've done your research. I know 3 kids who've ended up in the hospital with sugery from intussusception caused by the vaccine.

Merck's Latest Rotavirus Vaccine Harms Babies
Yahoo News February 13, 2007

Almost a year after approving Rotateq to prevent gastrointestinal illnesses in children, the FDA issued an advisory earlier this week warning parents about the growing incidents of intussusception, a rare and life-threatening form of intestinal blockage.

Intussusception was also the most common side effect associated with Wyeth's long-gone RotaShield that was pulled from the market in 1999. Although no deaths have been reported so far, 16 of the 28 reported cases required surgery to repair a baby's intestinal tract.

Hard to believe, then, the co-inventor of the vaccine had the nerve to say the 28 reported cases of intussusception were a reassuring number...

If news reports like these make you think twice about vaccinating your children, they should. If you're on the fence at all, I strongly encourage you to carefully consider all the evidence before moving forward.

I am all for vaccines even with all the negative hype. I have a 14 month old girl and we originally decided to go ahead with the Rotavirus vaccine. She had a reaction though (vomiting) so we did not do the subsequent doses. Our doctor thinks RSV is more prominent and there's no vaccine for that one. And of course, my daughter caught it at 2 weeks and was hospitalized immediately. It's a hard call but go with your gut, not with what your doctor says. Because it's done in several doses, you can opt out if your baby has a reaction.

My son is 20 months old and we opted for him to receive the Rotateq vaccine after prayer, research, and conversing with his pediatrician, whom we love and trust completely. I'm thankful that we opted for the vaccine, because when visiting family when he was 10 months old, he had diarrhea for a week, but that was the only symptom other than the diaper rash that resulted from the diarrhea. At first we thought it was because we had just introduced beef to him. He only had a fever at the end of the week, which is when we took him to Urgent Care, and the doctor believed it was the rotavirus because he saw bile in the poop. He said that the vaccination prevented him from having the vomiting and fever. The fever that he did acquire was a result of an ear infection that the doctor saw starting up. The morning we were heading back home, my brother's daughter started vomiting. A day later and my sister said that her kids were vomiting. Apparently we weren't careful enough keeping the baby away from the kids.

Anyway, my son has never had a problem with constipation. I'm a stay-at-home mom. The only time my son was in a daycare type situation at the time he got sick was when he was in Sunday School either at my church or my sister's church. So, the rotavirus is quite contagious.

In the end, though, this is your decision. I'm not hear to force my opinion on you. I'm just hear to tell you what we did and how it worked out for us.

I chose not to get this vaccine for my ds (5.5mo) since he is exclusively breastfed, does not go to daycare, and because we live in a developed nation where healthcare is top notch. I am not anti-vaccine or pro-vaccine. I believe that they have a place in our society as a whole and I need to evaluate each vaccine on an individual basis for my child. That being said if you are still having doubts than listen to them. With each vaccine I choose to give my son I must wholeheartedly believe in the benefits outweighing the risks. Good luck with your decision!

stay far away from vaccines! My daughter has never had any and is so healthy. Especially compared to all her peers and preschool friends which have had vaccines.
www.drmercola.com

I am vaccine phobic because all the stats are so skewed by the MD's. They only submit MAJOR reactions, they don't tell the whole story. The Rota-Virus vaccine has not been tested for a life long study and therefore your baby is the study. I have not vaccinated any of my four children, they are 9,7,4 and 2 and they have not had anything aside from the comoon cold once in a while and a flu bug once in a while that might last a few days. Never weeks or months and none of them have ever been hospitalized. My school aged children go to public school, we attend church at a very large Calvary and the kids all go to their classes, we have playdates and my 2 year old goes to My Gym. They are exposed to things all the time and I believe because they get proper nutrition and they are checked regularly by their Daddy who is a Chiropractor they stay healthy because their bodies can work the way God made them to with no interfereance. I also have them on Juice Plus+ and it is a wonderful resource to back you up when the kids don't get all the proper nutrition we need. Your baby is young, if you are eating right and breast feeding, he is building great immunity through that. Even if he is bottle fed, you can make sure he is building immuntiy by protecting his body from the vaccines that tear down the body and prevent it from functioning properly.

Check out www.whale.org and www.shot909.org they are great websites. You have to be the advocate for your baby and only you know what the best choice is for your family! Good luck and I wish you all the best. Congratulations on your baby boy!!

Personally, I would get it. Second of all, it's an oral medication, so there is not a shot, if that makes you feel any better (that you don't have to poke the baby or hold her down). The babies actually love the taste of it for some reason.

I'd rather have my child get Rotavirus then any side effects of this vaccine. Both of mine didn't get it, but not because I said no, our Dr. never recommended it? Maybe it wasn't around a few years ago?? This is a new one for me. That aside, I've had a few friends with kids who had rotavirus and it wasn't a big deal.

Don't feel bad if you go against your Dr.'s wishes, if he truly is wonderful then he'll respect your decision. You are the Mom!

M.

Amoret...
My 2 yr. old son had rotavirus at 11.5 months. It was the worst thing I have ever had to deal with. He totally refused solid foods and had always been an active breastfeeder. His pediatrician said that the only thing that kept him out of the hospital for about 5 days was the breastfeeding. We ended up having to take him to the ER in the middle of the night when he was just overly listless and not nearly himself. He was hooked up to an I.V. which freaked him out and had lost a lot of weight. My husband and I both ended up with different versions of it and we were confined to a certain wing of the hospital and he was not allowed to leave the room. Nurses and cleaners who came in the room had to remove their coveralls and throw them away before leaving the room. I felt like a prisoner. They wanted my son to sleep in a metal crib with his I.V. pole still attached.. luckily I was able to just get a bed for the two of us since I had to breastfeed him as often as he would take it. I thank God for it being all over. I now have a 6 mo. old little boy who has taken two out of the recommended 3 doses of the vaccine with no apparent side effects due to it. We are always a little leary about believing in vaccines but our doctor said that she did not use the other vaccine that came out because of the effects but did a lot of research before administering this one to her patients and believes its a good one. The decision in the end is up to you.. only you will be the one to have to deal with it.
P.S. No matter how safe you keep them or how frequently you/they was their hands you never know. Our son got it from a place with kiddie rides.

As a mom whose son had the virus two times within 6 months (last year) I would kighly recommend the vaccine. Each illness encompassed non-stop diarehhea and vomitting with high fever (nothing stays down) for five days and then spread to the rest of our family.
We were fortunate to remain at home but there we a few close calls. I have since asked my peditrican for the vaccine for my 2-1/2 year old and have been told it is only being offered to newborns.

Read about vaccines on my website www.victoryoveradhd.com
Most vaccines do more harm than good. I wish I knew about the adverse reactions to vaccines when my twins were infants. I would have done things much differently.
D. Merlin
mother/author

My son had the rotavirus when he was 5 months old because they did not have the vaccine for it when he was a newborn. If I had known what the illness was like, I would have demanded the vaccine. He vomited so much and had diarrhea so badly and for so many days that he had to be hospitalized for days where I was told that he was very very sick. He was so dehydrated and lacked nutrients because he couldn't eat. It took a long time for his body to normalize and his sleeping patterns to return to normal. We had to reintroduce foods to him like it was the first time. Not only was it a horrible experience for him, but for us as well. And it caused huge hospital bills (a secondary outcome, but bad none-the-less).

Amoret, I should tell you my husband an I were in your boat and decided to do the vaccine. Unfortunatley, my daughter DID have a reaction to the shot! It was very very scary listening to her have that agonizing PAIN cry for hours at the er room and watching her have to be getting blood, urine and ultra sounds done (we were there ALL night!). She thank God did NOT need to have surgery, it passed on its own. She had the reaction after the 2nd round of the rototeq shot. So no I do not recommend it. To top it off my daughter did end up having diarrehea a few months later and got a really bad rash from that, (we had blood drwan and it was NOT rotovirus!) and to be honest watching her go through the pain of the aftermath of the shot was worse than dealing with the diarrehea. good luck!

Hi there,

Sounds like we are in the minority, but we did the vaccination.

I'd be skeptical about those who are so adamantly against vaccines. A lot of what I've read in some of the other responses you've received sounds like inaccurate information. For example, the vaccine that caused the telescoping intestines hasn't been used since the 1990s. RotaTeq is a new brand that does not cause any increase in the instances of telescoping. Here's some more information, if you're interested.

http://www.who.int/vaccine_safety/topics/rotavirus/rotate...
http://pediatrics.jwatch.org/cgi/content/full/2007/228/1

We live in Italy and work at a United Nations agency where we come in contact with people who are traveling all over the world regularly. So, for us it was the right decision since we felt there might be an high risk of contact with the virus. And our doctor recommended it.

I'd just say, don't let people scare you one way or the other. Our daughter had no adverse reaction the the vaccination (though she seemed to HATE the taste), but then again if your baby does get sick and receives proper care it doesn't sound like it's life threatening.

Take care,

H.

Hello Amoret-
I have a one year old boy. My husband and I declined all vaccinations until 3 months. Then we started. But declined the HEB B, and ROTAVIRUS all together. Really, you have to do what your inner voice tells you. My son was and is totally fine. He has had only one cold yet. And it was mild. He is due for his MMR in 2 months and since my Doctor will NOT split the vaccine, we are changing to a doctor who will. And I have a very close friend who works at Thoughtful House in Austin, TX who just sent me new info from the CDC regarding vaccines. Changes are coming. But slow. Sorry, this is so long. But bottom line is TRUST yourself. Do not let your Doctor scare you into it. Good luck and I hope this helps a bit.

I don't know if you pray, but thats what I would do. This is serious. My first advice from a mom to another, if you feel uneasy, maybe that should be your first sign to not get it (expecially with the fact that you have no problems with the other vaccinations). Really quick, my son got chicken pox probably a month ago. He had the vaccine. Well after it was ruled officially that he had chicken pox, when taking him to see a new dr, he tried to say it couldn't have been chicken pox because he had the vaccine (that is a bunch of crock), even research shows that a high percentage of kids who get vacc's for the measles or chicken pox still wind up getting it. He tried to say it probably was molluscum contagiosum which it looked nothing like that after he tried to give me info on it. Doctors are not bad people, God made them for a reason, however, they are still human. Not every child goes to the hospital for that, I have heard about more kids having ear infections (which my son has never had) than the rotavirus infection. ALL of this in MY OPINION though. Every mom and child are different. You can never rush something that you are not so sure of doing, you may just regret it later. QUESTION: Did they not inform you of this new vaccine until now?

Lita M.

Hello, my son is eleven years old and he contacted the Rotavirus when he was around two. He most likely picked it up from daycare. He was hospitalized for the virus due to dehydration, but I suggest you trust your instincts regarding giving your baby the vaccination, he may never come in contact with this virus so I strongly suggest not doing it. Lysol kills the Rotavirus so I suggest cleaning with Lysol, spray the door handels, toilet bowl handels, light switches and anything that little hands may touch.

I'm in Henderson, NV and my pediatrician does not give the Rotovirus. She feels the side affects are too scary and the vaccine is too knew. She won't even carry it in her office. My son is 10 months and healthy. Her thoughts are that although it could make a baby very sick it is treatable and won't cause death. The whole vaccine thing is so scary, I say go with your gut instinct.

Hi there,
I know that vaccines or not getting vaccines can be scary. I have 3 children, 6, 3 and 7 months. None of them have had ANY vaccines! Your baby is so fresh and pure right now. I beleive that adding any peservatives, vaccines, chemicals at this time in their life disrupts there natural normal development. I am not against all vaccines but feel they are too younng at this age. Even though she should begin her shots on Monday. It is okay if you take another week to do more research to help you make a sound decision. Google Dr. Spears, for more info on all vaccines and for a safer schedule of vaccinations. Hopeful you are breastfeeding that is her first source of protection. Keep everyone healthy in your family. Double up on fruits and veggies, and vitamins, wash hands as soon as you all get home from an outing. An important thing you said is that the vaccine is "new". That means there is so much more info that they aren't quite sure about yet. If you read a doctors license it says a "License to PRACTICE medicine". Good luck, and you should probably go with your gut feeling! Once the vaccine is in her new born body, there is no way to get it out.

Info on vaccines that everyone NEEDS to know:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELx2eX_kM-w&feature=re...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq7FSYYVMEU

I concur with most who have posted that they do NOT give vaccines to their children.

My twins are 2.5yrs old and I haven't given them any since they were 1yr (due to not researching until then - stupidly). Anyway, they never recieved Rotovirus vaccine and one of the twins ended up getting it. She WAS very sick, puking and diareha, but never had to go to the hospital. I just kept breastfeeding and giving her pedialyte.

The other twin never ended up catching it. Neither did I or my husband.

I'd wait on it! Only ONE of my three children ever had rotovirus (and was hospitalized in Canada while we were vacationing!). My youngest hasn't had any shots and he's the healthiest of the three. I'd put it off until more is known about the shot itself and it's made safer. Go with your gut!

2 of three of my kids have had rotavirus and survived w/o a hospital stay. The vaccine wasn't available to then either. My third, (now 10mos) did have the vaccine because I felt it was such an awful sickness. My pediatrician waited a year before offering the vaccine to any of her patients because the previous one was recalled. I appreciated that and decided to go ahead with it.

You said it makes you nervous....go with your gut. The flu vaccine's make me nervous (not for any particular reason). None of my kids have ever had one. My husband and I don't get them either. My kids have had all of their standard vaccines.

DON'T DO IT!!! The vaccines protect just IN CASE your baby gets it...granted my son got it when he was about 18 months and yes it was awful but just prepare what you will do IF and when baby gets it...you'll give lots of liquids, rest, etc...same like we do for all viruses...it's when you neglect taking care of the virus that leads to possible hospitalization. I know it's a hard decision to make but what does your gut tell you? just know that you have the right to choose! your baby is just 11 weeks old...you are already doing the right things to protect him...do it by not giving those shots...

good luck on your choice,
laulii

Hi Amoret,

Do not feel as though you need to make a decision by Monday. As the parent you have the right and the option to delay your baby's vaccination schedule or omit all and/or certain vaccines all together. I am unclear as to why there is a "window of opportunity" for this particular vaccine. However, I highly recommend you do some self education before moving forward. There are several books out there as well as a wonderful website www.909shot.com that is filled with info as well as exemption forms.
In Health,
C. Tanaka, DC

Aloha Amoret,

Vaccines are definitally a very important and personal decision that all parents have to make. From a personal point of view.....I have not had a single vaccinations and do not encourage their use. But, like I said, it's a very personal decision.

Marie-anne
Children's Health & Wellness Advocate

MY son who is now 4 got rotavirus and did not need to be hospitalized, as a matter of fact we were out of the country. He was still breastfeeding and this kept him hydrated and in my opinion helped him recover more quickly. It was a terrible experience for us, but I have not chosen to give the vaccination to myy 9 month old, because I know it is something he will get through and I plan on extended breastfeeding again. Good luck.

My oldest is 4 and never had it, but my younger daughter had a Rotavirus when she was 1. It was the worst thing we've been through. If we had the option of the vaccine I would have given it to her.
She weighed 20 pounds before she had it and lost 2 pounds during the course of one week. She couldn't hold down any food except a small amount rice chex for a week. She could only hold down sugar water, refused gatorade, soda, juice. She lost every ounce of her baby fat and she had the skin of an old woman (hanging on her little bones). She just sat in her sling rocking chair or in my lap and didn't even look at a toy for days. She was under Dr care through the whole thing and narrowly escaped a hospital stay. She is now 2 1/2 and has recently started gaining weight again. She weighs 25# with her clothes on and soaking wet and is the smallest in her class at preschool. Before her illness, she was on track with her sister's weight and height and now she is still 6-9 months behind at the same stage of life. I would have given anything to keep her from becoming so sick.

I do not vaccinate, but my belief is that if there is an actual outburst of disease and a pretty safe vaccine, then I will re-consider as it would be the greater good.
That said, I have a 21-month old who just got the "virus" that makes you vomit and have diarrea. She just did that for 2 days, slept a lot and drank a lot of liquids. It wasn't very bad.
Me, on the other hand, when I got it from her, I totally dehidrated and had to go to the emergency room to get an iv.
From that I deducted that her immune system is stronger than mine, probably one reason is she never got vaccinated - and eats healty and sleeps good normally - but I had vaccinations and I believe my immune system is weaker than that of my baby because of that.
So, I would not get your kid vaccinated. But I know it's always a bet and very hard to decide who to believe in this regard.
Good luck.
I.

I would definitely recommend it. As a pediatric nurse practitioner and a previous pediatric ICU nurse, I can tell you that rotavirus is NASTY and you don't want your child to suffer it. The new vaccine is NOT the same as the old vaccine. I now work in pharmacology research. I did not personally research this vaccine, but I do know that it is MUCH safer than the previous. I would go for it!

trust your instincts. God have us those for a reason. I have given my kids all the vaccines including the rotovirus vaccine. The 2 middles ones still ended up getting it, but a much milder case. Rotovirus can be pretty serious, I have many friends whose kids have had to be hospitalized for several days (even up to 2 weeks) and are kicking themselves for not getting it. Just a little word to the wise, my baby daughter at only 8 days old got spinal menigitis, somthing that is vaccinated for at 2 mos. The guilt that we felt (even though there was absolutely no way to prevent it) was horrible. I can't immagine the guilt we would have felt if there was somthing we could have done to prevent it. There are risks to all vaccines, but the thought of some of those diseases and the havok it causes is scary. 1 out of every 2 million vaccines have problems, but almost half of all kids who do not recieve vaccines end up getting somthing that could have been prevented.

The vaccine was not available when my children were infants so I was never given this choice. I can see this being a hard decision for you. I don't know if I can help with your decision to give the vaccine or not but I can share that two of my three children have had Rotavirus(tested by the hospital) and my daughter was hospitalized for 4 days with it when she was 2 1/2. It was very scary and life threatening. Dehydration can take a child's life and we were on pins and needles until she miraculously took a turn for the better towards the fourth day. She was on IV fluids and the hospital was taking very good care of her but the vomiting and diarrhea was so unbelievable that I was shocked it could last so many days and just wasn't stopping. She was so sick she just layed there for days, not a bit of energy left in her at all. My 18 month old son had the virus at the same time and he was able to stay home while we treated him and for some reason his body was stronger in fighting the virus. My sister has two boys and both of them had Rotavirus too around 18 months.(We each live in different states) Both of her boys were hospitalized for dehydration the same as my daughter. Each of them had a two day hospital stay. If I had the choice today for my children I would look at the odds very closely and probably choose to Vacinate if the odds are lower for the vacination side effects versus getting rotavirus. It was too close a call with my daughter. I would probably feel differently though if I experienced only how my son was affected by the virus and never experienced what my daughter went through. I wish you the best of luck in your decision.

Listen to your instinct, research it. If it is new how many studies have been done? What is in the vaccine? Ask to see the ingredients...I dont know if it is on these pages but check http://www.909shot.com/Default.htm

Hi - My son is 5 months old and he has had two doses of the rotovirus vaccine with no problems whatsoever. I have heard a lot of scary things about babies being hospitalized due to this virus and I say vaccinate to prevent the illness. I know that there is a lot of controversy about vaccinations right now, but like the other moms are saying, trust your instincts. Mine told me to go ahead with it. Best wishes!

Hi Amoret,

I chose not to give my duaghter the rotovirus vaccine, the side effects where too scary as far as I am concerend. I too, adore our Dr and she did advise us to get that vaccine, she said they had been doing the vaccine since its release in late 2006 and none of her patients had that awful side effect. But I still chose not to. In my opinion, it is too new. Remember, this vaccine was pulled in 2005 due to the telescoping and this is just the new version. Since it isn't polio or something similar, I felt more comfortable with my daughter getting the rotovirus than risking the side effects. I just didn't want my daughter to be a guinea pig, you know? We are almost 15 months and have not had the rotovirus and our Dr and staff are still super friendly and never, ever censured me for my decision.

Good Luck!! :)
A.

Have you read the vaccine book by Dr. Sears? Its a great read and I highly reccomend it. He has an alternative vaccine schedule and the rota vaccine is one of them. I believe he has a website too if you want to reference it before Monday. I too am concerned about the vaccines and found that after reading the book I felt confident in my choice to change up the vaccines and be responsible.

Wow, most kids will get this by 2 years old? I've only heard of it on commercials and don't know anyone whose kid either got the disease or got the vaccination. I'd be interested in seeing the stats on that.
from:
http://diarrhea.emedtv.com/rotavirus/rotavirus-statistics...

How Common Is Rotavirus?
Within the United States, in the first 5 years of life:

Four out of five children will develop rotavirus diarrhea
One in seven will require a clinic or emergency room visit
One in 78 will require hospitalization
One in 200,000 children will die from rotavirus-related diarrhea.

Come to think of it, maybe my daughter did get this. I picked her up from preschool one day because she had a fever and was vomiting and had extremely watery diarrhea. I just handled it naturally and never gave a thought to taking her to the doctor. I just thought she had a virus or food bug, which me and her dad have had too. I stabilized her digestive tract (using probiotics and other natural remedies), kept her well hydrated (with pedialyte) supported her immune system. I also gave her homeopathic remedy for fever.

I am rarely one

heres some info i got off of babycenter.com. my daughter got the oral vaccine starting at 2months with no problem. i think your little one will be ok but the ultimate decsion is yours.

What are the benefits of the rotavirus vaccine?
It protects against rotavirus, the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis (vomiting and diarrhea) in babies and young children in the United States and around the world. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), most children in the United States contract the rotavirus by age 2. (Adults can contract it, too, but the illness tends to be mild.)

In the United States alone, the virus triggers more than 200,000 emergency room visits, 55,000 to 70,000 hospitalizations, and 20 to 60 deaths a year. Worldwide, it kills more than 600,000 children annually.

Rotavirus causes severe diarrhea. It can also cause fever, vomiting, and dehydration. It's extremely contagious, and spreads easily through ordinary person-to-person contact. Good hygiene and sanitation don't effectively stop rotavirus disease, so immunization is your best defense. It protects 98 percent of kids from severe diarrhea caused by rotavirus and 74 percent from getting rotavirus diarrhea at all.

In February 2006 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new version of the vaccine, and the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices now recommends that all children get it.

What's the recommended schedule?
Recommended number of doses
Three doses before the age of 8 months.

Note: Unlike most vaccines, the rotavirus vaccine is given by mouth rather than as an injection.

Recommended ages

• At 2 months

• At 4 months

• At 6 months

The U.S Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advises against starting the vaccine series in babies over 12 weeks old. If your baby hasn't gotten a first dose by then, talk to your doctor about whether it makes sense to try to catch up.

The vaccine isn't recommended for babies once they turn 8 months old, because there's not enough evidence to show how well it works in older babies and some evidence that they're more likely to suffer adverse reactions, like fever

Are there any precautions I should take?
A child with a mild illness can probably be vaccinated. But you'll probably want to delay it if your child's moderately or severely ill. Either way, let your doctor know that your child is sick.

The rotavirus vaccine should be used with caution in infants with compromised immune systems or a history of a chronic gastrointestinal illness, as the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine for these children haven't been determined.

Because the vaccine contains a live virus that could potentially infect others, take extra care in disposing of diapers and washing your hands for a week after the first dose. There's no evidence the virus is shed in the later doses.

Our daughter didn't have it (without any issues), and so we opted not to give it to our (now 5 month old) son. We're those parents who choose not to try things out on our kids until they've been around for awhile :o) Also, interestingly enough, when I told our Dr that we didn't want to give it to him, she said "Okay, good." Not sure if that actually had any meaning or not, but I took that as a sign that we'd made the right decision. I stay at home with my kids, and neither is in preschool or daycare, so I believe that we're in a lower risk group - anyways, that's what we decided on! :o)

After reading a number of the other posts, I'll also say this. My children have been vaccinated with all of the "typical" vaccinations, and they are also never sick - not so much as an ear infection (breastfeeding is the best thing ever!). My daughter does play with other kids and goes to the playground, etc. and in three years, the most she's had is one cold. My son was born 6 weeks early in November, and he hasn't had a cold or anything (even with weakened lungs). Vaccines are to prevent major illness that may cause death, in my opinion, and those are the ones we give our kids. (That last part was more because I think it's crazy not to give polio, mmr, etc. to kids of the parents who haven't than for you!)

Also, FYI - there is a vaccine for RSV - it's just $5K for each dose and has to be given each month of the RSV season (which is roughly Nov-April). :o)

Hi Amoret-
I had Kelcie get the vaccine orally, and she had no issues with it. My pediatritian, Dr. Bursch recommended it. I asked questions about it because it was not around when 4 years ago. Anyway, good luck with whatever decision you make. I hope to see you in class T or Th.
H.

For what it is worth, my son is 9 months old and I gave him the vaccine and he did not get the virus this year. It was going around pretty bad too. He did not have any side effects from the vaccine either.

I would skip it. Your 3.5 year old never got it and you and I never got it. It wasn't on the schedule when we were kids. Most of these childhood illnesses cause diarrhea, dehydration, etc. Don't take your young one out in public for a while. We waited until our baby was 4 months old before we took him to the mall or to friend's houses. We just strolled around the neighborhood. Our son is almost 9 months old now and has his first cold right now. He has croup. No meds - just time and nursing, fluids and he'll recover. We didn't vaccinate at all. We just feel that there are too many vaccines on the schedule today. I didn't have a tenth of what is given today and all I ever got was chicken pox as an 8 year old, other than a few colds.
Good luck with your decision. It is a personal one, but my recommendation is to not inject toxins into a new, beautiful, pristine body.

I would advise against it. I also am not vaccine-phobic, but I have read the studies about bowel-telescoping from the vaccine, which I think is far scarier than rotavirus. My 2-year old has had rotavirus several times, and while it was extremely unpleasant for everyone, so long as we kept her well-hydrated, she was just fine. The danger with rotavirus is dehydration - which is easily managed with water / pedialyte, and if necessary IV fluids.

Hi,
I have a 2 year old who also didn't get that vaccine since it wasn't available when she was a baby. And I have a 10 week old who actually had his first round of shots when he was 8 weeks old. We opted to NOT give him rotavirus (but gave him his other vaccines) and our pediatrician said he was fine with that decision and didn't think it was a huge concern.

I get a little nervous everytime we give either of our children their shots. Ultimately we felt that since our daughter didn't get the vaccine and was fine we didn't feel like it was necessary for our son. Plus he doesn't take oral medication very well so I didn't want him to only get 1/2 of the vaccine.

Hope that helps. Good luck with your decision.

I'm sorry I did not see your request until today. My son is 14 months old and I don't remember his ped. ever mentioning this vaccine, so he did not get it. However, I caught rotavirus from my nieces when they weren't even supposed to be contagious (before I was pregnant) and I have to say that it is the WORST illness I have experienced. Vomiting and diarrhea for 6 hours straight then the diarrhea lasted for about a week. It was awful. Before that I had never even heard of rotavirus. I can only imagine how awful it would be for a baby or child to get. I'm not recommending the vaccine one way or the other, but I wanted to let you know how bad the virus is, even for an adult.

I went through rotavirus with my 15 month old son when I was pregnant with my twins. My husband got it from him since he had to navigate all the clean-up (it has a very distinctive, awful smell that didn't go over well with my first trimester nausea). I feel very lucky that I didn't get it also since my husband's fever hit 103 for several hours - probably would not have been a good thing in early pregnancy. It was awful! We didn't have to hospitalize him, but we swore we never wanted to go through that again. Therefore, we chose to vaccinate our twins. They had no side effects and I'm so relieved that we won't face rotavirus with them. Anyway, I see I'm in the minority on this board, but I don't regret it.

I would check on the sources you get the scary info from. My hubby and I researched this alot and found that the infor that scared us the most about this rotavirus would somehow link back to Merk the maker of the vaccine. This drug is so new, we chose not to mess around. Many children died from the previous version that was out and it took 6 years to come off the market. Just my opinion, but I would not mess around with such a new vaccine, who knows what will happen years or even months down the road. When we told our pedi our decision not to get it, he seemed totally fine with it. Oh and one more thing is that the places where kids die from this sickness are placed that dont have health care and don't take kids to the doc. I know us and if our little girl even sneezes wrong she will be in the docs office the next day.

hi,

I would not give it to him. I chose not to give it to my son. He has had most of the other vaccinations, but even my pediatrician is skeptical about this one. My good good friend gave to her daughter who is now 4 yrs old...she got extremely sick from the vaccine AND still got rotavirus a year later. I just don't think there has been enough testing on this vaccine yet.

Thanks,
D.

Listen to your instincts. Think about it - did you or anyone you know have rotovirus?

Dear Amoret,

Yes, the vaccine has serious side effects!! Is it worth risking your child's life right now? Besides, this virus typically resolves on its own after three to nine days (medicinenet.com).

There are alternative ways to deal with the infection safely if and when your child caught the virus. Remember, a good immune system will ward off viruses.... I pray that you will make the right decision for your child.

Blessings,
O.

I have a 4yo son. When he was 10mos old he got rotovirus. It was awful. He was dehydrated and lost weight very quickly. If I could have vaccinated him back then, I would have. He got it a second time a few months later. My daughter is 18mos old and did get her 3-dose vaccine as recommended and has avoided this awful illness. She did get some sort of "stomach flu", but if it was caused by the same virus, she was sick for 2 days not 2 weeks like my son. We even went to Disneyland with her on day 2. She has had no adverse effects from her immunizations. I would hate to have something so preventable make my kiddos so sick.

I'm 32yo mom of 2 kids (4yo boy, 18mo girl). I a SAHM and have been with my hubby for 11 years (married 6).

Hi Amoret,

You've probably already made your decision because it's Monday (I wished I had seen this earlier) but my baby who is now a little over 5 months old had a really bad reaction to the vaccine. He had bloody diarrhea and we ended up having to send him to the emergency. He is perfectly healthy now but it was such a scare at the time. Because of his bad reaction, he no longer gets the vaccine. I'm sure whatever you decide will be fine but I just wanted to give you my experience with it. My sister in law has a 2 1/2 year old who never got the vaccine like your older child, but she also has an eight month old who received the vaccine and everything was fine. I know how it feels... it's so hard to make a decision but you'll do what's best. Moms always do! Email me if your baby did get the vaccine and has troubles with it. Good luck!

My 5 year old got rotovirus when she was one. She was not hospitalized, but we did stay the afternoon for her to have an IV in for several hours because the diarrhea and vomiting made her dehydrated. I originally thought she had an ear infection, but when she stopped drinking and eating I immediately called the dr. so catching it early helps.
When my daughter was born they were testing the vaccine still, and I did not want to take a chance with "tests"
My other daughter never got the virus.
I think as long as you are aware of the signs of rotovirus, you may be able to catch it quick enough to get your child treated.

Hope this helps.

Amoret,
I have three children 9,14,16 with one on the way. I truly believe that if you have educated yourself on a particuliar subject and still have doubts follow your intuition. This has helped me out in so many situations concerning my childrens health. My nine year old did get this virus when he was maybe almost a year old. I was still nursing him which was good- but he was hospitalized for about 5 days. The virus was going around San Antonio where we lived and I took him to the pediatrician for a check up. And guess what- he was playing with the toys in the office(big mistake) and got the virus. But my other two have never had it- either have my 13 nieces or nephews. I know its common but you can take precautions and there are other ways to build your childs immune system Risk free.
I hope this helps ease your mind a bit!!
Follow your mommy instincts one more thing- when my youngest was born- the nurse was pushing me to give him the new hepatitis vaccine- it made me nervous so i passed- even after researching the benefits and possible harm it could cause. Just a while later they stopped the vaccine in infants it was found to cause auto immune diseases- even in adults that took the shot.

What a relief- so my children have some vaccines- but not all. I dont believe we can vaccinate our children from every harmful thing in this world.

My older son had the Rotovirus at 8 months old. We did take him to the emergency room with a high fever of 104 that wouldn't go down with tylenol or motrin. It was so scary, and it took two weeks for him to recover. Before the rotovirus he was a great eater, but afterwards he became a difficult eater.

I'm a mom that thinks twice about vaccines, and have limited what my children get and when they get it. My younger son is only 2, and he has only had 4 vaccines. One of those 4 is the rotovirus. And only because we went through it with the older boy.

There is so much controversy about vaccines, it's hard to say who is right. Recently NIH did admit that the administration of vaccines that had thimerosol did cause autism. They refuted this for years, and their admittance of it was very hush hush. But thimerosol has been taken out of all the children's vaccines. So who is to say if without the thimerosol they are safe? I guess we just have to weigh the options and make the best decision that feels right to us.

Good luck!
B.