Thoughts on Vaccines?

I am coming from an educated point of view. I have a BS in Nursing, and a MS in Midwifery. I have read lots of information both for and against vaccines. I initially decided on delayed vaccines. My first child had an MMR at a little over a year, and a second one at age 3. We also started the DPT series at around 18 months, but she threw up violently for the next 24 hours. I didn't get her the second one in the series. She has not had any other vaccines.

The more I read on the topic, the more I decided not to do them at all. I have two other children, ages 4 and 19 months who have not had any vaccines. My oldest is the only one who has ever had antibiotics (once for strep throat at age 6). My children are very healthy and appear to have strong immune systems. I believe it is partly because we did not vaccinate.

People are exposed to germs all the time. The reason we sometimes get sick and other times we don't dpends on the amount of bacterial exposure and how well our body is able to present an immune response. Vaccines bypass many of the normal routes of exposure and our immune systems are not able to work and repond normally. Immune systems need practice, to develop memory cells. This is much more effective at future prevention than a vaccine.

Vaccines are also not risk free. Most side effects are mild, but in rare cases can be life threatening. I am not sure about the link to autism because there have been studies showing a connection and some which don't. It is likely that if a child already has the gene for autism, the vaccine can trigger it. My reasons for not vaccinating do not have much to do with fear of the side effects, but more to do with what I stated above.

In Ohio, you only need to have a personal reason not to vaccinate. To get into a public school, you simply have to write a letter stating you have chosen not to vaccinate for personal reasons and turn it in with the medical forms.

I also want to add that whatever you choose, it is always important to keep your child healthy in order to maximize the strength of their immune system. Make sure to feed your child healthy foods (organic when possible), ensure adequate rest, enough time for fresh air and play, decrease overall stress, and promote healthy habits such as handwashing.

This is a very valid concern M. and one that I shared until recently. The CDC just released a study that shows absolutely no link between the ingredient in vaccines (which was removed from almost all vaccines by 2000) and Autism. Do the research online and you will see what happened. The FDA recommended the removal of the substance in question due to mercury levels that would build up over time and they were slightly higher than the FDA would have liked; this was not because of a link to Autism.

If you don't believe the CDC, ask your pediatrician for guidance. I hope this helps ease your mind a bit. :)

There is no concrete evidence that vaccines cause autism. In my opinion, it is safer to have your child vaccinated because I've heard of a lot more kids dying from diseases that are preventable with the shots than I've heard of kids actually getting autism because they had vaccines. If you look at it this way, kids have been getting vaccinated for decades. There are plenty of reasons why a small percentage of kids get autism. Scientists just don't know enough about autism to know where it comes from or what specifically causes it.

You already have two other kids who have been vaccinated who are not autistic (I'm guessing). So the odds are on your side. Unfortunately for some parents, their children are selected by nature to develop autism at varying levels. It's something we don't understand, but we can't stop taking precautions against things we KNOW we can beat on the off chance that autism MIGHT occur. Vaccines virtually wiped out polio and smallpox in this country. IMO, the benefits far outweigh any risks that we aren't even sure truly exist. And if they do exist, they obviously don't exist for all children because lots of kids get all their shots and they develop normally.

...LF

Check out this site:

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/vpd-vac-basics.htm

and common questions parents ask about vaccinations:

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niiw/2007/downloads/f_...

For our family it was a no-brainer. We chose to vaccinate our son, protecting him from preventable diseases that could have a serious impact upon his health.

By the way, as responsible mothers who meticulously research health information, I think ALL of us come from "educated points of views".

just do some research and trust your instincts... everyone has their own opinions. personally, i believe we are so fortunate to have access to protect our kids from preventable diseases.

M.,

There is no cause/effect relationship between vaccines and autism. The increasing awareness of autism, the huge human population, and the ease of spreading information via the media make it seem like there is suddenly an epidemic of autism, but that is just not the case. With testing and diagnosis, the children who once would have stayed at home or been put in "special" or "slow" classes are instead given alphabet soup labels and therapy for things like ADD, ADHD, Autism, Asperger's, Downe's, etc. It is much more dangerous for you to leave your child unvaccinated, because this leaves him a target for biological warfare. Remember what the whites did to the Native American population with smallpox on blankets. My pediatrician has fully vaccinated all 5 of his wee ones, so that should tell you something right there. I have fully vaccinated my two young boys and am glad they will not have to experience all those diseases.

Best wishes,
K.