I am concerned about vaccinations being required for kids to start school. I am a mommy that vaccinates all my children fully, but a neighbor of mine (NY state) claims that hers aren't vaccinated and they will be in the same school as my children. Is there a concern here? Is it legal for her to send her kids without vaccinations? What is the concern with not giving them? I guess I just don't get it and would like a heads up from those of you in the know!

I also want to state emphatically that I am not trying to stir up a debate...just trying to understand because I don't want to stir things up at the school if there is no need to do so!

Call your local health department, or go online, to find out what the law is in New York. Then go to http://www.about.com/pediatrics to find out what the recommendations are. As a former pedi nurse I cringe when someone tells me their children are not vaccinated. These vaccines were developed to protect children from deadly diseases. Your children should be protected by their vaccines. Some people still contract the disease, but have a milder form, even with vaccines. Read about that on http://www.cdc.gov.

The mothers that I have run into that do not vaccinate their children have had either religious reasons or feel that vaccinations pose an undue risk to their children's health.

Unless it has changed and I am not up to speed, here in Ohio kids can get immunization exemptions for medical reasons, religious reasons or "good cause". The parents have to fill out a form and document their reasons. If you do a search you can probably find the regulations for NY.

It doesn't bother me a WHOLE lot, as I know my kids are covered.

Thank you guys! !!! I am very concerned about my childrens health. This lady doesn't really seem to have a very good reason and she has had Children's Services at her house (she "claims" because they aren't vaccinated but I find that hard to believe). She seems to think they are picking on her. And to top it all off...she is going to be in my class in the fall! OIY! LOL! I will check out the websites...thank yoiu!

In Illlinois - you can also get an exemption form in order not to immunize your kids. Both of my sons were fully vaccinated (and since they were overseas for 12 years, received more than US kids). However, I drew the line at the hepatitis shots. When we returned to the states, the hepatitis shots were the newest thing. However, my oldest son has idiopathic anaphylaxis and has had several ICU admits due to this - one of which was within 24 hours of receiving immunizations. So...I elected not to immunize him or his younger brother for hepatitis. I think it is a personal decision, best reached after input from a trusted provider.

And remember, the unvaccinated child isn't a threat to your vaccinated child at all. So it really shouldn't be something that would be your concern in that way.

But, what about this statement: "Your children should be protected by their vaccines. Some people still contract the disease, but have a milder form, even with vaccines. Read about that on www.cdc.gov."

If you are truly so concerned about your child getting a disease from a non-vaccinated child, you can get your child's titer tested to see if they have immunity. For certain children, there are reasons not to vaccinate that you may or may not agree with. It is a person's right as a parent to make an informed decision about their child's vaccinations. For some children, vaccinations can be dangerous, and for that child, the risk of the vaccination far outweighs the slight chance they will be exposed to one of the diseases at some later time.

I have two children who, for different reasons, have had either altered vaccination schedules or have not received a specific vaccination. One because he was receiving chemotherapy and was unable to be vaccinated until years past the "normal" schedule. The other because he is allergic to eggs and because I am not willing to take the autism risk (proven or not at this point isn't the issue with me, I have one autistic child, therefore if there is a possibility that any vaccine will cause similar problems with another of my children I won't have it--not until they are able to prove absolutely there is no risk of autism from the vaccine.) We also have always refused any non-required vaccines for any of our children because of the risks related to vaccination.

Here in southeastern WI, we have seen some cases of pertussis popping up. Mostly college aged kids, who either no longer had the immunity, or did not get the pertussis vaccine as a child because of the adverse reactions kids that age were getting. Now that the pertussis vaccine as acellular, there are not the side effects there used to be.

Being a pediatric RN, I have given, literally, thousands of immunizations, and I have only seen a handful of reactions to them. I have also read that the MD's who signed their names to the 'so-called' research associating autism with MMR, are now pulling their names off of it, saying there was not enough research done to back that claim up. There is more research being done to determine if autism is genetic.

Back on the pertussis thing, the office I just recently left had a one month old die in January from it. The sad part is, the infant was too young to be immunized, so other than isolating the infant until the first round of shots, the parents had no control over the situation.

Sorry, I know this post was all over the place, but I had so many thoughts going through my head, I just typed them as they came to me.

There is a principle that the epidemiologists (and many of them are public health officials) expound upon: "herd immunity". That means that in a given population, the more members of a 'herd' --that's us-- that are immune to a certain disease, the less likely those who are NOT immune to it are likely to get it.

The diseases for which there are vaccines are for the most part fairly bad diseases. In the days before vaccines, epidemics of diphtheria, polio, measles, mumps, etc would sweep thru a community, and many, many children would die, or suffer severe sequelae from these diseases.

Your children will be protected against the diseases they've been vaccinated against, and provide 'herd immunity' for those who aren't. Your neighbor sounds like she has "issues". Thank goodness you have some common sense!

pmenrs...thanks about the common sense, but sometimes I am not so sure! LOL! I am just worried about having to spend two years with her in class! LOL! I'm already making other friends though so hopefully I won't have to worry about it.

All of you.......thank you for the insight. It is just what I was looking for. I know that there are some really good medical reasons for some children not to be vaccinated or have different vaccination schedules and I completely understand it. What i don't understand is people not vaccinating for fear of just general reactions when there is no reason to suspect one. Is this common do you think? And do you agree with the logic of it?

Again...curious Nelly here.....

When I lived in Arizona and worked in a PICU at one of the major teaching facilites, we were forever getting patients in for some reason or another that never had their full set of immunizations, and many had acquired life threatening illnesses because of it.

Now I am quite happy that even the US government is requiring it for any one moving to the US to have the series of shots if they haven't already had.

Perhaps this is one way that we will get better control. Sure there is always going to be the child that is either allergic to the vaccination or has other health issues. But for the parents that have no medical background and are just with-holding the injections because that is something that they read on the internet or in a magazine, ?????? :angryfire