[lsyorke]

My biggest concern with the current vaccine situation is the pure number of them. Just what are we doing when we assault this immature immune system with these mutiple vaccines?? What do we have now.. DPT, Chicken pox, Hep B, MMR, Haemophilus influenzae, Inactivated Poliovirus, varicella, pneumococcal. Now add rotovirus, then add in Hep A when they're older. My son is older now, but I would be thinking long and hard before I gave my infant all of these vaccines.

[fergus51]

Every parent can make their own decisions on this one. Personally, if I ever have kids I would vaccinate and I assure you, I'm pretty well educated. If you wouldn't, that's your business.

[marilynmom]

Originally Posted by mandana

It really isn't fair (or accurate) to assume that those of us that are pro-vaccine aren't aware of the opposing point of view or the ingredients in vaccines. I promised not to debate, and I dont' intend to, but please don't think that we're all just accepting because "they" say we need them.

I think the vast majority of "everyday" people have no clue what are in vaccines, how the work, or question anything about them--the Dr says they need them, hands them a sheet of paper, and injects them. I know most everyone I know how no clue

And I am NOT anti-vax, but I am not overly pro-vax either....I think there is a middle ground in this. My children have certain vaccines and I do too (we do choose--my children for instance will not get the HepB until the are older). I just don't like the way people in general are simply not given the education about vaccines, the risks, safety concerns, etc that we are about other medications, medical procedures, etc. I think that is fair.

And god bless my poor sister, she had HepA as a child and contracted HepB as a teenager (high risk behaviors) and recovered so I am well aware of what that is like unfortunatly. I was just mentioning that I was still researching the vaccine, looking at the pros and cons, the risks of both the disease and the vax, etc

[marilynmom]

Originally Posted by fergus51

Every parent can make their own decisions

Yes, but most parents are not making *informed* decisions.

[onehusbandsevenkids]

Bottom line for me: either way I take a risk with my child - which is the lesser of the two evils? Hard to say - if you get your child vaccinated and he/she develops probelms from it, then you'll question yourself for the rest of your life. If you don't and problems develop - same thing.
However most of the things children are vaxed for these days are not things they would die from due to better living conditions, ect, ect....
A good read on this (and other child health issues) is How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor by Dr. Robert S. Mendelsohn

Pray your children stay well, either way most parents would doubt & blame themselves.
Hard to be a parent....

[marilynmom]

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/.../rotavirus.htm

Treatment: For persons with healthy immune systems, rotavirus gastroenteritis is a self-limited illness, lasting for only a few days. Treatment is nonspecific and consists of oral rehydration therapy to prevent dehydration. About one in 40 children with rotavirus gastroenteritis will require hospitalization for intravenous fluids.

It goes on to say in another part of the CDC site that virtually 100% of all children get rotovirus by the time they are 3 years old. So maybe this vaccine should be used on high risk children that do not have a healthy immune system?

[mandana]

Originally Posted by lsyorke

My biggest concern with the current vaccine situation is the pure number of them. Just what are we doing when we assault this immature immune system with these mutiple vaccines?? What do we have now.. DPT, Chicken pox, Hep B, MMR, Haemophilus influenzae, Inactivated Poliovirus, varicella, pneumococcal. Now add rotovirus, then add in Hep A when they're older. My son is older now, but I would be thinking long and hard before I gave my infant all of these vaccines.

In high risk areas, Hep A is given pretty young - my one year old has had hers already.

Again, this is OK with me. It's certainly not been "required" for my daughter to have it, and it's not required by the school district in our area yet. But, we do live in a high-risk area and I wanted her to have it.

I think the immune system is pretty hearty when given opportunity. I had a patient that really cracked me up - I asked if he had any med/food allergies. He said, "Honey, I grew up on a farm, we weren't allowed to be allergic to anything."

There is a bit of truth to his statement. Many people feel that we keep our homes so clean nowadays that our immune systems are so weak because we don't have the exposure that our parents and grandparents did.

Amanda

[mandana]

Originally Posted by marilynmom

So maybe this vaccine should be used on high risk children that do not have a healthy immune system?

I would definitely advocate for that - but there are a whole bunch of cardiac kids, Down Syndrome kids, renal kids, etc. who have healthy immune systems but also cannot tolerate huge swings in fluid volumes who should also be advocated for in receiving the vaccine.

It's like synergis - should every kid have this vaccine? Of course not, its almost $1500 a month! But, kids who could die from RSV certainly should. My very healthy child had RSV and was incredibly sick from it. Still don't think his illness would have justified the vaccination, but I wouldn't have been opposed to it either. Especially after seeing how sick it made him!

Amanda

[michelle95]

it's back to the old argument of benefits vs. the risks. and i personally believe that the benefits outweigh the risks when the vaccine is one that has the power to save alot of lives through prevention

Pretty easy to say if you don't have a child that you believe was harmed by vaccines.

My son was normal...until Sept 2001 within days of his vaccinations. For a whole year, I did not realize what made my child go from a normal 21 month old to a raving animal. He would bang his head and tantrum almost the whole day. Then, in Oct 2002, I learned about the thimerasol-autism theory. 87 times the mercury safe exposure standards set by the EPA in one day WILL cause profound effects in people...it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out...cummulative effects cause the most damage.

Yep. If I knew then what I know now...life would be different for my son. I would have delayed immunizations and demanded them to be thimerasol free. Sadly, I didn't have that choice. You guys say that you are "learned" but are you really? Would you knowlingly inject your children with a neurotoxin...would you believe that your doctor and the FDA would allow that? No. We didn't have a choice...much less an informed one.

[stn2003]

[quote=michelle95]Pretty easy to say if you don't have a child that you believe was harmed by vaccines.


No, it is NOT easy for me to say because i have taken care of a child who has autism and was like family to me that I grew to love through caring for him, whose parents believed it to be linked with the old vaccines/ preservatives- private home care, where I saw the day to day struggles of this family trying to cope and this little boy who was blind to the outside world. It was a heartbreaking thing : /

The reality exists that vaccines do carry risks- in some cases, dangerous risks for a small percentage of the population- but they also have the potential for enormous good. Parents need to be better educated about the benefits and risks, and we as healthcare providers need to EDUCATE them so they can make informed decisions- not guilt them into a choice one way OR another.