Nurses children and vaccinations, how do you feel?

Nurses General Nursing

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I am on another forum that is very anti-vaccinations for children (or anyone for that matter), and it got me thinking how do nurses and other healthcare workers feel about vaccinations and anti-vaxer's. Most of the posters on that forum are very hostile to anyone in healthcare and no matter what a healthcare worker posts it is always wrong or they are spying for "The Man". :uhoh3: They tend to see healthcare workers as uninformed, uneducated, and uncaring. How do you feel about vaccinations for yourself or children? Do you ever have people that are very anti-vaccination and what reasons do they give? And do you think that most people that decline vaccination are informed about or understand the effects of the route they are taking? I am not trying to judge, I am just very curious.

Specializes in Public Health, DEI.
That supposed "old stock" is certainly long "out of date" by now. You doc certainly should not be giving out of date vac's.

Like most parents who are honest about it, my son's autism was apparant shortly if not immediately after birth and had nothing to do with his 12-18 month vac's.

I don't think it is fair to imply that some parents of children with autism aren't being honest when they say they didn't notice any signs of autism shortly after birth. Although many parents of children with autism (myself included) can look back and identify very early concerns, there is a specific subset of autism where the children are developing normally until 18-24 months and then start losing previously acquired skills. This age range and the fact that kids are getting vaccinations at the same time may account for some of the speculation about vaccines and autism. I realize that whether there is or is not cause and effect is a matter of disagreement at the moment, but that doesn't mean anyone is being dishonest.

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Some of the "vaccines cause autism" people have said that the doctor said, "If you don't give your kid this shot today, I will report you to CPS" (child protective services). Is it true that doctors do that? I find it hard to believe when they see so many kids who are really abused.

Many of them believes that the medical profession is in on a conspiracy to produce a generation of autistic people, so drug companies can come up with new products. I find that VERY hard to believe, especially because whenever I hear about someone with a really severely autistic child (including an adult child - I know such a family whose child is now in his 60s), at least one parent is almost always a physician.

I'm talking about people like this: http://dir.salon.com/story/mwt/feature/2003/09/27/autism/

The original link said, "Here's a story about autism that will never be in the mainstream press because it isn't all warm and fuzzy." When the comments were up, one of them pointed out that the writer at no time expresses any love for his daughter or joy in her presence, and this is true so be forewarned. BTW, to my knowledge, vaccines are NOT mentioned in this story.

Whenever I get flamed about advocating institutionalization, I post this story and it usually shuts them up really fast. There really are situations where a family is better off if that person is not living with them.

It is true that the P component of the old DPT vaccine did cause neurological damage in a small percentage of people who took it, and I know of a family who had a child affected by this; she had a seizure disorder and was probably mildly autistic, and died from a seizure at age 24. :o People who have this reaction should never have DPT again, nor should their first degree relatives (parent, sibling, child).

I can think of several people I grew up with in the 1970s who I believe were on the autistic spectrum, and a number of adults as well, so we can't blame modern vaccines for this.

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.
It is true that the P component of the old DPT vaccine did cause neurological damage in a small percentage of people who took it, and I know of a family who had a child affected by this; she had a seizure disorder and was probably mildly autistic, and died from a seizure at age 24. :o People who have this reaction should never have DPT again, nor should their first degree relatives (parent, sibling, child).

However, the pertussis component of old (the "P" of DTP) has since been replaced with safer acellular pertussis (aP, as in DTaP) and now it's rare to see anything more than a little soreness and/or low-grade fever. So I don't think the need for the entire family to abstain from the DTaP is there anymore. DTP is not used in the US anymore.

http://www.immunize.org/vis/dtap01.pdf

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If you are one who doesn't "believe in" vacination so be it. You are not going to be persuaded by me or anyone else.

This brings to mind I had a patient in the hospital with pertussus. the parents did not believe in vaccinations and stated that their peidiatrition (from another community about 200 miles away) supported them and agreed.

Then the Dad said I bet you have never seen a child admitted with one of the diseases they vaccinate for. I said I did. He asked how recently. I said today. He seemed very surprised that there was a child there this very day with such a disease and it did not result from having had the vaccine.. I did not point out the obvious. Yes, he did know his child's dx(sorry my spelling sucks today. Guess my brain's speller is on vacation)

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Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.

I don't know about vaccinations now a days in Holland but back in the 50's when I was born we did not get vaccines. I went to grade school here and when my parents registered me for school I had to go to the doctor and get all of my vaccinations before I was allowed to go to school. My Mother did not want me to have any vaccinations but my Father took me because he knew we couldn't fight the system.

That's how I look at vaccinations in regards to my grandbabies. What they have to have they get. I do believe DTaP, MMR, HibB are all necessary vaccines and do save lives but I do not think that chickenpox vaccines or flu vaccines are appropriate for healthy children. If we keep vaccinating everything how will their immune systems ever build any strength?

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Specializes in ICU, OR.

I am an RN and am selective with my kids' vaccines. Some of them are unneccesary. My baby wasn't about to have unprtected sex or use a dirty needle at two days old so we are waiting on the Hep B shot. Also, flu shots have thimerosal and I read that it is enough mercury that it could harm a 250 lb person, what would it do to a baby? Plus you can't predict what flu strain will be going around each year. And what about the research that shows high measles titers in kids with autism?I know that many ARE important and we get those. Just not too many on one day, and not the unneccessary ones. I am related to a child with autism and it is very real to me, what the risks are.If anyone is curious, pick up a copy of "what your doctor won't tell you about children's vaccinations" by Stephanie Cave MD, visit 909shot.com, and search the VAERS database (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System). If you read some facts that I have read, you may see the benefits of putting your child on an alternate schedule (some delayed, not 6 shots on one day etc).One thing - I don't think the anti-vax moms are against all medical people... I think they are angry with the pharmaceutical companies who create them and them market them, and give big $$$to docs to push them. The docs get $ from the drug companies for each vaccine they give. It is a shady system and not fair to parents that the shots "have" to be given when the drug company says so. In a nutshell, I am a medical professional and know the benefits of vaccines. But I also know that it is dangerous for anyone to trust their pediatricians blindly without researching what is being injected into their babies. It is a smart, healthy move for a parent to research the vaccination issue and decide what is best for them.

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.
Also, flu shots have thimerosal and I read that it is enough mercury that it could harm a 250 lb person.

Mercury-free flu shots are available, and I don't allow my son to get any flu vax except those.

I think they are angry with the pharmaceutical companies who create them and them market them, and give big $$$to docs to push them. The docs get $ from the drug companies for each vaccine they give. It is a shady system and not fair to parents that the shots "have" to be given when the drug company says so.

I'm curious as to where this info came from. I worked in a community health center for several years and our vaccines did NOT come from the drug companies - we got them for free from the state, and we got no reimbursement whatsoever for them. And the drug companies don't set the recommendations for vaxing - the guidelines come from the CDC and AAP.

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Specializes in ICU, OR.
Mercury-free flu shots are available, and I don't allow my son to get any flu vax except those.

They are VERY hard to come by. I have made phone calls to dr offices and 99% of them don't know what thimerosal-free flu shots are. ur pediatrician gets a limited supply of them and are only available by request and only for those 6 mos to age 2.

As for the pharmaceutical companies, yes its true. The clinics that give required vax are a different story I guess. But yes, the new vaccines are marketed to docs by reps the same way that new prescription drugs are.

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Plus you can't predict what flu strain will be going around each year.

Actually you can make a pretty good guess. Worldwide sampling and epidemiologic trending allow us to make a reasonably educated guess on the dominant strain in any given season. Occassionally it is not accurate; most of the time it is. And regardless, there is some cross-immunity conferred by the vaccine against other strains.

And what about the research that shows high measles titers in kids with autism?

Ah, that damn Lancet article rears its ugly head again.

By way of background for anyone who isn't familiar with this subject: In 1998, the Lancet published a study that purported to show a statistical association between the MMR vaccine and autism. Since then there have been multiple studies and a re-examination of the original data. Not only has the new data showed that the there is zero association, but 10 of the 13 authors of the original Lancet article retracted their conclusion.

Every major medical organization dealing with vaccines in the U.S. has issued consensus statements that MMR has no connection with autism. Zero. There is no risk.

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As for the pharmaceutical companies, yes its true. The clinics that give required vax are a different story I guess. But yes, the new vaccines are marketed to docs by reps the same way that new prescription drugs are.

Which new vaccines are you talking about? The only new vaccine I am aware of that is not in the mandatory panel for school attendence is Gardasil. Yes, they are marketing that pretty heavily, but probably not for much longer because all indications is that it will become mandatory for adolescent girls soon.

As for the rest, I have never heard or seen marketing. Why would you market a mandatory vaccination that people can get free in most areas?

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Specializes in LTC.

One of my colleges made me get an MMR before I could enroll and would not let me take a personal exemption. A few days after I got the shot, the site swelled to the size of a golfball and was itchy/painful for at least a week. The MD advised me to not get any more MMR vaccines. Because of that, I was terrified of getting any more vaccinations because of the possibility of more and nastier side effects. So here's the "funny" part: during my nursing program 10 years later, I told an infection control nurse about what had happened and that I still had a bump from it (scar tissue, maybe?) on my left deltoid. It was then that I realized that the RN who gave the MMR at the college had given it to me IM, not sub-q, like it's supposed to be administered. :angryfire

After that, I had no problem getting my entire hep B series and a tetorifice booster; still, I do sit the fence about the issue as a whole. I do agree with those who say that anybody who is too vehement about either side of the issue is not doing themselves or their kids any favors.

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Given that vaccines are truly the most expensive drug to produce and are sold at a very low price compared to other more profitable drugs, I don't find justification to say drug companies push them. If it were left to the drug companies alone they would not produce vaccines at all. The few that do have been given no choice in the matter by Government.

Vaccines loose money for drug companies much of the time.

Ok so now you think you have my number. No I do not like pharmaceutical companies anymore than you do. Yes I agree their profit margin is out of line, but not on this one.

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