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 Perinatal, Education.

Maybe, as healthcare providers, we should all be a little more aware of physiology and not let our personal opinions color the care that we give. A person cannot be 'immune' to an antibiotic. Guillain Barre can be a horrific consequence of a vaccine, but shingles is a product of the virus varicella. I agree with not giving fever reducers to a person with a common cold and a temp of 100-101, but a pt with pylenephritis who is hospitalized and has a fever that is trending up needs to get that temp controlled pronto by whatever means possible and monitored closely for that slippery sepsis slope as described before. I understand that raising the temp of the body is part of the immune response as that particular pathogen is happier and grows faster at 98.6, but a very virulent and dangerous pathogen won't be taken care of so easily. If that were the case, infectious disease would not have been such a threat to existence in the days before antibiotics and vaccines.

A little history note: There is some compelling scientific evidence that vaccinations may have helped us win in the Revolutionary War. George Washington had troops vaccinated with cow pox vaccine even though it was controversial at the time. The Hessians and a lot of the British troops were wiped out by pox and other diseases that the American troops had immunity to via the vaccination (and being natural citizens of the continent as well, of course!).

Specializes in Peds.

Hi,

So Matthew, to you I say make all the ill-considered personal choices you want, just don't make me pay for them. If you want to ride a motorcycle with out a helmet or drive a car without wearing your seatbelt, fine, but you darn well better be carrying enough insurance coverage for your acute care, rehab, and disability needs.
I don't disagree with this at all - infact, I advocate for this at my local city council. I write articles in the local paper.

The price of liberty and freedom is taking responsibility for it.

I have always been, and continue to remain - a steadfast advocate of and for personal responsibility.... (a trait I see slowly receding in our welfare state - but that's a whole different ball of wax).

My advocacy for individual rights is just that - individual rights. Every individual is free to chose what they should or should not put into their bodies.

You are free to vaccinate yourself and I am just as free to refuse the vaccination.

You are free to try and convince me of the benefits of vaccination - for myself, my family, my kids etc.

I am also free to refuse it, despite your persuasion.

This is what is meant by a "free society".

It also means that if I suffer from the poor choices I made in my life, I shouldn't expect "forced charity" from you, my parents, my neighbours or anyone else!

What I will not accept, nor stand for - is forcing free individuals to accept a course of action... no matter how "beneficial" it may be.

As a wise man once said: "The fruit of immoral actions can never be moral".

Thanks,

Matthew

My opinion is that if you choose for yourself not to be vaccinated for XYZ, that's fine, but if you then get infected and spread the infection to others, you've acted irresponsibly. So kudos to you, DeLana, on getting your flu shot to keep your patients and your little ones safe. :yeah:

I have personal knowledge of both life-altering damage from getting a mumps infection as an adult (a male friend who is now both completely deaf and sterile as a result) and the disabling down side of immunization side effects (a former pt who got a swine flu vaccine, developed Guillain Barre' that then became chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy--leaving him as a functional quad).

I think that if you're going to choose to opt out of vaccinations for yourself or your children, you should spend some time keeping current on what's happening with your local infection rates (go to your state's public health dept's website) and with changes in national vaccination recommendations (go to the mmwr site http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/). You can also track reported national and international outbreaks of preventable diseases at that site (use the search term "outbreak" on the mmwr site) to see what's occurring with mumps, pertussis, hepatitis, varicella, polio, etc.

HollyVK, RN, BSN, JD

Knowledge IS power!

My nephew had the vaccine for mumps (had all his vaccines and on time) and he still came down with a nasty case of it.

And for us people who are too uneducated and irresponsible to vaccinate themselves for community health's sake, well, if your vaccinations do what they are supposed to do you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

Maybe, as healthcare providers, we should all be a little more aware of physiology and not let our personal opinions color the care that we give. A person cannot be 'immune' to an antibiotic. Guillain Barre can be a horrific consequence of a vaccine, but shingles is a product of the virus varicella. I agree with not giving fever reducers to a person with a common cold and a temp of 100-101, but a pt with pylenephritis who is hospitalized and has a fever that is trending up needs to get that temp controlled pronto by whatever means possible and monitored closely for that slippery sepsis slope as described before. I understand that raising the temp of the body is part of the immune response as that particular pathogen is happier and grows faster at 98.6, but a very virulent and dangerous pathogen won't be taken care of so easily. If that were the case, infectious disease would not have been such a threat to existence in the days before antibiotics and vaccines.

A little history note: There is some compelling scientific evidence that vaccinations may have helped us win in the Revolutionary War. George Washington had troops vaccinated with cow pox vaccine even though it was controversial at the time. The Hessians and a lot of the British troops were wiped out by pox and other diseases that the American troops had immunity to via the vaccination (and being natural citizens of the continent as well, of course!).

There is also evidence that smallpox rates were already declining before the vaccine for it was put into use.

I heard a veterinarian say that even though the rabies vaccines may (or may not) protect your dog if they are bitten they can still carry it. Not saying people should or shouldn't vaccinate their pets for rabies but people think vaccines will "deliver" them. Vaccines are not the cure all people think they are.

People have had it pounded in their heads they must must must vaccinate for everything and that no one can go to school or even leave the country without their vaccinations. This is not true. Also, when chidren are brought in for vaccinations the medical staff is supposed to explain the potential harm and give the parents the choice of whether to have the vaccines or not. This rarely happens.

And it is known that every case of polio in the US since 1980 has been caused by the polio vaccine.

If my children reach adulthood and decide they want vaccinations that will be up to them.

Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

Wow it seems I'm in the minority here. That's OK. My daughter working on her 3rd Master's at the same University had to get the MMR at age 38!

She's gone to school there on and off since getting her BA in 91 and all her records are there. My son went to a regional campus of the same University and had to have the "shots" too. They're adults and made their own choices, but the school wouldn't let them in without vaccinations.

I've asked around and it seems the norm here.

Specializes in ICU, nutrition.
I have an 11 y/o daughter. I am against this new vaccine for some strains of Human Papilloma Virus. I think I heard that Texas is requiring it now for girls aged 9-13(?). That's makes me angry. My daughter will not be getting that vaccine.

If cervical cancer comes from HPV, then it is quite preventable. I don't like the idea of assuming that everyone will be having unprotected, early sex.

So you are assuming your daughter will be a virgin when she gets married and so will her husband? Sounds like wishful thinking to me.

My daughter will get the shot unless it's proven to be unsafe. I don't want her to have unprotected premarital sex either, but I can't control what her future husband does before he marries her. For that matter, I can't control what she does, only educate and pray.

Specializes in UR/PA, Hematology/Oncology, Med Surg, Psych.

My two daughters will NOT be getting the Gardisil vaccine anytime soon. I prefer to wait until its been in use much longer. And as for the argument that we as a society shouldn't have to pay for others "poor" judgment, that just irritates me. Everyone in society makes health decisions at times that others find fault with. Riding a motorcycle without a helmet, driving a car without a seatbelt, being morbidly obese, smoking cigarettes, drinking excessive alcohol, not eating enough fiber, etc....To say that society should not assist those people, means that none of us are good enough for assistance. Everyone has a right to make their own health decisions, and society does not the right to judge them. Remember, those in glass houses....O.k. I will get off of my soapbox now.

Specializes in Med-Surg, Wound Care.

"Your personal freedom should not come at your community's expense"

Interesting quote. So you can only have "personal" freedom if everyone else agrees with what you are doing??? Quite a dichotomy there.

Personal freedom is whatever you want it to be. You make decisions based on the information available to you, and the reliability of those sources(which these days are VERY questionable). Not based on what someone else thinks you should be doing.

"Your personal freedom should not come at your community's expense"

Interesting quote. So you can only have "personal" freedom if everyone else agrees with what you are doing??? Quite a dichotomy there.

Personal freedom is whatever you want it to be. You make decisions based on the information available to you, and the reliability of those sources(which these days are VERY questionable). Not based on what someone else thinks you should be doing.

Yea, really. You either believe in personal freedom or you don't. I honestly feel the way some people are turning we had better start working on making sure our papers are in order...

Well, I am a nursing student and my kids are not vaxed. I am "vaxed to the max" given my military service and nursing school. My daughter was fully vaxed until about age 1.5. My son received his 3 month shots, then we stopped.

Why we stopped... my son has eczema related to multiple food allergies and some unknowns. I don't feel comfortable exposing him to all the ingredients and immune reactions that are in vaccines. If a piece of cheese causes a strong immune reaction from him then what will injecting monkey cells or mercury (still in vaccines BTW for those who think it isn't) do to his system? Just recently we found out one of his triggers is eggs. Glad we didn't get the flu vaccine.

For the sake of herd immunity (yes, I understand and believe in it) I will probably have my kids vaccinated later albeit on an extremely slow schedule when they are at least 3 years old. I will skip varicella however until we know what happens when you are 60 and exposed to it again. I will also skip Gardisil until there is more info. Right now from clinical trials we know it lasts for at least 4 years- if I vaccinate my daughter at 12 and she has sex when she is 30 and is exposed to HPV we have no idea if it will still work. We also have no idea what the long term side effects are.

Also, if the vaccines are so effective, then my kids will only make the other unvaccinated kids sick. There shouldn't be a public outcry given that the risks should be limited to the population who chooses to accept those risks. Just my .02.

I have a 2 month old and we just got his 2 month shots last week. I opted to have the hep b administered at birth as well.

However, I did not receive a flu shot while pregnant due to the preservative thimerosal. I was not comfortable being injected with mercury while pregnant. I feel comfortable exposing my baby to vaccines that do not use thimerosal as a preservative though. See the following link for more info:

http://www.cdc.gov/nip/vacsafe/concerns/thimerosal/faqs-availfree.htm

As for future flu shots: there are thimerosal free flu shots available every year. This year the individual doses (not the multi dose vial) by aventis pasteur were thimerosal free--this is what I would choose for my child.

I'm still unsure as to whether or not I will vaccinate against varicella. I'm not sure the benefits outweigh the risks.

I live in an area with a large number of immigrants, not all of which come into this country legally. They may carry preventable disease with them (please do not interpret this as anti-immigrant). I choose to vaccinate my child against deadly, preventable diseases. I believe it is foolish not to and encourage all of my patients to do the same.

Wow, I'm gratified to see so many fellow medical heretics out there. Has anyone read that book, btw? It was written by the late Dr Mendleson and titled Confessions of medical heretic

0809241315.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Medical-Heretic-Robert-Mendelsohn/dp/0809241315

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