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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!
great advice offered here:
the children's hospital of philadelphia - vaccines: separating fact from fear
watch 'vaccines: separating fact from fear' to find answers to the most commonly asked questions about vaccines.
My own purely unscientific observations: the two moms I've known who objected to vaccinations (for reasons unrelated to their individual children's health status) were both Very Nervous Nellies, and tended to sieze upon any reported instance of adverse reactions to vaccinations as *proof* that established medical practices are generally full of baloney.
Funny how their kids were always sick from exposure to every sniffle & sneeze that went around...
Getting titers checked is a good idea if you have any concerns...I had to have 4 MMRs before I would titer. Have never titered for the hepatitis and never had a known case of chickenpox or the vaccine but do titer for that...so Kara's pediatrician ran a batch of blood work on her to make sure that she wouldn't need additional boosters...said she has never done that before and that my family is pretty weird...my sis is the same way.
My mother had measels and mumps in early adolscents and then terrible cases again when she was in her late 30s... again she titered for nothing.
DS is adament about not havingthe vaccines for her baby...she says if we are this unpredictable she doesn't trust it with her baby...afraid of unheard of side effects, shots for and infant that do nothing,etc. because "our family is weird"
suzanne4, RN
26,410 Posts
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