I feel strongly that vaccinations are important and that any possible negative consequences are outweighed by the good the vaccine does. I think it is incredibly irresponsible to not vaccinate your child. I could go on, but I won’t.

But you are right, this is always a topic that gets heated.

I can understand putting your child on a “slower” schedule. Children today get A LOT more vaccines and more at one time as well. I am a speech pathologist and I worked with children with autism (specifically, newly diagnosed toddlers) for several years before having children of my own. I met mothers who were sure it was the vaccine that had caused their child’s autism and mothers who DID NOT VACCINATE and still had an autistic child. There’s no one answer to the autism question. Children today are exposed all sorts of contaminates; who knows what it is. Vaccinations have been extensively researched regarding autism and no one has found a connection. Mercury was removed from all vaccinations in 2004 (except the flu vaccine) because parents were SURE that was what caused their child’s autism. Five years later we haven’t seen a decrease in autism diagnosis (It’s actually gone up).

I agree with Randi that it is irresponsible not to vaccinate your child. The benefits outweigh the risks. Talk to someone who lived through the polio outbreak. There’s a reason we vaccinate.

I am think when the time comes I will put my child on a “slower” schedule.

In a response to April’s comment, no studies have found a significant correlation between the vaccinations and autism because those studies are usually funded by the companies that make the vaccinations. Now, I’m not saying they are the culprit, but I am saying that those studies are going to be bias in their results. If there was a significant correlation, imagine the amount of lawsuits and paperwork.

Either way, I think it is wise to be cautious.

I’m wondering this same thing to. The topic of vaccines and autism is so interesting to me. I have decide what I’m doing soon, but I think I will for sure delay some or not choose to get some done. Still learning! 🙂

I personally think that not getting vaccinated is a bad decision. I was vaccinated but when it came time to get the Hepatitis shots my mom refused b/c of something she read in a magazine. A few years later when we were going to another school they required us to get the shot and I needed it for college so my mom changed her mind. I also got the meningitis shot. Ever watch the episode of House where a couple didn’t vaccinate their child? That was an eye opening episode. Seeing as I have my degree in Biology I understand the Biology and reasons behind getting a vaccine. Sure the diseases aren’t as prevalent today as they once were but they can easily come back “stronger” than they were before. Viruses mutate. One reason I believe a person with a vaccinated child does not want an unvaccinated child around is because viruses can mutate. If more and more people chose to not have their children vaccinated the greater the chance of the viruses coming back and the greater the chance of those who are vaccinated still getting infected because of a mutation. I have read many articles that claim that vaccines caused Autism and others that say that there is no connection. I personally think there are more cases of Autism because people finally but signs/symptoms to a name. Just like when ADD and ADHD diagnoses rose in the 80s and 90s. What should scare you more than anything is what these viruses can do to your child not how “dangerous” the vaccines are. I don’t however think it is necessary for a child to be vaccinated against the flu and chicken pox. I had the chicken pox as a child and sure it sucked but I got over it. However if a person does not get the chicken pox by a certain age I think they should get the vaccine because it could do more damage (infertility, shingles). Everyone gets the flu at some point in their life even if they get a vaccine during flu season. I would much rather get the flu and have my body make antibodies so it can fend for itself! God gave us the wisdom, knowledge, and technology to make these vaccines, why not use it! And to the person who had the meningitis vaccine and had nerve damage…I’m sorry that you had to go through what you had to go through and I am in no way saying that what happened to you is a good thing but I would much rather have nerve damage in my arm then get meningitis and be paralyzed or die. There is a risk with everything medical but in the case of vaccines the benefits FAR FAR FAR outweigh the risks.

This subject is so fascinating to me especially everyone’s comments. Can you even send your kids to school without vaccines or is that what kicked off the homeschool surge? My kids did get their vaccines but now the doctor is saying that there have been changes and more are necessary “all of a sudden” what’s that mean and how ARE you suppose to know what is optional or necessary?

WE HAVE AND ARE VACCINATING! VERY VERY IMPORTANT! I DON’T THINK MANY SCHOOLS EVEN ACCEPT KIDS WITHOUT VACCINATIONS…I KNOW OURS DOESN’T

It’s not just about mercury. Vaccines also have aluminum and formaldehyde in them. Some have egg or dairy (which can cause death if you’re allergic), and the rubella vaccine was made from tissue from aborted human fetuses…some people are opposed on moral grounds.

IMO, there IS a valid risk of metal poisoning (aluminum if nothing else) from getting multiple vaccines at one sitting. This is why we only get one shot at a time, and I spread them at least a couple of months apart. 1–lower doses of the potentially harmful ingredients, 2–only having to deal with one disease at a time (instead of 5!) and 3–IF my child has a reaction I will know which vax it was.

Incidentally, the symptoms of autism are VERY SIMILAR to the symptoms of heavy metal poisoning. Read “What your doctor may not tell you about childhood vaccinations” by Dr Stephanie Cave. She is pro-vax, but promotes a delayed schedule, and has had a lot of success ‘curing’ so-called autistic kids by doing metal-chelation (removal) therapies.

Personally, I choose a delayed/selective schedule. We do almost everything on the ‘required for school’ list (except chicken pox), but almost nothing else. I think that it’s important to consider teh benefits and risks of the vaccine AND the realistic risks of the disease. Diphtheria is a nasty nasty thing, as is tetanus, but chicken pox is no big deal, you know? I also consider risk factors: unless a person is going to contact bodily fluids of an infected person, then they are not at risk for Hepatitis B–so unless you’re in the medical profession, or a hooker or a junkie, you are not at risk. I don’t give my kids that vax, but if they choose to enter the medical field then of course they should get it then. Hep A, on the other hand, is foodborne…oh yeah, we get that one.
I also do not start the first vaccination until they are at least 6months old. This has to do with the physical development of infants, and the fact that they do not begin to produce bile (the stuff your body uses to get rid of toxins) until they are 4-6m old. I want to know that their body can handle the shot before I shoot anything into them.
Because my children are fully breastfed, they are getting MY antibodies to these things anyway, so there is no point in giving them a shot in their first few months of life.

I mentioned Stephanie Cave’s book–it’s the only vax book I’ve read. I hear that Dr Sears’ book is really good too.
You might also be interested in Dr Sherry Tenpenny’s video (I don’t know if there’s a book, but maybe there’s a transcript or something?) She is the one who taught me about the aluminum levels, and it was after we saw that video that Hubby got on board with doing just one shot at a time. Prior to that he felt like it was better to do a “do them all and get it overwith in one fell swoop” kind of thing.

To the poster who said that vaccines are required for school, that’s actually not entirely accurate. YES, the school wants to know that your kid has been vaxes, BUT you can go to your county health department and fill out an exemption form. In some states you have to claim medical or religious reasons for it, but in others you can claim just philosophical or personal reasons. Regardless, you CAN get an exemption form and file that with your school instead. The only real difference is that if there is an outbreak of something in the school, your child will not be allowed to attend until it’s over. As I said, I do most vaxes, but because I don’t do the chicken pox one, some schools consider my son not fully vaxed, so I have the exemption forms for him…and if I’ve got to keep him home at some point then so be it. I feel that some vaxes are worth it, but that some just are not.

Incidentally, Guardasil has killed a couple dozen girls and sickened/paralized many more (over 5000 ER trips are attributed to it if I remember correctly) I will see if I can find you the link to the news report. This isn’t just crazy hippies, this is mainstream news. I am always wary of a new vaccine or drug, and this is exactly why.

Incidentally, I had a pretty hefty reaction to the rubella vaccine (as an adult) and regret having gotten it, but that’s a whole other story…I have blogged about vaccinations quite a bit (as I’m sure you know) and if you really want to know what I think about each one, well, that’s the place to read. 🙂

A book I recommend, other than those already recommended, is Vaccinations: A thoughtful Parents Guide by Aviva Jill Romm

I know people say the risks of the disease outweigh the risks of the disease or wouldn’t you rather have a kid alive with autism than dead. Well, I’d like my kid to be who they are not something created by something I could have done something about. I fully vaxed my first son. My second son started at 2 months. Right after he got his shots we got home and he was literally rolling around on the floor screaming. He didn’t roll at the time, so this was not a good thing. Whatever the vax’s did to him changed who he is. Isn’t that the potential of some diseases? I kept getting him vaxed. He would cry constantly! He wasn’t like this before his 2 month shots. yes, I guess you could say there might have been something else wrong but how should I know?! He got the MMR and had full body bumps and 104 degree fever for a few days. he would throw fits for an hour at a time, hitting his head on the floor, walls, whatever he could do. I started taking him to the chiropractor and I quit vaxing him and he has improved so much! He actually can be consoled.

I think there are some kids who are more suseptible to whatever is in vaxes. I think my kids are one of those. There have been adults who got required vaxes for school and all of a sudden start having seizures.

I believe this is something we should decide for ourselves in our own situation. There is no one size fits all and we need to be the protector of our children. I am not here to take care of someone else kids and if that makes someone mad, I’m sorry. I am here to take care of my kids.

My daughter hasn’t been vaxed at all and my 3 kids all got the chicken pox last spring, so I guess we’re good with that. Oh yea and for my kids to go to school I go to the health department and fill out an exemption form.

I am looked down upon and a lot of people get mad at me for not vaxing my kids, but I feel this is the best for us.

1)I am a doctor, I have done the research, and I just posted an explanation of the whole thing on my blog last week. I won’t advertise here, but feel free to look it up.

2)Not vaccinating is child abuse. I don’t care if you use a slower schedule. Children DIE of vaccine-preventable disease. The only reason there aren’t a lot more deaths is due to herd immunity–most people DO vaccinate, so there are fewer kids to contract the disease from. Check out http://www.jennymccarthybodycount.com/Jenny_McCarthy_Body_Count/Home.html for the latest figures on vaccine preventable deaths (152) and illnesses (over 17,000) just since 2007.

3)Jenny McCarthy and the other anti-vax people out there are WILDLY misinformed and are eventually going to cause an enormous epidemic that could, potentially, wipe out an entire generation of unvaccinated kids.

4) Read “Polio: An American Story” by David Oshinsky. People don’t remember what it was like before vaccines, when polio came through a town and wiped out A THIRD of the children. This book is the story of a vaccine. READ IT.

5) Not only is there no evidence whatsoever that vaccines cause autism, there is some very good evidence that it DOESN’T. You don’t need to argue about big pharma and cover-ups. The facts are that autism is increasing, even while people choose not to vaccinate, and autism rates are EXACTLY the same in vaccinated and unvaccinated cohorts. Not to mention that there is NO mechanism by which it’s even possible that vaccines cause autism (there ISN’T any mercury in the MMR, BTW). It’s just an association–autism begins to manifest at about the same time that we give the MMR.

The association is a classic logical fallacy. The rooster crows before dawn, and then the sun comes up. It does NOT mean that the rooster crowing made the sun come up, nor that the earth will be plummeted into eternal darkness if someone kills the rooster.

But if someone did a study that showed that the sun comes up at the same rate whether the rooster crowed or not, THAT is proof that the rooster DOESN’T cause the sun to come up.

Just as autism rates being the same in vaccinated and unvaccinated cohorts PROVES that autism is NOT caused by vaccination.

I think it’s important to look at each vaccine, rather than say “Vaccines are the best thing ever and if you don’t do them you’re irresponsible!” or “Vaccines are terrible and will harm your children!” Dr. Sears’ book is a great starting place. I haven’t given my 2 1/2 year old any yet, and I might follow his selective schedule, but with even more taken out (specifically, the ones for STDs such as Hepatitis B, HPV, etc).

With this new baby I am still deciding whether to do the infant shots from his selective schedule, since if you breastfeed and don’t put your kids in day care, you are at very, very low risk of your baby catching one of the diseases that hit hardest during infancy.

Anyway, there are quite a few that you can delay for some time. For example, the U.S. hasn’t had a case of polio since 1985, so it’s safe to wait several years and give it either if you’re traveling to a country where polio still is existant, or waiting until they’re early teens, or not doing it at all. Measles, mumps, and rubella are milk childhood illnesses, so you can wait until your child is 10, do a blood test to see if they’re already immune to the diseases through natural exposure, and vaccinate if they’re not (vaccination for these illnesses is done mainly to keep adults from getting these diseases, since the complication rates are much more serious in adults than in children). Good luck making these decisions when the time comes!

As a mother of 7 I feel that vaccines are so important. My children have never suffered from any type of side effects. If anything, I feel they are healthier because they are vaccinated.

Hugs and Mocha,
Stesha

I do, however wonder why someone would be worried about their vaccinated child around an unvaccinated one because if their child is “protected” why would it matter if someone else isn’t? Isn’t that the point of the vaccine?

SO TRUE! I don’t vaccinate. I read a book and studied online… The thing that swayed me was that the governmental sources basically said, “There’s NO way that vaxes cause problems.” The other side said, “There are some good vaxes.” I had to go with the more reasonable side AND conviction of The Spirit.

You definitely opened a can of worms. The important thing is to get educated and make your own informed decision. Most people spend more time considering what car they will buy than what shots they will give their baby.

Here are some websites for your purusing:
mercola.com (search “vaccination”)
nvic.org

My 2 oldest kids were vaccinated per the recommended schedule. My son just had his 5 year shots last week.

My baby girl, who is now almost 20 months old..well she is behind on her schedule. NOT because of autism worries, but because, I was a busy mom of 3 under 5 years and sorta kept forgetting to take her in to the Health Dept. (Our pediatrician doesn’t do shots in his office). She will however have all of her shots though.

I personally have weighed the options for and against vaccinces, and personally, find that it is safer to get them than not to get them.

My question though, is what do people do who don’t vaccinate their kids when it’s time to go to school? My son was REQUIRED to show his updated vaccination record to the school before even being allowed to go through the registration process. What happened to a kid who’s parent doesn’t get them vaccinated? Are they not allowed to go to school??

This is kind of an open question, I dont actually expect you to have the answer! 🙂

Sarah- Maybe you would rather have had nerve damage in your arm than risk it, but I wouldn’t. Have you ever had your body spasm uncontrollably in pain so much you had to go to the hospital because you couldn’t breathe? Have you lived your life one handed? Try unscrewing a toothpaste cap with one hand. I would rather take my chances.

Jen, you just go to the health department and get an exemption form. I did it with my first because he didn’t get the chicken pox vax and I will have to for my other kids because my second is behind and my third doesn’t have any.
You would have to take them out of school if there was an outbreak, but other than that it’s really not a big deal.

Hey! Do you read all your comments? Vaccines are an interesting topic and I think poeple have interesting, limited views of it. I vaccinate! My aunt, as a child, developed Polio and became blind from it. I see that vaccines have a purpose and with it come some risks. However, has any of the above commentors(I have read a lot, but not all) considered that our high rate of autism has more to do with modern technology than vaccines. That we have all sorts of waves and frequency’s- from cell phones, our satelite tv’s, etc- coursing through our bodies that can affect how we develop in womb and out. Or all the chemically enhanced food we eat, or water we drink? How are we ever going to be able to test for that? Can all these things be affecting vaccines- maybe, but how is there ever going to be a test group that isn’t going to be affected by these things. It would be interesting to see if other countries who vaccinate, maybe 2nd or 3rd world countries, where modern technology is less, what their autism rates are.
Going back to my aunt who contracted polio, some may consider it different from autism, you can function highly being blind. But it is a difficult burden to bear, especially considering the limited technologocal advancments they had 70 years ago when she become blind. I don’t have a child with Austism and do NOT know what families who do are experiencing… however, the Lord has blessed that mother with opportunites to grow and given them a child who knew this would be their burden to bear, accepted it and choose to come to their home and their family. I cannot imagine the difficulty, but hope that this is how I would view it.
Another hot topic, have you looked at SIDS? I have read that it doesn’t occur in Asia, but is rampant here in the US. Interesting…. and I can give you a good book about the evolution of children/babies and how they are raised/viewed in other countries/civilizations. Changed how I did/viewed several things with my own children. Written by a child archiologist(sp)/ anthropologist(sp)! Actually you can get it probably before I see you! It is called Our Babies, Ourselves. Very, very interesting read and kinda “shaped”, and I use that loosely, my views about technology and autism!!!

You are brave to approach this subject! Here is the link to an article published in Feb after the federal courts ruled that t here was no scientific evidence linking or backing the theory that vaccinations cause autism.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/11/autism.vaccines/index.html

I have a son with autism and life can be very challenging sometimes but I have never questioned vaccinating him. I get so frustrated because so many people are out there pushing this idea with nothing to back it up and it really hurts the autistic community because instead of putting our time and resources into the real causes and factor that lead to autism we are having to dispel this silly notion over and over again.

Here’s a video I saw discussing this topic:
http://www.monkeysee.com/play/5052-Is%2Dthere%2Dany%2Devidence%2Dthat%2Dautism%2Dcan%2Dbe%2Dlinked%2Dto%2Dcertain%2Dvaccinations%3F%2D

it is irresponsible to not get kids vaccinated. people like to ‘test’ scenarios on animals and as a vet tech i can honestly say that the less vaccines are utilized for children the exposure/contraction risk of diseases increases. i have watched doctors that quit using a canine vaccine for leptospirosis (which is a zooinotic disease)because they didnt see the disease any more and now there are outbreaks all around the usa. the dog belonging to the step mother of a doctor i worked with contracted lepto and his wife and step mother started showing signs of the disease and had to be treated for it them selves. the importance of vaccines is not only to protect those being vaccinated but to reduce the overall presence of the disease.
-jenny c

Sarah- Maybe you would rather have had nerve damage in your arm than risk it, but I wouldn’t. Have you ever had your body spasm uncontrollably in pain so much you had to go to the hospital because you couldn’t breathe? Have you lived your life one handed? Try unscrewing a toothpaste cap with one hand. I would rather take my chances.

I personally think that not getting vaccinated is a bad decision. I was vaccinated but when it came time to get the Hepatitis shots my mom refused b/c of something she read in a magazine. A few years later when we were going to another school they required us to get the shot and I needed it for college so my mom changed her mind. I also got the meningitis shot. Ever watch the episode of House where a couple didn’t vaccinate their child? That was an eye opening episode. Seeing as I have my degree in Biology I understand the Biology and reasons behind getting a vaccine. Sure the diseases aren’t as prevalent today as they once were but they can easily come back “stronger” than they were before. Viruses mutate. One reason I believe a person with a vaccinated child does not want an unvaccinated child around is because viruses can mutate. If more and more people chose to not have their children vaccinated the greater the chance of the viruses coming back and the greater the chance of those who are vaccinated still getting infected because of a mutation. I have read many articles that claim that vaccines caused Autism and others that say that there is no connection. I personally think there are more cases of Autism because people finally but signs/symptoms to a name. Just like when ADD and ADHD diagnoses rose in the 80s and 90s. What should scare you more than anything is what these viruses can do to your child not how “dangerous” the vaccines are. I don’t however think it is necessary for a child to be vaccinated against the flu and chicken pox. I had the chicken pox as a child and sure it sucked but I got over it. However if a person does not get the chicken pox by a certain age I think they should get the vaccine because it could do more damage (infertility, shingles). Everyone gets the flu at some point in their life even if they get a vaccine during flu season. I would much rather get the flu and have my body make antibodies so it can fend for itself! God gave us the wisdom, knowledge, and technology to make these vaccines, why not use it! And to the person who had the meningitis vaccine and had nerve damage…I’m sorry that you had to go through what you had to go through and I am in no way saying that what happened to you is a good thing but I would much rather have nerve damage in my arm then get meningitis and be paralyzed or die. There is a risk with everything medical but in the case of vaccines the benefits FAR FAR FAR outweigh the risks.